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Chapter 5: You are my Wings

Khaba wasn't sure how to feel at the moment. When he saw that Incitatus and Asterion were killed he was hoping to never come back to Urbulchem. But he was still free and breathing in the air on the open balcony of Gaius' villa.

"I am so sorry, Khaba," the voice of Gaius spoke to him as the wolf stepped out on the balcony, dressed in a clean toga that was prepared for him just an hour earlier. "You have been freed just to be dragged back here again."

The fruit bat turned around and smiled happily. "I am no longer a slave. That in itself is a difference. Only, I do hope the others are alright."

"Surely, I hope Leofwine is alright. He suffered from severe depressions till two years ago and I fear for him after what happened a few days ago," the wolf replied as he went to the edge and leaned over to look into the streets. "For now I can only take care that Crawford and Lucille are okay."

"They are almost adults if we go by the laws of Bijulac, so don't worry about them too much," Khaba replied as he leaned over the edge and flew down to look what was going on in the garden of the property.

Ayontunde was working together with a larger male tiger that Khaba knew as Harshad. The giant feline was supporting Ayontunde a little as she was carrying several olives into the kitchen and seemingly had trouble with it despite being a rather strong lioness.

"Hey Khaba," Lucille called as she went past the two big cats and towards the fruit bat. She was wearing a simple green tunic that people in Urbulchem wore casually and went almost to her feet and gave her tail not as much movement as she hoped for, while a pair of trousers kept her legs protected. "What are you up to this morning?"

"Not much, I am not really able to do much in terms of sport, can't read, and I honestly am totally new to anything a free man would do," Khaba replied as he wondered if he could be any more of a bore.

"Well, I am bored too, so how about I teach you reading?" Lucille suggested as she pointed to the entrance of the villa. "They have a lot of books, so I think I can try to explain you the phonetics of the letters and then how to form words from the phonetics."

"A lovely idea, Lucille," Khaba replied in excitement as he flew on her back and was carried inside to the private library of Gaius and Septimus.

Crawford was getting out of the balneae, a small private bath, of Gaius' villa and drying himself with a large cloth that he took from earlier. He then put on his trousers and tunic he usually wore during the cooler seasons and took a glance at his reflection in the water surface. The outfit looked not too bad on him, but he found it rather warm for the climate of Urbulchem and would have jumped right back into the unheated water.

"Excuse me, young boy, but master Septimus is planning to take a bath in a few minutes," a gruff voice said behind Crawford, who stumbled over and fell right into the bathing basin. It was the tiger Harshad that was carrying an assortment of oils on a plate and putting next to the bath as he helped out Crawford from the basin and gave him the cloth to dry off again. "I am sorry, that happens every now and then."

"It is just water and I am an otter, so I will be fine," Crawford replied as he looked at the bottles the tiger just brought. "You are not trying to cause Septimus some painful irritations by any chance?"

Harshad shook his head as he was a bit confused over the question that Crawford asked him.

"Well the blue oil is, you know what, just leave it there, I am sure he will be fine," Crawford said with a now cunning expression on his face. He disliked the fox just as much as Lucille did and it was his turn to have some fun with him.

Harshad just shook it off and went out of the bath with Crawford, who followed him into the kitchen. "Boy, why are you following me?" the tiger asked as the small otter was trailing behind him.

"Got nothing better to do, so I may just go and help you with the cooking," Crawford suggested as they entered the big cooking place in which Ayontunde was taking out the seeds from the olives.

Harshad looked at the lioness and went over to her. "You need some rest, my love," he whispered into her ear and put his left hand on her chest and gave her a kiss on the back of her head.

The otter at the side of the room was looking heart-warmed at the two and went right next to Ayontunde to continue the work on the olives for her. It took him not too long to finish her work as he was doing most of the cooking at home anyway, and he went right over to continue with the meat and fish.

Ayontunde smiled softly as she got up and walked over to a room at the side where she and Harshad were resting in when they weren't working.

"You are fine soul, boy," the tiger told Crawford as he took out several pots and pans to heat up olive oil in them to fry the food that Crawford had prepared. "She has been feeling sick for a while now and I am worried that Septimus is causing her to feel this way."

"Gaius is a nice man, but how comes that his step-brother is such a mean-spirited person?" Crawford asked as he cleaned the surfaces and bowed before the large tiger. "We haven't introduced each other, yet. I am Crawford."

"I am Harshad, but it's not too important," the tiger introduced himself as he sat down and just looked at the food to make sure everything goes as expected. "I am making the food, do the laundry, clean the house, dress Septimus, and undress him in the evening. Thankfully he can bathe alone."

Crawford now smiled confidently and leaned against the wall as he counted with his fingers to zero. As soon as he was done Septimus ran into the kitchen with his fur still soaked in water while he was scratching himself all over. "By Sol, how could you idiot mistake the bathing oils for raw alchemy ingredients?"

"Oh, I took the bathing oil and placed some other stuff on the plate," Crawford intervened as he saw the fox glaring in disbelief at him. "You insult everyone you come across safe for that bear that I saw yesterday and you know what? I regret nothing."

Septimus stomped in anger towards the young otter and slapped the mustelid in the face as he tried to ignore the itching under his fur. "Do this again and I will use your head as a prop for the theater."

Crawford, instead of showing the pain he felt, just grinned daringly and hit Septimus in the face with a right jab right to the ground. "Well, is that enough for my full body to be put into a play?" he said and waited for an answer for several moments. "Oh, I knocked him out? Apparently it does only need a weak breeze for him to fall over."

Harshad bowed before the otter in admiration and took the unconscious body of Septimus up from the ground. "I put him to bed so we can prepare the food for dinner without disturbance."

Crawford gave him a confident grin and took over at the pots to check that everything would be finished before evening.

Khaba laughed as he read the lines of a comedy that Lucille had picked out for him from the shelves of Gaius' library. "I never expected that reading could be so much fun. Every page a dive into another time and to another place."

"One way to say it," Lucille replied as she was reading through the manuscripts that told about the history of Urbulchem. She was however rather curious about their content till she found something more recent. "Wait what? This bastard of an emperor can't be serious."

The fruit bat glanced up and looked over to Lucille. "Have you found something problematic?"

"An understatement, I read about the use of poison against the settlements of the Northern Clans in order to subdue them," she clenched her hands to fists and stood up as she went out to confront Gaius about it.

"Poison? Something as lowly as I expected," Khaba said to himself as he put the book back into its shelf and went outside to the spot where he knew Gaius was usually spending his time at.

The wolf was now reading the scripture that Lucille had found and sat back into one of his chairs. "A long time ago Urbulchem tried to trick Scathsolas with wine that was poisoned in order to kill off their armies for a large part. In the end I am not even surprised to see that plans are made to use something more effective against Scathsolas and Bijulac despite having no active skirmish against them at the moment."

Lucille was still looking angrily at the wolf. "This is inexcusable, so many innocent lives would be wiped out, if they proceeded with this plan. And I am not going to stand still and let this happen!"

Gaius sighed sadly as he put the scripture away and went towards the balcony. "I wish it was that easy. But if the Senate and Augustus are making that decision it is impossible to stop them."

"Unless of course they all would be lying in their own blood," the otter said as she took a look to the Capitol of the city. "However, it may not be too false to send a warning to the three kings."

"She is right, Gaius. What the Senate and emperor are planning is genocide and if they were to proceed with it, they would expand but into dying land," Khaba now put into the conversation as he stepped in between the two. "We need to find out what poison they plan to use and destroy everything. Including the man or men that came up with the idea."

Gaius shook his head. "We have other things to concern ourselves with at the moment. You two stay here and," he was immediately cut off as Lucille went over the balcony and jumped into a tree from which she climbed down and into the garden to run right into the streets.

Khaba just took off after her and followed her as he could hear Gaius call out for them to go back in the distance. This time however the fruit bat was doing things that he decided without someone holding him back.

Lucille then disappeared into the masses of the people and ended up right at the senate building with Khaba landing right next to her as she looked at the massive building. They went alongside the outside walls and were careful to not rise too much suspicion as they went to the next building to disappear behind it. As soon as they were sure to be out of sight of everyone they sneaked alongside the senate and Khaba flew up to balcony where a single guard just slept on duty. He quickly took the guard's body and dragged him over the balcony to fly him down with all the strength he could bring up. It ended up with him letting him go after he was past the point where the fall could cause severe injury.

Lucille then quickly dragged him behind some bushes and took of his armor to strap it on to herself.

"Um," Khaba glanced shyly away from the otter. "You sure this will work?" He blushed a little and began covering his face with his wings. With a chuckle, Lucille patted his shoulder, and presented herself in the legionnaire armor. "You could say, the term uniform works. I will have to take a bath however."

"I can just imagine," the bat whispered as he looked at the unconscious guard. "I may try to get in from upstairs, we will meet inside." And with that he already flattered towards the now abandoned balcony.

The otter tried to look as natural as possible as she entered the building and tried to avoid the eye-sight of the other people inside. Before she knew it, she was already at the archives of the war strategists and was carefully peeking through. Much to her delight only one guard was stationed inside and asleep in one of the chairs. She went inside and immediately went for the shelves that were at the very left. Eventually it took her several minutes to find what she was looking for.

"Lucille," Khaba whispered from the window at the side of her room and gestured her to get over to him. He grabbed her and tried to ease her fall as they fell. with Lucille landing, elegantly on her feet and trying to ignore the pain of the impact. The fruit bat only slightly eased the fall for her.

"We need to eliminate an alchemist named Verginius, who evaluated the formula, and destroy every single note and sample that could potentially be used," Lucille said as she and Khaba went towards direction of the harbor of Urbulchem. A few more minutes later they had reached the building that Lucille could name as the villa or their target. With careful steps, she went closer to a hiding spot at the other side docks and took off the armor as she was behind a staircase where nobody could see them.

Khaba was looking a bit concerned about their position and wondered about their approach to shatter the plans of the emperor. "Lucille, how do you plan to get inside and take that guy out?"

"The formula is neutralized by salt, hence with the entire damn building," the otter replied as she looked upon the river that went next to them and focused on the water. Her magic channeled in the streams made her twist her face as the immense amount of energies going through her body caused her eyes to glow in a white light as a massive tidal wave formed and destroyed the storehouse entirely. Lucille however went down to her knees and lost consciousness as the spell completely burned her out.

In shock Khaba was putting his wings over her and channeling his healing magic, but he gladly realized that the otter just needed some rest. That relief didn't last long however as he heard the steps of hooves coming closer to them.

Gaius was shaking visibly. He saw the destruction of the storehouse from his balcony and worried greatly about Lucille and Khaba. He was partially blaming his father for keeping war plans in their library, but also himself as he didn't do anything to stop them.

"Master Gaius," Harshad stepped onto the balcony and gestured his master that he should follow him. "Two guests have just arrived."

Wondering whom the tiger was referring to Gaius followed him downstairs and to the entrance where a white bull and a black mare were standing, the bovine holding the sleeping body of Lucille in his arms, the mare having Khaba on her back. "Zopyros, Tacita? It has been a while."

"Greetings to you as well, Gaius," the bull Zopyros replied as he carefully put Lucille into a chair that was close by. "I know it is none of my business, but can you explain me why this young girl just destroyed an army storehouse and killed about ten people in the process?"

The wolf looked shocked at that estimate. "She learned about the plans of the Augustus to use poison in the North to commit a genocide on her people. You cannot blame her for trying to stop this for good."

"Blaming her? She did something I and Tacita were planning to do for weeks now, although with less collateral damage I should say," Zopyros replied with a calm smile on his face.

Now the mare stepped inside and let Khaba fly to a spot somewhere close to Lucille. "Prior to their departure Incitatus and Asterion left plans unattended and I was able to find out about this. I was also rather surprised to see Khaba at the docks, but now I know more."

Gaius now was thinking a little bit and his eyes went wide as he realized something. "Oh Mars, the two guys Vidar killed were Incitatus and Asterion? I am rather sorry to hear."

"Actually, I am now allowed to do stuff on my own," Tacita replied as she went over to Khaba and gave him a smile. "I am not going to tell you to return as I officially declared all slaves of my brother to be free, in case he should pass away during his absence. Perhaps it is not very nice, but I hoped for it."

Zopyros gave her a smug grin and leaned closer to Gaius to whisper him into the right ear. "She and half of the city."

Tacita then went over to Gaius as she looked him all over from head to toe. "It appears that you didn't require that much your gymnasium when you were away. You look much stronger than before."

Gaius blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, if you have to work and hunt, sports are no longer that necessary."

"True," Zopyros said as he looked over to Harshad, who was by far the most muscular person in the room. "A reason why I and Tacita decided to rely on ourselves now that we are going to marry in two months."

Tacita smiled as the bull spoke those words. "In any case, we also found out that Inictatus and Asterion were working for the missing senator Seleukos," she took a deep breath as she went through a pocket in her tunic and pulled out a green gem, which emitted a glow that was rather familiar to Gaius and Khaba. "This is a replica of the gem in possession of said Seleukos. Unfortunately, there was nothing to explain their function to us."

"All I know about them is that their origin lies in the Old Ones. Their purpose is never mentioned," Gaius replied as he took a look at the fake gem in Tacita's hands. "But if someone wants them so desperately, maybe Seleukos knows more about it."

"In case we should find out more about him, we let you know," Tacita replied as Zopyros took her up and carried her out of the house on his arms.

Khaba meanwhile was looking at Lucille and looked how she was simply just sleeping peacefully after she killed potentially ten people. "We just claim that we both were playing and then had to be carried home because we were totally exhausted."

"Should work," Gaius said as he went to the kitchen in order to finally eat something after he was waiting for the two.

Crawford was lying in the grass as the sun was shining down on the city. His eyes closed, he just dozed off and let his surroundings fade from his consciousness. He just day dreamed about several pieces of mechanics that he saw in Urbulchem and pondered about some of them having a lot of potential to be made into something even better. Then a brilliant idea hit him and he jumped up eagerly to run into the city to the market in order to find someone selling him the pieces he required. Sure enough, he found a merchant that was selling several things made from metal for fair money.

"Hey boy, you want some of it?" the merchant, a stripped hyena dressed in a foreign attire, asked the young otter as he stood before him.

"All of it," Crawford told the merchant as he put a bag of gold coins he took earlier from Septimus' room on the table.

"Nice making business with you," the hyena said as he took the blanket and made a small provisory bag out of it and then put it over his own back and smiled at the young otter. "I may as well carry it to where you live. It's rather heavy."

When Crawford was back at the villa and said his goodbyes to the rather cheerful merchant he started unpacking the pieces he got and already started assembling them as he tried to follow the images he had earlier in his head. He used his magic a little to heat up the metal in order to deform it to his means and put several parts together that were not even from the same metal. In the end he was holding something akin to a sword with a long hilt, but as he pressed a small button on it the hilt expended several times and formed a spear-shaft, while the blade was now the tip of the weapon. Crawford now eased up a security at the top and moved the blade to the side, which made the weapon look like a regular scythe used to harvest crops.

"Interesting weapon," Gaius, who just stepped out of the villa to see what the young otter was up to, commented on the weapon that Crawford just assembled. "Sword, spear, and scythe in one. Never really thought about something like that."

"It is rather simple, however," Crawford replied as he put the weapon back together into its default sword-like state. "I just need to figure out how to change the mechanic to revert it faster."

Gaius looked a bit curiously at the weapon and the spare parts that Crawford left on the side. "If you don't mind, could you make me one of those, if you have enough materials left for another that is?"

"Sure thing," Crawford said as he went right back to the scrap metal and started working on the weapon for the wolf. It took him another few minutes to hold an identical version of the same weapon as before and give it to Gaius. "Alright, but do try it out a bit, it's completely experimental," the otter said as he moved past the wolf and into the villa to go check on Harshad and Ayontunde. Much to his surprise however there was another, unfamiliar person next to the two felines in the kitchen.

Horatio was eating several of the food items Harshad had put a lot of effort into earlier and had to replace now. The old bear noticed the foreign otter and just sneered before he swallowed the meat he had in his mouth. "Seems you are the barbarian boy that Septimus told me about."

"Before or after I knocked him out?" Crawford replied cheekily as he crossed his arms and measured the ursine. The otter could see that unlike the fox Septimus Horatio had well defined arms and a strong torso, but was not overly mindful of his waistline, which he found more fitting for the bear however.

Horatio looked a bit angrily at the otter, but instead decided that he wasn't worth his time and ate a few other pieces of meat that the tiger Harshad just put there to replace what already was eaten by the bear.

"When did you get here, actually? I was gone just a few minutes back and I am sure you weren't here before," Crawford said now much angrier than before, but still holding back to not provoke a fight.

Horatio still ignored the smaller otter, but then felt how someone was throwing a ball of mud at him and chuckled when it hit his face. In fury he turned around to see that Lucille was standing at the door to the garden and smiling wickedly at him. "How dare you, you filthy little," he couldn't finish his sentence as he felt how someone got up on his back and saw how two wings covered his field of view completely. The next moment he was blown to the ground and felt how the otter girl just walked over his back into the kitchen.

"Good work, Khaba. That idiot didn't see that coming," Lucille told the fruit bat as she took him up and let him hold on to her back. "Also, you knocked that fox out, Craw? He must be a real pushover."

"Surprisingly, the bear as well," Crawford stated as he saw the grumbling mass of the black bear still lying on the ground. "This is an Empire of warmongers, but honestly I think our warriors are tougher and smarter."

"Don't dare to compare our great Empire to the filth of the North, you little latrine cleaner," the bear growled as he got up from the ground and wiped the mud off his face.

Crawford just looked at the pathetic display of Horatio and then back at his sister and Khaba. "So, what were you two up to today?"

Khaba and Lucille looked at each other and laughed heartily. The fruit bat was the one to reply. "Lucille taught me how to read, so not that much actually. But how about we play something at the river tomorrow with Gaius?"

"I wish I could," interjected Gaius as he entered the kitchen and looked at the scene that happened in there. "My father's funeral needs to be attended by me, but I think that Harshad and Ayontunde might be free for the three of you."

The tiger looked a bit happier at that proposal and winked to the two otters and the fruit bat. "Your kindness shall be praised, Master."

At those words the wolf chuckled a bit in embarrassment. "Please just call me Gaius. I actually have been preparing something that will make me no longer your master."

Horatio cringed as he listened to the young wolf's words. "Gaius, are you trying to say you want to give up the few slaves you have at your disposal?"

"That is exactly what I am implying, Horatio," Gaius said calmly and with a confidently kind tone in his voice. "Harshad, you and Ayontunde will be free by tomorrow. You will then be able to work for an appropriate payment in this house and given some tunics I ordered a few days back."

The bear's jaw dropped as he looked at the wolf, then at the tiger that was looking right back at him with a grin, and then at Gaius again. "What did they do to you in Bijulac? You used to be such a fine boy till you got the idea to go there."

"I am no longer a boy," Gaius replied coldly as he went towards Harshad and put a hand on the tiger's arm. "And not as your master, but as a fellow creation of the gods I ask you, if you would be taking care of Crawford, Lucille, and Khaba as long as they are our guests."

The tiger gave him a subtle nod and replied, "They will be safe and sound, Gaius. But doesn't your brother oppose the idea?"

"Oh, he will oppose it, unless somebody hit him hard enough to change his personality," the wolf joked as he now left the room and up to his own room.

Far from Urbulchem the world was a silent place, safe for the noises of the river, the birds, and the wind that all went through the woods like the people went through the streets of the metropolis.

Harshad was just showing off his immense strength to everyone as he easily was holding Crawford and Lucille on his strong shoulders, while having Khaba hold on to him on his back, and hopping on a single leg alongside the river bed with Ayontunde watching in amusement. He soon however tripped over and hit the sand with his face while the two otters easily jumped of his shoulders and on their feet while Khaba flew up to the next best branch. Despite the pain and humiliation however the tiger just grinned and got up from the ground as he jumped right into the water to clean himself, Ayontunde soon following him.

The lioness wasn't a worse swimmer than the large tiger, but she was holding back and not able to keep up too well with Harshad.

Being however rather mindful of the lioness Harshad stopped a little bit for her to reach up on him. He playfully pushed some water on her and began swimming with her on the same pace.

Crawford and Lucille meanwhile were swimming all over the river and occasionally jumping out the water with their natural agility they had in that element, while Khaba was flying in circles over them all.

The entire day went by like this and when they all went back to the shore and redress, Ayontunde gave a gentle and loving nudge to Harshad. She pointed at a sunny spot at a tree and gestured that she wanted to sit down with him.

"Surely, my love," the tiger said with a chuffing tone in his voice as he hugged the lioness and took her in his arms to carry her over to the tree. "Crawford, you guys can find the way back to the villa, right?" he asked with a glance over to the otters and fruit bat.

Crawford gave him a nod and soon enough he, Khaba and Lucille were gone in the distance and left the two big cats for themselves.

Having the privacy and time for themselves Harshad carried Ayontunde to the spot under the tree and sat down carefully to let the lioness lie down on his chest and listen to his heartbeat.

"It is good to have you back, my love," the tiger whispered to the lioness as he put his chin over her forehead and chuffed softly while they both went on to just share each other's presence with the sun drying them off from the river water. "I will seek a ship for us to return to your home. And if I have to build it with my own hands."

Gaius was just returning home and he felt nauseated. People were looking at him and talking behind his back about his absence for a journey to the north and how he dishonored his father by sleeping with the women of the barbarians and trying to learn about their culture. It angered him, made him wish to just stand up and tear all their tails off, but he just endured it silently and now punched against one of the pillars in his villa.

Septimus just went past him and didn't say a word. He was talking to the other people and agreed to their opinions while spreading his own, even to the part about his step-brother enjoying the company of barbarian women. To make matters worse he also complained loudly that their slaves were now free and slacking off for half their money and that he has to make dinner for tonight.

The wolf was in a worse mood than he hoped for. The funeral itself would have been endurable, but he was tired from what the people put him through mentally and just went up to fall into his bed. At this very moment he hated just about everyone in this city and longed to return to Bijulac, where things were far from perfect, but honest at the very least. He then pondered a little bit about what was said about him and the women in Bijulac. There couldn't be a greater lie, he never bothered about sex other than the academics of it when he came of age. He liked people, most of the time at least, and wanted to just get along with them, which was the reason he went to Bijulac as he wanted to manifest an actual peace between them and the Empire. It all appeared like a youthful wish to him now as he struggled with the realization that his people were mostly not capable to even consider building up a relationship like that.

"I take it the funeral took its toll on you Gaius?" the voice of Khaba, who flew up to the window of Gaius' room, said in a calm tone.

"Realizing that my father has passed is one thing, listening how everyone is talking behind my back another," the wolf said as stared at the ceiling and just wanted to fall asleep already.

"Not that you need to care. You could simply leave and do whatever you please elsewhere," Khaba suggested in a cheery manner to make Gaius feel a bit better. "For example, how about I, Lucille, Crawford, and you go on a journey to the East and discover the lands Harshad originates from? We got three people with a talent for healing magic, so we don't need to worry about poison or diseases at all. And Lucille will enjoy kicking more butts."

Gaius chuckled at that optimism and sat up on his bed. "Once we are finished with the gems, I think we should consider this. I memorized the city as an ideal place to live, but in truth nothing holds me here anymore. They may as well just drown in their self-indulgence, I will no longer be blinded by it."

Khaba laughed out loudly as he fell back from the window and flew to the lower floor to join the others downstairs.

"The Empire may as well crumble once I am gone," Gaius said to himself as he looked down on his feet. He was a weakling when he left, even worse than his brother who got knocked out by someone as meager as Crawford. Now his muscles were twice as dense as those of the average citizen and, although not defined, actually pretty visible. It was also apparent to him that his mind was much clearer than ever before. With a smile, he got up, undressed his toga, and changed into the flax clothing he wore when he was living up north. Thinking about the expression that Septimus and Horatio would have on their faces, he was laughing loudly enough to shriek up the birds in the nearby trees as well as some people passing by. Once he went down into the atrium he was already smiling as he saw that his guest looked at him and gave him a silent approval with their smiles.

Lucille was the first to speak up, "After what I can get, you are not too happy here in this city, right?"

"Not as much as my memories made me believe," Gaius replied as he took a seat with his guests and leaned on the table. "I will endure it as long as I have to and then leave this rotten place. Since due to the stuff that happened at Topaz Lake, I do wonder if you would want to go on a journey with me somewhere. Khaba suggested that idea to me just now."

"Sounds good, I already have done most of the things you could be doing here anyway," Lucille said as she leaned back in her chair and recalled the amount of activities she found boring after a few minutes. "Too much sports."

"Same here," Crawford said as he played with two pieces of metal while he tried to follow the conversation. "Leofwine will be heartbroken once he finds out how much this place stinks."

Gaius lowered his ears a bit as he felt a bit guilty for causing Leofwine to believe the city of Urbulchem was like a paradise. "I will tell him in my shame that Diamond Lake is the most beautiful place he could hope to be at. Well, or Scathsolas, which he should reach once autumn comes."

"How can you talk like this, brother?" the voice of Septimus called loudly as the fox came down from the stairs and looked angrily at the others. "You would betray your people and emperor to run off with some barbarians and even say that Urbulchem's glory pales to the mere mud pit that they call Scathsolas and the puddle the claim to be a lake of diamonds?"

Gaius sneered disdainfully as he exposed his fangs to the fox and stood up to impose before him. "How I can talk like this? Tell me, how can you talk about me behind my back? You support claims of how I deflowered countless women, you called me a disgrace to our father's legacy, you claimed I was only a mindless brute when you found me that run around naked like a vile beast! You were so busy telling lies that you didn't notice how close I stood and were listening to every word," the wolf yelled every sentence and pushed with his index finger hardly against the chest of Septimus every time. "Grab your stuff and leave my property before I will make you," he snarled as his eyes just showed an unrelenting wrath and hatred.

"B-but, b-brother, you c-can't be s-serious," Septimus said as his knees went wobbly as he looked into the most terrifying gaze that Gaius was capable of.

"Do never call me brother again, you hear me? I want to never see you here ever again, or else I will let you disappear from my life for good!" Gaius now was loud enough to even scare Lucille a little bit. His hatred was so unlike his usual self, nobody expected him to react that way. "And that is dead serious."

Not wanting to confront Gaius any longer Septimus run upstairs and not even a few more minutes later he was carrying a full bag with clothing and personal items down the stairs without even looking at the wolf, out of fear to provoke even worse.

Gaius was breathing heavily once he saw the fox he once called a brother disappear down the streets. He sank down on a chair and tried to calm his thoughts from the experience. It brought him over the edge, listening to all the insults, the betrayal he experienced from his step-brother, it all just kicked him till he was no longer willing to take it. "Should have done this a long time ago."

"This just was a bit surreal," Crawford was the first to speak after Gaius took some cleaning supplies to wipe away the evidence of his outrage. "In all the time we have known each other you only ever did this to Durandt, and Leofwine never told what exactly happened, but we all knew it wasn't anything good. I assume this means you truly have broken your bond with him."

Gaius remained silent as he went back into his chair and let his head fall into his hands. "Give me a minute, I am going to cook something for the six of us. Once Harshad and Ayontunde are back, can you tell them they can have Septimus' old room?"

"Sure, but let me handle the cooking and sleep a little," Crawford suggested with some concern for the wolf after the outbreak he had a few minutes ago.

"Yes, maybe you are right. I will join you later on, alright," Gaius said as he stood up and slowly walked up the stairs to go back to his bed till Crawford finished dinner.

Harshad was carrying Ayontunde on his arms all the way to the villa of Gaius and stepped carefully over the doorstep and gave her a kiss before he let her get off and go over to the atrium where Lucille, Crawford, and Khaba were already waiting for them. "Where are Gaius and Septimus?"

"Gaius has gone to sleep after he kicked out Septimus. He said you can have his room," Khaba replied as he took some grapes and stuffed them into his muzzle.

Being not really fond of the fox Harshad just smiled in satisfaction and took a seat with Ayontunde at the table that had a large amount of food on it, most of it fruits and fish as he recognized the otters had probably cooked after their own preference. "Should we get Gaius?"

Lucille shook her head. "We already tried to wake him up, but he is sleeping like a stone," she answered and took a salmon filet from the table to devour it slowly, while she enjoyed its taste.

Crawford was chewing on a piece of bread that he put some salmon and cheese into, which created something that was looking rather delicious, but he stopped for a moment and then looked at Harshad and Ayontunde. "We did refrain to take the wine, because we did notice something about Ayontunde before we came here."

The tiger's ears perked up as he looked at his mate and then at the young otter boy. "You noticed something? Would you care to explain?"

"You can smell it actually, and it wouldn't surprise me, if I was correct," Crawford said as he rubbed his forehead. "She recently became pregnant."

Harshad's eyes widened as he looked at Ayontunde and then at himself. "B-but, we are, she is, I am, how I mean, how?"

Crawford, Lucille, and Khaba gave each other looks that wordlessly told how much the clueless tiger was an unexpected hilarity to them. Lucille was the one to answer, "Actually, some species are capable of crossbreeding. I am not entirely sure which overall, but I have seen a cross between a polar and a brown bear before. It was a guy from the south of Kärmave."

"So, it is my child?" the tiger was looking a bit dumbfounded but after a while his facial expression relaxed and he smiled at the thought. "No, our child, of course. I never expected to become a father, so I am a bit scared to be honest."

The lioness smiled gently as she got up from her seat and kissed Harshad on his cheek before she took some of the salmon from the table and shared it with her lover. She couldn't say it, but she was just as afraid of becoming a parent as the tiger. But for the moment she just wanted to be close to him and take the burden from his mind.

The dinner ended on a cheerful note as everyone went to their rooms with a satisfied stomach in the end and slept peacefully.

At the palace of the emperor a discussion went on between a tall, muscular wolf and a rather shaking Septimus. The fox was looking much more humble than usual and his usually hateful eyes were instead dripping from sadness. "I tell you as I saw it. They were mages from Shalagab, they used their cursed magic to destroy the storehouse because of the plans we had to use poison it against them. They left me only alive to tell you that they are not going to tolerate this action and I must shamefully admit that I couldn't keep myself in control of my body anymore."

The old wolf looked in a bored manner at the fox and then yawned as he just looked out of the window. "In that case we just claim it to be an act of the gods to keep our honor intact. The idea was only supported by me, because I want to satisfy the people and the senate, but I am already overworked with the territory we already have."

Septimus looked in disbelief at the mild response of the emperor and almost thought it was a cruel joke. "So, you mean that, this is not going to matter at all?"

"To be honest, I am glad to not face the consequences of provoking a Union that has the power to annihilate our Empire, if it wanted to," the emperor said as he leaned back in his throne. "If there never had been a man named Erlendr, it would only be a handful of states that all would be easily defeated, but right now all that keeps us from destruction is a lack of interest. Killing its people with poison would change that."

The fox was not sure what to say about it, as he had been against several plans of the military strategists before and could only agree to this, even though he usually would have proclaimed the glory of Urbulchem. At the moment however he didn't even feel like doing anything anymore. "That is all I had to report. I will be on my way home then."

The old wolf smiled as he saw Septimus slowly walking out of the room and leaving him in the solitude he yearned for each day after dealing with the idiots that unknowingly were only driving the Empire to damnation. "I do wonder, if things will turn out okay, Marcelinus."