A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

It had been nearly two weeks since Erik and his merry band set off from the London harbour.

The most significant thing to happen during this time was a conversation between Emma and Emily involving Emma's 'evolving relationship' with Erik and Elora.

The werewolf and fairy went at it like animals almost every night, with Emma mostly observing them while tied up in bondage.

Naturally, Emma could have long since started weening herself of this dependence on being tied up to fall asleep. Yet, she found herself unable to resist continuing.

So every night, despite knowing what was going to happen, she would once again appear at Erik and Elora's door with rope in hand and a pleading expression on her face.

Meanwhile, Emily wasn't oblivious to all this, but she could only grind her teeth and stay out of it. She tried to talk to Erik about leaving Emma out of his perverted crap as she had intended from the moment she found out, but just when she was about to approach him, Emma stopped her.

Emma stood before her big sister, her face more serious than Emily had ever seen. "Don't do it, big sis. Please. I need this."

The cute little Em she knew was momentarily gone, and what was left was a young girl in pain, gazing at her with a haunted look in her eyes. The words she said next echoed in Emily's head for a long time afterwards:

"Ever since our parents died, it's been seven years of misery, Em. Watching you slowly fall apart, the lack of food, the constant terror and fear of what would happen should Liam manage to bring you down.

And yes, your treatment of me, too. I always hoped you would break free from your darkness, but you didn't. And I don't blame you, big Em, I really don't. If anything, I blame myself for giving you that book. But the fact is that it happened. And it left a scar.

Then, one day, in the midst of that pain and darkness, a light suddenly entered my room. Sure, it may have been a light in the form of a dark and scary man, but a light nonetheless. That light was a lifeline—a connection, a warmth that defied the cold reality I'd become accustomed to.

I get what you're trying to do here, sis. Even in your corrupted state, you only ever wanted to be my guardian, the one holding the fragments of our lives together. And you did, in part.

Yes, you mistreated me, but things could have been so much worse for a young, defenceless girl like me. I'm fully aware that even your corrupted protection was better than whatever Liam had in store for me.

But things are different now, big Em. I've found something that eases the constant pain and ever-present fear. He entered our lives, and I can breathe a little easier for the first time in years."

Her face lost some seriousness, and she blushed a little, "I know what goes on in that bedroom isn't normal. It's certainly not what I envisioned for myself, and I have no idea where it will lead to."

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Her seriousness returned, "It's not perfect, I know that. I mean, setting aside that I'm not even really sure what I feel or want just yet, Sir already has Miss Elora, and I'm well aware I stand little chance of overtaking her position in his heart. But is that so bad?

So what if I will likely always play second fiddle to that woman?

So what if Sir isn't a particularly good or kind person?

After these seven years, all that's left for me is to grab onto anything that makes me feel safe and protected. Anything that makes me happy. And this is it!

Please, big Em, try to understand. I know you don't like or trust him much yet. I know you like to be in control and hate relying on anyone, but I'm not like that. All I want is to feel safe, protected and happy. You tried to give me that but failed.

Now, I've found someone else who can give me those things. And I need you by my side, Em. Not as my shield but as my sister. Someone who is there for me when I actually need her, not when she thinks I need her.

I know I might be making a mistake. But if so, then it's my mistake to make, sis. That is more freedom than I've had in a long time. So, please don't interfere."

By the time she was done, tears had appeared in her eyes as she looked up at her sister with a pleading expression. Emily was dumbstruck. She simply had no response. For what could she say? Emma's words had hurt her, but she knew them to be true.

Before she found the right words, Erik entered the room, and in a display of how much Emma had learned about aetherium control already, she used her light affinity to clean her face and evaporate the tears before turning around and greeting him with her usual, carefree and delightful smile.

But it wasn't a fake smile. Emily knew that. It was simply how she felt when Erik was around.

Erik naturally wasn't fooled by the girl's quick attempt to clean her face. In fact, he had heard every word Emma said. But he wouldn't embarrass her by revealing that, so he greeted Emma with a smile and pretended not to know a thing.

Meanwhile, Emily slinked away to think about Emma's words. Unfortunately, no one noticed the corrupted red flickering through her eyes.

On the one hand, Emma had poured oil on Emily's desire to resist her corruption, but on the other hand, the pain and sadness she felt were exactly what the darkness loved to attach itself to.

Ever since that conversation, Emma remained lightly involved in Erik and Elora's lovemaking.

Occasionally receiving kisses, getting a share of Erik's fluids from Elora, or simply rubbing herself into oblivion on the crotch rope that had become a standard part of her bondage attire.

Yet, despite her light involvement, she had already become addicted to the whole thing.

Such was the danger of being around Erik's body in an intimate setting. His pheromones and fluids, modified by Elora into becoming ultimate tools of pleasure, were nearly impossible for a rank one human girl to resist.

Especially when they were happy to give in.

Over time, Emma also became more and more interested in getting directly involved, but she was too embarrassed to say anything. The couple naturally noticed this but kept quiet, waiting until Emma found the courage to ask them herself.

They knew that, to truly make someone fall into their web, they couldn't always take the next step. It sometimes had to come from the other person for the most impact.

Aside from this interpersonal drama, however, the rest of the journey proceeded with speed and relative safety.

Everyone on board spent most of their time training hard, with Elora and Emily occasionally taking breaks to continue sigil-crafting lessons.

Some new and different kinds of mutated creatures had appeared during their travel to inspect the invisible ship. The water movement attracted them, but they always left the camouflaged ship alone when it became clear there was nothing to find.

Eventually, they entered the colder regions, prompting more lessons from Erik to the sisters. This time, about resisting extreme temperatures through aetherium.

During their travel along the Norwegian coast, they went especially close to the coast in order to watch the magnificent fjords pass by.

While Erik and Elora had seen plenty of amazing sights on Söl, the fjords were still beautiful, and the Ashcroft sisters had never seen anything like this at all, having never even left London despite their wealthy parents.

The rugged arctic beauty and coastal charm they encountered all along the Norwegian coast had charmed them all in one way or another.

Luckily, it was currently summer, so there was not enough ice on the sea to hinder their ship. That said, there was still more than expected, which was a phenomenon related to the awakening.

Having come from an awakened world, Elora and Erik naturally knew much more of what this process meant for a planet than anyone else on Earth, except perhaps for the council and similar people around the world. It was still unknown exactly how much they knew.

Regardless, Earth was currently in the first phase of awakening: saturation. During this time, aetherium would slowly assimilate with the planet's biosphere, becoming an essential part of its ecosystem.

This phase has three notable consequences: first, there are the mutations to various unintelligent wildlife.

For some reason, only intelligent life could become Arcanists, while unintelligent life would be mutated until they either gained the intelligence required or simply became feral beasts with more power than sense. Most of the time, it would be the latter.

It was uncertain if these creatures could also become Runebound. But, so far, the evidence suggested that only werewolves and vampires possessed whatever specific requirements were needed to become Runebound.