//------------------------------// // 653 - Mage's Faithful Hound // Story: Lateral Movement // by Alzrius //------------------------------// Death wasn’t what Solvei had thought it would be. Her father had always told her that dying meant joining their ancestors in the afterlife. There, all of the utvalgte – except for those who’d turned their backs on their traditions in life, and so were cast out after death, left for Vutok to destroy or corrupt with his terrible fire – were part of a single enormous pack, with Hrothvitnir himself as the alpha. In his domain, it was always comfortably cold, there were no monsters to be wary of, and the game was constantly plentiful, no matter how many of their people eventually joined them. In that place, her father had explained to her when she’d still been a wide-eyed pup, all of their people were united. There were no fights for dominance, no struggles over territory, no bickering about the distribution of food. Just one extended family, living together, hunting together, celebrating their joys and mourning their sorrows together. It had sounded wonderful, and despite the overwhelming grief she’d felt when Bolverk had killed her father right in front of her, Solvei had taken comfort in knowing that not only was Frode in a better place now, but that she’d see him again when death inevitably came for her. But now that her time had come, her father was nowhere to be seen. Nor were any of the rest of her people, or Hrothvitnir himself for that matter. Even the snowy landscape that she’d expected was nowhere to be found. Instead, the only thing she saw when she opened her eyes was fire. Blue fire. The sight made Solvei yelp with alarm; despite the odd coloration, she still recognized the flames which symbolized the perverse might of Vutok. Panicking, she whirled around, wanting to put some distance between herself and the wicked substance, but it was all around her, trapping her inside a ring of the stuff. Whimpering, she tried to figure out what was happening. Had Hrothvitnir seen fit to cast her out? Even after everything she’d done to fight Bolverk – a wolf who had forsaken their most important customs and beliefs – as well as the Red Man who’d led him down the path of wickedness? That couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. Her father had always described their forebearer as the wisest and most noble of all of their kind; surely he wouldn’t banish her for doing her best to live up to his ideals. This must be some kind of test, she decided uneasily as she looked around at the featureless ring of flames. Maybe I’m supposed to prove my courage by leaping through the fire? It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but she couldn’t come up with anything better. The blue fire was the only substance here; the ground was a solid blackness, feeling neither cold nor warm under her paws, and the sky was similarly blank, having no clouds or stars or any other discernable features. It was just her, alone inside the azure ring. Gulping, Solvei marshaled her courage as she slowly slunk toward the flames, preparing to endure the horrible heat as she approached them. Except, for some reason, the flames didn’t feel hot. Even when she crept to within a tail’s length of them, she didn’t feel even the slightest bit of warmth coming from the flickering blue blaze. Frowning in confusion, Solvei hesitated for just a moment before tentatively reaching a paw forward, holding her breath as she brushed it against the fire… Cold. The fire burned cold. Laughing in relief, Solvei slumped in place, her worries falling away. I don’t know what this is, but it’s definitely not the flames of Vutok, she mused. Her father’s stories had all agreed that the evil wolf had embraced the destructive power of fire for the damage that its heat could do, needing it to fight Hrothvitnir. For these fires to burn cold meant that they weren’t his. And since they’re not hot, decided Solvei, standing up and striding toward the flames, then I should be able to pass right through them and leave- No. Don’t go. The voice made her freeze in place, but not by choice. Instead, her limbs locked up of their own accord, preventing her from taking another step. But that was less surprising than the fact that she recognized the voice, knowing its owner well by now. “Lex?” she called, looking around in surprise. Although she still wasn’t sure what part of the afterlife this was, she hadn’t expected the pony to be here as well. “Is that you?” Although she’d been alone only a moment ago, a turn of her head revealed that the pony in question was standing behind her now. Except he wasn’t a pony; he’d become that frightening shadow that he’d taken the form of back in their den, the sight of him seeming even more ghostly now that he was backlit by the soft azure light of the cold inferno surrounding them both. But his green eyes, with purple flames of their own sprouting from the outer corners, were fixed directly on her. “Is…is this your seidr?” she asked, the idea coming to her suddenly. In any other context it would have been a ridiculous notion, but after how much she’d seen Lex do, the idea that he could somehow prevent her soul from reaching its afterlife didn’t seem so outlandish. After all, the Red Man had been doing something similar, and Lex was almost as powerful. The only question now was why- Stay with me, came his voice again, and she realized that she was hearing him in her head instead of with her ears. But as unsettling as that was, it was his command that made her bite her lip, uncomfortable. “I can’t. Lex, I can’t. I have to go. My father is waiting for me, and so are the rest of my ancestors, and Hrothvitnir. I need to join them.” Solvei wasn’t sure if his command had made her move closer to him, or if he’d floated toward her, but by the time she was finished speaking he seemed close enough to touch. But despite what he was telling her to do, Solvei knew she couldn’t obey. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, raising a paw to gesture at him. “I know you did a lot for me, and I’m grateful that you helped me free my family from the Red Man’s sickness, but-” Then her outstretched paw brushed against the shadowy substance that was Lex’s body, and Solvei let out a gasp, feeling emotions that weren’t her own rush into her. Or rather, one single emotion. Loneliness. The intensity of the emotion brought her to her knees, snatching her paw back as she stumbled and fell, barely able to process the overwhelming sensations. She’d experienced those feelings before – the longing and the heartache and the desperation – when she’d been on the run, her family having been infected with the Red Man’s sickness. But what she’d gone through for those few days was nothing compared to what she’d felt just now. And although it had been only for a moment, the sense of isolation had been so crushing that she could already feel tears gathering in her eyes, swallowing a sob as she looked up to meet Lex’s eyes. “I…I didn’t know…” Stay with me. The sense of shame that washed over Solvei then had nothing to do with anyone else’s emotions, suddenly filled with remorse for how selfish she’d been. “You lost your pack too, didn’t you?” she sniffled, feeling utterly wretched as she stood up. “Something terrible happened and you lost your family, just like I lost mine. That’s why you were hurt so badly when I found you in that cave, alone except for Drafty. And then you lost her too, because I was being followed and led them right to you.” Her ears folded back against her head as she continued. “It didn’t even occur to me to ask about what had happened to you. Not until we’d already defeated Bolverk and you were arguing with the Red Man about those pacts he’d tricked my family into making. This whole time, you’ve been hurting worse than I was, and you still helped me rescue everyone I care about before we even started trying to save just one person who’s important to you.” That last part stung worst of all, reminding her that she hadn’t fully trusted the red-horned unicorn at first. As much as Solvei had known that she needed the pony seidrmadr in order to rescue her family – that had been obvious ever since the first time he’d used his power on her, turning her into a giant capable of batting the other wolves around as if they were pebbles – a small part of her had been aware that the reverse wasn’t true. That while Lex had seemed to accept the necessity of overcoming Bolverk and the Red Man in order to rescue Drafty, he’d had another option. Solvei had been keenly aware of that when she’d led him to her family’s den. At that point, he could easily have used his seidr to take control of her, marching her inside and turning her over to Bolverk in exchange for setting up an audience with the Red Man. Given how the evil spirit wanted to meet with ponies, Bolverk might very well have agreed, at which point Lex could have abandoned her completely and put all of his effort into rescuing his mate. She could still remember when she’d put that fear behind her, back in the den. Bolverk had been yelling, violently asserting his dominance over the rest of her family, and Solvei hadn’t been able to stop shaking. Not just because it had been a terrifying display, putting the lie to the bravado she’d shown Kaja only a few moments prior, but because if Lex had been intent on betraying her, that would have been the moment to do it. Instead, he’d stroked her fur to calm her down. That had been when she’d known that he was committed to helping her. For all that Lex had seemed callous and withdrawn – something which, she realized now, was probably because of whatever tragedy he’d gone through – that single act of kindness, given when she’d expected cruelty, had shown her what sort of person he really was. And here I am, saying that I want to abandon him, realized Solvei miserably. Drafty’s the one person he has left, and the Red Man still has her soul, but I’m fine with going to my eternal reward now that my family’s been freed. If that’s the sort of wolf I am, do I even deserve to join my ancestors at Hrothvitnir’s side at all? Overcome with remorse, Solvei made herself look up at the glowing eyes of the person who’d given everything for her. “Lex, I’m so sorry! I never meant-” Stay with me forever. For a moment, Solvei’s eyes widened. After how ungrateful she’d been, he still wanted her to remain by his side? Not just until they’d beaten the Red Man, but even after that? There were no words to describe how she felt at that moment. “I…alright.” Somehow managing to push down the storm of emotions flowing through her, Solvei found herself smiling. “I swear that I’ll never leave you alone again. Not ever.” With that said, she plunged forward into the shadowy substance that was Lex Legis. Thermal Draft gasped, hearing a similar exclamation coming from Prevarius, as she saw blue flames erupt over Solvei’s body, covering her completely. But unlike herself, the devil was quicker to react. “Oh no you don’t!” he snarled, leaping backward even as he flung his arm out, whipping a scroll around toward where Solvei had fallen. Solvei, however, was no longer there. And then Prevarius let out a scream of pain as one of the thick horns sprouting from his back suddenly went flying, contracts spilling onto the ground along with shattered pieces of black bone. For a moment, Thermal Draft couldn’t make sense of what had happened. Then her brain caught up to what her eyes were telling her, and she managed to breathe a single word. “Solvei?” Standing across from where she'd been lying only a moment earlier, the winter wolf’s wounds were gone. But that wasn’t the only thing about her that had changed. She was taller now, nearly six feet at the shoulder. Her fur was no longer a pure white, instead having ice-blue highlights running through it. Neither of those differences, however, were what made Thermal Draft’s jaw drop, struggling to understand what she was seeing. That was due to the other new feature upon Solvei’s body: On each of her flanks, standing out in sharp contrast to her fur, was Lex’s cutie mark.