A collaborative story by R. Lee & Stephie!

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The Lady of Thrown Keep came to her feet. She stood at even height with the Wolfbourne Warlock. She ignored his question, turning to pace a slow circle to his left, forcing him to turn to keep line of sight. “You’re lucky, Fenris Wolfborne, had this visit come a mere month earlier, your body would be char and ash on the floor right now. As it stands now, I have a use for you.” Fenris knew that he now had to buy time. That magically enhanced laughter earlier would have attracted the attention of both Griever and his staff of mystics and apprentices. “The Horsekin bought you, didn’t they. I will double their offer. If you know my name, then you know that I have the resources to back that offer.” Sorcha once again laughed at the warlock. “I am not some mercenary to be bought and traded for coin”

A commotion outside of the tent brought a smirk to Fenris’s mouth. His backup had arrived. “Regardless of who you are, or why you’re here. You are about to learn the price of trifling with me and my Clan.” The tent was suddenly ablaze with a bright light, burning away the fibrous canvas. Within seconds, the canopy was gone. Surrounding the remains of the tent, a contingent of warriors whose ranks were interspersed with wolves in robes, obviously spell casters. Sorcha glance around at the collected faces before focusing on Fenris once more. This time her voice had no mirth to it. “What I have to say to you is not meant for their ears.” she gestures around at the gathered forces. “So, you can either come with me willingly now, or you can come with me after I’ve depleted your forces. Your choice.”

There was a long awkward pause where Fenris stood there, eyes locked with his opponent. By himself, especially now with all of his magical reserves depleted from a full days worth of combat, the warlock knew that he stood no chance against this witch. She no doubt prepared for this very moment and had a sizable amount of energies stored not only in herself but other focus objects that she wore on her body. With the whole of his spellcasters here, though, maybe they stood a chance of overpowering and capturing her. There was also the fact that she was not here to kill him. Had this woman wanted Fenris dead, she could have carried that task out in any number of unpleasant but silent ways since he had entered the tent several minutes ago. Perhaps he should just hear her out.

“DIE You EVIL WITCH!” screamed one of the magical initiates behind Sorcha. There was an eruption of light and a massive arc of electricity. “Wait!” Fenris shouted, but the order was drowned out by the resulting thunderclap. Time seemed to slow for the Lady of Thorn Keep. The lightning had struck one of her magical shields and triggered an enchantment that she had placed upon herself, increasing the speed at which she processed the world around her. Two more bolts of lightning erupted from the circle of aggressors, but this time Sorcha was ready. The first bolt struck a shimmering octagonal shield and exploded outward in a fiery mass, knocked down two wolves and set nearby clothes on fire. Sorcha caught the second bolt with a bare paw, shaped it into what looked like a glowing spear and threw it, striking another wolf in the chest. He fell to the ground twitching uncontrollably. Individually, Sorcha had no doubt she could take on these novices, but she was depleting energy rapidly and felt the need to extract herself from the situation.

Fenris growled as he watched the conflict unfold. This intruder had far greater skill than he could have anticipated. Drawing his sword, the warlock endeavored to stop this magical fight the old fashioned way. The she-wolf sent a blast of wind knocking down the wall of men on her left flank. Fenris stepped forward as she turned and the two locked gazes again. “I’ll put an end to this right now.” he muttered then thrust his sword out at her. He knew that she’d have some fighting skill and would likely dodge the attack, but doubted she’d expect a follow up. As he suspected she dodged inward, pivoting on her left foot. He did not expect what happened next, though. He felt her grab the forearm of his sword hand, then the world seemed to blur and he felt a wrenching feeling in his gut as reality shifted and in the next moment he stood somewhere else.

to be continued!