Misty let out a tired sigh, rubbing a hoof over her tired muzzle. In the days following the battle, and removal of General Bubbles, Misty had taken up the remaining responsiblities that were left in the General's abscence, along with other Equestrian commanders. It was almost cathartic, returning to menial documents and overseeing soldiers as she had back in the Everfree Fort. Before she encountered Vvulf. Misty hadn't seen him at all since the battle and his request to 'recover undisturbed'.
"Commander Glory, or is it General now?" A familiar, female voice asked from behind Misty.
"Jade!" Misty's thoughtful expression turned up into a happy smile, the grey mare running to embrace her friend.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well," Jade began, breaking off the hug after enjoying it for the moment, "Since General- Sorry, Commander Bubbles' return to the fort, the princesses thought my leadership would be best employed here at the front"
Misty noticed Jade's eyes quickly dart around for a moment before her gaze focused back on her, giving Misty a warm smile.
"Looking for something?" Misty giggled, teasing Jade.
"I don't see your... Companion anywhere" Jade replied, mentioning Vvulf with a tone like a bad taste in her mouth.
"Oh, Vvulf?" Misty responded, defending the man who had saved both of their lives. If only a little.
"He's recovering right now"
"Recovering?" Jade asked, almost in disbelief.
"Somepony actually hurt that thing?"
"Well, some ponies, to be exact" Misty replied, recounting Vvulf's efficacy in battle.
"Color me impressed. I didn't think anypony had it in them, to take on such a beast" Jade chuckled and shook her head, starting to trot towards the commander's tent.
"But, we've more important matters to discuss, unfortunately"
"What's going on?" Misty asked, following Jade into the tent.
Jade made her way over to the war table in the middle of the tent, taking a rolled scroll out of her saddlebags and putting it on the map-covered table. The white mare moved a silver figure across the map to confront a black figure standing atop some nearby ruins.
"We've got orders to seize the ruins and reinforce them as an outpost" Jade explained while Misty levitated the scroll to herself, reading and confirming what Jade had just said.
"Why the sudden offensive?" Misty asked, setting the scroll back down on the table.
"Given the losses suffered in the last battle and the declining support of the ponies, the princesses realized they needed to show some progress in this Faust-forsaken war" Jade explained, letting out a sigh and rubbing her forehead with a hoof.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we're going to need his help"
"I'm sure Vvulf will help" Misty replied, looking out of the open side of the tent, across the rest of the forces below.
"I wonder if he's recovered yet, it's been a few days now..."
"Well, it's your job to find out" Jade chuckled, returning to the map before her.
"We'll set off when he's ready, so the sooner, the better"
Misty nodded her head and gave her friend a salute, Jade returning the display with one of her own. With nothing more to be said, Misty left the commander's tent and headed towards Vvulf's tent. Moving through the crowd of soldiers, Misty finally reached the isolated, single tent Vvulf had specifically requested be raised for his recovery. Misty smiled to herself, Vvulf was like a spoiled foal. If that foal could single-hoofedly take out a whole platoon of Northerners.
"Vvulf?" Misty called out, letting the man know she was there and approaching.
Misty didn't receive a reply, but something else piqued her ears. The sound of metal on metal banging came from within Vvulf's tent, clearly the man was repairing his armor once again. Curiosity got the better of Misty and the Grey mare stepped forward, creeping closer to Vvulf's tent on her hoof-tips.
Carefully, Misty pulled on a small flap of the tent, moving it aside with her magic. Inside, Misty's eyes tried to adjust, peering into Vvulf's darkened tent. Misty could vaguely make out Vvulf's form, his bare flesh exposed. Misty almost let out an audible gasp at finally seeing what was beneath her companion's armor, but she stifled it by biting her lip.
Vvulf's body was pale and hairless, but what caught Misty's attention and pulled at her heartstrings was the realization that Vvulf's skin was covered in scars. Not just scars from battle, but definate runes carved into the man's flesh. Vvulf's body froze, Misty losing track of the man now that her eyes weren't able to follow his movements.
Misty's heart nearly stopped when she was suddenly muzzle-to-snout with Vvulf, his furious facade making Misty's breath catch in her throat as she stumbled back.
"S-Sorry!" Misty exclaimed, releasing the tent's flap and taking a few steps away from the fabric walls of the tent, putting herself hopefully out of range of Vvulf's axe.
"I requested to remain undisturbed " Vvulf practically growled, putting thick emphasis on his desire to be left alone during his recovery.
"I was sent to check-in on you, you've been in there without so much as a single word for days" Misty replied, her tone a tad annoyed at her predictably introverted companion.
"Sorry" Vvulf replied, causing Misty to stutter at the admittance from the man.
"I-It's alright" Misty squeaked out,
"I just wanted to see if you were okay, you took a real beating in that battle"
"I'm fine now" Vvulf replied, the sound of metal shifting coming from inside the tent.
"Was there any other reason you disturbed me?" Vvulf asked, stepping out of the tent with his usual apparel, staring down at Misty with that familiarly furious facade of his.
"Y-Yes," Misty started, calming her nerves.
"We've got orders to claim some nearby ruins for an outpost"
"I see," Vvulf replied in his monotonous voice.
"When do we depart?"
Vvulf sat in the knee-deep snow, silently waiting with his arms crossed. Misty, Mistral, and a dozen other equestrian soldiers waited beside him, positioned behind their snow pile cover. Much to his annoyance, Vvulf had been involuntarily joined by the small detachment of 'Elites'. Lighting, the leader of the equine elites, was busy reconning the ruins, the dark blue pegasus able to covertly observe their target.
Vvulf's head lifted as he picked-up on the nigh silent sound of Lightning's feathered wings flapping over the wintry winds. The rest of the squad tensed up, fearing their strange companion had detected approaching enemies. Tensions quickly faded once Lightning landed before them, his hooves crunching the snow beneath him.
"I counted at least three-dozen, a hoof-full of crossbows, but mostly infantry" Lightning relayed, trotting over to his allies.
"What's the plan, Sir?" A pegasus mare asked, stepping forward.
"We'll make our move when the storm comes in. If what Mistral feels holds true, we should have some cover soon. It won't be a whiteout, so be quick and stay out of sight. I don't think I need to explain the importance of a swift and silent mission" Lightning said, looking over at Vvulf as he uttered the last lines.
Vvulf silently rose, turning to observe the dimly lit ruins across the barren snow field before them. Misty joined him, peeking her muzzle over the mound of snow.
"This is going to be great for morale" Misty said with a smile, turning her head to face Vvulf as he continued to stare out at the ruins.
"You speak like the ruins are already claimed" Vvulf replied after a moment, causing Misty to chuckle.
"Well of course," Misty said, amused.
"We've got you on our side, this is going to be no problem"
Vvulf let out a 'hm', but offered no further reply. Misty shook her head with a smile and focused her gaze back out at the ruins.
Just as Mistral had predicted, the winds began to pick up, carrying snow from the sky and ground across their sight as their sounds were muffled by the swirling storm. Lightning and the pegasi attached two short blades to their forehooves, Lightning giving the whole group a nod before disappearing into the snowy sky along with the other winged equines. Misty, Mistral, and the rest of the elites drew small daggers with their teeth, the unicorns not daring to use their magic, lest even the dimmest light expose their operation. Misty paused to look back at the still-stationary Vvulf, the armored man standing all alone. Misty uttered a silent prayer and disappeared into the snow-filled scene, leaving Vvulf alone where the detachment had began.
Vvulf took a deep breath, letting his hot breath billow out of his helmet. With nothing left to do, the man advanced on the ruins as well, not bothering to draw his axe yet. The deep snow and harsh winds were little more than a background though for Vvulf as he dashed across the frigid horizon like the hound his helmet resembled. His movements were swift, low to the ground, truly animalistic. And effective. In no time at all, Vvulf was pressed against the crumbling, frost-covered walls of the ruins. His eyes scanned the mess of broken walls and collapsed towers, taking note of every black-armored pony he noticed. With his prey in sight, Vvulf began to hunt. While comparably much larger than his equine allies and targets, Vvulf was incredibly stealthy, the armored man remaining out of the light and sight of the defending Northerners. The whipping winds silenced his armored body shifting as he slunk around the ruins, nearing his quarry with each deft footfall.
The first pony Vvulf came across met a swift and brutal end, the mare's neck breaking with a muffled crack following a heavy blow from the side of Vvulf's armored hand. Vvulf stashed the body away, tucking it away, lest it cause complications if found. Vvulf continued on, silently slaughtering the guards as he went. His latest victims being swiftly dispatched, one by their own blade, the other by their fallen ally's crossbow, the bolt piercing through the back of the plated, black helmet and emerging out of the stallion's eye socket.
Another unsuspecting stallion let out a muffled cry of pain as Misty plunged her knife into his neck, her hoof covering his outburst until it subsided into a bloody gurgle before falling completely silent. Misty hauled the body away, the irony taste of the stallion's blood creeping across her lips as her blade remained between her muzzle. Misty's gaze caught movement, the approaching Northerner's throat being slit by a blinding blur of feathers and steel.
Slowly and systematically, the ruins were cleared. When the last Northerner hit the ground with a muffled thud, Lightning touched down in the center of the ruins, the rest of his allies eventually joining him as the storm continued to blow through the ancient ruins.
"Did we get them all?" A unicorn stallion asked, his voice muffled by the knife held by his muzzle.
"We can't be sure yet, you two, check inside to make sure we're finished" Lightning ordered, pointing a hoof at Mistral and the vocal stallion.
The pair nodded, almost in unison, and moved towards the ruin's single standing tower. The ice-caked stone walls loomed over the otherwise crumbled fortress, jutting up into the swirling snow above, the top of the tower having caved in long ago. The two unicorns sheathed their muzzle-held knives and drew their weapons. The stallion grabbed ahold of the tower's door and began to open it slowly.
The stallion stared into the dark interior, the darkness of the tower's confines being quickly illuminated by a raging inferno that washed over the stallion. Mistral had been lucky enough to be standing behind the wall of the tower proper, but unfortunate enough to have to witness as fur and flesh were fused to armor, melting and charring as the flames consumed the stallion right before her. Mistral was barely able to conjure a protective shell around herself before the wall beside her was demolished, sending the fuchsia unicorn flying.
The ponies watched with abject horror as an enormous black dragon emerged from the crumbling tower, its wings unfurling to their all-consuming width as the beast let out a furious roar that shook the air itself. The dragon refocused its amber gaze on the ponies, opening its massive maw as another wave of flaming death grew inside it.
"Scatter!" Lightning ordered, shooting skyward, narrowly avoiding the blast of dragonfire that consumed most of the elites. Vvulf and Misty arrived to watch their allies be turned to little more than ash and bones, the armored man tucking Misty into himself as he dove behind the remains of a wall. A fireball sailed past where they had just been, exploding behind them in an inferno, the waves of heat washing over Vvulf and Misty as the fire dissipated into the snowy air. Vvulf patted out the flames that had caught on his cloak, the greyish-white fur stained black at the edges by the dragon's breath.
The dragon hissed as it pulled itself out and over the collapsed stones of what remained of the tower's walls, the beast's form filling the center of the ruins almost entirely. Its amber eyes scanned over the ruins, searching for its prey as it slithered through the crumbling walls and long-forgotten towers.
"C-Can you even kill that thing?" Misty whispered in disbelief, having heard tales of the dragons that inhabited this world, but never having seen one in the flesh, let alone one as massive as this one.
Vvulf peeked his head around the crumbling wall they were hidden behind, watching as the dragon lunged forward, snapping its jaws closed and silencing a pony's screams with a bloody spray.
"Perhaps" Vvulf replied, drawing his axe.
"I'll need you to distract it so I can get close enough to strike"
Misty locked up at Vvulf's request, fear paralyzing her body hearing his words. 'Distract the dragon' those words boomed inside her terrified mind, how could she do anything that didn't end up with her becoming a soot stain on the white snow. Her wide, cyan eyes stared up at Vvulf as he examined his enemy, axe in hand as he peeked around the wall. Then, something finally clicked with Misty, she saw that glow, that burning bloodlust inside of Vvulf as he stood there. But, something was different about it this time. It wasn't a blind rage, but a cold and calculating stare, somehow this new sheen in his eyes was even more terrifying than the dragon.
"A-Alright, on my mark" Misty replied, nodding her head as she swallowed her fear.
Vvulf nodded his head once, but never took his gaze off of the dragon. Misty took a deep breath and triggered their plan, stepping out into the open from behind the ruined wall. Using her magic, Misty drew her sword and hurled it at the dragon, the blade doing little to the armored scales, but getting the beast's attention all the same. The dragon turned to face Misty, those slitted, amber eyes staring into her very soul as she look on at the black-scaled death-incarnate. Misty dodged to the side, sidestepping the dragon's toothed maw as it lunged forward, slamming its jaws closed where she had been. The beast's amber eye rotated to stare at Misty, but quickly shifted to watch the silver blur of Vvulf's axe connect with its other eye. The blade struck true, cutting deep into the dragon's orb, the beast letting out a roar of pain as it clutched its blood-spewing eye.
The dragon removed its bloody claws from its face, a crimson river still flowing from Vvulf's blow. The dragon let free a swath of flame, blasting a horizontal line across the ruins and snow as the beast attempted to incinerate the infuriatingly nimble Vvulf. The armored man seemed to always remain just out of the fire's all-consuming touch, singeing the ends of his fur cloak, but little more than that as he dove and dodged the dragon's enraged flames and strikes through the crumbling ruins.
Misty watched from the relative safety offered by a frost-coated wall, marveling at her companion as he harassed and enraged the dragon, passing blows at the beast while remaining unscathed himself. Misty's wonder turned to horror as the dragon finally connected a blow, its heavy tail slamming into Vvulf and sending him tumbling into a ruined wall. The frozen stones crashed and crumbled onto Vvulf, leaving the man half-buried in the rubble.
"No!" Misty screamed out, her anguished cry being drown-out by the dragon's roar.
The soft thud of something landing in the snow nearby drew her attention, following the sound, Misty's eye was caught by the silver blade of Vvulf's axe shimmering in the moonlight. Mustering her courage, sorrow, and rage into a single-minded determination, Misty lifted the weapon with her light-blue magical grasp. With all the might she could muster with her horn, Misty hurled the weapon, the blade cutting along the dragon's soft throat as it spun through the air. The dragon let out a choked roar of pain, its clawed hand going to its neck. Misty's blow hadn't been deep enough to kill, but enough to cause a flow of dark crimson to leak from the beast's wound.
A blur of steel and feathers shot through the air, tearing a long cut along the dragon's side, slicing though the webbed membrane of the dragon's folded wing. Lightning hit the ground behind the dragon, shooting his gaze over to Misty.
"We need to go. Now!" He ordered, launching back into the air as the dragon went into a bloody rage.
Misty caught sight of Mistral and what remained of their group fleeing across the snowy field as the dragon let loose a wild gout of flame. The orange tongues of the fire lapped across the ground and cut through the snowy, black sky, coating anything the dragon's fire touched in a wreath of flame. Misty had no choice but to retreat as well, the warmth of the dragon's fire felt on her muzzle before she turned her head and galloped across the snow. Tears welled in her eyes as she was forced to abandon Vvulf, fighting every urge she had to return for her companion.
The dragon set back down after its wrathful display of flame, the ruins now almost entirely coated in dragonfire. Vvulf could hear the roars of the dragon, feel the warmth of the fire spraying just overhead, but his body remained still. Blood leaked from the mouth of his helmet and from between his armor-plated body, his breathing was slow and ragged, sucking air into his broken body.
'Rise pup' A cool, female voice spoke to Vvulf, echoing in his mind.
'This is not your story's end. Now, rise and fight'
Vvulf's focus returned, the scarred runes on his body burning as their ancient magic bled into his broken body. Slowly, the warrior moved upright, his armored hand grasping at the crumbling, frozen rubble around him, using the stones to push himself up to his feet. Vvulf noticed his axe lying in the snow nearby him, the result of Misty's throw. Vvulf bent down and grabbed his weapon, turning to the dragon as it let out another booming roar, echoing the cry into the empty, snowy night.
Vvulf advanced on the beast, stepping through the ring of fire it had created around itself. The heavy furs catching as he waded through the flames Burning, Vvulf continued his advance on the dragon's blind side, blood dripping from his armored form and onto the black and white earth below. Vvulf lowered his stance, releasing himself of all inhibitions. With one hand on his axe, the other braced against the ground in his low stance, Vvulf charged the dragon.
The dragon had just enough time to turn and see the bloody, silver blur that was Vvulf before pain washed across its every nerve. A hefty thud sounded as the severed arm of the dragon collided with the frozen earth. A torrent of blood poured from the missing limb, the dragon letting out a booming cry of pain, roaring into the snow-speckled sky above. Vvulf didn't relent, maintaining the momentum of his initial charge by spinning around, using the reinforced pommel of his axe as a fulcrum point.
Again, with blinding speed, Vvulf shot forward, cleaving across the dragon's underbelly. The beast fought through the pain from Vvulf's assault, twisting its maw to coat the ground beneath it in dragonfire. Vvulf dashed behind a ruined wall as the orange blast of flame was released, the dragon continuing to spew molten death at Vvulf as the armored man ran around the beast. Vvulf slid around a wall, practically running on all four of his armored limbs as he charged straight towards the dragon.
The dragon's breath followed behind Vvulf, the flames licking at his heels, having already burned away at the ends of his furred cloak. Vvulf lept up, launching himself into the air just as an explosion of fire went off behind him. His armored fist grabbed ahold of the dragon's trailing chain, his metal-plated fingers wrapping around the iron links. The dragon flapped its wings, sending both it and Vvulf attached below skyward. The armored man held steadfast, the whipping winds of the dragon's takeoff doing little more than to billow his cloak.
Steadily, Vvulf worked his way up the chain, slashing at the dragon's underbelly to pull himself to safety from the occasional gout of flame. Finally, Vvulf arrived to the dragon's collar. Taking his axe in hand, Vvulf readied to land the last blow, swinging it back. But, a sudden twist from the dragon caused the weapon to slip from Vvulf's hand, plummeting to the tundra below. Vvulf skittered along the dragon's back, the aerial maneuver having swung him around the best.
Chain still in hand, Vvulf moved forward, digging his fingers into the dragon's tough scales. Higher and higher the dragon rose as it flew away from the ruins, attempting to return to its lair in the North. Vvulf finally reached the collar of the dragon again, his eye shimmering with furious bloodlust. Before the dragon could try and shake the armored warrior again, Vvulf pulled the chain taught, pressing it against the dragon's neck with enough force to dig the metal of his gauntlets into the links, warping both.
The dragon breathed wild fire into the air, lighting up the night sky as Vvulf pulled the chain tighter, blood leaking more furiously from between the plates of his armor. The dragon's roars began to choke, gurgling hisses escaped the dragon's maw as its tongue lolled out and its flapping became erratic.
Vvulf let out a furious roar, the volume rivaling the dragon's own booming calls. With one final push against his physical limits, the dragon's windpipe collapsed, the beast locking up as Vvulf's strength left him. The armored man slid off of the dragon's back, plummeting out of the sky and slamming into the heavy snow of the tundra below. Vvulf watched with the last of his fading vision as the dragon sailed overhead, crashing into the ground further ahead.
Vvulf looked back up, seeing the cold, piercing gaze of the enormous, silver wolf. Vvulf stared up silently at the looming predator, his breathing ragged and slow. The wolf closed its eyes and leaned its muzzle down, licking the nose of Vvulf's helmet.
"Sleep now, pup" The wolf spoke in a soothing, female voice.
Try as he might to fight the urge, Vvulf's eyes slid closed, his body broken and exhausted from the battle. The last thing Vvulf saw before his mind slipped into blackness was the tail of the wolf, the crunching of snow sounding out as the wolf walked away.