FSE

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The door opened. Katok's senses heightened, the world slowing around him. The air was like water in its thickness as he moved to the door. The face of a friend met his eye through the peephole, but faces could be faked, so Katok asked for the word only the guard would know. The guard gave it.

Still focused, moving so that the world was underwater, Katok pulled the door open, and then moved back, returning to stand with the others in the center of the large bedroom. The door swung open slowly, and in walked a pair of wolfkin--at least, Katok assumed the one to enter first was wolfkin. The figure had booming, clanking footsteps, and the general shape of a wolfkin, a male scent coming through the gaps in the broad, dark plate armor. The next one through the door had an altogether different scent. It held a fragrance and the deep warmth of maturity, suggesting its owner was nearer to his age than her armored guard. She was female, of that he was certain before the first black-booted brown-furred paw stepped into the doorframe. But there was an allure to her scent, a pull, one he recognized just a split second after it hit him was the effect of a mind control spell.

Yet as soon as this pull tugged on his mind, commanded his attention, it was gone. He remembered his days training in this very academy, once he first learned to use his speed, and he knew his power allowed a great many things, but it didn't let him resist the effects of such spells any more than the next wolfkin. He'd simply gotten lucky, focusing enough to push through. And he knew every second would count. The spell would pull at him again, and he didn't know if he'd always be able to resist.

The caster of the mind-altering spell stepped into the doorway--she must have been, with that wizard getup, all black leather with arcane glyphs and magic jewels. Her fur was two tone--no, three tone: most of it a chestnut brown, white down the throat and chest, black over the shoulders and down the back. Her eyes, a deep blue, sparkled with command and power. The look of someone used to leading armies, the look of someone who only gave orders once. He studied that face, etched every detail of that black leather outfit into his mind. If they failed to stop her from whatever her goal was, he'd need to remember it. And he had a fear he knew just what her goal was.

He took stock of the situation with a glance that went faster than the others could blink. If he moved now, before her next step, he could get past the armored guard. He didn't know what that armor was made of, but it would make him slow. He moved.

Except he didn't. He'd drawn his daggers and started to step forward, but found the collar of his leather armor caught, pulled tight and yanked back as it was held firm. He twisted back and saw--Fara?? Her eyes were glassy, looking distantly toward the wolfkin spell-caster. Damn it. She was under this witch's control. He looked around and saw the others with the same look. She had all of them. Sava, the Alchemist; no telling what she could do with that. Even Valreth. And Ash. His mind raced.

Desperate, he struck Fara's clenched hand with the hilt of his daggers, to no avail. He should've known that wouldn't work. But he still had time. He moved fast, unbuckling and unstrapping his armor. He'd have to fight without it. He shrugged it off his shoulders, leaving Fara's fist clamped around the collar, and dashed forward at the witch. He took one step through the sluggish air, then another. Ironic that at times his powers felt annoyingly slow, even though he could move between blinks. A part of him was glad to lose the armor. At a high enough speed, even the specially-designed lightweight leather felt like steel plate.

But his target was fast. Not as fast as him, but fast enough for her eyes to follow him--even if she couldn't see more than a brown blur, she saw him rushing at her and knew he was a threat. He swung his dagger with a yell, the sound hanging in the air, and she moved, sweeping to the side. Unlike most opponents unaware of his power, whom he could catch off guard, she was quick to react, and she'd spoken the words to a spell before he could swing again. Even with her arcane speech slowed and slurred, the air around them resisted his movement, and he couldn't turn and face her before she finished the spell. He felt a pull, but now it was more of a tension on his muscles as they began to lock. A paralysis spell, probably Hold Person. But he grit his teeth and pushed through this as well, not letting her get ahold on him.

The next shout of arcane tongue came not from this new spell-caster, but from behind him--from Ash, his daughter. He turned and saw her raise a finger and point it at him. A crackling bolt of thin blue lightning shot out and struck him, it sizzled over him and made some of the fur on his back prickle, but it didn't hurt too bad at all. But it also didn't fade, the blue energy staying in the air between them, connecting them, and he knew whatever she had just cast, it wasn't over.

The next spell came from Sava, the Alchemist. She raised her hands and a spray of hissing green acid burst forth toward him, the brown-furred witch, and the armored warrior. He wasn't quite certain which of them she was aiming for--her eyes seemed clearer; was she aiming for the enemy? Had she broken free of the spell? But who she was aiming for didn't matter. In the heat of the battle, even the clunky, slow warrior in full plate managed to dodge out of the way of the corrosive droplets. All three of them were unharmed.

The Alchemist dug into the bag at her hip and pulled out a potion filled with amber liquid, popped the cork, and downed its contents. Katok's eyes widened as he watched the she-wolf's muscles bulge beneath her black fur, her form expanding until she was as brawny as Fara. Had she replicated the potion she'd used on his wife all those years ago? He shook his head. No time to dwell on that. But as he'd lost focus, the world had already started to move again, the sounds and motion becoming normal, loud and fast.

"Guards!" Sava called out. "Keep out of reach of her spells! Ranged fighters only!"

So she was on his side. For the time, at least.

He whirled at the sound of a sword freed of its sheath and saw the armored guard swinging at him with the massive blade that had been at his back. But the warrior must have been out of practice, since the blade came closer to hitting the very she-wolf he'd meant to protect and struck the wall, embedding itself a foot and a half in the solid stone.

"S-sorry, Mistress!" he apologized profusely, trying to yank the blade free.

"Some hero you are!" the witch hissed, glowering at the armored warrior.

There was a yell and Katok stepped back as his son lunged forward, making for the spell-caster, but she only just managed to dodge his leap. He'd shaken off the spell too. Good. Now standing between her and Katok, Valreth swung one of his fists, but the she-wolf dodged and Val's fist instead hit the armored one in the back, which, naturally, dislodged the blade from the wall. Katok forcibly suppressed a sympathetic chuckle as his son cursed his bad luck.

The next to attack was Fara; Katok knew the sound of her charge anywhere, her feet pounding the wood floor as she ran forward with a roar. But all the witch's armored guard had to do was stick out a foot and send her sprawling through the doorway, past the spellcaster she was aiming for. She leapt to her feet quickly and lunged for the witch again, and this time she found her target, hoisting the she-wolf up and pinning her arms to her sides.

"Try casting any spells now," she snarled, a smirk of contempt curving at the edge of her muzzle, her red eyes burning into the witch's blue. Katok grinned.

He heard the sound of another yell and a charge, turning to see Sava, who he remembered was now equally as strong as Fara, barreling into the witch's armored bodyguard, slamming him up against the wall. There was a snap of magic and Katok turned to see Ash had dropped the spell she'd had on him before, also freed of the she-wolf's control. The band of blue lightning between them broke and he saw her, his daughter, turn toward the witch, her violet eyes tinted with an edge of glowing blue magic.

He heard the sound of feet on rooftops and looked out into the streets, seeing dozens of guards lining the roof across the street, arrows notching drawstrings as they pulled tight, aimed right for the witch. The she-wolf and her guard were both struggling to escape the grip of their powerful captors, but couldn't. The witch opened her mouth to speak and Katok rushed forward, knowing one word could make everything come undone. His fist hit her muzzle and she went limp in Fara's grasp, unconscious.

And yet... as he stood there, panting, he could still feel that instinctive pull, the effect of her magic, urging him to follow her, to defend her. It didn't fade, even when she was knocked out.

"Turn her over to the others, they'll lock her in an anti-magic cell," he said to his wife. Fara looked confused, blinking dazedly. He wasn't the only one still affected, it seemed.

"Fara," he said, his voice gentle but firm at the same time as he rested a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head and set the witch down.

"Her magic is in her scent," Ash said. "And this one has a magical collar around his neck."

She nodded to the armored bodyguard, who was still struggling in Sava's arms. Katok reached up and pulled the helmet from the warrior's head.

"Th-that's--" Valreth gasped. "That's Revin Redpelt! He's legendary!"

Katok didn't know the name, nor did Fara, from the look they shared, but he saw Sava's ears perk, her eyes shining.

"It is!" she said. "He went missing in the Westvine Forest about a year ago!"

"The collar is what's controlling him?" Fara asked. Ash nodded and Fara reached up, grabbing the collar and snapping it.

Sava let go, but the warrior's resolve didn't lessen, and he grabbed for his blade. Fara brought her knee up into his chin and he groaned, stumbling back. Then she locked her hands together and brought them down in a double-fisted sledgehammer onto the warriors helmetless head, knocking him clean out. His armor clattered as he slumped to the ground.

"We'll take him in for questioning as well," said a familiar voice from the doorway. Fessril Medara, a grey wolf he'd known during the war, who'd finally made his way up the ranks to Captain. His shoulders were broad, his muscle impressive, but even he struggled to lift the warrior.

"You'd be better off undoing that armor first," Sava said while Fara hoisted the warrior with a grunt. "It looks like it's pure adamantine."

Katok's ears twitched and a murmur went up among the guards gathered just outside the room. An entire suit of armor plate made from the rarest, most durable metal in the realm, possibly the world? This witch had resources.

"It's alright," Fara groaned, hauling him over her back. "I've got him."

An awkward silence permeated the room and they all took a moment to appreciate the fact that they were still alive.

"I'm glad I didn't die and set anything on fire," Ash remarked.

"Gods, our family is weird," Valreth sighed.