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BROTHERS IN ARMS

There are but two things that make men risk their own lives: The fear of losing everything, or the sorrow of having lost everything.

In the dark times that are 1796 A.D., it is unfortunately common to see people spending their entire existence merely focused on 'surviving'. Surviving against death, illness, poverty, or even life itself, full of challenges and trials. Countless villages scattered throughout the country inevitably end up forgotten and forsaken by their lords due to the never-ending attacks of monsters, all of them led by one being whose rise has been lost in the tides of time and soaked in blood and misery.

Dracula.

Three years ago, Richter Belmont, a descendant of a glorious lineage of vampire hunters, slain Count Dracula and his servants risking his own life in the process. As the news spread to all reaches of the land, mankind slowly began its joyful and painful process of rebuilding their lives, aiming to achieve their sought desire of stepping out of 'survival' and reentering the 'living'.

Unfortunately, the fall of the Vampire King was not the end; his monsters and aberrations now roam from village to village, without any goal or direction beyond fulfilling their need for death and corruption. These abominations and death bringers were not the only so-called monsters: amongst mankind's ranks were those with dark hearts, scheming, and seizing upon the opportunities of power and wealth of their own accord or in the wake of destruction and grief.

And yet still some found what little work they could in the new world they were left in, such as the two gifted brothers we are about to meet....

"FIVE THOUSAND COINS?!" The raging shout echoed through the 'blooming' village of Azarahelm, coming from the chief's office in his somewhat luxurious two-floor stone house. The only thing blooming in the town however was the growth enjoyed by the chief's continued income of imposed taxes, leaving the remaining houses with nothing more than chaff roofs and clay walls.

"With that money, I could pay Belmont himself to lick my boots!" exclaimed the village leader, an oversized walrus even by well-fed walrus standards. His elegant white frilled shirt was coated with a collection of fat and grease stains, some recently added from the leftovers flying out with each angry word. For any normal person, he would have also stained his spacious and sturdy dark oak table, a mess of papers pushed to one side to give space for a silver plate of roasted chicken and potatoes, but the walrus' incredible belly managed to keep his (surprisingly) firm leather out of spitting range.

"Probably, that is, if he was available and not busy taking down Dracula's castle." The tall wolf sitting in front of the village chief answered, trying his best to hide a mix of laughter and disgust aimed at the so-called chief. "But unfortunately for you, we are your only option left."

"Hah! You talk too pretty for a beggar, kid!" He points a greasy chicken bone at the wolf, shaking it and sending shreds of food splattering fall over his papers. "Look at you and your brother! Plain cotton clothes, two ridiculous backpacks, a bunch of well water stuffed into those fake holy ampoules, a pathetic wooden bow with no quiver within sight, and that weird spear of yours that you probably stole from the last village you were in since it's pretty much the only real weapon I can see!"

The brown-bearded wolf simply turned his head to look over his shoulder at his brother, standing near the doorframe with his arms crossed and his back resting against the stone wall.

The village's chief didn't know them at all or how they worked, so he wouldn't understand that his brother, a white athletic and slim wolfox of average height (though shorter than his brother) with a natural blue mask over his eyes. Despite the difference in body type and size the brothers dressed the same, preferring lightweight and somewhat looser clothes for mobility and agility, leaving them free and unencumbered for better use of unique skills and items.

His brother, Amal, always preferred to leave the negotiations up to him, so when the wolf looked at him to see if he wanted to add something, all he got was a roll of his amber eyes and a shrug.

As always, this part of the job was left to him, so he turned back at the walrus's challenging glare and grinned. "Well, sir, then allow me to explain your situation and your options."

"You are desperately asking for anyone or anything to simply clean the nearby village that, as far as your dumb, cowardly soldiers have reported, is full of ghouls, which means nothing since they not only were they barely within a mile from the village but also they don't even know the difference between a zombie, a ghoul, and their mothers. Also, without proper information, we have to hope that there is nothing worse hidden inside the structure's wreckage, like devils or beasts."

The four soldiers, males who were as cowardly as they were big and clumsy with low-quality swords and spears that looked more like broomsticks with sharpened metal tips, winced at the accuracy of the wolf's word on their weak report. Their boss widened his eyes and tried to open his mouth to argue back, but the wolf quickly interrupted him with a raised tone to keep him shut.

"ALSO! While you pathetically try to justify your offer as a safety measure against the inevitable day when the monsters will come to this village, even newcomers such as ourselves can see that your real purpose is simply to loot the village to the last of whatever coin it had left and taken that place as your own. If by any chance, ghouls do march to this place before that, you'll surely flee with all the gold you manage to hide under your jiggling hills of skin, while your people are used to slow them down. Which, I should tell you; it won't be much of a distraction, seeing how you managed to starve those people to such an extent that a ghoul would be lucky to find enough meat to last five minutes."

Both brothers tilted their heads curiously for a few seconds when the walrus, trying to find words to reply such fierce accusations, began opening and closing his mouth as he stumbled for words. They couldn't figure out which was louder: The chief's wide mouth closing with the wet sloshing sound of spit and food, or his multiple chins flapping against each other when he opened it.

Snapping out of the trance, the wolf slowly rested his large paws over the table and ignored the sound of paper ripping under his claws as he laid over it to lock his dark brown eyes on the boss', who flicked his sight for a moment to notice his blue fur lines, one in each cheek, somehow matching his brother's even with his dark brown hair and beard over his chin.

"Finally, you have only us to accept the job and we are charging a value that you surely have and way more because you know your soldiers wouldn't fare any better than the ones who died defending that village. And if you do that, you would finally be left defenseless, and the townspeople wouldn't waste a second to mob and take back what is rightfully theirs by force, with your head on a stake. You can't even tell your soldiers to follow us to get the money back after the job, or even chase us in case we run away with it."

The walrus was silent for a few moments, letting the idea sink in. The wolf stood up with his arms crossed, letting his dark cotton shirt squeeze his arm muscles not hidden under his matching mantle, adorned with light blue lines and symbols around its edge. "You either refuse our offer and stay here waiting for your cheap knight in shining armor, or you accept our generous offer of 'half-now-half-later' and pray to cover our debt with some stuff you can find when rebuilding the town."

All reaction the lupine got in return was a slow but crescent red tone of anger rising on the other's face, and after a few seconds, he began mumbling a dozen unrecognizable curses and swears as he started opening and closing drawers around until five sacks landed roughly over his papers, a wonderful sound of coins tingling from it. "FINE!" Was his first understandable word, followed by "Take this fucking money and GET TO WORK!"

"We knew you were the head of this village for a reason." The wolf flashed his best courteous smile while stuffing the bags inside his backpack, making sure it wouldn't make much noise while walking. The villagers would not look kindly at that, regardless of who they were. "We assure you that we will report back in 2 days if we are alive by then."

His polite farewell words were replied with a grunt and a shooing gesture from a webbed paw. Without anything to add, both brothers grabbed their stuff and left without any escort.

"I told you this would work." The wolf said to his brother after a few steps outside the chief's doorstep, making their way to the main road for some food before heading to the next village. "It was annoying to check the soldier's trail, indeed, but it paid off. Did you saw how scared they got?"

Amal shrugged in return, simply looking forward, one paw holding his backpack's strap, while the other had his bow firmly grasped. "Or they could have simply accused us of witchcraft and tried to burn us alive. Yan, couldn't you just simply offer our help without all the theatrics?"

Yan, snickering at the remark, stopped a few seconds to fetch a gold coin from his small leather purse hanging on his belt and throw it to a beggar rat sitting against a clay wall, one of many misfortunate souls living in that village. "I could, but we need to impress them as much as we can, so they talk us up. Do you really think they would accept our price if we were a pair of nobodies? They heard about our last job. Even the smallest good-will does great in the long run."

"Like the smaller demon you split in half, last month? Some of his dark blood splashed in your wound, and you only let me take care of you the next day, in the woods. You were running a high fever, but no, you had to go flashy to impress." Amal complained as they turned on the main street, which wasn't much better than the rest of the town, only adorned with a dozen vendors trying to sell anything they had from food to clothes, and a handful of homeless as well, who, by the looks of it, wasn't in any better or worse situation than that of the vendor's.

"Aren't you the cutest when you whoa-hey!" Yan exclaimed, feeling his coin bag yanked from his paw by his brother, who pointed at the woods. "Yeah yeah, just go ahead and make our camp, I'll buy stuff for dinner."

Before Yan could protest, Amal went on, just like his brother did at the negotiation "Don't forget, last time you bought food, you confused green apples for unripe ones and cooked them anyway. It tasted horrible." And without waiting for a reply, he just walked away, heading to the first vendor, already trying to push his best avocados on the wolfox.

Grumbling, Yan shrugged just like his brother and went for their spot in the woods located between the town and the destroyed village. It was there that the brothers had rested, before scouting their next target. Planning future negotiations often proved to work better than expected.

The dynamics of their little duo had always been like that; Amal being the calm, careful, and detail-oriented one, while Yan was instinctive, reckless, and risky. Perhaps ironic was the fact that Yan was a few years older, yet Amal often played the role of older brother role. This was how it had been ever since they decided to be monster hunters together.

Not that they had many options.

They finally met up again around sunset, with the crimson light flashing red on every green leaf on the forest, still rejoicing with the last breath of spring they had, while in the east, a bright starry summer night was about to shine. The camp was already set, the fireplace from yesterday already ablaze with freshly found kindle. Yan was propped up against his backpack, using it as a cushion between himself and a tall tree, just as Amal walked into camp. The wolfox's bow was resting around his chest, as his paws were full carrying an old basket with some food and two gallon-sized water skins tied at his hip.

"I could have helped you," Yan said, without opening his eyes or even flicking his ears at his brother. "And before you ask, there's no one around us for at least four miles, give or take."

"You know I can carry those without any trouble," Amal replied, laying the basket on the floor, with a decent cut of meat, two carrots, and a potato. "Most of our money went into this piece of meat, the rest was about to spoil so they practically handed it over to me. But I can't blame them for trying to sell, after all."

"I can smell it, it's going to ¬¬¬make a nice din-ouff!" He gasped, as the gallon of water went flying to land on his lap, opening his eyes just in time to see Amal taking the other water skin's strap from his shoulder as if weighed nothing and let it fall on the floor, sloshing about loudly. The water skin on Yan's lap was cold and fresh.

Yan simply slid it aside and stood up, stretching his back with a low grunt before finding his waterskin next to his backpack "I spent an hour or so trying to find dry twigs. If you were here, you would be able to take the water off any twig and make it an easy fire in five minutes."

Moving closer to his brother, he shook his water skin up and down near the wolfox's face, who simply sighed and held the base of it, and with a faint cold mist coming from his palm, the water turned cold as if it was recently pulled out of a well. "Just like you could just heat the air and burn any twig you could find. Extracting the water is no problem, so it was easier to just send you ahead to scan the place again."

Yan emptied his water and sat back, resting stretched out and far more comfortable than before. "I've been using magical enhancements to tune into the sound from the village for hours. At first, I was just carefully searching for any curse coming from within, but all I could hear were ghouls walking aimlessly. No breathing, snoring, or any other sound suggesting someone is there. Since no living being is going near that place, the ghouls will stay there until something draws them out to hunt."

Amal nodded, eyeing the carrot he was holding and taking off its skin with a thin ice blade created on the underside of his thumb, moving as if he was holding a real knife. "And since that fat greased man won't waste any coin with any festivity for his people, odds are that an unsuspecting and unknowing carriage will draw those ghouls out with the sound of horses and wheels. In the end, thanks to him the village has been safe for so long."

With a long yawn, Yan placed his stuff on the floor, finding the softest space on his backpack to lay his head on, turning his head away from the fire. "I'll take a nap, so wake me up when dinner is ready."

How long has it been, since we choose this life? Amal thought to himself while working, using a bowl he got from his bag to shove the cut pieces of carrot and potato in, setting it in between his legs as he prepared the food effortlessly after having prepared dozens of meals just like this for years now. He did not need the fire or a spoon for cooking, since he made the water boil and swirl within seconds of his paw passing over the water. Not that we have much choice, with our gifts...

They were born in a small village where they spent most of their childhood, the name of which was lost along many other places destroyed by Dracula's monsters. They lived with their parents, a baby sister of over a year old, and a new sibling still inside their fox mother's belly until they were attacked, or better described, wiped out in a single night, which happened to be the only memory Amal has of his family.

By some twisted stroke of luck, their mother was feeling sick due to her pregnancy, so both brothers went to the river a little further in the woods near their house for water, while their father took care of her. Yan carried a full bucket of water while Amal had a water skin to handle with his size, also learning how to manage his way through the woods and to the river.

But when they returned, all they saw was a burning house, and the corpse of their father, headless, on the floor.

Amal almost shrieked and dashed to their burning house, but Yan snapped his brother's muzzle shut with a paw, and dragged him back to the woods until he was somewhat sure no one was around to hear them. He knew his brother would continue to struggle and whimper even after reaching what remained of their parents.

"They are gone," Yan said, not trying at all to hide his tears rolling down his cheeks over his blue facial marks. He held Amal's already damp cheeks with his bigger paws, forcing the smaller pup to look into his eyes. "Dad tried to save them, but he couldn't. If we go there, we won't survive. What can we do that Dad couldn't?"

It was way past midnight when they finally stopped walking, resting in a small cave behind a waterfall they went once with their parents, both brothers cried in each other's arms until they fell asleep, tired enough so not even the fear could keep them awake, the waterfall's roar muffing their last farewell to their family. They got what little rest they could, knowing tomorrow would be no easier on them.

Two kids without money or living relatives to protect them had no safe place in the world so, fearing people's abuse and monsters often attacking villages rather than secluded portions of the woods, the brothers decided to stay in the forest for their safety. After all, some people lived reclusively in forests for a lifetime, even if no one would miss them or even know of them when they were gone. So long as the brothers looked out for each other, it'd be all right.

And so, time went on and day after day, Yan and Amal survived. Allowing their sorrow to lurk away from their minds to become a faint dreadful memory.

Sharing their knowledge and discoveries every morning with their voices muffed by the waterfall, planning every day what they would do. And no matter what, they'd always agree to stay at sight distance.

Slowly, their natural talents began to develop into something more, something they hadn't even taken notice of at first. Through natural affinity and increase efficiency, some chores became exclusive for one over the other by agreement; Amal was responsible for fishing, finding fuel for bonfires, tracking other water sources when they were too far from their original spot, and cooking, while Yan excelled in tracking, hunting, finding fruits, climbing trees or walls and lightning the fire.

At first neither paid special attention to it, perhaps they only thought it was some individual talent, but it was only in mid-Autumn the realization of what they could do came almost all at once.

Yan had recently dug a foot-long hole in the dirt to hide most of their bonfire's light where dinner would be cooked, as soon Amal returned with enough fish for the day using a primitive but practical stick with a carved pointy tip.

Both brothers, wearing nothing but tattered pants worked on their chores that day. Yan was sitting near the hole, carving a new spoon with a rock while watching Amal focused intently on the water as some silverfish rushed through his exposed calves. The young wolfox stood motionless with his 'spear' armed and raised on his right, legs spread and steady for balance.

It never took much time for Amal to fish for dinner, so it was casually that Yan drifted his stare to the crystalline water, able to see some of their future meal knifing down the shallow river, constantly moving with the current, sometimes fast when swimming forward and sometimes just letting the water take them away.

Both brothers stared almost at the same time at a particularly big fish that came lazily closer to Amal's range. Amal didn't move an inch save for his eyes tracing down the fish and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Legs firm and still, Amal released a swift thrust strengthened by a quick turn of his hips. A low sound of water precisely pierced and a quick splash of the struggling fish spending his last moments fighting against the inch-thick wood impaling in his mid-section, all occurred in a matter of a second.

Amal silently took the fish out of his weapon and threw it on the grass near his stunned brother, jaw open and eyes widened at the fisher.

It happened for a moment, but Yan was sure of what he saw, even if he couldn't explain what was it: The exact moment before Amal attacked, Yan noticed the fish stood still in place for an instant, just enough for him to see it somehow stop in the current and even struggle briefly before being attacked, as if something squeezed him in place.

Yan had enough experience fishing to know that wasn't supposed to happen.

Not naturally, at least.

Still wearing a shocked expression, he slowly stood up for a better look, this time focusing all his attention first on his brother, staring into his eyes to trace his next preemptive strike, finally narrowing in on another juicy target with scales just as shiny as the previous one. Yan did not dare even blink until he confirmed that something invisible squeezed the fish in place for Amal to successfully catch it.

Yan froze in terror, his still traumatized young mind racing uncontrollably over possibilities of his brother being possessed or killed and replaced by a doppelganger, all the while Amal just kept working unaware of his brother's terrified face very slowly turning into a sorrowful look brought on by his grim resolution.

If he is dead or out of my reach, then I failed to save the only thing left for me in this world. I will talk to him, and if he is not my brother anymore, then....I don't care.

The rest of the day went smoothly as always. Yan was still severely shaken by his fears, but since they rarely needed to work together anymore, Amal went on with his duties as if nothing happened, until they retreated to rest.

A moonless night fell slowly over them, dimming the small cave slowly until finally laying in complete darkness by the time both boys put on their tunics and found their improvised beds, made of leaves and fur, by memory and sense of touch. Amal happily rolled over on his side and rested his head on a small bag full of fur used as a makeshift pillow.

Yan, on the other hand, kept laying belly up, trying to keep his heart at a normal pace as he collected every piece of courage he had to finally say something, even if he didn't know what.

"You moron!" Amal shouted, smacking his tail on Yan's belly, the fright made the wolf jump, startled, and a cold sweat began running down under his fur

"W-what?!" He gasped. His jaw hung loosely in shock as he took in heavy involuntary breaths.

"I said 'Good night, brother, I love you' twice and you didn't reply." Amal complained, "You didn't work hard enough to just lie down and sleep suddenly."

"Sorry, I was distracted. Good night, Amal, I love you too." He replied. With all his preparation threw out of the window, he found his voice trembling just a bit.

As the older brother expected, it took just a few seconds before he heard a worried 'what's wrong?' With a deep breath and a hard squeeze of his paws clamped together over his stomach, he managed to ask, "Since when have you been able to make fish stop swimming?"

Yan heard the rustling of Amal's bed as the younger cub twitched in response. So it was not accidental, he did it consciously, Yan thought. He didn't know what to expect, so all he did was simply close his eyes and stay still, waiting for Amal's reply, be it in words or...possibly something worse.

"S-sorry..."

Those words were spurted out with fear and sadness, as the cub began shaking and curling up, hugging his chest sobbing. Yan imagined that'd happen (among getting killed or attacked by some monster), but it did no less to pierce his heart by making his only living family cry.

Even so, he stood silent and waited as Amal's words were echoed by the cave.

"I d-didn't notice for a w-while...i-it just seemed funny, them s-staying still, and I wa-as so proud." The words began to lose it amidst sobs and whines, Yan could almost see his brother's face soaking wet with tears, if that was real. "I-I just know where w-water is, I feel close to it, a-as if...it was pa-art of me..."

Yan did all he could to keep his instinct to hug and soothe his sibling, but one last thing had to be asked, and when all the sound in the cave was Amal's cries, he asked.

"A-are you....still...my brother...or wh-"

He closed his eyes and mouth shut, when he heard quick movement next to him, his body tense and already expecting to be gut or anything, but all he felt was a smaller body collapsing over him, and a pair of trembling arms wrapped around his neck, and wet fur strongly pressed on his own.

"NO! I AM YOUR BROTHER!" Amal shouted, laying over him desperately for some compassion and love, deadly afraid of being shunned by Yan. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know why it happened, I did nothing wrong! I promise I'll never do it again, but please don't leave me alone!"

That was too much for the older wolf, he slid his paws from under his brother's belly, and wrapped his bigger arms tightly around him, rolling over so they were side by side. Amal curled tightly against Yan while the wolf held him close and ran his paw over the wolfox's head and back, calming him down with his broad muzzle close to the other's ear.

"Shh, it's ok...I won't ever leave you, I promise." His fear subdued by his love for his brother, he couldn't stand being so close to him and let him suffer alone, regardless if he was real or a monster. "It's ok, it doesn't matter how you learned to do it, I promise. You're a good brother, always will be."

Amal shook his head violently, slightly rubbing his runny nose against his brother's tunic, "N-no! It's a bad thing, I know it is! Normal people don't do stuff like that, only witches and demons!" The cub shouted, squeezing Yan's neck in his embrace to the point the wolf cub gasped, but Amal didn't notice. "It's temptations to make me turn bad! I swear to God that I won't ever use it again!"

A sharp pinch made the wolfox wince and stop talking; Yan found his brother's pointy ear laying flat over his head and gave it a soft bite, trying to make his brother get hold of himself.

"Amal, listen to me. We are cubs living in the forest, where adults in better situations die doing so, so anything that manages to help us is welcome."

"But what if-"

"I don't care where it came from or if is a pact or whatever it is. What matters is if you use it for good or bad. And so far, you have been using it to save us."

Amal's answer was but a whisper, almost inaudible in the silence of the cave if it wasn't by the proximity.

"I'm scared...I don't want to lose myself...I don't want to hurt you, brother..."

If Yan had any remaining worries, it went all washed away by that comment; it was so innocent, so lovingly, so...Amal, that he couldn't stop smiling and kisses his cub brother's head. "Let's make a promise, then. You will train and get better at your power, but you will only use it to help us or others. Deal?"

Amal's sobbing started to calm down, nodding and humming a positive answer against the other's chest and slowly relaxing, his ears moving back up and tail uncurling to lay warmly over his brother's lap.

"Yan..."

"Hmm?"

"Why can't we hear the waterfall?"

"Uh..."

Amal smiled widely; that question was pretty funny now it has passed so many years. They found out only later that Yan had muffed the waterfall's sound by accident and, just like Amal was connected to the Water, Yan was connected to the Air. Assured once again they'd be together no matter what, they freely began training and exploring their new powers and all they managed to accomplish with them. It was no overestimation that they only managed to survive for three years in the forest purely because of that.

After that, it was a pretty straightforward history: They decided to take that promise of "only good-deeds" to another level and decided to be Monster Hunters: If their power was holy, it was the best use for it. If not, they'd use such a thing against the very own dark entities that cast it upon them. They couldn't call themselves professionals, they certainly would never look it in their attire and stance, but they did what they could, big or small, to help those who needed it. Along the way, they also picked up what skills they could through books and combat to better take down their foes.

Snapping back to reality, Amal took a quick look around but, as he already sensed, nothing bigger than a squirrel was anywhere near them. He didn't need to pay too much attention; after all these years keeping out all senses for anyone and anything became second nature.

As for the meal, it was slightly overcooked but Yan wouldn't even notice. He barely cared, as long he could eat. Amal was sure.

Carefully putting the bowl on the floor, he stood up and kneeled over his brother, shaking him with a soft smile.

"Dinner time."

Both brothers stood side by side as the first sunrays knifed through the sky, glaring to the afar ruined village's entrance to plan their next move. Their steady breath created small clouds of mist before their nostrils as the night's moisture continued to linger in the air. The sun rose from behind the brothers, keeping their vision in their shadows while shining on what once was a gorgeous and well-crafted dark wooden arc, becoming a strong sense of welcoming for any visitor.

With weapons at the ready in their hands and a gallon-sized water skin for each strapped over their shoulders, the brothers mentally prepared themselves. The rest of their equipment was well hidden in a hole protected in a shell of ice an inch thick, complete with a nice camouflage of leaves and twigs.

"Good thing the air is still humid, huh?" Yan said, almost taking a deep breath of the morning scents. Remembering he was relatively close to a rotten army of dead people, he coughed and winced.

Amal simply rolled his eyes, ignoring the question yet answering with a slightly bothered tone. "Just make sure you keep a good pace. It'll be troublesome if you run out of water before we reach there."

"Exactly why you got twice the amount we planned to use." The wolf replied, spitting on the floor for some fake sense of cleanliness in his mouth. "Don't worry, it'll be alright."

Overconfident and over-careful, and without another word they unplugged the water skins but held them close with one paw, positioning for a good run as soon the first rays of light lit up the left pillar of the now ruined arc. Almost instantly, their two voices echoed in the air around them.

"Go."

Dashing through the broken arc, the openings of both water skins were released and water began running down the floor. Spreading further apart, they ran near the main street's edges, only a few inches from the doorsteps from what once were shops, inns, and houses. Silent sneak approaches were not part of the plan. Soon, the sound of their heavy footsteps crushing wood pieces and metal boot tips kicking against dirt and stone began luring the closest ghouls at them, in an increasingly disgusting and sad requiem of eternal hunger and death.

Amal, as expected, took the first kill for himself: Moments after bolting through the city's entrance, he spotted a curled grey figure over a carcass of a big hunting dog that had been eaten beyond resurrection. Its attacker had skin and fur far rotten to the point both merged into a sick tone of dark grey. A single piece of a ripped and dirty frilly cloth hooked to its exposed waist bone hinted at the once-feminine nature of the ghoul.

Hearing the archer hunter approaching, the "female" turned its face towards Amal, frontal teeth already broken and sanded by ripping off flesh from bone. An eye socket near her left temple was cracked open. Where once a left hand adorned elegant jewelry, now only half of an ulna was being used as a brutish blade to rip out any small chunk of meat from the dog's open torso.

Before it could even open its maw, Amal moved his right paw to hook his bow's string, but what touched it was a base of a frozen arrow that quickly gained form from the morning mist condensing into the base of the projectile. In the time he needed to tense the string, the arrow was formed and poised. The sharp tip now rested right over his raised left index finger. It took only a moment of aim before the frost arrow was let loose, a path of powdered ice trailing from Amal to the ghoul's empty eye socket, which jerked backward and collapsed on the floor facing up. Cold mist and powdered ice oozed from both its eye socket and back of its head where the arrow pierced through.

Amal went on and dashed forward, his water manipulation skill allowing him to nullify any weight the water skin had, while Yan followed at a slower pace. The older brother, however, kept on due to the fact he did not need to stop to aim at all. A ghoul on the main street heard the wolf's heavier footsteps and lunged at him, arm stretched out and a ripped open throat spitting dry blood and drool, only to have its head open with a spear. The slash swept from the ghoul's armpit to its head without even reaching the spear's blade. Yan's wind powers extended the air-born force of his blade's cut, just enough to split the ghoul's brain into two pieces, without losing any momentum or breath.

Both halves of the monster's head fell heavily on the floor over pieces of metal and stone, resonating over the ruins, finally luring most of the undead hidden and lost over the small town. Both males kept up their pace, striking down quickly every enemy that showed any attempt to slow them down, while behind them a growing horde followed. The creatures were crawling and lurking out of any alley, hole, or collapsed structure they were taking shelter in before.

Thrust, slash, shot, crush, hit. After so long in this 'career', Amal and Yan had already learned to block certain thoughts or information for their mental health: All they were doing was sending reanimated corpses back to the dead, nothing more or less. Regardless of what they were wearing, their physical state, or even their stature or possible age, they were nothing of their past selves. 'Free their souls, or else they will trap another soul in that eternal hell; we are the only ones who can do it'. That kept them going with whatever they had to free or kill, or even what they had to refuse to deal with and flee, no matter how painful or disgraceful the victims' situation, or even that of the target itself.

Reaching the dry fountain in front of the old cathedral before his brother, Amal quickly dropped the almost empty water skin on the floor and quickly took out two ghouls near him. He held his bow on his shoulder, kneeling in front of the puddle forming and holding his open palm over it in concentration. Yan arrived a few seconds later, panting a little and making sure his water was connected to the puddle before dropping the sack down as well. "Do your stuff, I'll hold them off." He said, standing behind his brother ready to cut open whatever would show up behind Amal.

Their plan was simple: With the two trails of water at the main road's borders, Amal would use his water powers to create as many ice blades he could, shooting them at the middle section and chopping the rotten meat and bones of any lured out ghouls to pieces. The remaining Ghouls would need to be taken care of 'directly'.

Amal closed his eyes and focused with all his might. The puddle under his palm quickly frosted over with ice that began running down both paths they created. Countless thin and sharply pointed icicles formed over the water trails, pointed at the biggest mass of ghouls marching to them, vibrating with power as they awaited Amal's command.

That looks interesting, they might do it...let's wear them out a bit, first.

Slowly but efficiently, without the hunters even noticing, a faint dark green energy began leaking from the defeated ghouls from the gate a mile away from the busy brothers. Whatever it touched; be it stone, metal, flesh, or bone; was pulled alongside the dark energy where it finally rested over the ice blades Amal was preparing, covering most of the water trap with numerous items of different shapes and sizes.

The entire mess of things was enveloped in energy, the purpose of which was soon to be noticed. When Amal growled and quickly raised his paw in a swift motion, countless buzzes sang out across the main street like a huge crowd of birds raised in flight. His ice blades took off from the ground over the mob of ghouls, chopping them into tiny pieces. A mix of dust and dry blood tainted the morning sun with a dark cloud glistening with ice particles and quickly disappeared, followed by dozens of thumps as body pieces fell all over the place.

"Shit..." Amal said after looking over the mess, sweat forming under his forehead fur. "Something went wrong. Most of my blades were shattered by something hard."

"What?" Yan shouted surprised, grunting as he unstuck his blade from a ghoul's throat with a severed head just vertically parted head in half. "Your ice blades cut through even thick stone walls! How much was blocked?"

"Most of them. Plan B?"

"It depends. Are you up to it, after your trick just now?"

"Heh, you had to run carrying more than a gallon of water, don't make me look weak."

"Taking care of my puppy brother, that's all." Yan chuckled, panting a little as some sweat started to run down his fur. "Don't forget. If anything else goes wrong, run away."

"You wouldn't do it if you were the one in my place," Amal replied, even with his stern tone, he didn't suppress an adventurous smile as he crooked another ice arrow, aiming at the mob slowly surrounding them.

"Smart puppy brother." Yan grinned widely for a moment before getting serious. Opening the small holy water ampoule hanging from his necklace, he rests his lips an inch over the small hole and inhaled deeply, mist coming from the water and into his lungs. He then breathed the sanctified mist all over his spear from base to tip, surrounding the weapon with a blessing spell that circled and protected the blade.

'God's tears, carried by my wind, cleanse the curse upon my foes'

Without exchanging words of strategy or tactic, both males walked a few feet from each other, back to back, facing the undying monsters slowly surrounding them in a bizarre circle around the fountain. They waited for a minute until a dense cloud slowly shrouded the sunlight and cast a dense, cloudy shadow over them, enhancing the now visible demonic red gleam from every ghoul's eyes. With the red gleam, it was clear to see them focusing on the brothers as their next living prey to rip flesh from bone, any pleads for life that may be uttered soon to fall on deaf ears.

But not this time...

"Go."

Dash;

Shoot;

Frost;

Death;

Sweep;

Blood;

Death;

Spin;

Dash;

A bloody waltz began, orchestrated by tormented souls meeting steel, ice, wind, and holy incantation, led in a perfect pace by the magical brothers who moved around and through each other to take down as many enemies they could from that slowly shrinking circle. Amal pinpointed unusually faster ghouls and took them down with precision while Yan swept his spear to take as many slow-paced ghouls grouped as he could in one attack. Frosted arrows and blade cut each other's fur when the last ones pinned them almost back-to-back, forcing them to use their momentum to strike as hard as they could, even if by kicks or strikes of wood to keep some at bay.

It was hard to measure how long had passed until one last crawling undead stopped moving, a heavy boot pressed over the back of his head to pull the spear blade out of its skull. Amal and Yan were breathing hard, bodies covered in sweat with nasty spots of dry blood.

"How...many did...you get?" Yan asked, finding a spot of the fountain that wasn't too dirty or destroyed to sit on. He rested his elbows on his knees and let his head hang between propped up fists, his tongue rolling out in fatigue. He left his spear to fall and rest against his shoulder.

"Who ...even counts...that?" Amal replied, bow around his neck as he walked just as lifeless as a ghoul to his brother. More dropping his weight on the floor than sitting, he stretched his legs and rest his back right next to where Yan was sitting, laying his head on his thigh.

"I do....but I kind of...lost count..." He chuckled out of breath, his paw dropping over Amal's head and giving a kind ruffle. "You did... awesome, brother..."

Amal just returned the faint laugh with a pat on Yan's calf, eyes closing as he panted and tried to gain his energy back, slowly breathing normally.

"We'll...save the nap for later," Yan said after a minute with a tired but steady voice, slowly standing up and leaving his brother without his pillow. "Let's go back and eat, we can check the place later."

"Mmhm..." Yan heard his brother reply as he began walking out of the rubble of the fountain and down the main street, having quite a hard time trying to avoid stepping over body pieces and blood. It was just after a dozen steps he noticed Amal was not following him, not hearing any footstep or anything.

Turning around to face his brother, Yan barely had time to even open his mouth. A frozen arrow flew right at his head, barely having time to register what it was. His body dodged by reflex, throwing himself on the ground on his side, eyes wide open in shock.

At the fountain, he could see Amal standing still with his bow pointed at him and a plain neutral expression, its string still vibrating from the shot he just sent right against his kin. Behind him, a dark purple hooded figure stood floating over the fountain's destroyed pillar, some dark green energy coming from his hands and covering Amal.

"Amazing reflexes, even though, your brother did take longer than expected to shoot. It seems even exhausted he had mental energy to resist a little."

That voice seemed to echo from inside Yan's mind and out to his ear, it was uncomfortable enough without the eerie and rough voice tone, sending chills over the white and blue fur. The wolf stared at his brother who started to walk towards him, his legs sometimes failing to hold his weight as if it was being forced to move over its limits.

"What wonderful abilities run in your blood, and you two have no idea where it came from...Ah, of course, I can read your brother's mind, each passing second his defenses grow weaker thanks to the long battle."

Yan had little time to cope with the situation: Not only was that being taking control of his brother, but also all their memories were being invaded, meaning it was a matter of time before he knew everything Yan could do to save Amal in terms of tactic and skills. The wolf didn't have time to think anyway; as soon Amal crossed the pile of corpses he resumed firing his arrows at Yan and, even if his aim was worse than usual, it was enough to send the wolf running to the alleys and houses for protection.

"It is harder to simply order him to kill you than I expected, even with his mind almost unconscious... Instincts of love and compassions go deeper, so interesting. You two are not even close to being as strong as my real target, but it'll do as an experiment."

While that voice kept invading his mind, Yan had to keep moving to avoid Amal's attacks. His arrows were heavier and stronger than those he used against the ghouls, so most covers Yan used weren't strong enough to hold up against his attack. Wood, iron, and even stone crumbled with each shot. Every time he moved he managed to take a glimpse at his brother's situation and how his body began to show signs of collapsing, such as trembling hands, reddening eyes, and heavy breathing.

If he didn't work fast, Amal would die of exhaustion.

Yan was sure he wouldn't resist that thing's mind control if he were to lose Amal. His mind and body would be out of energy just like his brother.

"Think, c'mon...break the link!" Yan murmured to himself quickly after jumping over an open window and hiding behind a butcher's counter just in time for one arrow to puncture a hole in the wall against it. "I can't attack him; he will use Amal as a shield if I don't get shot down."

THINK!

Yan twitched as another flurry of arrows broke in and the sound of ice ripping metal made his ears wince. Looking up he could see one of the butcher's knives impaled with an arrow, but that one didn't manage to go through the wall; it looked smaller and lighter than the others.

"That's it!"

He had one shot and it was very tricky, he couldn't tell for how long Amal would last in his condition. Grabbing all his holy ampoules, Yan jumped from the counter just as another shower of arrows pierced the counter. Yan quickly shattered all his ampoules on the floor, using his wind power and some experience to turn the holy water turn into a mist that followed him when he darted out of the butcher shop and faced Amal.

"Sorry!" He shouted and moved his paw as if he were throwing a heavy stone at Amal, the gesture sending a gust of wind and mist against the wolfox who quickly sent an arrow aimed right at Yan's chest. The wind's strength was strong enough to, not only blow his light arrow off his target but also sending the archer flying back to the fountain. Amal landed heavily on the floor, rolling briefly, stopped painfully by the piece of centerpiece where the hooded being was floating over, who gave a loud murmur.

"Trying to knock your brother unconscious? Unfortunately, for you, it won't work even if you almost break some ribs in the process. He won't stop until his mind or body ceases to function completely...but it seems you already know that."

Yan was standing with his spear firmly held on his right paw, set over his right shoulder in throwing position and eyes fixed at Amal. Both were breathless once again and Amal had to struggle to stand up and raise his bow arm once again, his entire body was shaking visibly enough even from that distance. Yan's sight wasn't good enough to read Amal's facial expression from meters away, but that wasn't what he was focusing on.

"Please, work...please, wake up... I don't want to do this..." He prayed.

Amal slowly pulled his bow's string one more time as another frost arrow formed from his fingertips, now as heavy and deadly as the first ones. The dry atmosphere he caused by shooting without moving was replenished by the holy mist right around him.

It will be his last shot, one way or another: Yan was far too tired to move or block the arrow quickly enough, and with Amal's muscle memory of how Yan would avoid the shot, it was their last hope.

Unless...

He could cleanse his brother during the seemingly eternal second in which Amal aimed at his brother.

Amal gasped, briefly.

That was the signal, lasting just a moment.

It was all that Yan needed.

"Wha-?!"

Yan threw his spear at the being using his control of the wind. His weapon flew as fast as a crossbow's shot aimed right on the hooded figure's chest, but he managed to dodge it just enough, his cape ripping where the blade went through. Yan's goal wasn't to hit him, however...

It was to distract him.

Before the dark mage could even notice, Amal quickly turned around and, using the last of his energy, shot his holy arrow right against his captor's shoulder, completely breaking his control causing a hideous grave scream from him before he suddenly disappeared in a burst of light, taking the frost arrow stuck in him.

All that was left of him was a drop of blood that splattered on the floor, soon as dark and dead as the ghouls he controlled, his presence far gone.

And with that, Amal fell on the ground. Yan hurried clumsily with his exhausted legs to reach him, almost dropping over a piece of a ghoul's head before kneeling next to his brother, turning his face up and holding him in his arms.

"Hey, brother, wake up. Talk to me." Yan pleaded, his left arm holding Amal's shoulders near while his trembling right paw went over Amal's face and neck, checking his pulse, temperature, anything he could think of. "C'mon, Amal, I didn't take that long, you're too tough for this stuff!"

The wolf just shut up when Amal's closed eyes scrunched up and his ears pinned down against his head, a slow grunt coming from the wolfox. "Ow..."

"H-hey there, puppy brother. I'm so glad you're ok!" Yan said, wrapping his arms over and hugging him tight against his chest.

"My back...that hurt..." Amal mumbled about Yan's gust, too weak to even avoid the grip he was receiving. "Should've...shot you..."

"Haha, I love you too." He said with a clumsy nuzzle over his brother's ears and forehead. "How bad are you? Can you walk?"

Yan felt a slight pressure of Amal's moving muzzle against his chest, which seemed to be a negative gesture with his head. "All sore...tired and...weak. Feels like...I ran all day..."

"Alright, just stay there, I'll grab my spear and we can go." He said out of reflex, and Amal was too tired to complain about the stupid thing he just heard. Yan quickly found his weapon stuck firmly against the cathedral's ten centimeters thick wood door, a good inch of the blade pointing out of the other side. If the door was in better shape, he'd had lost his blade for good.

After a minute or two of grunting, twisting and a good kick, Yan returned to his brother. "Sorry for the delay. Let's get out of here, hold on." He said, taking off his mantle to improvise a reasonable seat on his spear's shaft. Placing Amal over his back proved to be painful for the younger brother by the numerous grunts and curses, but soon Yan was carrying him piggyback with his weight mostly over his 'seat'. Yan's paws held the spear behind his back with his body arched forward so Amal wouldn't need to hold himself up.

"Your back...you'll be screwed, by tomorrow..." Amal whispered, his chin resting over Yan's right shoulder, the wolf's left one being used to adjust Amal's bow around his chest, head laying against his brother's and gently rubbing against the other's scruffy chin.

"It's fine, you'll be far worse tomorrow. And it's not like this is the first time I've carried you." Yan replied, soon starting to get breathless but carrying on at a slow pace towards their camp.

They walked in silence for a while. The sun had passed its midday position and now followed their shadows. Out of nowhere, a weak sob came from Amal and an inaudible whimper.

"Hey hey...what's wrong?" His brother asked, kindly bonking his head against Amal's. "We did our job, with honors, and you did awesome back there. Be happy."

Amal sobbed weakly against Yan's back and neck, wetting his fur with tears. "It hurt...shooting you...I was terrified that I would...end up killing you."

"Don't say that. You were being controlled. And I could see you were resisting, your aim is far better than that, even when you're drunk."

"Still...it was too risky. What if the holy water...didn't work?"

Yan didn't hesitate to reply. "I'd have killed you with that throw."

And before Amal could even reply, he went on.

"I'd free you from his control, and then I'd kill him, very slowly. I don't know if it would have worked, but...I'd rather end your suffering myself than watching you die in pain because I'm weak."

That was harsh to hear and to say, but the younger one understood what it meant. He felt the horror of risking his own brother's life because of his weakness. He wouldn't hate Yan if that outcome had happened.

He'd have been glad that he didn't kill his brother.

"We need...to grow stronger..." Amal went on, his sobbing calming down. "That can't...ever happen again."

"Mmhm, yes. However, let's rest for now. We have a nice, heavy bag of gold waiting for us. That was a big job, we might even ask for a raise."

"I doubt that...guy will pay that easy. What if...he asks for proof that...we wiped them all out?"

Yan laughed a little and turned his head a little, looking into his brother's eyes with a confident smile. "We'll tell him to buy some balls for his soldiers, so they can check themselves."

Amal chuckled and rested his cheek against his brother's neck, closing his eyes and enjoyed the cozy feeling of brotherly affection and a job well done. They will get better and stronger, they will push each other further and further forward.

And whatever they'd face, they'd face together, forever.

THE END

"...Yan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry...do we have any food left from yesterday?"

"...fuck, I ate it all..."

"...again?" *Sighs*