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There was a scowl on Commander Verald's grizzled face in the reflection cast by the port window glass he stood before, gazing out at the sea of stars. His mood had greatly soured since the meeting earlier. To say he was mildly irritated by Magnus and his suspicious gaze at the commander and vizier were an understatement. "Wretched fool!" he cursed under his breath, abruptly looking down at the table at his waist, picking up a decanter the ships finest spirits. Pouring the alcohol into a smaller glass, Verald replaced the cover back onto the glass vial and raised his drink to his lips. His eyes fell on his reflection again, bitter resentment held inside. Magnus wanted to return to the old ways, Verald could see that much. Back to a time of glory for the Fenris Empire, a time of grand exploits, heroes, honor, and noble crusades for the glory, led by the majesty of the crown.

Bah!

What could young whelps possibly know about the days of old?! Of real war?!

Glory, heroes, honor...lies. All lies. False ideals and nothing more. War, true war, was not nearly as romantic as it was they believed it to be.

...That was saying nothing about the Crown either...they thought they knew the King...

A shiver ran his shoulders and down his spine, his eyes relenting the resentment and converting into a look of uneasiness.

...Verald knew the King...better than most...

He remembered...remembered a time in the age of fire...and when blood ran the city streets red...

Thirty Years Ago...

Verald stood at his King's side, staring at the wide spanse of the courtyard. The masses stood outside the gates waiting to see the armada off. The King and Queen were finishing their goodbyes, hands in hands, nose to nose. Those the King stood much higher than his wife, the size difference never posed a problem for the two. Verald could remember a time when Tybalt was the shy romantic who nary said a word nor knew how to express affection for another. He had grown a tribal prince, and when the time had come that the chieftain passed on his role to the son, Tybalt assumed leadership and watched over the small village with silent pride. In time, more of the Fenris tribes came together under the promise of unity. The colony grew rapidly and evolved into a flourishing kingdom. Only the three kingdoms remained. The first, Garund, held under the sway of Tybalt. The Genji Nation, master swordsmen and fearless warriors of discipline. The Kingdom of Arinth, technical marvels of science and wisdom. A tepid peace existed, only to be a mere ruse in disguise. The Genji launched a secret invasion on Arinth, seizing control overnight over the throne. The princess of Arinth, Iris, sent word in a plea to Tybalt's forces for help. The King had reservations of helping the neighboring kingdom, wary of getting involved with any nations politics. Following his pride, Tybalt led a small force on the kingdom of Arinth and discovered the Genji plot, forcing them out. The Genjin were furious at this failure, and launched a vicious rebellion. Garund and Arinth united under a singular force, and led by the Great White wolf Tybalt, the invaders were put to rest and surrendered to the princess. With the nations secured, Iris and Tybalt arranged a marriage and finally brought all Fenris tribes and nations under one rule.

Iris had brought out a side in Tybalt few believed was possible. He fathered her a son, Seraph, a boy of great promise and mystical powers. Together, the royal family ruled well, their kingdom flourished under the combination of force and graceful charity. The Queen tempered her husbands brutality, a steadying hand to direct a sharpened blade toward a bright future. Tybalt seldom spoke, for he rarely understood matters of politics and trade. Iris educated her husband, spending endless hours teaching the brute to become a wise and benevolent leader to his people. Only in one matter did Tybalt shy away, that being a parent to a boy he had little in common with. Seraph was at his mothers side many an hour, and her kindness filled him with a gentleness unlike many fenris at that time. Few times had Tybalt tried to teach the boy to wield a weapon, but the lad lacked any aggression nor desire to even hold one. His father refused to push the boy any harder, despite his urgings from his best advisors, and instead left the boy to himself. Matters of state distracted the King from time with the Prince and the two barely spoke, and little words ever exchanged between the two when they did. Mere formalities and small talk, nothing more or less. Iris believed that with time, the two would be drawn closer, for she had faith in her husband and son.

Verald had never liked Mathias. Even now as the King and Queen drew from another and separated, the swordsman stood on the rampart as the Queen and Prince most trusted Honor Guard, and the proud grin on his mug was nauseating. Tybalt had Verald, and Iris had Mathias. The fabled hero who had turned the tide of war at the critical moment and turned back the Genji all those years ago had been the only wolf Tybalt trusted to protect his Queen and had proven his worth time and time again, preventing assassination attempts time and time again on her life. But Mathias had a sneaky way about him that Verald couldn't put his finger on. One thing he was certain of, it had been Mathias who suggested to the King time and time again that the Fenris should stake their claim on more planets and expand the kingdom into an empire. After all, why pay these other planets in coin for resources when the Fenris, those descended of the Sacred Beast Fenrir, were meant for so much more? Tybalt had turned a deaf ear to Mathias for some time, but soon his own wife saw that a growing kingdom would require much more than the Fenris could provide for themselves...

Iris eventually persuaded her husband to take a fleet of ships out into the stars and speak with the leaders of the other races, to establish some sort of peaceful trade that would benefit all. Tybalt was reluctant at first, but saw the importance in the matter. Today, he was to leave with his ships and warriors, and would return when he felt his task completed. Queen would remain behind to rule in her husbands absence, with her swordsman to lead the city watch on her command. As Verald passed by the queen, he and Mathias exchanged a brief, tense glare, though the latter did not shy away from showing a sly smirk. Despite his glaring dislike of the swordsman, Verald felt that something was drastically amiss, and this venture was going to be a great mistake.

The Burning of Nellian-

The voyage showed promise in the beginning. The Fenris made negotiated new deals with the nearest races of Vulpines and Avians, of whom they had always held good relations with. The farther out the mission required, however, the harder the task became. Few races wished to do new deals with the wolves and others wiser than Tybalt took advantage of the wolf, forcing him to make deals that benefit their needs and profits more than the desperate king. Tybalt knew that he was being robbed of course, but under the circumstances and without the aid of his wife to negotiate harder, made unfavorable but necessary agreements. The men began to question their king, and he held his tongue in silence than to correct them or remind them of their place. Verald could see the king was struggling within to keep his old ways in check, and the advisor despised it. These days would not last however, as news from home came in a distress transmission in the late hour...

It had been more than two years of travel for the fleet. Rations were low, the morale was taking a hit, and the wolves were growing jaded by this long journey. Now visiting the planet Nellias, the home world to a race of red skinned humanoids with pointed ears and bright green eyes. The Nellians were scholars and politicians, shrewd in the ways of deceit and pompous to a fault. Verald was immediately insulted in the way the Fenris were received. Upon the arrival of the wolves, the Nellians had not even so much as rode out to meet them on the field. In fact, when the wolves entered the capital, the humanoids looked down their noses at them right away, remarking on their choice of fashion and primitive accessories, not understanding that Fenris wore trinkets of their conquests, a matter of pride to the wolves. Even when this was explained, the Nellian nobles considered this to be nothing more than silly folly and laughed it off. Tybalt remained focused on his goal, and weathered the insults and barbs of the Nellians Governor while being lectured on how little the wolf king understood of economics. It was only before Tybalt was set to finalize yet another bad deal for the Fenris kingdom did a messenger from the ship appear and show Verald the emergency transmission from home. Verald quickly interjected before the deal could be finished, urging his King to read over the alert. Tybalt paused the trade, quickly angering the Nellian governor, earning more insults toward the King. Tybalt read the message and rose up from the table to make haste.

The home world of the Fenris had been attacked by a force so devastating that the capital had fallen in one evening, the royal city left burning in flames. A great beast had attacked in Tybalts absence and driven the wolves from their home. To make matters worse, the Queen was confirmed to be dead, the prince's whereabouts currently unknown, and in a bizarre circumstance the very planet itself had vanished entirely...leaving no trace to be followed...gone in the expanse of space...

The King clutched at his chest, his claws squeezing the chest fur as he felt the air leave his lungs. The world around him was spinning. How could this have happened? He should never have left, have never gone out this far, everything he had done was an abject failure, and now he had lost the things most precious to him, this just couldn't be, it couldn't! He swiftly commanded Verald to gather the men and return to the ships, that the fleet must return back to the Fenris world as fast as possible. The Nellian Governor fumed, and in a moment of arrogance proclaimed the King to be a fool and the Queen a greater one for marrying such a simpleton.

Tybalt halted at the doorway, and Verald could feel the air around them shift. A chill fell in the room, the wolves looking to their king with eyes of caution and uncertainty. The Fenris King stood in silence, his hand quivering in mid-air. All the muscles across his torso were trembling. Slowly, his eyes turned to the Governor, turning into small slits within the pupils filled by hate. The knights of Fenris drew their weapons, similar ire filling their hearts for the Nellians. The shock on the faces of the politicians as the wolves approached spoke volumes of horror at the realization a grave offense had been committed...

That night, the city burned in a towering inferno. Smoke filled the sky above a red glow that spread across the horizon. The voices that screamed and cried for mercy filled the air. Shadows on the walls told stories of civilians being sliced to pieces by swords and axes. Skulls bashed, limbs torn apart, blood spattering the cobblestones. The wolves forced the Nellians to the ground, watching them writhe and squirm like screaming sheep. Ropes bound necks and pulled tight, suspending bodies upon high, kicking and twitching for breath, left as reminders. Men were slaughtered, children were chained, and the women...toys for the soldiers.

Tybalt stood at the city center monolith, the governor's neck held in his beefy paw, forcing the leader to watch his people suffer the wrath of a true barbarian. "Madness! This is madness!" Screamed the governor, but the King seemed unfazed. With a cold, snarling upper lip, he replied with a feral hate,

"..._ This is war _."

Tybalt eventually would rip the face off the Nellian Governor when he was finished with him, leaving his body a pile among piles.

The Nellians suffered, and when they could suffer no more, did they pay with their lives.

They hailed the King.

They were only the first.

Tybalts wrath spread quickly. One planet after another felt the rage of a mournful king. The followers of Tybalt reveled in this newfound bloodshed, a harkening to days of old. Pure unbridled savagery unleashed upon race after race. The times had changed, the other races had grown soft in this era of politics and customs. Tybalt was a king, a true king, a king of the old days. A return to the dark ages long, long ago. City after city burned and crumbled in his sweeping wave of destruction and malice. Tybalt had declared war upon the very universe. He left no city to rule, to village to govern, only fallen rubble and bloodstained streets. The Fenris pillaged and took what they needed, unstoppable at every turn behind their glorious leader.

In time however...the campaign became less glorious...and less rewarding...

Years of fighting tired the wolves. Despite their endless search, they could not locate the home world. A sudden disease swept through the fleet, crippling their forces. Natural disasters wreaked havoc on their ships. Even Tybalt lost interest in fighting and spent hours alone in his chambers, staring out into the darkness of space. Over time, more and more wolves deserted the fleet. Ships were lost as attacks upon the fleet came one after another from vengeful races looking to make the murderous wolves pay for their crimes. Soon, only a handful of ships remained within Tybalt's fleet, lost among the stars, searching for home...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present Day-

Commander Verald finished the last of his drink and lowered the glass in his paw to his waist, the arm behind his back clenching a fist tightly. Magnus had no idea what it had taken to keep this skeleton crew alive and together in one piece. No shred of any notion what Verald had done to maintain the ruse of a king that still cared for his followers and not wrapped up in self-pity and grief. The universe had long since forgotten about the war on the Fenris in the years past, and he intended to keep it that way. The goal was simple. Verald would lead the wolves to a planet far off the know grid, probably one in the outer realms, somewhere they could live without notice from the governing powers of the galaxy. There, he would sabotage the ship and strand them, where they would be forced to live out their days away from war and endless travel. It wasn't the greatest of plans, but one that would work for the better of the remaining followers...and for the universe itself.

Still...while Magnus wasn't an issue...Verald didn't like the idea of the wolf paying a visit to the king's chambers in secret...if Tybalt was ever to take up his old ways...

No. That could never happen, Tybalt was a shadow of his former self. He had no incentive to return to fighting. He was set to likely die in that chamber, a rotting husk of a former brute turned to rust. Good riddance.

A knock at the door.

"Enter." Verald spoke, and a young courier came through the entryway.

"A message sir, from the Vizier. He said it was of utmost importance for you to see it right away."

Verald nodded and sent the pup off, opening the letter to read the note over after breaking the seal. His gut churned beneath his coat.

*The way home has been found. *

*The King has left his chambers. *