A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Not entirely surprised by Erik's question, Viljar shook his head with a sigh. "Unfortunately not. She did say she had a lead but wouldn't tell me where it came from. She just smiled at me and told me to try and focus on building a new life in the Enclave."

Erik and Elora both frowned upon hearing that. "Think she had a dream, just like me?" Erik asked through their connection.

He received a mental shrug in response. "Possibly, but there's no way to know. Although I'm unsure if I like the implication in the event she had such a dream. It would mean that this entity, whoever he, she, or it is, is making us all dance to their tune."

Erik could only nod in agreement as a feeling of dread and uncertainty filled him. Immediately, comforting feelings of support flowed through their connection from Elora, and he smiled at her. Whatever happens in the future, they will face it together.

Meanwhile, the ginger-haired Viking scratched his head awkwardly. "Anyway, only after your mother left did I understand why she formed the Enclave in the first place."

Gratitude filled his voice as he continued, "She wanted me to have a home with people to care for, even after she left. And, well, she succeeded. I found a new family in the Enclave."

Viljar had a warm smile on his face as he thought about the home he had built over the years. Yet, a dark shadow passed over his face when he remembered how the dominion was currently threatening their existence.

Shaking himself free from his thoughts, he continued. "After that, time passed relatively quickly. Jonas took the moniker of Frostfang for himself and suddenly started gaining power at a much quicker rate than everyone else until he became a third-rank after another three years, just in time to match up to the dominion."

Elora and Erik perked up their ears at the revelation that this Jonas was the third-rank Frostfang. After all, so far, they had assumed that only those who were already first-rank when the Awakening came had managed to reach third-rank within seven years.

But, according to Viljar, this Frostfang was no different from the rest of them when they first met.

Erik couldn't help but ask. "Do you have any idea how Jonas gained power so quickly after Mom left?"

But Viljar shook his head. "No idea. He never explained and only said he wouldn't be where he was today if it hadn't been for Runa."

Erik sighed at his uncle's response. "Mystery after mystery, and we can't even go ask this Frostfang."

Viljar had a complicated look on his face. "Won't you trust my word that he won't harm you?"

Erik shrugged and replied with a somewhat harsh answer. "I trust your intentions, Uncle. But not those of this Jonas, Frostfang, or whatever he's called. Frankly, I know you are loyal to a fault, but not everyone returns that loyalty.

Elora and I have never entered a situation where we have to rely upon another's mercy, at least not while we still had other options, and we won't be starting now."

Viljar looked regretful. He was about to simply accept their decision when he suddenly frowned and seemed to get an idea. "By the way, you said you rescued Astrid from a ghoul patrol. I guess you already fed her enough blood to restore her. But, have you talked to her yet?"

Not sure where his uncle was going with this, Erik saw no reason to hide the truth, so he simply shook his head, "No, I haven't. She's still asleep. Why?"

Suddenly, a sly grin appeared on Viljar's face. "Oh, nothing. I just remembered something that might cause you to enter this war after all." He leaned back, now feeling a little relieved that the powerful combination of Erik and Elora might aid the Enclave against the Dominion after all.

He continued, "Anyway," he turned his attention to Elora. "You said something about a way to deal with the ghouls?"

Both Erik and Elora looked at him with some suspicion, wondering where this sudden confidence was coming from, yet decided to let it go for now. It apparently had something to do with Astrid, so they would find out soon enough.

So Elora nodded at Viljar's question. "As long as you stay here, I'll teach one of those people who came with you two sigils that will allow them to disrupt the Dominion's control over their ghouls."

By now, Viljar had already learned what sigils were and that Elora was proficient in them, so her words came as no surprise. He still frowned but about something else. "Disrupt? Not take over? Or kill?"

To which Elora shrugged. "I won't simply spread killing sigils so easily; you never know when they'll be used against us. And I don't have any methods to hijack the ghoul's control. So it's disrupt, or nothing."

Viljar seemed to think for a moment. "So I suppose disrupt means the ghouls will return to being regular, feral ghouls? Attacking anything close to them?"

Seeing Elora nod caused Viljar to sigh. "Well, it's certainly a lot better than we had before. Thank you, Elora. Does it matter who you teach this to?"

A mischievous grin appeared on Elora's face. "Not really, though I suggest you pick someone calm and willing, as I won't be going easy on them." Then she giggled. "You're free to pick yourself as well."

Suddenly feeling slightly sorry for whoever would end up as Elora's victim and quickly decided to take himself out of the running, Viljar coughed and shook his head, "T- That's okay; I think I know the right person."

After that, it remained silent for a moment, as all three of them seemed to be thinking and internalizing all of the new information they had gained in this conversation.

Erik and Elora were also talking through their connection, making new plans and adjusting old ones based on what they now knew.