earth fire din

Saura wasn’t as much afraid as she was surprised, own eyes going wide as she stared into fire. It was like watching the element make its home in his eye sockets, turning eyeballs into flames. She didn’t feel any heat, but that didn’t surprise her as much as it maybe should have. Being in the presence of a faery seemed to do that. They were the beings who had brought magic into this realm, had introduced a way of outwitting natural laws to create something of their own. She couldn’t even be sure it was real fire; it could have been an illusion, a vision, or something entirely different. His fire didn’t have to adhere to this world’s rules.

The thought wasn’t all that comforting.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem threatening, nor did he seem to intent to harm her or their surroundings in any way. He looked almost… curious. Thinking about it, that sentiment was understandable. Fae weren’t from this world; she couldn’t know if he had been here before, if he knew anything about earth. She smiled, allowing her body to relax as much as possible without interfering with her ability to be ready within the blink of an eye. There was a certain line she didn’t cross just yet. Her muscles weren’t completely relaxed, so that, if necessary, she could get into motion immediately. Though her gut told her it wouldn’t be necessary.

Instead of replying, she let her features shift, going through each of the forms except the last one. Fur grew, just to retreat again, turning back into hair as she shifted into the homid form. “Werewolf,” she finally said. “Child of Gaia.”

Din saw her work out the expression of fire in his eyes. First confusion and thought graced her face, which made Din smile. He liked seeing how others reacted to the magick he showed. After the confusion, she relaxed, only slightly though, like she could tell that he wouldn’t harm her, but could if he so desired which was oh so true about Din. His calm and ethereal beauty often deceived others into thinking he was harmless, which in all honestly was why he chose to magick himself this body. He loved the surprise when others realized the damage he can, and will, cause. 

Suddenly her features began to change, and Din’s suspicion was made into a fact. Fur sprouted out of her otherwise smooth skin. It was an odd contrast but Din enjoyed every second of it. Soon though, the fur turned back to skin and hair. Din reached his hand out to touch, but hesitated, not wanted to scare her. His hand hovered near her head when she spoke. 

“Werewolf,” she uttered and though Din already knew the answer he still let out a breath of air. His hand dropped to his side and his gaze stayed focused on her. “Child of Gaia.”

gidalrieh:

The world is different in their presence. Each element around them hums in vibration, awaiting their command as they watch with intangible eyes at their masters. The entire reality of earth halts with batted breath for their deities to reside power over them   –   it is beautiful to witness such gifts, even passively. It had been too long since she had been immersed in such magic.

When the blonde between them questions her, she bows her head in respect.

“The factions of this land, supernatural in origin, will hold a meeting of truce among each other before nightfall, on this day. As you may suspect, it is to discuss what we shall all do for this nation moving forward, and I wish to add my piece to the discourse. However,” Delaina shifts to look at the other nymphs, gesturing to them with only her eyes, “what I will propose deserves the help of greater powers than our few. You three, o’ sprites of elsewhere, have seen endless war throughout your ages. You have clarity in these times where others will not. Consider this an olive branch, from my people to yours, in that we work together to stop this mess from unraveling further than it has to.”

There is sadness in her gaze, but also confidence in what they might be able to accomplish together.

“I fear violence will be the only way our voices will be heard in the castle’s walls, and I fear even more what might become of all of us should we sit idle whilst the Mad Queen has her limitless power to do what she like. She must be stopped. That is my wish. That we salvage Athoria before it is dismantled forever.”

The lean elf is cautious in her movements, and hyper-aware of her stance and posture. She means to not puppeteer the nymphs, but to allow them a stake in this battle   –   this resistance.

 “Will you join me in the council? Please, brothers.”

Delaina bows and Din watches as Nayru and Fafore lift their chins slightly higher acknowledging her gesture. Din does the same in response. He listens to her words, chosen very carefully, he can tell.  She speaks and as she does, Din watched as she grows somber, more so than she had originally. Though part of her looks defeated, she stands tall and continues speaking with a confidence Din admires coming from someone like her. 

“I fear violence will be the only way our voices will be heard in the castle’s walls,” she says and Din tries not to perk up at the thought. He knows Nayru will be reluctant to start war but Din knows his brother to always make a good, sound decision. Fafore will join, that he knows. The air nymph has also had time to let his feelings boil up. They have both been silent too long. Din didn’t like war without reason. Humans often started war with no logic. They started war just to fight, unprovoked. War like this, was just. This was in retaliation. If humans like the Queen weren’t so trivial then they wouldn’t have to take things to these measures. Din didn’t much understand humans. 

Din, always the quiet one, looked to his brothers to gauge their reactions. 

“There is no other way?” Nayru asks, stepping closer, his brow furrowing in thought. Din can just about see his thoughts bouncing around his head, he sure can feel them. They are frantic and scared. 

“I will join you in battle, Delaina,” comes Fafore’s voice. He looks to Nayru. “Brother, I fear she is right in her statement. Violence is something humans understand. They are not going to take a peace offering. We cannot sit silent. This country, these people, they need us. We have lived here for countless years. This place is our home. God gave us this place in out time of need. We must protect it.” He stepped closer to Nayru and touched his shoulder. 

Suddenly the tension Din could feel from Nayru came to a halt, like letting out a large sigh after holding your breath. 

Din looked straight at the elf before him and nodded his head. 

Weighed she is by the temperament of the world around her anymore. Battling demons ‘round every corner as she moves through the woods and thick underbrush towards the place where earth met sky, far away from the turmoil below, surely. Yet even with the distance it haunts her, as the elf woman roams from valley to valley, village to village, mountain to mountain; traversing the wilds of Athoria with the sounds of war beating somewhere off in the horizon and the muffled roar of survivors leftover, hiding in their dens like animals, tickling at her ears. Hiding from the crown. Hiding from their duties to their Queen. There was no honor in hiding, she knew. It was a cowardly act of survival, she told herself, and had told herself since her life began again in the ports as a shipwright a thousand years prior. A life of denying her heritage and remembering it painfully only when the waters were still enough for her to pay memories any mind. Yet now she strides across hilltops with the confidence of what she once were; commander of a great and magical army. Overseer to a once mighty force. The mother to endless warriors who would grow and be groomed to bring up warriors of their own   –   finest the elven lineage had ever seen.

She pauses at the crest of a mountain, breathing the magic that resides there as though it was not foreign at all. As though she had not shunned such things in all of these centuries, but had held it closely the whole time. It is ancient and powerful, beyond the years of this planet and its father’s father. It transcends this realm, and she is sure as her leather clad heels cross the threshold that this is the place where she will find the triplets, among all other places.

“Brothers,” she calls out with fervor, letting her voice echo ‘cross the fields and allowing the wind to carry it on its back. It is the same voice she had once used in prayer to the goddesses. The same resounding fury and power exuded then that trembled in each syllable now. “Brothers, I seek your guidance and your aid. Will you listen, nymphs of the seven islands? Will you grant me your ear for just a moment?” It is formal and doting, something she trusts will gain their interest enough to garner their focus long enough for her to plead her case.

Din, Nayru, and Fafore sit huddled together. They haven’t left each others side in days, though it all seems to run together. They can spend years of human time apart and it only seems like days. Living for as long as the triplets have, makes time seem nonexistent almost. Din and Fafore have had time in the last few days for their worries to boil up into something much bigger than they can bare to keep hidden. Nayru on the other hand has spent the time thinking and planning what they can do to move forward. He has been meticulous in his efforts and it makes Din anxious to watch his brother work so diligently. He fears for what comes ahead. The last time he saw the water nymph so worked up it was before the last great war the three had witnessed.

Finally Nayru sighs and drops his head into his hands. Din, who is lying beside him, looks on with a furrowed brow. Fafore soon looks their way and then his gaze goes distant. Din sits up and he can feel it too. Words. Asking for them in assistance. He recognizes the voice in his head and stands completely. Delaina. His face softens a tad and extends his hands to the other triplets, who all stand up next to him. Din jiggles his head to one side, gesturing for them to go to her and see what it is exactly that she seeks their assistance. He has a strong feeling it has something to do with events that have taken place recently and he is eager to find the elf and speak with her about them.

Nayru and Fafore both look at Din. It was often that in times of need others would reach out to them for their assistance. Each was immensely powerful on their own, and when needed within their element they would be called upon, but when the three joined together, it was no telling what they could accomplish. They became unmatched.

Din changes quickly into his orb form, and to the others he was now only visible as a minuscule red dot. Then one after the next, each of the nymphs changes from their human form into their true orb form. Next thing Din knows he’s at the top of a mountain and can see Delaina standing there waiting for he and his brothers to arrive. His orb moves down around her, and darts to a spot some feet from her and that is where he changes back to a form visible to the naked eye. Shortly thereafter the other two nymphs appear and do the same.

Din stands at the forefront of the group of young looking men, but it is not him who speaks first.

Under his watchful eyes Saura realized he could probably read her movements as well as she could read people. There was something in his eyes that affirmed her suspicions, though if asked, she wouldn’t be able to say what made her think that. It was instinct more than knowledge. The werewolf couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was missing something; that the solution to the questions she was asking herself lay right in front of her. What was he? That he wasn’t human was very much clear; would have been even without his demonstration of magic. Saura paused. Magic. She compared the aura she felt surrounding him with that of magic users she knew and frowned, the pull of her lips barely visible. It felt similar, but different still.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the earth started to shake. Her body was lifted as the ground rose, making her dig her nails into the earth beneath them, a surprised expression on her face. It didn’t quite feel like an earthquake, though that had been her first thought. No, she realized, looking at the other’s smile, it had not exactly been caused by something natural. At the same time, however, it had felt somewhat natural, more so than the magic of some witches she had felt.

“Are you a faery?” She blurted out, her eyes widening slightly. She’d never seen one of them herself, had only felt their energies, their other-worldliness as it lay above the natural fabric of the world like oil on water. 

When the earth moved beneath them, the girl before him looked startled and reached out to steady her hands of the ground before her. He watched as she processed the mini earthquake, the expression of her face just barely changing to alert him of her feelings. He smiled though. He enjoyed to surprise others with his magick. It was a part of him so he loved to show others it, in hopes that maybe they would feel the desire to share something with him as well. It might have been a little selfish because ultimately he wanted to feed his curiosity, but he met very few over his years of life that didn’t find magick spectacular. 

Suddenly the woman spoke, asking if he were fae. His smile widened and pearly white teeth peeked out of the corners of his lips. Quickly, and subtly he changed his irises to appear like fire, bright red and raging. They flashed back to icy blue quickly; such a strong contrast to the fire that burned in his soul. He shook his head in confirmation, just a few quick nods of his head, smile still plastered on his lips. 

He scanned her over slowly with his eyes and his smile dimmed down to his resting face. He thought back to her fingernails changing from claws to human nails and knew she wasn’t just human. He scanned up her body to make eye contact and without moving a muscle he spoke to her. 

Verin inhaled. Watching the scene unfold with a baited interested. Every details burning into his memory. His eyes carting over the expressions on the other younger looking man– and the guard who found an end against the cobblestone. Another would replace him, though whatever magic or enhancements this other aided himself with wouldn’t be enough today. Not with the numbers humans contained. They will always overpower you eventually. 

It was almost sweet– the reach of a hand Verin should be able to take. Resignation washed over the incubus who’s always known this day would come. And with a sharp smile– his teeth clashed together to stretch it to impossible sizes he stood up from his spot to give the other another look over. 

“Everything happens for a reason–” he told himself more than the other, but the words were meant to be shared. In that instant the exorcism of words barely heard over the crowds had Verin’s vessel straining to contain his grander. He kept starring at the other– how beautiful he was. To selfishly let himself see this creature as the last thing. His sight disappeared in a flash he was condensed into a cloud of smoke racing out of the loyal vessels mouth and turned not to find another– but to dissipate with his tossing…

Back to Hell.

Din’s hand was left empty though he extended it to the other. Instead he was greeted with an awful smile that made his teeth grind and his skin crawl, reminding him all the more why he steered clear of demon’s. He snatched his hand back up and held it close to his body and although it probably wasn’t smart to stay for many reasons, Din couldn’t look away, even though he wanted to. 

The demon stood up and Din backed up. Some people who were passing looked over with gaping mouths., but most had even more reason to keep running. “Everything happens for a reason–” he said. Din agreed. God had mysterious ways but he trusted in Him. This particular instant Din had no idea what He had in mind but there had to be a reason. 

      flashback // 1200 yrs

There is an army in the distance that is rich with her teachings. Trained underneath the young elven woman, they have become mighty in the face of opposition. They are strategists, marksmen, assassins, torturers   –   whatever their blessed Attos needed, she had built them in the image of the leader’s imaginations. It was her world; a bubble in which she surrounded herself. Where no one told her no. Where no one stood in her way. Where she was feared and loved, all the same. Her army were a monument to herself and all she had struggled to become along the way.

Yet on this day, she has shed her militant visage. In the glow of the sun, she convenes with the goddesses under the eyes of birds and wood sprites, tucked in the throws of Athoria’s outer forests. Waist-deep in the murk of a pond, Delaina chatters with head tilted towards the sky and eyes shut tight. Arms extend towards the heavens, reaching like branches from a tree to welcome the divine into her space, her circle. She knows, somewhere in the back of her head, that she belongs here, too; among the bugs and brush, the spiders and flower scents, the mildew and the crickets. She was a born and bred leader, built from strength beyond strength, but there was tenderness in her roots. In the elven blood that made her in-tune with any and all universes she dared wander. As though knowing the goddesses personally afforded her all the secrets of the galaxies. As though it made any land she traveled belong solely to herself.

The commander breathes til her lungs are full, and exhales slow and steadily til they are constrict with nothing left. The process repeats, for in each breath there is prayer. The mere act of living and surviving in the wilds of this world, enough to catch the attention of the deities. 

The forest was quiet on this day. That wasn’t unusual this deep into Hallowed Oak though. The trees were thick here, and the sun shined in only in small spots. Din enjoyed it here and could often spend days wandering the land and getting lost in the foliage. He was searching for something ... He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but Din always had a longing for excitement. He spent time with his brothers when he was lonely and needed entertainment but they had their own lives and were occupied by them sometimes, leaving Din to create his own entertainment. 

He walked between the trees with his arms spread, fingertips touching the tree trunks as he walked past them. When he stepped, he left behind a trail of green weeds and flowers, brightening the area. Vines curled over rocks and up onto the trunks to blossoming flowers in shades brighter than were natural. He turned and looked back with a smile. When he turned back to the path before him, to continue forward, he saw a small clearing. Curiosity took him closer. The clearing was a pond and in the center of the pond was a beautiful woman. She looked peaceful in her place in the water. Din wasn’t fond of swimming or water as it interfered with the fire part of his soul. He understood it was necessary for things to grow, but Nayru was the one whose soul was made with water, not his own. 

There was a moment when Verin could have been more observant. Realize the actual danger lurking around them over showboating in front of the man trapped in his arms. Sabnac had always said he would kill himself. He reminded Verin over and over and Verin always brushed it off with a knowing smile. The knight was furious instantly at the taunt. A dark look took over his sneer, hands tightening on his weapon further explained the state of his gauntlets splashed in crimson dots. The other seemed caught in a state of shock or shyness. He did look down. Bringing the pitted glare of Hell towards the other to see if he could know the real reason why. 

The Knight roared as a charging bull in those starring seconds, feet dusting up loose gravel from the cobblestone under his boots. Verin’s mind reeled with all the scenarios this could end in. The sword through his abdomen exploding bones and tearing tough muscles through his heart was the aimed one. There was a split second where Verin was curious of the sensation– wanting to wait for it to happen but his gaze peeled away from the other and onto the shadows. Danger pricked at his senses for the first time since being on Earth. 

Verin twisted them both before shoving the other expertly away. The sword came right between them, just slicing his shirt across his stomach. Verin gripped the hand holding the broadsword and snapped the bones in his wrist with an aggressive squeeze. The Knight shouldered his weight against the demons front actually surprising the demon, but he didn’t send Verin in any proper direction. Verin’s back struck something impossibly hard and invisible causing him to slide down to the ground in a daze. His mind buzzed in extra white noise and vessel somehow ached. 

A snarl broke out of the guard in the echoing distance. Verin’s attention not on the broadsword coming back towards him with the guards other hand. But the Devils Trap scratched into the stone, hidden perfectly within the intricate designs of this Brailston Street. He could feel his true face surface further, ears perking to the words being whispered frantically within the alleyway. How humorous. What luck…

The knight was obviously not happy at the jeer towards him. Din watched fearfully as he tensed up and adjusted his grip on his weapon. Din had been lucky all he received so far was a punch to the face. His luck seemed to be turning though considering his sword was now unsheathed. The fae struggled against the demon once again hoping to possibly break free before the solider decided to stab either one of them. 

Before Din’s small human body could slide free of the demon’s grip the knight was rushing towards them in a fit of rage with the sword in swinging position. He wasn’t scared of dying, his fae body could handle the impact and he would heal after his human body was killed, he just was not prepared for the pain of a possible decapitation. Before Din even had a chance to think of what to do, the demon was pushing him out of the way of the sword, which narrowly missed Din, but seemed to slice through the other’s clothing. He let out a shocked yet relieved gasp. 

He stumbled away, bumping into another person running through the streets. While the area where their little fight had broken out was semi-cleared, the streets of the city were so packed with mobs of people that it was hard to move without colliding with the person next to you. From this slight distance Din watched in horror as the demon broke the knight’s wrist in a quick motion. He then fell backwards into ... something, and slid to the ground with a thud. The demon, who was looking increasingly less human, stayed seated on the ground even when the knight came towards him. 

Without putting much thought into Din jumped out towards the knight and collided with his body. He was using a little bit of magick to increase the force of his attempts as he wasn’t ready to go down from the fight yet. Plus for some reason this demon decided to save him, and although Din didn’t really need saving, he was grateful for his efforts. Din would do the same for him. 

The knight yelled and stumbled sideways. They parted and the knight steadied himself on his feet again and looked at Din in confusion. Didn’t expect a man of Din’s statue to come at him with such force, most likely. He stared at Din for a long tense moment before charging at him again. Din ducked when the sword came zinging through the air where his head and neck would have been. He stood quickly though the aimed a punch right at the man’s jawline. His fist hit him square in the face and Din’s knuckles immediately felt pain. 

The knight fell to the ground, eyes now shut, in an almost comic way. He mirrored a tree falling from being sawed down. Din used a little magick to knock the man out for a good while so that he would be able to get away from this chaos and figure out what in the hell was going on with the people of the city and why they were rioting. 

Saura’s first impression was affirmed when she looked into the creature’s eyes and saw behind them. It wasn’t the gaze of a human, or anyone closely humanoid; it were the eyes of a being different from them. Power unlike, and yet similar, to what she had ever seen lay behind them and if she stuck out her tongue, she felt she would be able to taste it in the air too. Cautiously, Saura let her claws turn back into fingernails. Something, instinct, told her that even if she tried, she’d not be able to harm the being much, at least not without considerable effort. 

“Hello Din,” Saura greeted. Her muscles tensed, eyes narrowing, as the creature came closer until they stood only inches apart, looking at each other. This close, Saura felt like there was something otherworldly about him, something she couldn’t explain. It was unlike anything she’d felt, but at the same time, there was an air of familiarity, as if she had, but simply couldn’t connect the dots yet. Whatever it was, Saura’s gut told her the being was not an immediate threat, but she should still be careful. 

Saura schooled her face into an expression of open neutrality and tilted her head a bit. She made her shoulders sink down and her muscles unflex, giving the appearance of relaxation and thus a none-threatening stance. If it came down to it, however, she’d be ready to fight within a fragment of a second.

“Hello Din,” she said, the noise traveling between them with a weight. He stayed crouched and watched her closely. She tensed up, probably in fear, though she didn’t run or make to move. He didn’t plan on hurting her, that is unless he was provoked. He was more curious than malicious. She looked like she was coming to the realization that she wouldn’t win had she picked a fight with him, claws becoming fingers nails again. She began to relax, Din could see her body loosen and become less tense. Her face though was hard to read, there wasn’t much expression on it at all. 

Din seated himself before her, crossing his legs at the ankle. He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows at her in question. What did she want? He was minding his own business in the forest, enjoying the wildlife and the quiet when she came along. He wondered what brought her here? What made her approach him? Why was she still here? 

Being pet was an odd experience, Wenona noted. She was in no way a creature that was meant to be caressed and cuddled like this. Granted, she was nowhere near fearsome in her urhan form, looking like a normal wolf. Unlike whenever she was in her garou form, this one didn’t easily reveal the strength which slumbered in her bones, didn’t show the sharp fangs with which she was able to snap a vampire into two. She wondered whether this person knew about her true nature, whether they were able to see the difference. She tolerated their touches upon her fur for reasons she couldn’t quite fathom yet. They exuded an odd sort of vibe. It was kind as well as pure (and attracted her) but also fiery, just as contradictory as Wenona’s own was – young but wise thus old in a way which only caused one to believe that the wolf had seen and experienced things which had been far beyond her age (now note that she was 300 years old).

The seer took her time to analyze his scent. There was no malice. No ill intent. She would remember it well. They had saved her life, which is why she was very certain they’d meet again after today. A debt was weighing on her shoulders now, a debt she wanted to clear should the occasion arise. The desire to transform into her human form was strong, for she was keen to know how the person looked like. It was a risk she was not ready to take however, not that close to civilization and especially since she didn’t know who or what was spoiling her like this.

The wolf remained silent and pensive for a while, simply indulging and losing herself to her own thoughts. ‘They seem to have a human body. Those are definitely hands that are petting my fur… I think.’ She shuddered. ‘But they’re not human.‘ And she tilted her head, the following thought laced with uninhibited frustration. ‘Just what are you?’

She still sat close and sniffed. Din tilted his head and watched. She seemed to be memorizing his scent. He smiled and reached out to pat her head again and then held his hand, palm up, in front of her nose to get a better whiff. He reminded him much of a dog meeting a new human for the first time. They had to smell the person to make sure that they were okay. Din wondered what scent she smelled on him. If it was one of burt kindling and ash or a deep earthy musk. Maybe she smelled his magick, whatever that would smell like. Or possibly she smelled his enormous power. He thought if she could smell that, she might fear him and run away, yet she still stayed near. 

Since he was of a curious nature, and thought this wolf was more than just a wolf, he listened out for her thought. He was greeted with words. He smiled even wider. She was pondering what he was. He listened as she tried to decide if he was human; he chuckled. 

Just what are you? she questioned inside Din’s mind, probably not realizing that he was listening to her. 

The Queen. 

A growl tore through the Incubus as the sounds of heavy armor echoed up and down every alleyway of Brailston. People were running everywhere and from their height on the balcony Verin could muse them little ants attempting to out race a flood. There were others here. He could feel something pulling at his true self– 

“Look–” Sabnac pointed up and a billow of black smoke twisted int he air and disappeared. Someone was exorcising demons as well? Screams tore out right below– blood soaking the cobblestone from a knight pulling out a massive blade from the unarmed husband. Were there supernaturals being targeted? Not entirely, that man down there was human. Why were the Queen’s guards here causing so much death and destruction? Were the hunters taking advantage as well? 

“We have to leave,” Sabnac’s grip tightened around his arm, but Verin couldn’t tear his eyes from the mayhem below. Arousal pooled heavenly in his gut to the sight– the line of danger so clearly painted in red making him want to stay in the city to see just what would happen. Verin couldn’t help but be moth to flame to such things. It had been the same in Hell, orchestrating grand wars for his Prince and burrowing in the sands or on the highest peaks of the mountains to watch the lessers fight because of his influences.

In a blink he was in the fray. Eyes of obsidian exposed without concern to the fear they could enact if seen. He walked through the streets like a god, drinking in the chaos and the rich scents of fear. Coming at him was a skinny young man, his face bloody and beaten. Right behind him was a guard– his muscles large and obnoxiously trained to prove his strength. He would catch this other surely, but Verin reached out just when the other passed him. Grabbing the smaller and bringing him to his chest to wrap his arms around him as if he was nothing but a child and he the parent. 

Verin’s smile was deadly. A challenge towards the guard. 

“Why you want him so badly?” he hissed, his voice reaching Hellish tones without hiding anything that he was. The incubus had an air about him naturally– wanting to allure the humans with just his presence. To get in their head just enough to influence their choices. “What could he possibly fight for? Do you want to fight at all?” He made to ask the one in his arms. 

“What is happening?” he asked in the softest of whispers only for his ears.

Din was running when suddenly he collided with a body. It was more being grabbed by a person than running into them. He felt a strong grip on his arm and was tugged close to their body. Immediately he began to struggle against their grip, assuming that he was trapped by another soldier and given the situation it made the most sense. Din looked up, breathing heavy, to see not a soldier but a demon, dark black eyes staring out into the crowd. Din gasped. He didn't know what a demon would want with him, a fae. He wasn't afraid, just confused. He could feel the power of the demon. This one was not naive or stupid, he was powerful and feared. He wouldn't make the mistake to try and feed off of Din, that he was sure of. So the fact that a demon was pinning his human body to its chest left Din unsure of its motives.

“Why you want him so badly?” came a voice that bellowed deep within the body the demon possessed. It was an awful sound that stopped Din from struggling against the vice grip on his body. He stilled and looked out to the solider before them. He was entranced obviously by the demons powers. He wasn’t even trying to hide from the humans. Amidst all this chaos though, not many people noticed him. Eyes blacker than the night sky and a voice that sounded like the screams from Hell were lost on the people who were running around the city streets. 

“Do you want to fight at all?” he was asked and Din was unsure of his answer. He looked up to the demon’s face, but gave no answer. He had seen many many wars in the time that he had been alive. He had fought in many too. He was willing to fight for what was right, his brothers and God had taught him that. This... He didn’t know what this was. 

The warmth from the other’s touch always seemed to penetrate far deeper than skin to fur should allow. Like this creature beside him was attempting to heal him with the power of a volcano, or wake him from things far too etched in his memory to escape from with a rumbling earth quake. It was in contrast to his soft speaking voice, as if the other had to be careful when he talked for fear of blowing his mind apart with such simple words. 

Anton never backed down and rarely did he seek comfort for himself when he probably needed it more than admitted. It was probably why he cared so much for Lailah. Her holy resonance soothed the beast in promised ways she could be the only one that ever will. Nothing could meet the warmth of a touch from his mate– or her gaze, scent…his children. 

The fact Din knew of these humans made his heart hammer. How could they be so bloodthirsty? Did they not have guidance or proper leadership? Was their God vengeful and their anger too consuming to not be sedated by anything but slaughter? Often he had questioned if what happened to his home had been the will of his Mother. But maybe it was far less than that. Humans making decisions and the wolves having reacted. 

“What are you?” he asked, the muzzle of the beast wedged just under Din’s arm pit, attempting to scent him but the dream world was warped and distorted. “Why travel here– there is no benefit to see what all I have been through. Trapped forever here while I sleep. Remembering faces I am slowly forgetting, memories tied to longing and sadness. Why endure this nightmare?”

The pair stayed close together, huddled as if almost for warmth. Anton, still wolven, nuzzled his head beneath Din’s arm. The fae laughed softly at the feel of the fur against his skin. The sound was short. This was no laughing matter. The vikings could still be heard, their laughs a stark contrast from the sound Din emitted. His stomach sank thinking back on the horrors he saw during this time and refused to imagine what Anton must have felt like. 

“What are you?” Anton asked him. Din smiled and pet the wolf once again. He rested his head on his back and hugged him tight, allowing him to finish asking questions. “Why endure this nightmare?”

Instead of speaking, Din was never good at words, he would show him. It would at least get them out of this hellish place. Plus, it was not easy to describe what he was. Fae is what they called his kind but Din was unlike most fae. He was special. He could merge with the elements of his soul as he was created from them. Din squeezed Anton tight and took him away from the vikings. A huge gust of wind blew around them. It was warm air that seemed to wrap them in a blanket. When Din opened his eyes they were no longer on the viking ship, they were in his homeland. 

Din stood, still keeping his hands on Anton until he could no longer reach. The Realm of the Seven Isles was a beautiful place, and Din loved it dearly. He always loved Earth and felt an intense connection there because God gifted it to him in a time of need. The dream of this realm that Din was gifting to Anton was nothing like the real thing, though Din was sure that Anton would be amazing none the less. It was bright and colorful here. The air was warm and comfortable. Sounds whistled whimsically around them and Din was so happy. 

He spun around and looked at all the scenery. As far as the eye could see there were little pop ups of trees twisted in every which direction, creatures unlike anything that would ever walk the Earth, sparkling waters that seemed to have no begging or end. Not much here had any rhyme or reason, nor did it follow any physical laws that were so strict on Earth. Here Din felt as ease to manipulate his body into whatever form he pleased. So to show Anton more about himself than just the place he was birthed, the fae melted his body into something that resembled lava. It gathered in a puddle before the werewolf and then began to stiffen and harden, greens and browns now over taking the reds and blacks, and form back into the shape of his human body.