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Of Fox and Wolf Chapter 5: The Kingdom

"Move the prisoner!" shouted the guard. Victoria blinked her eyes open and peered up at the voice. 'James?' wondered the wolf. After adjusting her eyes to the light, she saw that she had made a grave error. The voice did indeed belong to a fox, but it was not her friend.

Instead, looking back down at her was the face of a red fox in his mid 30's. He was adorned in metal, looking like a medieval knight. He even had a sword to boot. Taking in the rest of her surroundings, she saw that she was surrounded by about ten more foxes of different shapes and colors, all clad in the alloy armor. She tried to reach out to one of them and found that she couldn't. In fact, she could barely move any part of her body, save her head.

Wondering what was going on, she glanced down at her own body. "Hey, what the hell guys? Why am I chained up like some gimp at a BDSM convention!?" Victoria's legs, arms, and even her tail were all bound to the board she was laying on. The wolf felt herself rise; her captors were now following their earlier order.

"Hello? Hey assholes, I'm talking to you." The wolf was growing impatient, not to mention feeling violated from her current state. No response was earned from the foxes.

"Okay, you know what, I'm tired of this. Strength skill, activate." The wolf's body became alight in yellow and she easily broke free of her arm restraints.

Shouting broke out around her. "That wolf must be a mage! Quick, get the mana inhibitor!" Immediately, two foxes came rushing at the wolf, pinning her to the ground.

"Hey! I don't want to hurt you but you are making it hard for me to keep it that way." Victoria threw off her attackers and turned to face the crowd. The foxes drew their swords and readied against the wolf.

"Wolf," spoke a fox, stepping forward from the crowd. " I am Commander Tolderon. I order you to stand down at once, before I have my men turn you into mince meat." The Commander was a tall red fox, his armor showing marks of wear and battle. On the top of his helmet were 3 feathers, showing off his rank. The Commander lifted his paw into the air and performed a circular motion. The rest of the foxes saw this and began to slowly rotate themselves around Victoria, trying to find an opening and confuse the wolf.

"Now, wait a damn second!" replied the indignant wolf. "I'm not your enemy! I don't even know who you people are, or even how I got here. If you would just put away your swords and listen to me for a moment, I-" Victoria was interrupted by the sound of a charging soldier.

"Charge!" yelled one of the vulpine, her sword drawn and rushing at the wolf. Victoria managed to dodge and sidestep the attacker so that she was behind her. Coming up behind the soldier, the wolf hooked her arms under the fox's and held her in front, like a shield.

"Look, I'm not one for taking hostages, but clearly violence is the only way you guys know how to communicate. Quit attacking me or I'll break this fool's arms, clear?" The wolf was confident that if worst came to worst, she would be able to take them on, but she didn't want to find out. Especially being alone in this strange place, violence would be a preferred last resort. Though, there was also one other thing. 'Why am I enjoying this? Never-mind, a problem for another time.'

"Let me go, you damn dog!" Snarled the soldier in the wolf's grasp. She was struggling in Victoria's grip, trying to jab her and make her escape, but she was unable to do anything against the wolf's massive strength. Victoria tightened the grip on the victim.

"Wolf, if harm comes to that soldier, I guarantee that there will be hell to pay." The Commander gave a nod to a soldier standing across from him. Instantly, the acknowledging fox picked up his horn, and gave a mighty blow, ringing the wolf's ears in the process. "Reinforcements will be here soon wolf," continued the Commander. "If you value your life at all, I suggest you release that hostage."

This was getting Victoria nowhere, and even worse, it seemed she would be in over her head in just a few moments. Escape was now her primary goal. 'Okay, if I rush them head on, I should be able to take out at least 2 of them, but then, what do I do with this hostage. No, that won't do. Um, let's see, what if I threaten to kill her?' The wolf had to mentally stop and shake her head at that. 'Agh! What am I thinking, I would never do something like that to an unarmed person! Would I? No, damnit, I wouldn't. *whine* I gotta get out of here and stop using this stupid skill before I lose myself.'

Soldiers were rushing along the walls now; the reinforcements had arrived. Archers steadied their bows and knocked their arrows, all eyes focusing on the wolf. "Ha, it's over bitch, these archers will pierce your head. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to turn you into a warm pelt," the hostage gloated. 'For someone so damn small, she sure did have a lot of anger,' thought Victoria. But the fox was right, if Victoria didn't do something soon, it was going to be too late. 'Maybe I should just turn myself in, this doesn't look like it's going to end well if I don't,' pondered the wolf.

Wolf," began Commander Tolderon, "you have until the count of ten to release your hostage and come with us peacefully. If you do not comply, these archers will execute you where you stand.

The situation was soon becoming dire. But then, Victoria heard it. Rushing water was nearby, which meant that a potential escape route was close as well. 'That's it! A big castle like this must have some type of canal system to transport supplies. Maybe I can sneak aboard a ship and be off!" The wolf smiled to herself, proud that she figured a solution to this colossal mishap.

"Two," shouted the Commander. The archers steadied themselves and began to take aim.

"Okay, I have a goal, now I just need a distraction to get past the keeper.' Continuing to scan her surroundings, she saw it. Aligned upon the walls of the courtyard were a series of cannons pointing toward the outlying land. 'And where there's smoke there's...'

"Four," continued the Commander. His counting seemed to be the only sound able to be heard in the courtyard.

Close by the cannons were the means to fire them. 'Gunpowder! That will be sure to cause a distraction. Now I just have to- ' the wolf's thoughts were interrupted by a piercing pain in her left shoulder blade. "Argh!" Victoria cried out as an arrow found it's mark in her.

The Commander looked up to the source of the projectile. "Soldier, who gave you the order to fire? This disobedience will certainly be dealt with."

"There will be no need for that Commander," replied a new fox who had appeared at the top of the wall. His fur was as black as tar, and a cape adorned his shoulders along with the rest of his formal uniform. A series of medals hung on the left of his chest, which could be heard clinging against each other as the fox placed one high boot in front of the other, approaching the edge of the wall. "I was the one who gave the order to fire, and a good shot as well, if I do say so."

The Commander was at once taken aback by the sight of this black fox. "General Hoffox, sir! I did not expect to see you here."

"Yes, that is your problem as of late. You also failed to expect that the prisoner would give you resistance and you certainly failed to expect that the prisoner would be a mage. Frankly, I have been most disappointed with your lack of foresight and have come to deal with this matter personally."

"General, I can assure you that I have the situation well under control. This is simply a minor-"

"Enough, Commander. I do not have the time, nor the patience to listen to your excuses. Thanks to you, a mage in open defiance is still breathing, mere steps from the royal family. This situation is as far from under control as it can be." The General took a moment to pause, lest his anger break his composure. "Archers, this is your commanding officer; General Richard Hoffox, speaking to you directly. Commander Tolderon has been temporarily relieved of his duty, and as such, you will take orders from me. Prepare your bows, and on my command you will all fire your arrows at the intruding mage."

"Sir, you can't! We have one of our own in the line of fire! Private Alex Tanllets will be killed if-"

"Silence! I will not tolerate you questioning my orders! Let one more word slip from your maw and I will have you arrested for insubordination." Once again, the general needed a pause. "I am aware of the foolish soldier who got themselves captured. But because it is THAT soldier, if they are struck by an arrow, then so be it. May they finally do some good for the glorious Viri Empire by sacrificing themselves in the line of duty."

Upon hearing this information, the hostage, Alex it would seem her name was, stopped struggling and instead began shouting. "What?! You can't do this you bastard fox! I am one of Viri's own Godsdamn soldiers and you are telling me that I'm just supposed to be a damn target board for you fuckers?!"

Alex's words fell upon deaf ears as the General gave his orders. "Archers! Ready!" called the General.

Alex's face completely fell. Quickly, her demeanor also changed. "Wait! Please sir, don't do this. I'm begging you. There has to be another way." The tiny fox picked up her struggle in earnest, driving elbow jabs into Victoria's belly.

'Ow! Damn it! This isn't happening right now. We're both going to be killed if I don't do something quick. C'mon, Victoria, think!' The wolf delved deep into her thoughts. Just maybe there was an escape path that she wasn't thinking of. Victoria's emotions were running higher now, her aura was now showing orange.

"Aim!" barked the General.

Alex had now resorted to sobbing since her pleas would do nothing to stop the coming fire. 'No, no, no. I have to stop this!' desperately thought the wolf. The aura around Victoria grew brighter still, and flickers of red were sparking off her fur.

"Fire!" As soon as the General howled out the last syllable, a volley of arrows were unleashed on the Vulpine and the Lupine.

"No! Stop it!" As the arrows flew, the wolf howled straight into the sky, and all at once her fur ignited into a bright red. Immediately a great ball of flames surrounded the wolf and her captive, shielding the pair from view. The arrows disintegrated in the heat, shriveling and burning to a crisp, before falling harmlessly down to the ground. The searing heat made the soldiers recoil back, all except the General who stood his ground and stared defiantly into the fire.

Alex could hardly believe her eyes. Not only was this wolf a fire mage, but she just stopped a barrage of arrows and saved them both from certain death with a great wall of flames. Only once before had Alex seen such raw power displayed from a lone mage. There was something unique about this wolf.

Alex wasn't the only one who was shocked with the display. Victoria stared down at her paws, still seeing embers flicker off her fur. "How... how did I do that?"

Unfortunately, the wolf did not have long to ponder her question. "Soldiers," called General Hoffox, "That wolf just became a level 1 target and a threat to this kingdom's very existence. Its execution is now a top priority. Quickly; send word to the war council and bring in the cannons so that we may send this devil wolf back to hell."

Recognizing the impending danger, Victoria aimed out her paw and shot a fire ball at the barrels that she saw earlier. Connecting with the volatile substance inside, explosions rang out blinding and deafening all in nearby proximity. One of the walls that was blocking escape and supported a row of archers collapsed from the blast. Seizing the opportunity, the wolf grabbed the tiny fox and bolted through the opening, toward the sound of water.

"What are you doing?!" questioned Alex. "I'll surely be branded a traitor if I suddenly disappear with you! Put me down you damn wolf!" Struggling to break free of Victoria's grasp, Alex dug her claws in the wolf's fur.

Thoughts rang on in Victoria's head, 'Damn it. She's attacking me again. Maybe I should just kill her and be done with it.' The wolf shook her head. 'No! Why do I keep having these thoughts? It can't be helped that this fox would want to break free. That's exactly how I felt just a bit earlier.' The fox's claws sank even deeper, drawing blood. 'I should just use some of this new fire magic stuff to singe her. That'll teach her.' The wolf let out out a low whine. 'Can I stop thinking about hurting someone for five seconds? Ugh, she is starting to wound me though.'

Coming to a fork in the road, the wolf paused for a moment, then chose the direction where the water was loudest. This time teeth found their purchase in the wolf's arm. "Gods! Can you stop that and think for a second you tiny ball of pain. They were already resigned to kill you right then and there," Victoria said as she bashed through another wall, leaving a wake of destruction which marked her path. "What the hell do think would happen if I left you there? You would get a damn medal for your bravery? I don't exactly know your relationship with this Hoffox bastard but clearly it's a little more than strained."

"How the hell would you know anything about me, dog? You just kidnapped me and forced me to be your hostage! You are the last person who I would take advice from. You're a mage for Gods' sake! You're a walking weapon and you need to be stopped."

Victoria rounded another corner. The sound of water was growing stronger. Seeking to avoid any further injuries, Victoria put down the fox. Then the wolf began to speak, "Need I remind you, that I woke up as YOUR hostage this morning. That's what started this whole mess we're in. Not only that, but you damn foxes were the ones who attacked me when all I wanted to do was talk. Tell me, how would you react if you suddenly woke up as a prisoner in an unknown place, surrounded by furs with big sharp sticks? You guys didn't even have the decency to ask me my name."

"I - well that's - it's a completely different situation. You would be cautious as well if your people were constantly at war. We've been fighting the damn Kathrac Kingdom for over 10 years. So, forgive us when we hear a rumor that the wolves from Loheim are joining up with those cats. The war has been at such a standstill that the addition of Loheim could turn the tide against us. And wouldn't you know it? A damn wolf happens to mysteriously appear within our borders and is found sleeping near the castle. You're lucky we didn't just outright kill you, mongrel. Turns out we were correct, you have certainly proved yourself to be dangerous. And worst of all you're a mage."

"I didn't choose to be one damnit! I honestly have no idea how or why I am suddenly able to do magic. I don't even know where I am! And how the hell does me being a mage even warrant a full scale execution?"

Alex scoffed. "You just don't get it do you? The potential for destruction that a mage can unleash is unprecedented. You strike fear into the hearts of all those around you. You couldn't live peacefully in a society. You would be constantly judged and spied on, every single person waiting for the day that you snap and decide that they need to be taught a lesson. And if we allowed a mage to live long enough, there's no telling the amount of strength a they could amass. Who would be able to stop them? Sometimes, they wouldn't even be able to stop themselves. No one fur should have all that power. They are simply too dangerous to be kept alive."

"That's a precarious line of thinking, fox. One that will eventually lead-" The sound of clanking metal and boots on stone began to close in on the pair. "Alex, was it? Look, you may not agree with me, or even like me at all, but I cannot in good conscience just leave you here to get captured and killed by those soldiers. You said it yourself, they probably consider you a traitor. And I can't imagine that Hoffox will suddenly have a change of heart and give you a promotion. So come with me, at least until we can escape, then you can go off and do whatever you like."

Alex considered the wolf's offer for a moment, glanced over to the direction the soldiers were coming from, then nodded her head. "Fine. S'pose you're right about Hoffox, and I can't exactly clear my name if I'm dead. But don't think that this makes us friends. I'm only going with you to keep an eye on you, and slice your throat if you decide to go psycho and start killing people. By the way, what is your name anyways? I'm really tired of calling you wolf."

Victoria sighed. 'This fox may be the death of me. It seems your species has a knack for doing that, huh James?' She smiled at that thought. 'Don't worry, I will find you. Just you wait.' The wolf stretched out a paw and received the fox's. "The name's Victoria. Victoria Fairlight that is."

*End of Chapter 5*