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Chapter 23

"So, are the foods nice? I cooked them myself and I really like you to try it."

"Yeah. You're a nice cook, Seolfor. What are these?"

"Some of my specialties. There are steaks and stuff, but I like the snake stew best."

"Oh, you Lycans eat snakes around here?"

Seolfor just smiled and said, "You really are weird, Nergora. Never thought you'd like bizarre foods."

"Oh, uh...I like new things, but I like food more."

Without any comments (and only replying that comment with a smile), Seolfor went back behind the curtain that was covering the archway between the main house and the kitchen. Nergora then scanned around the room. It was a fairly lit wooden house with logs for walls and candles for light. Aside from the dark surroundings, the room where he ate was comfortable enough for both eating and sleeping.

Seolfor's house consisted only of two rooms, one for the kitchen and bathroom, and one for many occasions. Her house was big enough for three to four persons living together without having to cramp everything else. Yet, Seolfor had a tendency to stack up some books at another part of the house while the rest were empty. There were two bed rolls, both for Seolfor and a guest, which was, at the time, was Nergora.

Since Sovarn left him with Seolfor to let Nergora's life a little bit easier by at least diverting his attention from his younger brother for a moment and made his own life. It had been five days since then, and by time, he and Seolfor were even closer as friends. Nergora always hang out at the tavern where she worked and they usually talked a lot about life and stuff, in which Nergora was more than eager to listen and share about his own experiences on those. Because of Nergora's kindness (well that's not what you'd expect from a hellhound) and his own problem with the innkeeper on extended stay, Seolfor took him to live for a while in her home until he resumed his journey again.

When the silver Lycan came back from the kitchen with a stew, Nergora felt hungry again. He never thought her food was very delicious, even better than the hotel he was staying. He never thought them as something special, but, the flavor was different. With the flavor, there also came a weird thought. He somehow LIKED her more than the food. He was eager to see the fur and innocent eyes watching him and how he would stare back with a smile, uncertain what to say and what to do next.

Nergora started to open his mouth to say thank you, but Seolfor, seemingly able to hear his thoughts, said, "Don't thank me. I never have a Lycan appreciate my cookings. Usually they would only pretend to appreciate, but I know that they don't really like them, seeing that I'm an omnivore."

"Omnivore?"

"That's what you Dusdolf Lycans called allesfresser. I don't really understand that meaning, but some of my friends speak with a weird accent like you. They called that...uh, language..."

"German," said Nergora. "I lived for a while in Dusdolf and uh...I learned a bit about it."

"Oh? So, what is it like when you live there? Leaving good things with your friends to pursue a new life in Adaline?"

"I, uh...maybe it's not the right time to talk about my past. Anyway, what's in this soup?"

"Goat."

"Uh-huh...goat's leg?"

"You never eat a knuckle?"

"No, I...."

"This is a new dish for you, then. It's a Tragorian favorite. It's from a mountain goat, so it's very fatty and very hot. C'mon, try it. If you don't really want it, I can eat them up for you."

Without anything to say about the food, the white hellhound just took the spoon and started to take it to a bowl. He actually had eat a knuckle before, but not stewed. It was roasted over a fire and it was pork.

"So...Seolfor..."

"Just call me Sally, Nergora."

"Sally...why are you living alone? I thought you like to be with others."

This particular question caused Seolfor to stop talking, which prompted Nergora to say, "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"The town Lycans wanted to find a suitable mate, and most of them said that I'm the best Lycan for them. Though I was born as a wolf, I never wanted to be a whore to them, even though I know Lycans are basically wolf, regardless of origins, and I know what wolves do to expand their pack."

"But I never know any Lycans like that."

"Nergora..."

"Please, call me Neri, Sally."

"Almost half of the Lycan populations in this region are not humans from the start. Those Lycans are called Lupine-born. This kind of Lycan has two different forms when they were born. The first one, they are a genuine talking wolf with the ability to shift into this semi-human form. The second are those born with this body from the start. Those, like me, have no ability to change in any forms and are stuck in this form, which some Adaline people called it anthropomorphic form."

Nergora kept hearing her story while eating her food. He started to grab another strip of bacon when she started to say, "I moved from Tragoria to Adaline to escape the racism there. I felt so free in here, but I also realize that Lupine-born are so many in Adaline that almost essentially all Lycans are in their Anthro form. Since Adaline is notorious with the wolf population, some might say that we're the sons and daughters of the wolves themselves, inherited by the silver moon."

Seolfor then drank a glass of beer in front of her, which was reserved to her by a friend (as Nergora knew it). She then exhaled a long breath akin to a sigh, and said, "Some old Lupine-born called our existence the Legacy of the Wolves. We young ones call ourselves Wolves' Legacy."

"That's something great, Seolfor, I mean it," said Nergora, now clearly fascinated by the background of a Lupine-born. "I mean, the wolves inherited such great races that I never thought it would be like that. I myself never heard about it, but you really are resourceful."

Seolfor made a small laugh and said, "You really are weird, Neri. I am so lucky to have met you on that bench. You're one kind and nice Lycan."

"I was never called like that either."

And so, they talked for the night until it was very late and Seolfor went to sleep after yawning, with Nergora helping her cleaning the dishes. He also wanted to sleep, but he felt certain of an uncomfortable feeling that was with him when the silver furred Lycan started to be drowsy.

"(I never thought those hellhounds can sense me in this place)," thought Nergora. " (At least I can smell the ash in the forest behind this house)."

Nergora's sense was far greater than most hellhounds, and this gave him the advantage. He could smell a strong ash scent from behind the window beside the forest. The position of the hellhound was to break the glass and stab him with the drawn knife, but fortunately for Nergora, he was behind the wooden wall. Nergora slowly moved to the side, out of the assassin's view, before proceeding to put his hand on the wall, channeling his ice power through the gaps formed between the logs. He could hear a thud from the outside, meaning that the hellhound was frozen.

"(At least he's brain-dead)," thought Nergora while walking to the center room. He saw Seolfor was still sleeping soundly from the exhaustion. It wasn't troubling, though. It was in the middle of the night. She wouldn't be able to stay up that much despite of being a Lycan. He didn't have time to think about her now, not with the hellhounds gathering around the house to destroy it.

He needed to devise a plan to go out silently without giving too much damage to the house. He liked the cabin, and so he grabbed his sword and opened the door slowly, but not before freezing everything on the other side of the door, where opening the door would shatter everything behind it. He then proceeded to go to the open courtyard of the town, where no other people were present. Taking a deep breath, he suddenly whistled out, walking down the road slowly while sometimes tapping the road with the song. During that time he knew he was surrounded by some hounds, circling him with their weapons drawn.

"(Carefree attitude is not what I expect from a wanted hound, Nergora Schelkz)," said a hellhound with a mocking tone. "(Are you giving yourself up?)"

"(So taking a nice midnight walk is carefree?)" asked Nergora while tapping the ground a little. "(I just want to walk around, humming a nice human song. Does that concern you?)"

"(Not really, except if you're our target and a bounty at the same time)."

"(I don't remember committing crime here)."

"(You don't know, do you?)"

When the lead hellhound commanded the other to cock their weapons, the hellhound said, "(You're infamous in Dusdolf, Schelkz. The mortal humans are itchy just to pull a trigger when they found you, except that every assailant are killed with their brain frozen and some part of their body started to show symptoms of frostbites. One concern we have is your notoriety as an assassin-for-hire by the name of Herich Ammel. You ditched one job and the whole region is looking for this 'Herich Ammel', not knowing that it's a fake name. We immediately now that you're responsible for the deaths of your target from some symptoms of frostbite in your victims, especially on how they die frozen)."

"(You know, Herich Ammel is an ice mage serial killer, not me)," said Nergora while sitting on the paved road. "(I only lived there for a while before moving here)."

"(No ice mage can freeze a hellhound! Only an ice demon can, and you're the one ice demon-hellhound hybrid around here! You think you can fend off that fact?!)"

"(Some mages are also warlocks, you know)."

The lead hellhound just sighed and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Nergora and said, "(The hellhounds need one less hounds like you, Schelkz)."

"(Wait, before you shoot the weapons, let me warn you about something. You're all already dead, assholes)."

When they started firing, there was a small explosion from inside the weapons, producing smoke out from them. Some even tried to pull out the bullet, but what they did was fatal as there suddenly came out ice spreading around the hands of those unfortunate. The lead hound was suddenly enraged, threw aside the pistol and exclaimed, "(Your ice is a waste of hounds, Schelkz! Why don't you just die?!)"

"(I tapped the ground not because of playing with the music. My sword can disperse ice shards of microscopic size into anything that's open. Your weapons are useless against ice)."

Some who managed to ditch the gun pulled out their swords or started a battle stance. Nergora was surrounded by around ten hellhounds carrying swords and using claws pointed at him. They were especially ready to shred Nergora to pieces. But then, focus came to Nergora as his blood lust came, and all of the sudden, his senses worked faster than they could, and he quickly saw every opportunities he had within the surround circle.

In his thoughts, he could see every movements as the blood lust took every doubts, concentrating on every dangerous bits he could get all around him. The thought raced, hand on the sword hilt, trembling slightly. The hellhound immediately to his left pulled his sword harshly, delaying the sword drawing by a mere two seconds, enough for the white hellhound to momentarily get off from the sword hilt and grabbed the hand pulling the sword. Aura of cold ice spread through the hellhound, and without any time to waste, Nergora pushed the half-frozen hellhound to an oncoming blade, stabbing him through. The other hellhounds only tried to stop running for a careful approach, and Nergora exploited that chance perfectly. Care was given for his steps to not giving him full opening that would prove fatal. Unsheathing his sword, he threw his priced weapon to a hellhound, freezing him through with others touching him, even if it was just temporarily. Both became chunks of ice breaking from two ice statues.

With a quick count, Nergora saw it was down to six, and just one second later, down to five when he forced the one attacking him to fall over a pointed sword. Nergora sensed danger behind him. He pulled one of the bodies nearby to hold the attack, but the sword was sharper. It came through and pierced Nergora's shoulder blade, yet it barely impaired him and he proceeded to grab the blade and send a wave of ice to the user, who quickly pulled away. Without any time to spare Nergora ran in four (mimicking wolves), and he pulled a nearby sword and put it into the backing hellhound, all under three seconds since the stab. He quickly turned to his back and, readying his claws, he held the other back, yet it gave an opening to another one directly beside him. Throwing the hellhound to the other, he dealt with the one further to his right. With a distance like that he would be attacked by another one just further, but he managed to deal with it by manipulating the ice aura around the battleground, making the place colder for a moment to distract one while he pounced the target, disemboweling him with his strong claws. He didn't have time for the other that was approaching him. He managed to almost dodge a blade, giving a cut through his side, yet he managed to trip the attacker and broke a part of his face by rapid freezing, killing him in a gruesome way by freezing half his brain. He didn't forget those he wanted to kill. They took a long time to recover from the throw, but Nergora managed to gain to them. He realized they lost the will to fight, yet one still had guts to point a sword nearby at him, yet Nergora kicked it aside and proceeded to knock him out while the other was cowering in fear.

"(At least I'm not forced to kill you)," said the white hellhound. "(You're one lucky bastard)."

"(T...that depends. What the...)"

Nergora squatted near him and closed his maw slowly. While smiling, he said, "(Now now, don't shout too much. This small town also doesn't want any of those decaying bodies littering about, right? If so, I could just freeze your comrades into chunks of ice and let them melt by the morning. How about you, then?)"

"(M...maybe I'll just go and...maybe get out from your sight)."

"(Good. I'll do the cleanup here)."

When Nergora proceeded to freeze every evidence and breaking them to pieces, the lone hellhound said, "(W...where did you fight? You fight like an animal)."

"(When you're being hunted by your own race either as a prince or an outcast for being half ice demon, you gotta fight for survival, even if that decision would surely destroy your sanity)."

"(You're fighting like us. You don't look like a royal prince when you fight)."

"(I'm not a prince. I'm just like the rest of you, yet I am not your kind, either)."

Nergora managed to freeze everything into frozen solid, and he proceeded to break them one by one, without any respect for any of them, which was greeted with silence by the hellhound he spared. The hellhound himself didn't have other thoughts except for Nergora, as he said, "(It must be sad to be both an outcast and a wanted hound at the same time. I...I felt like what I did was wrong. You deserved a chance to live longer, and you're not even in age when your kingdom collapsed. I feel wrong myself)."

"(At least you got what it takes to be hurt, hound. That's what you called human feeling, and that's something a hellhound doesn't initially have. Hounds can live like Lycans if they know other things aside from violence)."

When he turned again, the white hellhound gave the other one some money, and he said, "(Here. It's for the damage I caused for you. I never expect you to see me again, but if we do, it's either being an enemy or as allies. I am not hoping this could be better and everything rests on your choice. Oh, and one more thing. Either you want to use artificial hair or shave off those horns. You're not with a group anymore and there are better things under the sunlight, but not without horns and that tail, got it?)"

The hellhound slowly nodded before Nergora walked away, back to Seolfor's house. He was lucky the silver Lycan wasn't awake with the commotion, alongside the rest of the town. He wanted to go in, but he realized his blood was dripping on the dirt. He realized that despite of having feelings already, he was still a hunted hellhound, and settling down would endanger anyone he wanted to care for. He knew his decision would be final, and he never could see Seolfor again, despite of Sovarn's attempts to make him happy.

He tried to get it, at least giving a farewell note for Seolfor, but he knew it was useless. Seolfor would be suspicious with the smell of blood anyway. With a grave heart and troubled feeling, Nergora turned his body while closing the door leading to her house, silently giving a farewell to her. It felt strange and hurt to leave one Lycan he would have loved, yet his fate told him otherwise.

He tried to get out from Yenhal as fast as he could without having to think about his belongings, but the injuries and the amount of blood loss, coupled with a hard goodbye, started to make him dizzy, shifting between consciousness and unconsciousness. He still managed to walk for some more miles before he couldn't even feel his legs anymore, wobbling and falling down in the middle of the road, bloodied and exhausted. The stab from the shoulder blade was deep enough to make him unable to move his arm, and also the cut to his side started to hurt more than it should be. He couldn't move much in this state, and he was slipping out.

Only then, before he closed his eyes, he saw a pair of canine back legs in front of his vision, dark brown in color.