The death of the Beast Collector was the beginning of a new life for firefox kit Zanixa.
Sold to werewolves as an illusion in a bottle, the pack is reluctant to take responsibility for the fox kit who is alone in the world. Now she's freed after cen...
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Zanixa looked at herself, inspecting her now-covered body. What she saw seemed to please her, and the shivering had calmed down a little. In the end, the little fox had barely even looked at the color of the clothing I gave her, much to my surprise.
"That should help. Could you please shift? Most were-beings have their clothing shift with them, but you might be different." In truth, I had never met a firefox before, and I had picked up little information about them over the years. I knew it should work the same as all other shifters, but I preferred not to make baseless assumptions.
She shrugged, then paused in the middle of the movement and stared at her shoulder incredulously. A moment later, she shrugged again. Her eyes widened in surprise. I managed to keep my face straight with difficulty as I watched her expression.
"It's called 'friction'. It means that if you rub two things together, you get warm. You do the same with your hands when you're cold." At last, I lost the fight, and the corners of my lips quirked upwards a little.
Her nose twitched before she changed shapes. Within moments, the red-haired girl was replaced by a young fox with a tail of flame. She yipped happily. Feelings of pride radiated off of her as she stared at her tail.
I nodded at her to tell her to shift back, and so she did. The girl re-emerged, fully clothed and all. Giving her an approving look, I said, "Good, your magic seems to be the same as other werecreatures. This saves us from having to make a stockpile of clothing for you. Do you like it?"
Before she could reply to me, howls split the air. My eyes widened as I realized none of the calls were familiar. I bared my fangs and looked at the fox girl. "Put out the fire and hide in the corner! Quick!"
I dashed out of the mine at full speed, racing up the hill the shaft was dug into. The glow in my eyes increased to the point that my nose and cheeks were bathed in crimson light. Two dozen sets of paws pounded the frozen ground, headed straight towards Sharion territory. I was not going to let that happen. My silver blades appeared in my hands and I met them head-on.
The glow worsened, turning into a red haze that covered my vision. Ready for the slaughter that was about to follow, my fangs extending to their full length. My stomach roiled, knowing that my shadow was going to feast tonight.
The first wave of wolves engulfed me, surrounding me within moments. Any fear I had was cancelled out by bloodlust as my hisses joined their chorus of snarls and growls.
One of the shifters lunged at me. I leapt aside, only to be knocked off my feet by another werebeast. Just as it bit down, I closed my eyes and relinquished control. Pain flared through my leg, dulled a second later. My vision went fully red as I worked myself up and out of their grasp.
The beast inside had me in its grip, taking over my senses and different parts of my body one by one. It let me watch for a few seconds more as my arms moved on their own accord, hacking and slashing where the daggers would deal the most damage. My legs moved faster than the wolves could keep up with, playing a game of keep-away as my consciousness faded.
I paced around the small mental space. The joy coursing through the shadow right now told me more than I wanted to know, and I couldn't stop it. All I could do was wait and pray that Oscen would come soon, before the beast did more than it was allowed to.
Here and there, I got small glimpses. The scent of guts and fear, sometimes coating my tongue, sometimes in the air. Fresh, warm liquid coating my hands. Red-tinged images of a moonlit battle, with it battling against far more wolves. Pure ecstasy as it tore through one of its enemies.
Deep down, I registered the arrival of allies. Several wolves whose scent I recognized as Sharion warriors took my flanks. The disease in my mind whined, unhappy that its playthings now had to be shared. When it realized there were only four of them, leaving plenty for us, it reluctantly accepted their presence.
The ground trembled as a hundred and seven wolves rushed over the hill. A vicious hiss tore from its throat. They were interfering with our prey. Painful heat coursed through my body as a voice entered my head. Icy blue eyes that seemed to look straight through me pushed my shadow back and held us in place. 'Focus, Thoysal. Get it together. Chain up the Beta after I pin him.'
Unable to reply, I gave a small nod, wary that my shadow let me move this much. The black wolf yowled before jumping on top of the enemy's Beta. My blades vanished, replaced by silver chains, and I used them to bind the wolf. The corners of my lips curled up involuntarily at the scent of burning flesh as the silver interacted with his skin.
Right before the Beta's eyes, his pack was torn to shreds by our warriors. His pained cry was like angels singing to my shadow. It made him sing one last time before he met Mafrel's angels himself.
The red haze slowly receded as I looked at the battlefield. My limbs still buzzed with excitement, ready to attack, to kill. The scent of blood, pain, and fear hung thick in the air, and the warriors gave me a far wider berth than normal.
If I could, I would have done the same thing, but the beast had made its home in my body. There was no running away for me, no matter how much I tried. Looking at a particularly mangled wolf body, despite knowing I wasn't able to, I felt the urge to cry.
I hope you all had a great Christmas or holiday if you don't celebrate it. :D What did you enjoy most? And how are you going to spend New Year's? I hope in a better way than Thoysal is right now, haha. Til 2020, everyone!
