CHPT 379: Feel the Flames Once More. What do They Ignite within Your Cold Soul....?

It felt like Ursula had been laying on the floor for decades. The left side of her ribs screamed in pain while her skin began to shine with sweat, soaking the dark auburn fur cloaking her arms. It felt like she was sitting in a furnace-- too hot.....too hard to breathe....uncomfortable. Suffocating.

It felt like she was back home.

Even the giant fireball overhead that expelled all the darkness that once resided. It all reminded her of home. And there he stood, at the entrance into the training room. Fireball in hand, arrogance in body. He'd only just entered the room and he already demanded all the attention-- just eager to issue an order. She could see it in his face that reminded her so much of her father.

The first son of Rory Legrand. Her first inspiration towards being a Hero, her eventual bully and oldest brother, Ryder Legrand. He stood a mere dozen feet away from her. Disbelief and surprise twisting his pompous face into a spread of wrinkles and battle-scars.

She suddenly wondered what had brought him. Had the Detectives Claude was so terrified of finally found them? Had they always been found? Was it the Bounty Hunter looking to cash in his heaping reward? Or had her Father sent Ryder on another property run to check every establishment they owned was in tip top shape?

Most likely the latter. But what if it wasn't?

[Berserker's Rage: 70.....72%]

Maybe Claude's paranoia was getting to her. Naturally, it would get to anyone who'd been living on the run for the past month....after losing their family and being changed into something they once felt was wrong in nature. Yes, she knew his paranoia was justified. But it had reached her, and now she sat preparing for the worst scenario.

What if Ryder had come for them, and her father was done dealing with her. He could easily paint it as Claude killing her. Paint it all as one mess. A hostage situation gone wrong, a big bloody accident. Or they could just be burned out of existence.

[Berserker's Rage: 74....76%]

[Red Guard Aura Boost: +76%]

"WhAt if...."

Her eyes never left Ryder-- who hadn't even bothered looking at them as he spoke. She didn't catch a word of what he was saying. Only her thoughts fought the silence she experienced.

Her thoughts of what she would do if they came for them in the worst way. She didn't want to go back. Not to them, and with what she'd become...they had all the more reason to appropriately disown her.

Her fingers flexed, thickening as black hook-like claws ended each of her fingers and her skin darkened to a light bronze. She'd rather strike first then wait for the worst.

"I--"

"Focus!' Claude's words hit her mind like a battering ram, knocking her out of her homicidal headspace with a bang. The calming waves of the pack bond pulled her back to reality in a flash.

She was lying on the floor. Flat against her back. Frosty's unseen weight held her in place as he laid over her while Claude stood in front of her-- blocking her from her brother.

"--Yea, we were just having some fun. Flat ground battle can be uhhh...uhh-- boring. Yea boring...."

Ursula couldn't believe what she was hearing as Frosty pinned her to the floor. He was talking to Ryder.....as if he wasn't wanted for one hundred thousand Gold..

A pang of guilt hit her chest as the rage subsided. But, as the sounds of Night Runners waking up in the distance rose, so did her spirits.

The odds had faded out of their favor the second the Raiders started trying to pull off murder-- and even so, they did some good. Even with how maddeningly the Moon tugged at her mind They did some good. Some actual work as Heroes, just as Claude used to talk about it. No grand displays of genocide against a Tangent of Elves or Satyr's, no Dragon slain, no WereLions skinned alive....just a few people saved in the dark of night.

It felt good. And for a moment, she wasn't so horrified of what was to come in less than a day. The butterflies fled her starved stomach, the sweat dried on her palms.

Despite how much Claude ragged about being in over his head and not liking the title of Alpha, she couldn't help but notice how well he was doing in that moment.

As she sat, terrified of the upcoming Full Moon-- almost already transforming...and eating everything in sight. Claude was carrying everything while calming the pack where he could.

If that wasn't a leader, she didn't know what was.

But, she still knew. When the Moon comes, things would be very different. They needed to leave and prepare..

***

He looked smaller in person. One of Rory Legrand's high powered flame wielding sons. From Ursula's thoughts he was able to get a name. Ryder. The man looked like a carbon copy of Rory Legrand-- just a couple decades younger.

He looked down at the young established Knight, trying not to act like the flames he held overhead weren't scalding his skin.

It was a dominance game. Ryder was trying to show superiority over the room with his bright flames and puffed chest.

"And who's idea was it to transform the training room before absolutely trashing it?"

"He--"

"You will tell me, now." Ryder interrupted, adding an extra boost of heat to the ball of fire that swirled overhead.

"What do you think I was doing you dumb fuck?" Claude snarled internally before attempting to collect himself and reply, "He's back towards the center. Behind the walls."

"Thank you. Now get out of here." Ryder replied before shrugging his helmet back on and tossing the flame into the air where it hung overhead like a deadly chandelier.

"[What a bellend.....]"

"A what?"

"[Nothing.]"

"OK. Let's get the hell out of here before my heart beats out of my chest." Claude replied, turning to help Ursula to her feet.

"Thanks for the save." She mumbled as she rose to her feet, "He's so focused on trying to keep the family name in high regard in all of their properties that he won't be looking for much else. He probably doesn't even know I'm missing.."

The thought of family missing with nobody caring enough to notice sent an odd chill down Claude's spine.

"He's not family anyway...."

"Is that right?" Ursula retorted as they headed to the door.

"Nope. For now, all you got is me...and Frosty."

Ursula bumped shoulders with him, abruptly reminding him of how close they were to being the same height....and weight-- then again she was probably already heavier, "And what about the others?"

"I think Ashe thinks you're an idiot. But Shadow likes you.." Claude replied, holding out his marked hand to her just in time for the shadows to emerge from his palm and touch Ursula's arm with a tongue that snaked out from the darkness in a flash.

The two froze.

"When the hell did you learn how to do that?"

"I don't know....and I don't want to talk about it."

"Yea....I feel violated." Ursula said.

"It was almost wholesome."

Ursula shrugged before they started walking once more, "Ah fuck it. We saved a bunch of people. That's about as wholesome as it gets."

Speaking of Night Runners. Claude activated his Natural Vision and searched for them among the rubble as he exited the training room.

A collection of green moved in the distance. Strands of life successfully grown back to good health, like a weed in the wild. They'd be ok. And he'd finish what he started with the Raiders.

As he looked away preparing to deactivated the vision, something caught his vision that was peculiar to say the least.

The cats. The one's that watched him before. They watched him all throughout the Main Hall, hidden behind people and under tables. Only, he couldn't find them by the grown glowing cracks of life within that he assumed all living things had. Because they didn't. They didn't have the green glow within. Instead, all they had were their slitted eyes. Blood red. A complete switch from what he saw with his regular vision alongside tiny flecks of purple around their eyes.

"What the hell is that?"

"[I haven't the slightest idea..]"

"We need to get the hell out of here and get back to Rollan." Claude said before regaining his normal sight and heading towards the exit doors.

On his way out, the last person he saw was Cassidy, who merely smiled and nodded to him. Claude nodded back.