Collared - Chapter 1 - Pact

Story by Shep Otterpaw on SoFurry

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#1 of Collared

Collared - A warrior who draws strength from a pacted creature known as an Indicia.

Indicia - Creatures from another world with the ability to bestow their magic to humans.

On a morning like any other, young Isaac is forced to make a decision that will change his life. He must fight or die. But Isaac is not a warrior, and even fighting looks like a lost cause. Before he can fight, Isaac must first deal with the wolf-like Indicia, Tyloki, and submit himself to a pact that will give him the strength he needs.

This story contains semi-non-concensual sex acts between a human boy and a feral/anthro wolf. It's hot, so only read it if you like hot things.


Crashing through a wall was not a pleasant experience. For most, it would put them out of the fight. It was one of those things that normal people didn't handle well. Walls are built sturdy, meant to hold a building up. For a normal person, it would have been a finishing blow. It's a fact that many find comforting. If they were ever in a fight, and had the misfortune of being hit so hard they broke through a metal wall, at least the fight would be over. Not for Jin, who lamented this fact as he tore through the sturdy construction and landed on the far side, sliding a short distance on his back before coming to a stop.

The surroundings were unfamiliar, but as he stood, Jin took the few seconds to assess. It appeared as if he had fallen into a bedroom, which made sense, since he was in a residential area. Multiple beds, bunks, so it was a large family. It had been clean, before he had littered it with debris. A boy in the corner. He was half dressed in a familiar uniform. Delivery boy. Gaping jaw. Hadn't expected someone to burst through the wall. And time was up.

A sharp black and purple tendril shot past Jin, and he deftly dodged to the side. It was the move that Jin had expected his opponent to make. The tendril lodged itself in the wall behind him, and it bought him time. He leaped through the hole and back out into the morning sun. The battle could continue.

[That was a mistake.] A voice spoke to Jin from inside his head. He ignored it, the middle of combat was not the time to be lectured about his tactics. Instead, he once again appraised his opponent. The large brutish creature stood at least the height of the first story of the nearby buildings. It was wide enough to block passage down the street. It had oily black skin, with purple runic markings pulsing along its body, bioluminescence. It was a mass of shadow, as if the night sky had taken form. The blackness of the creature stood in dark defiance to the bright white metals and colorful lights of the city around. A Thrall.

Jin raised his spear and swiped at the tendril that had been extended in attack. A purple light barrier blocked the hit, but not the motion, and the tendril was jostled free from the wall. The monster retracted the tendril and let out its unnatural roar. The noise caused a ringing in Jin's ears that threatened to make him sick.

[You can't kill it by yourself.] The voice spoke again, but it was condescending, not helpful. It wasn't hard to ignore. Moving swiftly, his armor optimized to hasten him, Jin screamed as he dashed forward, his spear trailing behind him, striking blue sparks from the ground. As he leaped towards the monster, the sparks did not die, but strengthened and flowed towards it, as if they were alive.

Now he fell from the air, his spear aimed downward, and the sparks sped menacingly at the Thrall from below. Hitting it from both sides should open it up for further attack.

[A feat that could more easily be accomplished by fighting alongside another.] The voice was growling, guttural. In the middle of a fight, Jin found it comforting.

The spear came down first, and the tip stuck into the creature's purple barrier, but it didn't penetrate all the way through. This allowed Jin to grip the spear and hang from it. Seconds later, the sparks grew to a flaming blast beneath the monster's feet. Again, it was mostly protected by the purple barrier that seemed to cover its entirety, but the point of the spear that had caused a crack before was now working its way deeper.

A tendril whipped out and attempted to wrap around Jin, likely hoping to throw him off. He swung his legs and, with another burst of energy from his boots, he swung around the spear, like a gymnast. The tendril was dodged, and the spear was starting to cut along the barrier, opening a crack, not an incision but more like broken glass.

"Sure I can kill it by myself." Jin said, his voice was deep and confident.

[Maybe you can get it to run away.] The voice admitted. It added a growl at the end.

Jin couldn't help but grin. He performed another spin around the spear, hoping the momentum would help it to crack the shield. It had the added effect of dodging more of the rapidly appearing tendrils that the creature was creating. Time to back off. There were too many tendrils now jutting from the creature's body to stay so close. But the spear was stuck. Jin swung a different way now, putting his boots onto the monster's shield. It was a solid surface, enough to put his entire weight on. Gripping the spear as hard as he could, he kicked a boot down and released a pulse of energy to jump back. The spear came loose and Jin went flying, now his main priority was landing on his feet.

He came to rest by the hole in the wall, where the half-dressed delivery boy was now watching from the other side, staring, apparently lost in shock. He was young, in his teens, and was wearing the bottom half of a uniform for InCorp. His upper body was bare, and Jin found his frail figure to be amusing. Could have been the body of a young girl, instead of a boy. "Hey kid, find somewhere safer to stand. I'm dealing with this."

[Who is dumb enough to stand around and watch this?]

"He's a kid, and he's scared. I'm just glad there aren't more people around right now."

The tendrils were fast approaching now, in greater number this time. The Thrall lumbered forward slowly as it created tendrils out of its dark form to lash with. Jin lunged to the ground, all of them missing by a large margin, but this time they were pulled back before they got lodged in a wall. With a swift movement, Jin was back on his feet, spear in hand. It wasn't an InCorp spear, with an Altered Energy blade, or Lightglass for that matter. It was steel. Very old fashioned, one of a kind.

The purple barrier pulsed around the crack, and while the barrier normally vanished when not being touched, the crack glowed visibly. Small wisps of purple energy seemed to escape from the crack at a slow pace. It was the only blow of the fight worth mentioning. Getting hit through the wall had been dampened by his kinetic armor, so really only one blow had been struck. Jin had the upper hand.

Still, the monster was learning, adapting to the fight. If Jin didn't win soon, he wouldn't win at all. It was learning that it needed more tendrils at a time to fend him off. More tendrils was bad, it meant more things to dodge.

[It also means more surface area.] The voice suggested, and Jin nodded. It was risky, but it could work. Time for a good defense. With a swipe of his spear, a blue bolt of energy sped towards the monster, bouncing pathetically off the barrier. It was countered with another barrage of tendrils, which Jin danced around, putting all of his focus on dodging them. As he dodged them, the monster put more of its body into creating more tendrils, and they extended with pointed ends at Jin like a wall of spikes. As more of the hulking creature was stretched out over the tentacles, less of its main body remained, and so it grew shorter and less intimidating as it literally stretched itself thin.

Jin was fast, his armor crafted and customized for quick movement and kinetic dampening. It would be useless in a fight with a swordsman, it wasn't designed to fend off cuts. The metal was an alloy, light and thin. It was augmented with Altered Energy, to reduce kinetic effect. A blade would cut it to ribbons. Dodging these attacks, that was easy. As he danced, he made sure to move closer to the monster. Moving closer meant he had less time to dodge, and the tendrils started to come closer to him.

[Watch it, you're walking a thin line here.]

As more tendrils were formed, there was more surface area for the barrier to cover. As a result, the part of the barrier near the creature's head grew weaker, and the crack itself started to grow larger. Jin had a new problem now, however. Swimming in the sea of tendrils, there was no room to jump and attack the crack again. It was all he could do to dodge the constant attacks. Jin brought the tip of the spear down to the ground, and he spun in a circle, kicking up sparks in a ring around him. The sparks quickly grew and turned into a blaze of fire, rising up to surround him in a cyclone. The tendrils shied away from the fire, but not because it was damaging. It was just new. It hadn't been adapted for yet.

Jin took the opportunity to jump again, assisted by his boots, and brought his spear down on the crack. It hit dead center, and tore through the crack, lodging itself in the monster's body. The crack now grew at a rapid pace, over the entire barrier. With a blinding flash, it shattered. For a moment, Jin thought the fight was won.

The fight was over, and Jin had lost. He hung from his spear, lodged harmlessly in the monster's head. Piercing his stomach, he felt a single black tendril, pulsing with purple lights. Looking slowly down at it, he wondered how it had happened. It must have been drawing him in to attack the crack. Maybe it had been letting him dodge as he got closer, ready to strike when he jumped. It didn't matter, though. His body flinched as another tendril tore through his armor and appeared on the other side of his body. Feeling himself weakening, he let his hands fall free from the spear.

[Jin...] The voice, it was the first time he had heard him sound worried. Not just worried, but sad. He knew just as well as Jin that the fight was over. Blood dripped to the ground in a pool beneath Jin as he hung from the tendrils.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, coughing, blood dripping from his mouth. "I never did get it for you."

[I don't care. Jin. You're dying.]

"I can tell." Jin laughed, between coughs. He came to this part of town to buy a bag of his favorite tea. Now he was dying. "It's funny, you know."

[Not with my sense of humor.]

"Maybe funny isn't the right word." He chuckled, and then he screamed in agony as one of the tendrils pulled loose, and the other flung him aside. Once again, he landed just by the hole in the bedroom of the house nearby.

The boy thoughtlessly ran up to him. "Oh, shit." He knelt down, and started putting pressure on Jin's wounds. It wouldn't do any good. The kid needed to run away, or he was going to die too.

Just up the street, the monster was approaching. Without its barrier, it was mocking Jin. As it pulled its tendrils back into itself, it became larger once more. Jin had come so close. So few people could say they had bagged a Thrall alone. Jin wasn't one of them.

"Get out of here, kid. It'll kill you." He coughed, trying to keep his eyes open.

"If I leave you, you'll die." He said, his voice cracked, it shuddered, he was scared.

"I'm dead already." Jin weakly raised his hand and put it on his chest, wrapping it around the boy's. "No reason for us both to die. Get out of here."

[Sorry it had to end up like this. If I could do anything...]

"Whoever you get next, have him find her. Make sure she's okay." Jin coughed, and the boy held pressure, hoping he could get help soon.

[Easier said than done.]

"You're going to fight me on this, right now?"

[She could be anywhere...Okay, I'll try.]

Jin looked up at the boy with glassy eyes, as the world grew dimmer. If he didn't leave, the monster was going to kill him. He tried to yell at the boy, but he couldn't work up more than a rasp now.

[Jin.]

It was the last word he heard, echoing in his head, as the world went dark. Everything got colder. He felt the boy's hand around his, slipping away. He wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next.

For a while, he sat in silence. Cold, and dark. The darkness around him was more nothingness than just darkness. Then there was a light, and a hand held out to him. Offering. He accepted, and then he was gone.

He was gone. The man was dead, and there was now a large monster rushing towards his house. Isaac wasn't a fighter, he was a delivery boy. He carried things from one end of the city to the other. Thralls were something on the news, they didn't happen to him. But the fact remained, there was a monster and it was going to attack him. Not just him, but his home. His family. Near the man's body was a spear. The only weapon around.

Through the hole in his wall, he could see the monster getting closer. Another Collar would show up soon, and they'd take care of it. They had to. That was their job, to protect people like him. The telltale band around the man's neck proved he was a Collar, and so that meant another must be on his way. They wouldn't let a monster rampage through the city like that.

He reached a hand out towards the spear, but he paused. He didn't know how to fight. If he grabbed the spear, he would die. His only choice was to run, but he was too scared to do even that. He was stuck where he was, his hands covered in blood. More blood than he had ever seen at once. Isaac wasn't a fighter.

His body was frail; he was built like a mouse. The middle child, he'd never been able to stand up to anyone. His older siblings were the strong ones, and his younger were the ones who needed the attention. His hands shook as the monster drew closer, its thick tendrils tearing through the street, rending the metal. It seemed to exist only to destroy.

Isaac had never stood up for anything in his life. He didn't exist for any purpose. He just was. His hand grew closer to the spear. If he could get a hit in, maybe he could scare it away before it got to his family. The deceased Collar before him had managed to destroy its barrier. Fighting was crazy. He was a delivery boy. He should have run away. The man in front of him was dead, and if he didn't do anything now, his death would be for nothing. If he wasn't fighting for his own purpose, then maybe he could fight for someone else's.

He grabbed the spear.

Nothing quite went how he expected. In his head, he was going to grab the spear and run heroically towards the monster, impaling it. He would be a hero. You're always a hero in your head. Instead, that didn't happen at all. Instead, he found himself somewhere different. One moment, he was in his room, facing down the monster. The next, without so much as a blink, he was in a dark place. It was hard to focus on anything, but he appeared to be in a desert. It was night time. Everything had a strange blue tint to it, as if the air was filled with a blue smoke. Nothing looked perfectly solid, either, as if he could pass right through it. Yet his feet were planted on solid ground.

It was quiet there; the monster was nowhere to be seen. The spear was still in his hands, but he dropped it, and it clattered on the ground noisily, breaking the silence. Isaac decided that it felt like he simply wasn't entirely there. Half of him was back in his room, half of him was in this new place. That must be why everything looked so strange. Then he noticed the wolf.

"What do you think you're doing?" his deep voice practically snarled.

Isaac turned forward, now noticing the large wolf-creature clearly. On four paws, he could have been a normal wolf, if he wasn't so large. The animal stood almost equal to Isaac in height, and he could see the muscles even through the thick, gnarly fur. Eyes the color of a roaring flame flickered as he blinked, keeping his gaze on Isaac. Instead of answering, he fell back in surprise, and tried to crawl away. With a swift movement and a loud snarl, the wolf batted the spear away and advanced on Isaac. He caught him with ease and pressed his large forepaw to his chest, pinning him in place. The wolf growled deeply now, as he held the boy. How could he be so lucky? He had traded one monster for another. Fear pounded in his chest. He was unaware of the control the wolf was using to keep his claws from piercing bare flesh.

"What gives you the right to touch that weapon? Its legendary, you're..." The wolf looked up and down at the Isaac. Self-consciously, Isaac finally noticed that he was missing most of his uniform. All that remained were his form fitting underclothes. Disgust twisted the wolf's muzzle, "...pathetic."

The spear. The warrior had been a Collared. This must be his Indicia. "I didn't...I'm sorry. I was just trying to defend myself." He tried to squirm under the heavy weight of the wolf, but that caused the claws to dig in more, so he sat still.

The wolf laughed in Isaac's face, his incredible teeth inches from the boy. His breath was hot, and not entirely pleasant. Isaac turned his head slightly away from the long muzzle and sharp fangs. "You couldn't lift a twig from a tree, let alone a real weapon. Trying to fight a Thrall? You don't have a pact." The wolf used his free paw to force Isaac's head to the side, inspecting his neck. "You'd have died if you fought that Thrall. Leave the fighting to the warriors."

Isaac leaned his head back further, away from the growling wolf. "I had to try. I couldn't just run away."

"Running might have saved your life. Jin told you to run a couple of times. Why didn't you?" The wolf leaned closer, not allowing Isaac to lean away.

So the warrior's name was Jin. He died trying to save Isaac and his family. "I was at home. The Thrall was coming my way. My family...my family! It could be killing them right now." He struggled harder now, against the wolf, claws digging deeper into his skin now.

The wolf had no trouble overpowering the kid, holding him still. He enjoyed exercising his power over the weaker boy, something he hadn't gotten to do in a while.

"What were you going to do? Why do you keep trying to fight things that are so much stronger than you?"

"I don't know, I don't usually fight. If it was just me, I would've run away." Isaac's speaking was more strained now as heavier pressure was applied.

The wolf shook his head and sighed at the foolishness of youth. The boy wanted to be a hero, to prove himself when he had no skills to back it up. He didn't even have muscle tone. Or pants. "Then look around. You're alone now. Run. You can't protect anyone." The wolf said with some lingering anger, but a growing sense of sadness underlining his final words, growing with each until he finally lifted his bandaged paw off the boy's chest.

Standing up, the boy looked around. He wasn't even sure how to go home. He took a step after the wolf. "Hey, are you okay?" For the first time, he noticed various bandages and wounds on the wolf. His Collar had just died, of course he wasn't okay.

"What is your problem? You got a death wish? I said run away, boy." The wolf half-growled and half-sighed, nursing over a wounded forepaw. As he padded away, Isaac saw two rather large gashes on his back, unbandaged.

"Do you know how to get back to where I came from? I don't know how I got here..." Isaac took another hesitant step towards the wolf.

"Nope. Not my problem. Just keep running. It's all you're good for."

The boy swallowed hard and stared down the wolf. "I'm not running out into the desert." He tried to sound confident, and it almost worked. He approached the wolf now, arms falling to his side. It was hard to sound confident in his underwear. He blushed. He crossed his fingers, hoping the wolf wouldn't tear him open when he got close.

"You are if you want to live. Because you aren't staying here." The wolf growled at the continued approach of the foolish human child. Figuring he needed a bit more motivation, he reached over with his large paw, catching Isaac square in the chest, he pushed him back. Not hitting. Not striking. Not clawing. A push, with excellent restraint to keep from damaging the boy, probably the best possible outcome after approaching an injured wolf.

Isaac was pushed back easily by the wolf. He stood, now, staring. He waited, quietly. Then he had an idea. He walked over instead to the discarded spear, and he picked it up. He had hoped it would return him home, but it hadn't. It was just heavy, and cold, and empty.

In a flash the downed wolf was up on his paws, smoke practically flaring from his nostrils as he jumped over to smack the improperly held weapon from the boy's grip, snarling deeper than he ever had before. "I warned you, pup. Do not disgrace this legendary weapon with your pathetic, unworthy fingers. Touch it again and I will kill you."

The boy stumbled back. "What makes me so unworthy? I was willing to fight. Isn't that what it takes to be a warrior? I want to protect my family. I want to save them. If I don't hurry, they'll die. So help me. Please."

The wolf continued pressing forward, still angry about the boy touching Jin's spear, "The will to fight? Great. It means nothing," the wolf emphasized with another push, "If you don't have the skill," a shove, "or ability to use it. You're weak," a push, "Useless," a jab, "I help warriors fight better. I don't help children to be men." The wolf stopped now, satisfied with the distance he'd guided the boy away. "Learn now while you still have the time. No matter how much you want to save the things you care about, you can't protect them all."

At this, the boy felt something he had never felt before. A flash in his belly, something driving him on, something that made him make the next mistake in his current string of awful mistakes. Nothing had ever made him so angry. He struck out at the wolf, weak and uncoordinated, but he swung his arm out as hard as he could.

The wolf blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the pipsqueak's strike. Weak, yes. Uncoordinated, yes. Painful? No. But he did land a strike, which was something very few could claim. There was definitely a moment of confusion in the air, for both. Isaac wasn't sure what would happen next as the wolf stared him down.

In the end, fiery rage won out. "No. Like this." It was the only warning Isaac had as his paw came up to give a real blow, completely intending to knock the boy right off his feet. Isaac didn't have time to react.

Isaac had never been struck before, not like that. He'd been on the losing side of a fight or two, in school. He'd fallen off his bike at speed. He'd been on the wrong side of an argument with his drunk of a father. He'd never been hit like this before. He was thrown into the air and fell back, crashing roughly to the ground, where he slid a short distance. He stayed where he landed, his entire body hurting, though he wasn't sure how. Sprawled out on the ground, he couldn't have known how pathetic he looked.

Watching the boy go flying, the wolf especially loved the skid across the dirt. A tiny part of him concerned that he may have used too much force, even holding himself back, but the overwhelming feeling was the same as the satisfaction of swatting an irritating fly. He looked at the pathetic heap sprawled out on the ground and snorted. That should have been enough to teach the boy that running is always better if you can't fight. He enjoyed the sight for a few more seconds before returning to his wounds, sure this time that the boy wouldn't bother him again.

Groaning, Isaac pressed his hands against the ground, forcing himself up. He ached now, he couldn't take much more. But the wolf could make him strong. He couldn't give up, he couldn't run away. He pushed himself to a sitting position and watched after the wolf. Then, slowly, he carefully stood and approached the wolf once more. "I know you can make me strong. You're an Indicia. You can give me strength. I'm not leaving."

Incredulously, the wolf turned his irritated eyes back to the boy. "I can, but I won't. I don't give strength. I amplify strength. You've got nothing to begin with. Bugger off, kid."

Looking now at the wounds on the wolf's back, the boy stepped close enough to touch them. He reached out and hovered his hand close. The wolf was a warrior, he was used to injuries. But they still looked like they hurt. "Don't you have anyone to help with these injuries? Anyone..." He looked at the spear on the ground, and he stopped talking. The wolf was hurting from more than physical wounds.

The wolf tensed as Isaac's hand grew close, ready to strike. But Isaac didn't touch, so the wolf remained still as well. "No." The wolf answered with a gruff, curt reply. It was a 'no' that meant 'not anymore.'

In an attempt to be comforting, Isaac placed his hand gently on the wolf's back. Another mistake.

The wolf snarled at the touch, wondering how the boy could be so stupid. Sweeping backwards with a hind leg, he knocked Isaac once again onto his ass.

Once more, the boy forced himself to stand up. "I don't know where to go. Right now, all I know is that you're standing in front of me. If I go, you'll be alone. Just you. And Jin's death will mean nothing, because me and my family will still die."

Another loud grow, and the wolf turned around to deliver a hateful glare back at the boy. "Don't talk about him. You're not good enough to talk about him." The wolf retorted, intentionally ignoring the truth of Isaac's words.

Without thinking, Isaac responded. "Not good enough? He's dead. His blood is all over my bedroom. I can talk about him all I want."

This was possibly a poor choice of words. The wolf lunged at Isaac, actual flames dancing in his eyes as he tackled the boy once more, pinning the weak frame as a circle of fire burst forth around the pair, manifested rage roaring out in fiery anger.

Convinced now that he had taunted the wolf too much, Isaac waited to die. The boy winced at the flames, they were spinning around them, a whirling firestorm. He wasn't sure what else he could have expected, after taunting such a creature. So he waited to die.

"Why do you want me to kill you, pup? For someone who cares so much about the loss of life that means nothing to them, you seem to care nothing about your own. Let a warrior rest in peace." It was strange, glowing red eyes like burning coals, manifested rage consuming the wolf and anything nearby, yet it also seemed to provide a lucid moment for the lupine.

"I don't want you to kill me. I want you to see that I've got something to offer. I just need your help." Isaac spoke slowly, confidently, in the face of the enraged creature.

"How? You can't fight. What do you expect me to do? Make a new pact so soon after my old one...To a kid who can barely lift a weapon. The Thrall can crush men and warriors who make the slightest mistake. I share power. I can't grant miracles." The wolf explained, still oddly calm for glowing eyes and circling flames that slowly encroached closer and closer, though the fire in his eyes seemed to be softening.

Isaac had an idea. "If I die, you'll be free again. If I don't, then your friend's death means something. I don't see how you could lose here."

"Well, besides feeling the same pain as you, and feeling your death when you inevitably die." The wolf went silent a moment, and then he leaned in close, locking eyes with Isaac. "You think you can do something useful? Fine, you get one chance. Prove you're not as useless as you look. Roll over." The wolf growled, lifting his paw just enough for Isaac to roll, but not to stand.

Isaac didn't move. "Roll over?"

"Do you want the pact?" The wolf asked, waiting still for Isaac to obey.

With a nod, the boy rolled himself over, so his belly was now in the dirt. Nervous now, his breathing picked up slightly. He couldn't see the wolf anymore, but he felt the large creature standing above him. He flinched when he felt the wolf's paw on his upper back, as he felt the claws slide down his spine menacingly, causing him to twitch all the way. Passing his waist, the claws caught on his underwear, and tore through the fabric, leaving Isaac completely nude as the tattered cloth fell to the ground.

"Kneel." The wolf commanded, stepping back to allow Isaac to move freely.

Isaac felt exposed, more nervous than he had before, as he placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up onto his knees, kneeling as he had been commanded.

The wolf sat behind the boy, still looming over him, the flames kept them in a tight circle together. The wolf reached his paws around Isaac, and he was surprised that they were now more like hands. Holding his furry paws up in front of the boy, a collar materialized itself in between his open palms, having real weight once it was manifested.

"Do you accept the pact, runt?" the wolf asked, hardly able to believe for himself that he was asking that question to such a human. "These bonds will connect us until you die."

"I accept. I accept the pact. " Isaac said, nodding.

The furry hands came down, locking the collar in place around the boy's neck, letting it rest for just a moment before pressing down on the collar firmly. Pressure built, and it became painful, Isaac was sure he couldn't breathe as the collar tightened around his neck. The collar seemed to then pass right through the skin, lodging itself inside his flesh with its blue color standing vibrantly out of the boy's nude skin like a vivid tattoo.

"It's done, and now, you must learn that even though we may share the same body at times, this collar proves you are mine." Growling out the last word, the hefty paws grabbed Isaac's shoulders and forced him face first into the ground. This left his kneeling ass higher up in the air, putting him in a submissive position. Isaac tried to struggle, but the paws were strong enough to hold him.

The wolf held the boy down easily, enjoying the power he held quite thoroughly, especially when he pulled one hand away, sure that he could hold Isaac with a single hand. Flames danced nearby, as his free paw grasped at his exposed sheath. He caressed himself, coaxing his length from the sheath, enjoying the warmth and his control over the boy. First the vibrant red tip of the wolf's length slipped free, and more emerged as he massaged himself.

Even with his face in the dirt, the boy was able to put together what was happening. He struggled hopelessly, this wasn't what he had agreed to. He could hardly move, the wolf was too strong.

Once the wolf was fully erect, he moved forward, guiding his rigid member right up to the tailless hole, reveling in the warmth as bare flesh connected with bare flesh. His other paw came up to rejoin in holding Isaac's face into the dirt. "Let's see what you're good for." The wolf growled, leaning forward to press his dripping erection right against Isaac's hole, not holding back, putting just enough pressure to penetrate.

Isaac breathed frantically as he felt the wolf's length in him, unaware that his squirming was merely encouraging. The wolf wasn't used to one this young and tight, his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth as he gaped in pleasure, pressing deeper into the boy.

The boy cried out into the dirt as the wolf entered him. He was a virgin, or had been, of both genders. He certainly never thought he'd end up like this. It had never crossed his mind. He howled as loud as he could, muffled by the dirt.

The wolf growled in pleasure this time as the boy's hot insides gripped tightly around his shaft. He continued to press deeper and deeper, not satisfied until he could bury himself all the way to the balls in the boy's ass, taking his virginity by force and enjoying every second of it. "Not bad. Maybe you're not completely useless after all."

Isaac's face burned with embarrassment, his ass burned with splitting pain as the wolf took him.

The boy wasn't very talkative anymore, but that didn't matter. He didn't need to hear words to fuck the boy. He leaned forward further, dark frame encompassing the boy's small body as his teeth bit down on the back of Isaac's neck, not enough to pierce or kill, but holding him still face down in the dirt and freeing up his paws, finding the new position much more comfortable to begin thrusting. He gripped the boy's thighs as he pushed in and out with a quick rhythm.

Isaac squeaked when he felt the jaws on his neck. With his muscles tensed, they hurt, so he tried instead to relax. It wasn't easy, given the situation, but he tried.

The wolf's cock throbbed deep inside the boy, moving faster when he heard Isaac squeal. The boy did finally learn to relax, and it made it easier for his thick shaft to thrust in. "Beg for it, boy. Beg for the pact you want so bad." The wolf taunted, jaws drooling onto Isaac's neck, wolf cock constantly rutting even as he felt his knot starting to form.

Isaac struggled to speak with his face in the dirt. "Please...help me. Please...share your strength." He managed to grunt through the earth.

The wolf moaned in pleasure and power, shaft throbbing once more as the quick rutting thrusts gained renewed vigor, and he drilled himself over and over into that tailless tail hole. Finally working himself closer to the edge, he sacrificed the speed of his rhythm to begin thrusting harder. His plump knot was beginning to form inside Isaac, stretched the boy from the inside. His forceful thrusts rocked Isaac's small frame as the knot grew larger. The wolf howled out as the intense pressure around his knot finally pushed him over the edge, and his balls drew up, cock quickly erupting in burst after burst of potent wolf cum, coating Isaac's insides. The collar on Isaac's neck began to glow brighter with a fiery white light, sealing the pact between them as they were tied together in both body and mind.

Isaac yelled once more as the wolf tied him, trying his best to relax as he felt himself being filled by his Indicia's cum. It was warm, almost hot, burning inside, though not painfully. The collar was warm around his neck as it glowed; reminding him if the power that now bonded them. He huffed as the wolf's knot sat inside of him, as the wolf stopped rocking and now simply slumped atop him.

Then they sat for a while, mostly in silence, broken only by the occasional huff from either the boy or the wolf. The wolf lay on top of Isaac's body like a large furry blanket. Isaac sat patiently as the knot rested inside of him, and was surprised to find that the wolf's fur was comfortable, a pleasant sensation to help offset the pain from his rear. The boy was most surprised to find a pool of cum below him. He didn't remember coming to climax himself, but he was hard and dripping his seed on the ground. As they rested, the circling flames began to fade, and eventually they flickered away completely. Isaac didn't want to end the silence. Speaking would acknowledge what had just happened. At the moment, he could simply sit, albeit at the wolf's mercy, but it didn't require any action on his part. That aspect of it, at least, was pleasant. He'd been used by the wolf, and now he could relax. But when they parted, and he had to turn around and face what had happened, that required doing.

Eventually his thoughts drifted back to his family, and he almost flinched. He'd managed to forget about the danger they were in. He had meant to use his new power to save them, but there was no way he'd get there in time. He didn't even know how to get home. Indicia lived in another world, he knew that much. If he wanted answer, he was going to have to question the wolf who was on top of him. He noticed the wolf's arms draped over him, and glanced up. When he had first arrived, the wolf had been walking on four legs, much like a normal wolf, except much larger. Now he appeared to have changed shape, with longer arms and paws like hands.

"What happens now?" Isaac asked quietly.

The wolf took a moment to respond. "My name is Tyloki. You are now permanently bonded to me. Because of this bond, you can now share in my magic. Try it. Hold out your hand and think of the thing that enrages you the most."

Isaac hadn't been enraged in quite some time. Rage wasn't his favorite emotion; it wasn't one he was used to feeling. So at first, he couldn't think of anything that made him angry. First he thought of his father, but he skipped over the memory, it was more fear than rage. Then he recalled the Thrall attacking his home, and felt a spark of anger in his belly. It was a new sensation, and he suspected it was being amplified by his connection to the much more violent wolf. Nonetheless, as he held out his hand, a small candle flame flared up in his palm. It was easy to do, like he'd always known how to do it.

"A flame." Isaac said, carefully concentrating on the dancing red flame. "Doesn't really suit me."

"I know, that part is me." Tyloki placed his paw underneath Isaac's hand, palm up, and the flame shot into the air in a swirling pillar. When Tyloki pulled his hand back, it died back down to a small flare. "You're in my world, using my power. You'll have to find how my magic interacts with your body and soul, back in your world."

"So I'll be able to fight the Thrall, and save my family." Isaac said, letting the fire die.

"In theory." Tyloki said, showing his lack of confidence in the boy.

"So what are we waiting for?" The situation had clearly slipped Isaac's mind.

Tyloki lifted his hips up, letting the thick bulb of his knot pull on the boy, handling a large part of the explanation. The wolf growled in pleasure as he did, not minding the position he was in. "If you really want me to pull out now, I can. But I don't think you do."

Isaac's face burned red, his sore rear hurting more as Tyloki pulled, but it did elicit a small twitch from his own cock. "No, I'll wait. So, then, tell me more about being a...Collar." He said the word as if it were a swear word.

Tyloki smirked at the boy's embarrassment, his foolishness, and how quickly he decided to just wait it out. "You don't know? You joined into a life pact with a creature from another world, and you didn't even know how it worked? Don't you humans have a Registry for this sort of thing?"

"We do, but Collars aren't the best at sharing. All I know are the rumors, and so far," Isaac looked down at himself, naked, in the dirt, underneath the afterglow of a wolf creature, "they haven't been very accurate."

"Oh, this was a mistake. You don't know anything. Listen, pup." Tyloki sighed, audibly. Isaac nodded, to confirm he was listening closely. "Now that we're linked, I can join you in your world, and grant you the use of my power.

"Your magic, it's what lets Collars fight Thralls." Isaac suddenly grinned from ear to ear. "So that makes you sort of like my pet."

Tyloki reached a paw over and smacked Isaac's upside his head, not being careful or gentle about it. "Wrong way around, kid. You're my pet. You wear my collar." The wolf emphasized this point with another tug on his knot, which earned him a yelp from Isaac.

Isaac whimpered, he hoped that the knot would be deflated soon, and he would be free. "What do you get out of this?"

"Usually, a warrior's body." Tyloki said curtly.

Isaac didn't answer. He just leaned back against the wolf's large frame It was true, he wasn't a warrior. What the wolf had just gotten, that was all he was likely to get. If Tyloki was aware he had hurt Isaac's feelings, he didn't seem to care. Instead, the silence returned, and the waiting continued. Isaac thought it felt like the knot was starting to shrink, but he wasn't sure. Without thinking, he dropped his hand to Tyloki's furred leg, and he started to pet. It was like petting a dog, except it was much larger. Tyloki flinched when he felt the hand, and Isaac thought he might get hit again. Instead, Tyloki merely tensed, causing a throb in his length. Isaac tensed up at the throbbing knot, and suddenly, another important thought occurred to him.

"Do all Indicia....do...uh...this?"

Tyloki grinned now, showing off his incredible fangs. He enjoyed the squeezing caused by Isaac tensing. "Of course. If you want the pact to be strong, you need a strong physical connection."

"That's not common knowledge." Isaac said, musing about the Collars. It was no surprise that they kept something like this a secret. "Just once, though, right? The pact is formed."

Tyloki let out a laugh, so deep it could have turned into a howl. With that, his softening knot slipped from Isaac's rear. He stood and dusted himself off unceremoniously, most of his softening cock still hanging lewdly between his legs. "Oh, yes. Your kind still finds the act to be embarrassing. Just once? For now." Bending down, he placed his paws on Isaac's shoulder and lifted the boy to his feet. "But you're mine whenever I want you."

Isaac wobbled as he dusted himself off. His legs felt weak and he felt violated. "Do you have any clothes?"

Tyloki blatantly ignored the question. With a flick of his wrist, a pillar of flame kicked Jin's spear off the ground, and it swiftly flew to Tyloki's paw. He held it out towards Isaac. "Can you even lift this?"

Reaching out for it, Isaac thought he'd be fine. As Tyloki let it go into his grasp, he struggled to hold it still. He certainly couldn't hold it like weapon. Tyloki quickly took the spear back from Isaac's hands. He carefully put it on the ground, and then crossed his arms as he looked at Isaac.

Isaac stood, uncomfortable, as the wolf looked him over. He knew he wasn't much to look at, no muscle or fat. Just skin and bones. He winced when Tyloki sighed.

Tyloki held out his paws, palms up. In his grasp, a small flame began to flicker into existence. It grew, becoming a respectable fire in his paws. It then began to swirl, like a tornado, forming a ring of fire. Isaac watched closely, the bright red flames adding a more natural light to the blue tint of the Indicia's world. The fire spun, and sparked, and flickered. And then it flared up, brightly, before dying out completely. In Tyloki's paws now rested what appeared to be a strip of leather.

"Take this. It's your protection." He held out the leather.

Isaac stepped closer and reached out timidly. It was a collar, just like one you'd put on a pet. A dark leather with a gold metal clasp. He stared at it for a moment, and then looked back to Tyloki. The gesture he received told him to put it around his neck, so he did. He fit it firmly, just tight enough to fit a few fingers underneath.

"You can't fight, so that will be better than a weapon."

Isaac nodded solemnly, and stepped once more, standing directly in front of Tyloki now. "I'm still going to die, most likely."

"Yeah."

"You're probably the last...person...I'm going to see." Isaac started to reach his hand up to touch Tyloki's arm, but he let it fall instead.

"Then why are you going?" Tyloki asked, as if it should be an obvious question.

"I can't stay here forever." Isaac said, as though he knew he had to go fight. The truth was that he simply wanted to go back to how life was the day before. He couldn't stay, because that would mean admitting his life was different now.

"No, but at least you can live a few moments longer here."

"Being alive here doesn't look much like living." Isaac gestured around them to the arid blue desert.

"You assume the entire world is like this. Ignorant child." Tyloki shook his head. "When you get back, you'll have to move quickly."

"How do I get back?" Isaac asked, finally ready to fight.

"Just say the word."

"I'm ready." Isaac said, and then the world was fire, and then the world was dark.

And then he was right back in his room, the monster was quickly approaching. The spear was still in his hand. His new collar was still around his neck, as was the blue band that marked him as a Collared. He also noted that his pants were back, a small blessing.

[Go get 'im, tiger.] Tyloki said mockingly, Isaac heard it in his head, as if it was something he thought.

Isaac still wasn't sure what to do. He stared the monster down. In a flash, a tendril flew past Isaac's head, narrowly missing him. The next was better aimed, and it sped towards his chest. Before it could hit him, however, a blue light barrier appeared, and the tendril bounced off, ineffective. Another tendril, but it also proved unable to pierce the barrier. Isaac had thought that Tyloki's power manifested as fire or sparks, but here it was as a protective barrier instead.

[The blue light, that's you. It's how my power interacts with you.]

"You know what I'm thinking?" Isaac thought, assuming Tyloki could hear him.

[Of course I do. Every bit of it.]

Isaac felt more empowered than he ever had. He was untouchable. The looming black monster was no match for his new magic. Something deep inside encouraged him to move, and it quelled his fear. It made him fight. The spear was heavy, a burden in his hands, but one he had chosen to take on. He held it up and felt his feet move forward.

Time after time, the monster tried to pierce the barrier with its pointed tendrils, and each one bounced off uselessly. Isaac started walking, and then picked up his pace, fueled by a new fire in his belly. As he got closer, the monster became desperate, throwing as many tendrils as it could at him. Pointlessly resisting.

[That collar will protect you.]

Isaac nodded in agreement, picking up the pace as he stared to run, holding the spear out in front of him. He wasn't sure why, but he started to shout. The only way to move now was forward. He knew things would be different from here on out, but he was alive. He could fight, he'd find a reason. His own reason was simply because he didn't want to die.

Now the monster changed tactics, crisscrossing its tendrils before itself, it created a makeshift shield. The tip of the spear hit the tendrils, and Isaac pressed harder. He wasn't strong, he wasn't sure he could force his way through the wall of flesh. On top of that, the monster's purple barrier had already begun to reform. As Isaac pushed forward, shouting as loud as he could, the blue barrier that protected him began to form around the tip of the spear. No, it didn't just do that on its own. He did it. He put the barrier on the spear. He pushed as hard as he could, and the monster pushed back.

The tip of the spear began to bend, but Isaac didn't give. He felt the fire in his belly build, anger towards the monster for threatening him and his family. Anger for the lost warrior nearby. The anger built to rage, and the energy on the spear grew stronger. The tip snapped, breaking under the strain of the magic. The shaft of the spear, however, remained, and with a blue flourish, it broke through the monster's shield, impaling its upper body. Isaac pushed the energy through the shaft, into the creature, and it blasted through the back of the monster like a beam. The creature flailed and fell back, letting out an unnatural noise, a mixture between a roar and the screech of a machine. Isaac stood above it, victorious. The monster would surely die.

Instead, the monster began to turn into a dark black smoke, drifting off into the air.

[Thralls aren't killed that easily. They just retreat, endlessly. You can't stop it.]

"There has to be a way." Isaac pleaded, swinging the spear's shaft at the smoke fruitlessly.

[Give it up, kid. It's gone.]

Dropping the spear, Isaac backed up until he felt a wall behind him. Then he slid to the ground, his hands rising to the collar that was around his neck. His breath quickened, he could hardly control it. The bright sun above was almost blinding. What had he done? He'd given himself as a pet to a wolf who he didn't know anything about.

[No use regretting it now, kid. You did what you had to, and so will I. It's about survival. We do what we have to, to stay alive.]

"What's that supposed to mean?" Isaac asked, but there was no reply. He heard shouting in the distance, and looked up to see another Collar approaching from down the street. Closing his eyes, he ignored the other mage, who ran past him to check on Jin's body nearby. The rest of the day was a blur. He went through the motions, explaining what had happened to the Collar who had come to help. He was hardly aware of anything that was asked of him, all he heard was his agreement, over and over again.

I accept.

Two words that would change everything. He was a Collar now.