FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 17: Arrival of the Agent of Emptiness

"Hey, Tychon," Vidar turned to the red fox as they were wandering through even more of the abandoned streets of Adamas with their feet feeling already sore from all the walking. "You are pretty quiet, is there something up your mind?"

With a shaking motion of his head, Tychon signaled that it was not the case. "I am simply not all that talkative. Usually I just remain silent and try to relax my mind. Also, I just have nothing to talk about right now."

Vidar just snickered. "Same goes for everyone I meet. Why the heck are all of you just so reluctant to do a little talk?"

"Ninniaw was quite outgoing," Leofwine commented as he was straightening his robe and looking up at the artificial sky. "Not to mention, we two talk quite a lot with each other."

"In your case it doesn't count, since we are a bit more intimate," the wolverine gave back as he lifted up the otter in his arms and chuckled. "Half of our words are of a nature that we should keep more privately."

Tychon had to laugh. "You imply them with that statement. But in any case, it would be good to move on a little bit more. After all, the sooner we find the others the better."

Leofwine nodded. "Thanks for your concern, Tychon. It really is kind of you to be concerned about them despite me being their brother."

"It is just the right thing to do," the fox told the otter as they passed by a building, which looked like a small bakery was once located inside. "They are fine people. It would be a shame, if I left them on their own somewhere in this strange city."

"It should be easy to find them. Their scent will soon pop up and then we will just get them to safety," Vidar reassured the two as he was climbing up a wall and sniffing around the air. "I get another scent of otter. Rather weak, but it does seem like Völundr is also close by as well."

Tychon now nodded. "Okay, if you name me the direction, I could just open a small gateway close to them. It would safe us some time."

Vidar grinned as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the scents around them. "It would be towards the east of us, around two miles in distance perhaps? I guess we still need to sniff them out."

"Not a problem," the fox replied as he channeled his magic and with a snap of his fingers opened up a rift before himself, through which he soon disappeared with his two companions.

Further to the east meanwhile, Leofwine's younger brother Crawford was digging through the rubble of a building and salvaging as many electronic parts as possible, while Völundr was keeping guard with a sword and battle axe in his hands. "Say, do you think Vidar is a good spouse for my brother?"

"Huh? Why would you ask such a thing?" the boar now wondered with a chuckle. "They both seem happy with each other. Vidar is well known for his escapades, but ever since I met him he was with Leofwine. And, I think he matured thanks to that."

"And, how is Leofwine doing with Vidar?" the young otter now asked in an attempt to clarify his own intentions a bit more. "Is he, happy? Genuinely happy?"

Völundr tilted his head. "Yes, that much I can tell. He is enjoying life a lot more than other people I have met. Any reason for asking me that?"

Crawford nodded. "Happiness was the rarest thing for him before we all left Topaz Lake for good. The deaths of our parents, his supposed failure as a guard, and the denial of his own affections all have drawn him towards grief, depression, and even," he stopped for a moment and then shook his head. "When I was fourteen, it was the first time in my life when I had to use healing magic. That is all I am going to say to that."

"I only noticed his panic attacks when he was hurting or even killing some people. But, otherwise he looks positively jolly," the boar told the otter and sheathed his weapons. "Leaving your rotten home behind certainly has to do with that, but Vidar's influence is just as strong. So, yes, I think he is a good spouse for your brother."

"Thanks," Crawford replied and continued digging through the debris. "But, maybe we should head back to your meeting place in a while. I think I have everything I need for now."

Looking somewhat skeptical, the boar crossed his arms, "You have only been searching through some ruins. Would that really be enough?"

"For me, yes. I realized there is so little magic in this place, if I was using something to detect it, all I need to do is to follow the strongest signal," the young tinker explained. "And then we find the gems, and then we neutralize them for good."

Völundr sighed. "Okay then, let's go back." As he was helping up the young otter, his eyes were moving all over the place. His nose was starting to sense something off. "Huh? There is someone coming at us. Smells a little bit like wolf, but not exactly."

Now also Crawford sniffed around. "Yes, that smell has been lingering all over the city." Just before he could analyze the presence of that smell some more, the young otter was suddenly pushed aside into the rubble.

With a load grunt, Völundr punched an oncoming body into a stone wall and drew his sword. "Darn bastard!" Furiously he swung his sword down at the figure, cleaving the head in half.

Crawford, who just got up from the ground, looked a bit disturbed at the sight. "Ugh, that does not look very appetizing. Though, it is kind of impressive from your side."

"Thanks," the boar chuckled and glanced at the reflections on his axe. "But there are more incoming. Don't let you guard down!"

Just as Crawford registered those words, three more dogs jumped into the scene, all with bared fangs and claws. "Uh, this is not a good situation. We should get out of here!"

Völundr just chuckled as he swung his axe and decapitated the first of his opponents, before his sword disemboweled another one. "Why? I am starting to have fun." With another swing, the third dog soon was pierced through his throat by the boar's sword and dropped down to the ground.

"Wow, this was quite impressive," the young otter admitted as he was leaning next to a wall. "But nothing I want to experience a second time. We should really get to somewhere safer."

The boar smiled. "True, we should not get to reckless. Only Vidar can do that with his darn luck."

"Fortune is with those poor of mind. But, let us," Crawford now looked around for a moment and jumped up towards one of the boulders. "More scents of those canines? It's half a dozen of them!"

Now Völundr wiped of the blood on his blade, ready to taint it again with more of the thick, red liquid.

However, Crawford jumped down from the boulder and gestured him to lower the weapon. "No, those seem to be passive. We should avoid an unnecessary confrontation."

Nodding at that remark, Völundr sheathed his blade and sat down on the ground. "With all those guys around we may have a harder time than I initially thought. I hope the others are alright."

"Knowing Lucille, I fear more for their wellbeing rather than hers," the otter commented as he was looking into the distance to peek at the different buildings in the distance. "Huh? Is that, Tychon?" The young otter now peeked further ahead and jumped up to be noticeable for the fox.

Indeed, Tychon was seeing the brown shape of the young otter and turned back to Leofwine and Vidar. "And there they are. So Leofwine, how do you feel of seeing your brother after almost half a year again?"

Leofwine smiled weakly and just run towards his younger brother. "Crawford! It's me, Leofwine," he yelled as his feet took him in haste towards the younger otter. As he was getting closer however, he clumsily hit his right foot against a rock, and feel down, ending up with a bloody face. "Ooouch!"

Völundr broke out in laughter and lifted up Leofwine to evoke a healing spell on his face. "Sometimes you need to take your time. Crawford, say something to your brother."

"Something," Crawford said to Leofwine as he was ordered to and hugged his older brother. "And they say I am the clumsy one of us three. Say, did you gain a bit of weight?"

Leofwine shrieked up a little at that remark. "A lot actually. I blame it on Aldric, since he bought all the food on our journey. And cooked it. How he stayed in shape, I will never know."

"Perhaps he is like me and has some magic powers that nullify all the mass?" the younger otter remarked jokingly. "Perhaps it is just the way I am. But, how are you doing exactly? We haven't seen each other for months now, and I heard so much from Völ over here."

"My name is not that complicated that you need to shorten it," Völundr commented as he looked over to Vidar. "Hey, you will be his brother in law soon enough, so say something."

Vidar shrugged. "Something?" He rolled his eyes and began to laugh. "That works better the first time. So, Crawford? What have you two found in this place so far?"

"Not much, but I found a few components for a few devices, which should help us to get more information on the current whereabouts of the six gems," Crawford replied and then opened his bag to show them a collection of scrap parts that was looking rather heavy. "All we need to do now is to go somewhere safer and then leave all the work to me. I got the necessary blueprints as well."

Leofwine rubbed his chin. "And, another thing I want to say, brother." He took a deep breath and smiled apologetically. "I am sorry, if I treated you like a child before we both went on this journey. You and Lucille, you two have grown up to such splendid adults, and I, I just was unable to let go."

"It is alright," Crawford replied and put his arms around his older brother. "You are at least not doing it anymore from now on, right?"

"Well, he probably will have to do that with me, considering my usual habits," Vidar joked as he got up to the two and hugged them with enough force to push out the air of both of their lungs.

Völundr soon joined in, and the two otters were gasping for air. "Ah, you three better don't forget that I am Kjeld's uncle. I am also part of this big family."

"Can't breathe," Crawford uttered weakly as slipped through the arms of the wolverine and boar and sucked in the air as if he was almost suffocated. "You two should stick with killing bad guys."

Leofwine was less lucky, and nearly passed out as the two bulky warriors were bear hugging him.

With a lot of amusement, Vidar then eased his grip and then let his lover slowly down to let him rest, the head lying on the fuzzy chest of the wolverine.

"Um, I know you like to have some time with that, but we really should move somewhere else," Tychon now said as he looked with a grim face at the scene. "Those dead canines indicate that we are not safe, am I right?"

Crawford nodded. "Yes, we were attacked by them, but Völundr killed them all effortlessly. Which is impressive, considering he fought three of them at once."

"You should have seen him during the battle we fought together in," Vidar stated with a bright smile. "Heck, it is a shame that they did not let him join the guards."

"But, how about you Leofwine? Are you feeling well right now?" Crawford now asked as he turned to his brother. "I remember you as someone, who really broke out in panic at the sign of blood. Has this changed since we left our home?"

Leofwine looked nervously at Vidar and then at the smaller otter. "I was, not even noticing it to be honest. Can we make haste, please?"

"Surely," Crawford replied and then turned to Tychon. "It is good to see you here. Have you used your magic to get here?"

Tychon nodded. "You opened an instable rift, so I went through it after fixing it and ended up finding your brother and," he crossed his arms and looked at Vidar, "the guy that thinks with his penis."

A hurt expression came over Vidar's face. "What's that supposed to mean?" He was massaging his knuckles a little and punched at the air right before the fox's face.

"Stories spread across any border. And your stories have already reached to Hela," the fox told as his lithe, yet muscular body danced around the fists of the wolverine, allowing him climb up and ultimately stand on the mustelid's shoulders. "In fact, my former master's brother knows a guy, that knows a girl, that knows another girl, that knows a guy that you had a night with."

"Get off me!" the burly prince yelled as he tried to grab the feet of Tychon, just to have the vulpine jump off gracefully to land on his feet. "I am not that guy anymore! I am not!"

Tychon sighed. "You are taking this way more serious than I thought. Sorry about that. I of course wasn't really serious about it, because those are stories. And stories tend to exaggerate."

"Not to mention that I am a father and already engaged," the wolverine snarled. "I am not that man, who would shack everything in sight, not anymore."

Crawford now put his right index finger on his right cheek and tilted his posture to the left. "You are, reacting with a lot of anger. I guess you are either in denial or really serious about being now only there for my brother."

"I don't want to be like I was before I met your brother anymore," Vidar replied and focused his breathing and tried to not break out in tears. "All I ever did was care for myself. And I caused so much horrible things, because I never spared a thought about the consequences or about anyone else. But not anymore, I am not going to do the same mistakes I and my father did."

"You are reacting very emotional about all this. Perhaps we should drop the topic and just come to the present again," the younger otter suggested and looked over to the skyscrapers in the south of the city. "We should get ourselves a good spot to recover and for me to put together all the metal I got. I promise you, we will be done here in no time. As much as I would like to get some of the technology from here, I found the inhabitants are a little bit, well, hard to approach."

Leofwine looked around at the corpses that Völundr left behind. "We did see some of them a bit ago. Some were aggressively searching for food and even attacked us, while others were avoiding us."

Tychon shrugged as the otter told about that. "If there are things we could share with the world above; we should consider that there are those that would use the knowledge to harm others. All we take from here is a two-edged blade, which could end up leading us to issues we are not ready to face, yet."

Crawford pondered a little about those words and made a wry face. "Most likely. It really is a pity that in the end everything we have can be used in the wrong way. And that does make it hard to say, should we share the knowledge or keep it locked away? It ultimately depends on who would use it. And how."

"I am glad you understand. Just like you saw with Khaba's father, the promise of power draws people to evil decisions. So," Tychon's glance wandered over to the other three men around him, "let us head back."

Several hours passed since Leofwine was reunited with his brother and the group managed to get back to the skyscraper in the central part of the southern area. The older of the two otters was smiling nervously as he glanced up at the giant building, and leaned against Vidar next to him. "How is it possible to build up towers like that? I mean, I could imagine Scathsolas to be as deep as this is tall, but still."

"Technology. We probably won't understand any of it," the wolverine replied and went towards a door and looked at the lock. "Neither do I understand that here."

Crawford cleared his throat and approached the door. "First of all, the buildings here use a special structure made from a very solid steel. Second, this lock uses a more complex mechanism than what you usually find in our towns. But, let's look under the mat."

Curious about the thoughts of the young otter, Vidar lifted up the back door's mat and revealed a key, which he swiftly picked up and put into the lock. "This idea is kind of dumb, and that is coming from me."

"Less comments, more unlocking," Crawford voiced as he was tapping his foot in impatience and eventually ended up jumping through the door as soon as it was open. "Hum, this is not too bad."

"Considering the state the rest of the city, I guess anything that is not in disrepair can be seen as 'not too bad'," Tychon spoke with his voice humming a little as he sniffed around and gestured everyone to stop. "There are more canines in this building. But, I also smell a few other things. Nothing I could really identity, though. Hum, what should we do?"

Vidar grinned at that question. "Do something completely insane. Knock at a door and see, if they are friendly or not."

"Yeah, no," Crawford was just shaking his head. "Their weapons are way faster than swords or fists. We should really be careful."

The wolverine let his shoulders sink down. His face told that he was slightly disappointed. "Stealth is not really my strength. It is more Aldric's style, since he can turn himself invisible."

Leofwine sighed as he massaged the upper arms of his fiancé. "Just have some patience. All we need to do is to create a situation, which allows us to talk with them."

"I am not very confident with all this. Maybe we should search for a better place," Crawford suggested as he was turning towards the exit again.

"Stop right there!" a voice now called with enough volume to make Crawford flinch and the others make a pained and annoyed expression. A moment later a doberman was stepping towards them all with his gun raised. "Who are you and what are you planning here, outsiders?"

Tychon just chuckled as he stepped closer to the dog. "You have to excuse us. We were seeking shelter and thought this building would provide us the safety we need to rest our shunned bodies."

"The fuck 're you talking about?" was the canine's reply as he held his gun towards the vulpine's head. "Speak normally for Christ's sake, or do you guys all talk like that?"

"Not me," Vidar admitted with a coy smile. "Anyway, just give us a free room, or a few free rooms to stay, and we all will get along."

A strange look came over the doberman's face. "You want something for free? Nah, I don't think so. This is literally a dog eats dog world, so no freebies here. But, maybe you can make yourself useful."

Rolling his eyes at that remark, Tychon now stepped forward and bowed before the doberman. "What would you have us do?"

"Well, make me a bath, cook my dinner," the dog was grinning widely as he saw the opportunity before him. "Use that tongue of yours? He grinned wolfishly, but failed to realize that Tychon was getting closer to him.

With a quick movement of his legs and tail, the fox swipe kicked the doberman off the floor, and knocked his weapon away from him. "Just so you know, I am done with this nonsense."

"Quite daring of you. I like that," the dog voiced as he got up and dusted off his clothing. "I was just testing what I could get away with here. The name is Barry by the way. So, are you friends of that little bat fella?"

Now Crawford was perking up. "Yes, Khaba is a friend of mine. Have you seen him around here somewhere?"

"He broke into my apartment," Barry told the group with a shrug. "Through the air vent, as if he was a spy in some movie or something like that. Um, you probably wonder what shit I am talking about."

Crawford shook his head. "Not really, I already went over the technology of the menni and humans. It is not all that complicated after you understand the basic mathematics of everything."

Barry giggled a little bit. "You must be that Crawford. I remember Khaba talking about a friend that would have an easier time understanding our technology than he did. Or I do."

"It is seriously not all that difficult, if you open up your mind a little. All you need to do is to learn how things work, their formulas, and then how to use that in practice," the young tinker claimed with a firm voice before he slapped his forehead. "Ah, I digress. When did you meet Khaba and how was he?"

"Yesterday and he was small," the dog said and yawned. "I guess that he was going for the Central to search for you guys. We actually got a few people here that claimed to have been saved by him."

Vidar looked a bit perplexed at that statement. "Uh, wait. Our little, flattering honeycomb? That is impressive, considering he weighs hardly more than my full set of armor."

"They say he was cutting one of the menni half with some magic or so. Whatever, the result is what counts," Barry said with wink of his left eye. "If you want some rooms, I think we have a lot of those available in the seventh floor. They keys are all on the wall for you to take, so just pick some."

Tychon now bowed before the doberman and then turned to his friends. "Well, I think that until the others are here we can try to relax our sore bodies. I can also get us some drinks and food by opening a portal back to Altradia, if you want something."

Barry arched his eyebrows at the fox's statement. "If you wish to compensate us for our hospitality, I wouldn't mind, if you would help us with that power to get us some more food and drinks as well. We run pretty low on stuff most of the time."

"Surely. While I am at it we can go together and bring back as much as we ever could need," Tychon voiced eagerly and then snipped his fingers, opening up a portal in the process. "But, we can only get supplies from one place now, because I have limited energy for that kind of stuff."

"As long as I have pain from a full stomach for once, I am happy with anything," the dog replied and pulled out a cellphone and typed in a message. "I let Gabriel deal with you other folks. He is more of a people's person than I am, anyway." The next moment he was jumping through the gateway with Tychon and left the other four behind.

Crawford then shrugged the situation off and walked towards a double door and pressed a button on a panel next to it. "We just take this machine to get up. I can handle it for you guys, so don't worry."

"It is pretty handy to have guys with magic abilities that can transport us in and out from here," Völundr voiced as he entered the elevator, shortly after followed by Leofwine and Vidar.

As Crawford pressed the button for the seventh floor, a music began to play and the elevator ascended to its destination. Vidar was moving his feet to the tune and humming the melody, while Leofwine was just leaning against the wall and closing his eyes.

After a while the machine reached the seventh floor and a border collie was already waiting for the group with a bright smile on his muzzle and his tail wagging excitingly. "Ah, you are friends of Khaba? I was curious to see you folks from the world above. So, I am here to maybe help you with the type of apartments we have here."

"I am fine," Crawford said as he went to a door and grabbed the key on the wall to enter the apartment. "But you others should better get some introductions. There is a lot of things which I need to invent first once we are back home."

After his younger brother disappeared behind the door, Leofwine turned to Gabriel and waited for the dog to say something. "Um, I and Vidar here are together. So, we may share a room, if that is okay."

"Sure thing," Gabriel responded kindly and walked towards a door with two keys on the wall. "I may show you your room first then."

As the dog entered, and the others followed, the first thing that appeared to the three more tribal mammals was that the room was filled with a nice carpeted ground, a lot of pillows, and some drawers. In addition, a few pictures were drawn on the walls, showing a rather complex cityscape from older times.

Leofwine was immediately looking at the pillows and then stepped towards a door at the side of the room. Carefully he opened it and glanced in confusion at the interior. "Uh, I think my siblings and Aldric flooded a similar room once."

"A bathroom?" Gabriel asked with a chuckle. "Yeah, that can happen. So, you guys know what a bathtub and a toilet are?" He said while pointing at the two objects.

Völundr grunted. "Yes, we know what those are. At least, we can say we have an idea of how they will be used."

"Ah, well," the collie now pressed a button at the toilet and then opened the tap of the bathtub, "you basically use the tap of the tub to fill it with warm water and the button to, um."

"Alright, we get it," the boar replied annoyed at the collie's attempt to make explain how the toilet worked and then looked at the shower. "And, what is that little room for?"

Gabriel crossed his arms and then looked at Vidar. "A shower. You go in there, pull the tap, and get water over you to rub in shampoo. Which is stored in the bottles in the shower. Just rub it in, and then wash it out. To get clean and such. And the last thing we got here the sink, which functions similar, but only for your hands, and maybe feet."

"Why are you looking at me here?" the wolverine asked in a hurt manner as he stepped closer to the dog. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"If you are asking, you get an answer. You really could use a shower right now," Gabriel answered and then looked at the other two guys in the room. "Um, well that concludes everything. There is a kitchen down the floor, where I kind of wish I could instruct you. But my cooking is awful."

Leofwine rubbed his forehead a little. "We just ask my little brother and then have Aldric do the cooking once he comes here."

The collie grinned at the otter's remark while he pulled out a phone and looked at the time display. "Good, then I will leave you to your privacy. Have a nice evening." Without another word he was soon leaving the apartment with his tail swinging around playfully.

"Those guys here are all kind of weird, if you ask me." Völundr scratched his ear a little and walked to one of the windows in order to take a look into the distance. "Though, I am kind of tired from walking, so their hospitality is most welcome. I leave you two for yourselves, and take a nap."

Vidar gave the boar a nod as the porcine was wandering out the of room and then turned to Leofwine with a coy smile. "How about we take a bit of rest as well? We haven't slept since the battle so I can imagine you are quite exhausted."

The otter nodded and then put his arms around the wolverine's midriff. "Yes, I think that will be the best use of our time for now." He yawned just as he said that and began to take off his heavier clothing and laid down on the pile of pillows to snuggle himself into the blanket.

As soon as Vidar's did the same, he was putting his arms around his lover and rolled a bit around so that Leofwine was lying on top of him, the otter's head resting on the wolverine's chest. "Sweet dreams, Leof."

"Ugh, that is not it," Crawford exclaimed as he was screwing together several parts of metal together. Some of which was already assembled into some different machinery, including a gun shaped object. Much to his frustration, he was still missing some of the more important items for the gadget he had in mind. "Okay, I just see if those guys here have some stuff lying around." Angrily the young otter got out of his apartment and sniffed around to follow the scent of Gabriel down the floor, until he eventually stood before a door where his and Barry's scent were rather strong and knocked.

Gabriel was almost immediately at the door and looked a bit perplexed at Crawford but then smiled like he did before. "Ah, what can I help you with?"

Now the otter counted the items he needed from his fingers. "I need some copper threads, something containing energy, and also a sensor piece. And then also a smooth layer of glass, and," he stopped as he noticed something in the collie's hand. "Actually, those smartphones of your kind could provide me all that. Have you one for spare?"

"Uh?" Seemingly confused at the question, Gabriel looked around and then pulled open a drawer to reveal a few models of his own smartphone. One of which he took out and handed it over to Crawford. "Good thing we hoard all sorts of stuff. Do what you please with it."

With a bow the otter quickly run off and back to his room where he was taking the phone apart even faster than he got it. Soon the many different parts were put together again and formed a rather bizarre, and design-wise rather ugly gadget, which however seemed to work perfectly fine as the otter began to crack the programming restrictions with the manual he got from Vadden. After a while the screen was displaying a close by signal and Crawford stashed the device into a bag and got out of his apartment again towards the elevator in order to take it up to the highest of all floors.

But before he was able to enter the elevator, he stopped as he saw that a bernese was inside and waiting to get upstairs as well. "Hello little guy. Are you going up as well?"

"Um, yes. I would like to get to the highest floor to get an overview of the city from there," the otter told the dog as he got inside and saw that the button for the last floor was already pressed. "For research purposes, of course."

"You are a scientist from above?" the bernese asked and then chuckled. "Where are my manners? My name is Patrick, and I have recently been saved by your friend Khaba. I think at least that he is your friend."

Crawford nodded. "He actually is the boyfriend of my sister. The polar opposite of the boyfriend of my brother even. Smart, calm, underweight, reasonable."

"I see. So, he is behaving himself," the bernese concluded with a chuckle. "It is kind of strange that outsiders have come to Adamas. And even more so that they are helping us."

With a tilt of his head, Crawford shook his head. "Not really. Khaba has experienced the life of a slave first-hand. To him your suffering is understandable, and so he did something. That would be the Khaba I know at least."

Patrick now looked at the display of the elevator and then moved his feet around. "There is hardly all that much solidarity amongst us. I and the others that escaped were all laborers, but there also servants, and guards. Personal servants are offered better living conditions, thus they are very loyal to the menni, while the guards always fear each other for elimination. It is a mess."

"That sounds essentially like politics to me," Crawford yawningly told Patrick as the elevator finally came closer to their destination. "If nobody breaks out of the system, it will continue like that." Now as the elevator came to a hold, Crawford and Patrick found themselves up in something that looked like an entire house on top of the roof.

Several of the dogs were looking at the newcomers, all equipped with some sort of weapon, and wearing makeshift clothing. One of them, a rather burly and big leonberger, was now approaching them and crossing her arms. "I see, you are one of the people from above. Nice to meet you. I am Anna, the, well kind of leader of this bunch here?" She was now pointed around her. "Ah, so how can we help ya?"

"Um, greetings. I am Crawford and I just wanted to test out something, and require some oversight of the city for this," the otter explained and walked towards one of the windows and checked his signal. "But, while I am here, what do you know about six gems, which are aligned after the colors of light? We are kind of searching for those in order to save the world and so. Or well, you know, for some nightly illumination."

Anna shook her head. "Nothing we can help you with. We know barely enough to get things working here, and if I understand it correctly, you speak of some magic stuff and such. We lack the experts for that."

Crawford shrugged as he was twisting his gadget around and walking alongside the windows to get a glimpse of every building. "Okay, I think with Aldric we do at least have an expert somewhere. As for my research," he was now arching an eyebrow and shaking his head. "Impossible, there were two readings all of the sudden, and now only one up north. Or I somehow messed up building this thing."

The leonberger now turned her sight away from the otter and shrugged as she then turned to the other dogs. "Anyhow, we have treated the wounds of the people here and," she stopped as something in her pocket started vibrating. As she pulled out a cellphone, her eyes narrowed for a moment and she took the call. "Ophania, I am currently busy."

"Anna, you need to send some units here. There is something outside. It already killed people, and I am not sure, if we can escape," Ophania blurted out on the other end of the line.

"Oh for fuck's sake," now the burly canine looked over to three of her men and then at Patrick. "What do we have to deal with?"

"N-not sure," was the reply of the malamute. "This is nothing I have seen before; it is neither organic nor a robot. Kind of like a living being made from crystal."

The leonberger nodded and then gestured something to the three men she looked at before. "I send you some guys. We can handle this, don't worry." She then ended the call and walked towards a table and picked up a shotgun that was lying on it. "Okay, we got some trouble over at Seraph's place. Let's fill some asses with lead."

Nodding at their leader's command, the other dogs now grabbed their weapons and left towards the elevator.

Crawford, now a bit worried as he looked at his gadget again, stepped carefully towards Anna and spoke, "If I am correct, this is probably going to be a magical hazard. Have you ever fought something magical?"

"Nah," the dog gave back and gave Crawford a wink. "But I got my boomstick." A laughter followed her sentence and she gestured Crawford to follow. "I need to show you that in praxis. Patrick, go to floor seven and get me the other surface guys."

"Why don't we just stop at floor seven and pick them up?" the bernese asked and then yelped as he was grabbed and dragged into the elevator by Anna, along with Crawford.

"Good thinking," she said and pressed the button for the seventh floor. "I need to see those guys for myself anyway."

After several moments of waiting, and annoying ambiente music, the elevator eventually came to a hold, and Anna stormed out eagerly as she knocked heavily at the door of Völundr.

With a deep grunt the boar eventually opened the door and stared at Anna with a mix of anger and confusion. "You are?"

"Anna, nice to meet you," the leonberger answered and pulled the procine out of the door frame. "We need some hands on something, so you come with us now."

Völundr's jaw dropped for a moment. "What in Freya's name is going on with you lunatics here?"

"We got a monster running lose, so we need some warriors," Anna explained while crossing her arms. "I take you are willing to help some people, aren't you?"

"Uh," that question made the boar scratch his nose. "Alright, I come with you, giant hag."

"Pfft," she took the reply with a grin and gave Völundr the bird. "You are not all that sexy, if you talk that way."

Völundr stumbled backwards at that remark and fell down on his butt. He was blushing heavily under his thick brown pelt. "I am not here to flirt, you," he was shaking his head getting up without finishing his sentence.

"Men are all the same," Anna whispered as she knocked at Vidar's and Leofwine's door. "Hey, I smell ya! Take a bath!" She received no answer however. And instead of trying it again, she pulled out a key and unlocked the door. "Aww, they look so cute together," she said as her eyes glanced over the two sleeping mustelids. But instead of letting them sleep again, she pulled out her cellphone again and swiped and pressed several times on the display.

Vidar jumped up with a shriek as a loud metal song woke him from his slumber. "What in the name of freaking Hel is going on here!?"

"Good morning you turtledoves," Anna said as she pulled up the two mustelids and sniffed over the. "Okay, no time for showers. Put on something and then follow me. We got stuff to do!"

Leofwine quickly put on his clothing as he looked over the leonberger and then out of the door frame. "So, what exactly do you want us to do for you?"

"Just some help with a monster," the dog replied and then proceeded out of the flat with her tail wagging. "In case you feel like dealing with this shit. Your little brother is also with us."

Those words made Leofwine look scared, and he would have turned pale, if his fur did not cover him. "Crawford, get over here!"

Slowly, but with his face showing a touch of determination, the younger otter entered the apartment and shook his head. "No, I will go with them. Lives are on the line, and they have no idea about magic at all. And I did spend my time studying it alongside mechanics and the technology of this city."

"Craw, you know that I said that I don't want to bemother you anymore, but I need to tell you that this is potentially going to be a life-threatening situation, do you understand me?" Leofwine asked with his breath shaking slightly. "I don't want to lose you or Lucille."

"She and I have been in life-threatening scenarios ever since we left Topaz Lake. We are not some children, who can't fight back, we are almost adults!" Crawford exclaimed his calmness slowly changing to a slight anger. "I will take care of myself, and be sure that Lucille is leagues above the both of us."

With a sigh the older otter scratched his ear and pulled Crawford into a hug. "Okay, but stay behind me and Vidar, okay," he muttered and then looked over to his lover with a weak smile.

The wolverine already had his armor on, and Laevateinn was hold firmly in his grip. "Can't let my future brother-in-law die before our wedding now, can I?" He sheathed his sword and then flexed his arms a little. "So now, let's move our legs and get this done!"

Around three hours later, the group led by Anna was approaching the area from which they got the message of Ophania. The leonberger had her shotgun ready and glanced up ahead with a bored expression. "Huh? Are we to late for the party? No crystal monsters around, I guess."

Crawford, who was holding his gadget firmly in his hand, got closer to the dog and pointed on his display. "I still get a weak signal. We need to venture a little further, and then we should be able to approach it."

"You know, you are one really adorable nerd," Anna told the otter and ruffled through his head fur. "Love it, you are doing a great job here. So, how powerful is the magical impulse?"

"Around three times the average of a normal person. Which is troublesome, but we should manage," Crawford explained as the group came towards the small, roughly maintained settlement. "Also, it is hard to say how much destruction occurred, considering the general state of Adamas."

Leofwine however cringed for a moment, and his tail hit two of the dogs behind him. "O-over there." He was covering his eyes and turned towards Vidar, much to the confusion of the others.

It took Crawford and Anna a moment, and a glance further ahead, to see what was going on. Multiple bodies laid scattered around, torn to pieces, or pierced violently by shards.

"It is alright Leofwine, just stay close to me," Vidar soothingly whispered into Leofwine's ear as he walked up to Anna with him. "I think we should search for survivors and relocate them at your tower. This place is done for."

"Yes," Anna said with an unnervingly cold voice. "Spread out men! We have to help where we can!"

The three male dogs nodded and swiftly went towards different buildings of the area to search for people that may have survived.

Leofwine meanwhile tightened his hold around Vidar and began sobbing. He wasn't saying anything, and it seemed that he was not paying attention to his surroundings either.

"Vidar, you should help around here. I will take care of him," Crawford offered himself and then turned to Anna to give her his device. "Look at the signal. If the source of the impulse reappears, get me immediately, understood?"

"Gotcha," the dog replied and took off herself now to look for people that required help.

With a quick lick over Leofwine's cheek, Vidar then strode off with Völundr to do the same. Leofwine was still shaking like a leaf in the wind, as Crawford sat down next to him.

"You can't prevent those things from happening, you know?" the younger otter told his big brother as he looked over to some of the mangled bodies. "It was out of our hands. This time, and every time before. We all are just mortals, and have our own limits to do good and bad. And, running away from the horrors of the bad will not make them go away. Closing your eyes does not make it vanish. It only shows that you try desperately to escape reality."

There was no respond at first, but after a few moments Leofwine's tear stained face turned to that of his brother.

"Back when all this happened, I and Lucille were hiding in a cave at the river. We got away, but the memory when we came back to the village, and had to learn that we were now orphaned, it does also linger in my mind," Crawford continued and took a deep breath. "As does the moment when we found you drifting on the lake. You tried to end the pain, but caused so much more for everyone else."

Averting his eyes for a moment, Leofwine muttered something, "I thought of my own life as worthless. Because I was not a warrior like pops, and because constantly I was reminded of my supposed abnormality."

"But what about now? You have found someone in your life, went through the lands, and even help in preventing a planet-wide disaster," Crawford reassured his brother as he stood up and offered him his hand. "You have no more reason to be sad. Smile instead."

"Who is the older brother of us two, I wonder?" Leofwine replied as he grabbed Crawford's hand and got up. He wiped off the tears from his face, and then tried to smile. "I am, but I have only now begun to grow up."

The younger otter sighed and then looked over to the others. "And it looks as if they found already a few dozen people. Things are not as," he abruptly stopped in his sentence and looked at some of the debris around. "Do you, hear this?"

Now perking his ears, Leofwine glanced around as well and began to sniff for strange scents. Quickly he run towards a pile of rubble and pushed aside some of the lighter fragments concrete.

In the debris, the unmoving shape of a malamute stuck in between what seemed to be the remains of furniture. Although faintly, it was still visible that she was breathing.

"Crawford, get Vidar to me!" Leofwine directed his brother and began to move more of the concrete as the younger otter run towards the wolverine. "Don't die on me, I will get you out of here!" Fiercely and determined he pushed more of the debris aside, not minding that he cut himself at some glass fragments, and got little by little closer to the malamute.

"Don't overwork yourself, Leof," Vidar called out as he climbed right into the debris and began pushing aside some of the heavier piles around them.

"Ophania!" now Anna's voice called as the leonberger joined the two mustelids and helped them removing all the wood and concrete, until they finally freed the malamute.

Exhausted by the ordeal, Leofwine quickly dropped to the ground, his feet bleeding from several glass shards, and his arms sore.

"Okay then, let me see what I can do for her," Völundr now said as he approached the scene, already charging his magic for a healing spell that he casted upon Ophania with a smile. "She should make it at this point. Now, let us get everyone out of here and see about whatever attacked them." With his powerful arms the boar lifted up Ophania on his shoulders and then glanced at Leofwine and focused some of his magic upon him.

Feeling his wounds disappearing, Leofwine got up again and then took a deep breath. "Don't you guys wonder, where this creature may have gone to?"

"Yeah," Anna voiced with a sorrowful tone. "It really wonders me, as it suddenly appeared and disappeared. It is, wait a second," she now pulled out the gadget that Crawford handed to her. "Two signals. One in the North, the other was here." Her eyes widened as she looked over at the sky. "Holy Mother Maria, it is manifesting again!"

Just as those words were uttered, something appeared not far from them in the air. Crystalline forms manifested themselves, forming a shape that was comparable to an Orchid. Its bud was unnervingly moving around, and a voice in a strange language whispered something.

"This being," Vidar was now drawing his blade and channeling all his magic energy through it. "Is this what we wanted to safe everyone from?"

"Aleftav, the Harbinger of the Void," Anna worded as she pulled out her shotgun and aimed for the bud. "Aleph, the first, Tav, the last. Origin and End. This is what it all was referring to." Hesitating at the sight of the creature, Anna was unable to pull the trigger. "W-why can't I move anymore?"

"Fear," an ominous, feminine whisper explained as Aleftav floated towards the group, with several crystalline blades forming around its body. "Your subconscious tells you that it is useless to defy the inevitable fact of your demise. Close your eyes, and hand over your soul"

"You need to shut up, you oversized weed," Vidar replied as he grabbed his sword and casted a fireball through it against this new opponent.

The spell pushed Aleftav backwards, but it quickly regained posture. "You have not the power to threaten me." Now the blades of Aleftav rushed towards the wolverine with the speed of sounds, their tips aiming for the heart and head of the warrior.

"I won't let this happen!" Leofwine now shouted as he focused his magic, and caused a wall of ice to block the two blades of Aleftav. "Because of your mere existence people have died. Because of you Vidar lost some of his best friends, because of you Gaius died, because of you," his voice was trembling more and more as he grabbed his sword and activated its enchantment to the fullest, causing the air around him to form ice crystals.

Aleftav remained unimpressed however. "How pathetic. The hubris of hope and courage, it will only push you to your own deaths. Now embrace the void!" With a burst the two blades now shattered and reformed into the six gems, which were once the seal of the crystalline entity.

Anna, who now finally regained her senses, aimed for one of the gems and pulled the trigger. The spread of her shotgun however did nothing to the gem at all. "This is bad! We need to escape!"

"At this rate, you wouldn't make it," someone called from behind her. With his head looking up high, Tychon was now stepping closer and closer, his hands put together as he pointed all his magic to the point behind Aleftav. "We need to get rid of it as fast as possible!"

Vidar now looked with a perplexed face at the fox, and then over to Aleftav. "So, you got a plan for this? I doubt we will have an easy time taking this flower down."

Without answering the wolverine's question, Tychon folded his hands and began to meditate. "Try to block its attacks. I need some time for this spell to work."

"If you say so," Vidar replied as he focused the magic of his sword again, and looked up at their opponent. "Not sure how to block this thing however. Any ideas?"

Now Crawford jumped into the skirmish, and held out the gun he made earlier. With a pull of the trigger, the gun released a projectile of pure plasma and hit Aleftav's body directly.

The entity was seemingly irritated all of the sudden, and now pointed with all of the gems at the young otter. "You dare attacking me, you fool?"

Taking the second he had, Crawford dashed behind a wall as the six gems fired elemental magic at him, and pulverized the spot he was standing on. "Its body is pretty much resistant to anything. But heat only to a certain extent. Fire won't be enough, unless you can increase its heat enough!"

"In that case," Leofwine now stepped closer to Vidar and grabbed his hand. "We need to channel our magic together!" Tightening his grip, Leofwine began to hum a tune as he channeled all his magic to the wolverine.

Feeling the energy wandering all over his arm into his body, Vidar lifted up Laevateinn once more and pointed its blade at Aleftav. With all his might, he evoked a massive storm of white flames, which engulfed the crystalline entity completely within mere seconds. "We are doing it, Leof!"

Just as it seemed however that things were working in their favor, the flames were extinguished and Aleftav, although its outer shell was damaged, was still hovering above them. "It is enough. You mortals shall learn your place!"

"No," Vidar now dropped his sword in exhaustion, as his head sunk down. With his gaze fixed on the ground, he was feeling how his body was hardly able to continue at this point. "We put in all our might, and we still achieved nothing?"

"It is inevitable. All paths lead to the same end. You have gone your path with the folly that it would lead you to victory, yet it ends like any other," the massive shape of Aleftav spoke with a voice that pierced through the mind of the wolverine. "Now perish."

Vidar was screaming as a pain shot through his body, leaving him completely defenseless as the orchid-shaped entity before him formed a lance of crystal and shot it down towards his chest.

Tychon however now opened his eyes, and shot a glare at the weapon before it completely disappeared out of sight. The fox huffed as he stepped closer to Aleftav, his hands bursting with arcane energy. "Songs of the muses reverberate through my heart. The virtues fill me with determination and joy. And my will," his hands were now appearing to be on fire as his eyes began to glow in a strong, green light, "shall not falter before the face of death!"

"You are a fool to think you could stand against me," Aleftav replied to Tychon as it formed several more spears and send them flying towards the vulpine.

In an almost dance-like motion, Tychon evoked his magic several times, and caused the polearms to return back to their creator, causing several chunks of crystal to splitter around the area. "Return from whence you came, you foul, spiteful creature!" The energy around Tychon now began to engulf his body almost completely as he folded his hands and closed his eyes again.

As Aleftav was about to attack another time, it suddenly felt that its body was dragged by some force. A rift opened behind it, sucking in debris and air into whatever laid beyond. "Ah, you think you can get rid of me by sending me far away? How presumptuous." Forming back the gems back to their blade forms, Aleftav let itself be pulled through the rift, leaving behind nothing but a destroyed settlement.

"It is, gone?" Anna now lowered her shotgun as she approached the fox with a wide smile. "You did it! You just saved all of our asses, um," she now looked closer at Tychon and her expression changed immediately.

"All I could do is to buy us some time," the fox spoke before he broke out in a coughing fit and fell to his knees. Splatters of blood came out of his maw every time, and his breathing got faster be the moment.

Leofwine quickly rushed to the fox and turned him around so he could lie flat on the ground. "Tychon, what is happening to you?"

"Aether Burst," Völundr stated calmly as he knelt down and laid a hand on Tychon's chest. His face was twisted to a frown. "If you use the so called Aether Focus, you unlock your physical and mental powers to a degree that is otherwise not possible. But, if you do this to the outer maximum, you destroy your own body with it. He is going to die, if we don't take of him now."

Tychon just chuckled as his ears witnessed the boar's words. "I was not meant to live it seems. All I am is a gap filler, a being with no purpose to the world other than hosting a soul. And yet, I don't want to go yet."

"I am doing my best, but I am a novice," Völundr gave back with his voice becoming rather stressed out. He placed his hands over the head and chest of the fox and began focusing. "If you die on me, I am going to the other side and kick your ass for that."

A chuckle came from the muzzle of the young fox, as he looked up at the dome over Adamas and closed his eyes. "Gaius, I am sorry." Without even witnessing what was going on around him, his consciousness soon faded.

"Tychon?" Leofwine's eyes began to leak again as the fox was lying motionless before him. "No. Why is this happening?"

Völundr shook his head. "He is still alive, don't worry. We need to bring him somewhere safe, then he will be standing back up in no time." And just as he said, the boar lifted Tychon over his shoulder and glanced over to Anna. "I will also help out with taking care of everyone else. As a sign of our goodwill."

"Yeah, yeah, you are the nice guy," the leonberger replied and laughed at the procine. "I will send good ol' Seraph a message that his God didn't do jack shit today."

"Do I need to understand the context of that statement?" the boar asked as he glanced at the cellphone Anna was caring with her.

"Once he sees your two lovebirds over there, he will give you all a reason to punch him in the face," she replied and then lifted up Ophania from the ground. "I never knew why she married that asshole."

"I am sorry. I failed to keep the promise," Tychon whispered again and again as his consciousness was returning. He jumped up in surprise as he found himself in a field of flowers. With a careful glance around the area, Tychon spotted a waterfall, and a stream close by, visited by a number of small birds and insects. "Am I?"

"Welcome, Tychon," a voice now said from behind the fox. Though Tychon turned around to spot whomever it belonged to, he just saw the flower field around him.

Slowly he stepped forward, perking his ears to locate other noises around him. He sniffed a little around the air, and then wandered into the garden's vast landscape.