A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

The following day, Erik woke up slowly with the feeling of Elora's voluptuous body pressed against his.

Soft morning light spread throughout the small cabin while a tiny bit of black smoke still rose from the fireplace.

His senses immediately told him something was moving around in the apartment, which was likely what woke him up in the first place.

A quick glance to the side told him that it was Emily who was already moving about. It was a great surprise to Erik, as he expected the girl to sleep for quite a while after last night.

'I wonder how much she will acknowledge of last night. We needed that situation to make her vulnerable enough to be open to the idea of giving up a little control, but the danger is in whether or not she feels regret now.' He pondered.

She appeared to be busy doing some stretches and exercises. It wouldn't be strange if her body ached a little after yesterday's long trek through the cold wilderness, followed by her ordeal in the pillory, even with aetherium to nourish her body.

Noticing his movement, Emily looked up and saw him looking at her curiously. The raven-haired girl stopped what she was doing and smirked at him. "Morning, Boss. Wondering if I'll stab you in your sleep after last night?"

Erik raised an eyebrow and curled his mouth into a half-smirk."Boss, huh? That's not exactly what you called me last night." Meanwhile, he thought, 'Still, that's promising. I don't need her to call me master, anyway. So long as she willingly follows my lead.'

He ignored her question. After all, they both knew the covenant would prevent Emily from harming him.

Emily scoffed. "Yeah, well, I was pretty delirious back then. Calling you master is still a little too slavery-esque for me." She sighed, "But I will stand by my words from last night. From now on, I'll put my trust in you and follow willingly."

She rolled her eyes, "I just wish you weren't such a pervert and had just talked to me about all that during dinner."

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Erik had to laugh softly, "Come now. Are you telling me you would have listened in that situation? By making you vulnerable, I allowed you to look past your hang-up on being in control and see the greater good for what it is."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Don't pretend you didn't enjoy doing that to me. That little fairy of yours certainly did."

Erik grinned knowingly at her but didn't answer. Emily became a little uncomfortable under his gaze. "What are you looking at?"

He shrugged, or as much as he could in his horizontal position with Elora on top of him, "Well, first of all, you enjoyed yourself plenty, too." Then he smiled genuinely at her, "But mostly, I'm glad to see you this way. You're not afraid, angry, annoyed or uncertain.

You're just… you. And I think Emma will enjoy that, too."

The once goth-rocker girl blushed a little and looked away. "Shut up."

A playful grin appeared on Erik's face. "That's 'Shut up, Boss' to you."

But the girl just presented him with her middle finger, causing Erik to laugh. He liked this more comfortable Emily. It already appeared like the corruption had less of an effect on her now that she had come to terms with some of her inner feelings.

Suddenly, Emily became more serious and crouched beside Erik's face. "Anyway, there's, uh, something I wanted to talk about regarding the things you said yesterday. About… my fear."

Erik matched her seriousness and nodded, "Alright, tell me."

Emily scratched her cheek in a surprisingly cute manner, "Well, first of all, you were right. I didn't want to acknowledge it before, but I was afraid of myself. Or rather, fearful of what I might do to Emma if the corruption took hold again.

Yet, I couldn't allow myself to look weak before you. I'd already thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated myself right after I was freed by begging you to either do more or kill me."

She sighed, "And after I had some time to think, I realized I had no reason to trust you, and I couldn't let you think you'd walk all over me because of what I said in that basement. So I may have gone a little too far in the opposite direction."

Emily offered him a small, grateful smile. "Anyway, what I mean is, thank you for not giving up on me. You could've easily let Elora turn me back into her puppet, but you chose the harder path. It took me a while, but I see that now, and I appreciate it more than you know."

Her expression shifted, the seriousness returning, but with a flicker of unease in her eyes. "But, there's something else, something we didn't talk about last night. Another reason why I fear myself."

Erik's curiosity piqued, his eyebrow arching. "I'm all ears. What did we miss?"

A disturbing change overtook Emily. Her eyes briefly danced with a wild, corrupt red, and her smile twisted, revealing a glimpse of something dark and exhilarating within her. "I enjoy it, Boss. The surge of power, the intoxicating freedom. Playing god with life and death. It's exhilarating."

She visibly shuddered, casting away the haunting smile for a look of genuine fear. "But that scares me. I don't want to go on a rampage, murdering any innocent I come across.

That was another reason I gave in to your offer last night. Not only do I need you to keep me from harming Emily. I also want you to keep me pointed in the right direction so I don't go on a killing spree just for the fun of it."

Erik, slightly taken aback but not entirely surprised, understood the depth of her struggle. He had seen the girl's crazy smile while slaughtering ghouls, after all.

He caressed her cheek. "Don't worry. Just follow my lead, and you'll only ever kill our enemies."

A relieved smile blossomed on Emily's face, her trust in Erik solidifying. The recent events in Kirkenes had been a turning point for her, and after the whirlwind of last night's perverted adventure and a night of restful sleep, she felt ready to face her new reality.

Seeing that the serious part of the morning was done, Erik smirked. "Good girl. Now, you can thank me with a kiss."

Emily immediately narrowed her eyes, "I'm pretty sure you promised no more perverted crap."

But Erik didn't relent and kept smirking. "Woah, you consider kissing perverted? I thought a rebellious girl like you would be a little more liberated than that." He shrugged nonchalantly, "But fine, fine, no kisses then."

He was about to turn his head and wake Elora when Emily's head suddenly shot forward and pressed her lips against his.

It wasn't a peck either and quickly turned into a much deeper kiss, with plenty of Erik's delicious saliva finding its way into Emily's mouth. The black-eyed girl couldn't help but moan a little.

It was a few minutes before they finally separated, and Emily panted with a slightly dazed look on her face. Erik smacked his mouth a little as he could still taste the girl's sweet lips before smirking curiously at her, waiting for an explanation.

After Emily recovered, she grinned at him, "Damn, did Elora really change your entire body to become so delicious? Because that's pretty unfair."

Then she looked a little embarrassed but didn't lose her grin, "Anyway. Perhaps a little perverted stuff now and then wouldn't be so bad…"

Suddenly, a third face stuck itself between the two of them with a grin, "I like the sound of that! Don't worry; your mommy and master will treat you well!" Elora chirped.

Emily yelped and jumped back before glaring at the fairy.

It seemed she had forgotten Elora was even there, but her expression was a clear rejection of Elora's offer.

Elora didn't mind and just giggled at her behavior. "Well, I don't mind." Then she winked, "Besides, Mommy will still get her hands on you during punishments."

Hearing Elora refer to herself as Mommy again made Emily shiver, but she ignored the taunts and simply turned around to see if Emma had woken up yet.

Elora turned to Erik with a mischievous grin. "I don't think she likes me much."

Erik chuckled and kissed his beloved partner on the lips. "It's her loss!" To which Elora sat up and puffed out her chest. "That's right!"

Then she leaned over again and pecked Erick on the lips. "Alright, you have a good morning. I'm going to continue resting." Next, she disappeared into a cloud of light specks and entered Erik's soul.

He smiled and shook his head before getting up and donning his armor.

After Emma had woken up and gotten over her embarrassment from last night, it didn't take long before the group left the cabin and returned to the road.

They didn't know it yet, but today would prove to be eventful.