A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Elora smiled and kissed Erik, "Then let's do that."

But since they weren't in a hurry, the kissing quickly turned into something more, and it took another hour before Erik left the bedroom with a sated fairy in his soul.

He had once again donned his black armour since today was likely the day they left.

At the same time, Emma suddenly came running down the hallway with a worried expression. Still, she seemed to unconsciously brighten up into a relieved smile when she saw Erik's imposing figure.

She ran up to him, "Sir! Can you please come downstairs? Things are… heating up. I don't think Seraphina's travelling companions agree with all her decisions so far, and big Em seems about ready to start killing."

Hearing about how things were going to shit after just one night of sleeping, Erik couldn't help but sigh. Still, before he asked Emma to lead the way, he had to ask something else, "I'll deal with that in a second, Emma, but first, what's up with your outfit?"

Emma's face started heating up until it was bright red. She looked down and poked her fingers together so cutely that Erik wanted to gobble her up, "I, uh, I figured since I am supposed to, uhm, serve you now, that I should probably dress the part."

She wasn't kidding, as she was now wearing a surprisingly well-preserved maid dress with a skirt that was perhaps a little shorter than absolutely necessary.

She looked up at Erik with sparkling, mismatched eyes, "Do you like it? I found it in the room where the maids would dress themselves for work every morning."

Erik couldn't help but smile at Emma while inwardly cursing whatever deity gave her this unfair level of cuteness. He patted her head and caressed her soft white hair, "I love it, Emma. You look amazing."

The girl, who looked many times better than when Erik had first found her, nuzzled into his hand for a moment but then remembered why she came here, "Ah! Sir! The argument! Downstairs!"

Erik sighed again before indicating for Emma to lead the way.

He could already hear the shouting while walking down the stairs; he recognised one voice as Seraphina's, the other was an unknown man's. Currently, the man was yelling something about following protocol and letting a single human stand in her way.

Naturally, this man didn't know the many things about Erik that Seraphina now knew, but, unfortunately for her, the covenant would prevent her from sharing any of that.

At this point, Erik walked through the doorway and saw seven people in total, five of them new. Since they were too engrossed in their argument, they hadn't noticed him and Emma yet, so Erik took a moment to survey the room.

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It was clearly divided into two camps, with Seraphina, Emily and an unknown man on one side and two unknown men and women on the other.

One of the opposing unknown men was obviously the leader of the other camp. Elora informed him this man was a second rank as well as a human since her senses were much more powerful than Erik's.

Emily was sitting on a couch with her elbow on the armrest and her head resting on her fist. She had changed the damaged clothing she'd been wearing during the last two days into something new.

She now wore a black crop top with similarly coloured baggy cargo pants and some chains hanging off her waist. Her black hair flowed freely down her shoulders while her equally black eyes looked at the newcomers with murderous intent.

Her other hand was playing with some black orbs dancing around her fingers, clearly ready to attack at a moment's notice.

In front of the sofa stood Seraphina with her hands on her hips in a domineering manner, while the unknown man, seemingly another vampire, next to her looked anxious and was trying to calm their tensions. "Let's just calm down, everyone! Please!

We can't fight amongst ourselves. The council will have all our heads if we do that! Sera, you know he has a point; when you found a second powerful human here, you should have turned around and waited for the rest of us.

And Warden Enzo, you can't deny Sera has a past with this Emily. Anyone would be tempted to bend the rules a little. Besides, didn't it all end for the best? The slaves are freed, and Emily is right there, ready to be taken to the council and judged, as was the plan."

Emily scoffed, however, "I'm not going anywhere with any of you. Try it, and see what happens." The shadows in the room seemed to grow longer the more she talked.

When the second-rank human, apparently named Enzo, opened his mouth to answer, Erik figured it was time for him to make an entrance, so he stepped inside the room with a smirk and said, "I have to agree with Emily. She's not going anywhere with you because she's coming with me instead."

Immediately, various things happened at the same time. Enzo and his group jumped back and prepared themselves for a fight under Erik's amused gaze.

Meanwhile, the man next to Seraphina looked at him with undisguised hostility, while Seraphina looked at him with annoyance and hunger, clearly unhappy with her inability to talk about anything related to Erik while also feeling her desire for his blood grow.

Lastly, Emily looked at him with a mix of gratitude, suspicion and confusion. She was also the first to talk, "I haven't decided if I want to follow you yet."

Erik shrugged, "Well, I won't force you. I just figured since Emma is coming with me…."

Emily looked surprised now and panned her gaze to Emma, standing just behind Erik, "Little Em?"

While Emily and Emma had already taken some time to talk to each other, and Emily had also spent a long time talking to Seraphina during the night, the fact was that both Emma and Seraphina were still bound by the covenant not to talk about Erik, so Emily still knew disturbingly little about the man, or his deals with her sister and her old friend.

Emma nodded, a little uncomfortable, not because she didn't want to follow or serve Erik but because she didn't want to leave behind her big sister.

"That was the deal I made, Big Em." She quickly shook her hands, "But I don't mind! Sir treats me well; he gave me power, and he helped me to help you. This is a small price to pay!"

She looked pleadingly at Emily, "Please come with us, Big Em! I know you're afraid of hurting me again, but you won't! I know you won't! We already purified you, after all!"

Emma was still unaware that Emily was constantly struggling with herself to stave off the darkness inside her.

Emily looked guilty and started saying something, "I-" But was immediately interrupted by the man named Enzo, "Enough of this! None of this matters!"

He pointed at Emily, "You are coming with us to face judgement!" And then swivelled his finger towards Erik, "And you are coming too! All second and third-rank figures must register themselves with the council, but we have no record of you!

Not to mention that you need to stand trial for harbouring a fugitive and the disappearance of the local warlord!"

Then he pointed to Seraphina, "For which you also need to be questioned, by the way."

Lastly, he waved his hand in dismissal, "As for the Emma girl, I don't care. She can come with us or stay here. Either way, the council has no business with her."

During his tirade, Seraphina palmed her face at Enzo's behaviour. At the same time, Erik just looked at him with amusement, wondering where he was getting all this confidence from as a mere second rank.

At the same time, Emma slipped past Erik and started talking with Emily in hushed tones.

Regardless, Erik had no interest in dealing with any of this in a civil manner, so he crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow and formed his lips into an amused smirk, "And how exactly are you going to stop me?"

Enzo snorted, "You may have beaten Seraphina two days ago, but I won't be so easy. Besides, do you really think Seraphina will betray the council? You'll have to fight the both of us, while Emily is just an enslaver without any slaves."

Hearing his words, Seraphina sighed.

Ignoring the part about being harder to beat than her, he was somewhat correct about the rest. Seraphina had no inherent problem with fighting Erik and taking the two sisters to the council since she had already made arrangements for them.

Yet, she was conflicted. She knew Emma would prefer to stay with Erik, while Emily apparently had some problems that Erik and Elora were better suited to solve than the council was.

But she wasn't sure if her decision even mattered, as she suspected Erik was not an opponent they could face.