A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"You… want to make a bet with me?" Katya asked, as her eyebrow was raised in part confusion, part curiosity, and part amusement. "And whats that green stuff on your arm?"

"You heard me," Erik grinned widely. "As for the green stuff… I know you and your Council figured out what happened to Seraphina." Waving his magic covered arm, he chuckled. "Well, meet the cause."

Katya blinked a little in surprise, but otherwise didn't seem overly interested. "I see," she nodded. "We thought it was Elora who had that ability…" she mumbled to herself, before shaking her head and continuing, "So that means it's more than just a means to keep people silent?"

"That's right," Erik nodded. He naturally wasn't going to correct Katya regarding Elora. The more confusing and contradictory the information that existed about them was, the better. "You can think of it as a magical contract of sorts. I simply made a deal with Seraphina. She got something from me, and in return I got her silence and… cooperation.

The covenant is merely enforcing the contract."

"A contract?" Katya looked a little more curious now as she suddenly thought of something. "Does that mean it binds you to the deal as well?"

"I figured that would interest you," Erik grinned. "Yes, the contract will bind us both and enforce the deal. If you accept the covenant, you can be absolutely sure that, at the very least, I will do everything in my power to save your brother within the year. Of course, at the same time, you won't be able to escape the bet either."

She scoffed a little from disbelief. "That's all quite impressive, but are you sure that's even going to work on a third-ranker like myself?"

"Of course it will," Erik  grinned confidently. 'Elora is a third-rank as well, after all. You'd need to be a fourth, or perhaps even fifth rank to break free from this.'

Of course, he didn't mention that last part out loud.

"Fine then, we'll use your covenant… But don't come crying to me when the covenant doesn't work on me," she grinned arrogantly, and a little curiously.

"Regardless," she continued. "You still haven't told me about this bet of yours."

Erik grinned excitedly. "Right! Here's the deal. The first time you and I meet up again, up to at least a week after your brother's rescue, you and I will duel and, afterwards, the loser will serve the winner."

Shock passed over Katya's face, as it did over the faces of Erik's female companions, who had been quietly listening to their conversation so far. None of them could imagine Erik serving anyone, nor did they want him to. Astrid and Emily might even lose some respect for him, while only Emma didn't really care.

Erik felt the same way, but he wasn't worried. After rescuing this Dimitri, he would head straight for Africa, while Katya would be stuck here in Europe, likely fighting a war against the powers that be in Asia. By the time Erik returned to Europe he didn't doubt he'd have the ability to defeat Katya.

He made the consequences of losing universal between him and Katya, because otherwise he didn't think she would agree.

After the shock passed by, however, Katya burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, I love it! A real battle should be like that!" she exclaimed loudly and enthusiastically, clearly showing her love of battle.

Meanwhile, Erik just grinned confidently at her, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, one of them still covered in green magic. He knew she wasn't laughing at him, she was simply enjoying the situation, as did he.

When she finally stopped laughing, she wiped away some tears and pointed at Erik with an excited grin. "You've got a deal, brat! Let's see if you can make me submit when we meet again!"

Still grinning, Erik raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I'm sure I'll have you purring like a kitten."

Katya's smile widened when she heard that. "Well, if before you had my curiosity, now you have my attention. Beware, though. I won't be nice if you end up losing," she grinned with eyes shining from excitement. "I'm already looking forward to the day!"

"So am I," Erik chuckled, before approaching Katya with steady stride and a reached out hand.

"Here's the deal: I will do everything in my power to save your brother Dimitri within a year. In return, we will duel the first time we meet, up to a week after your brother is rescued, where the loser will serve the winner. Also, you're not allowed to reveal anything you've learned about me and mine in the last few days. Do you agree?"

It was always necessary to repeat the full extend of the deal just before the other party agreed. Otherwise, the covenant magic simply wouldn't work.

"Agreed," Katya grinned excitedly, and extended her hand to grab Erik's.

When they shook hands, with Erik still using his transformed claw-like hand, Katya started squeezing his hand using her third-rank strength.

The bones in his hand creaked and cracked, but Erik didn't flinch, and kept looked Katya in the eyes with a grin on his wolfish lips. This was a challenge, and if he backed down now, she would never truly respect him. Not even if he ended up wining that future duel.

Finally, after the covenant magic had done its work, and Katya had stopped squeezing mere moments before bones actually started breaking, they separated again.

Katya curiously checked out the symbol on her hand, and noticed that it was indeed the same as the one that continued to grace Seraphina's. She suddenly realized she was going to have to find a way to hide it from the rest of the Council.

But that was a problem for later.

She nodded at Erik with appreciation. "I wasn't wrong about you, boy. You've got strength, both mental and physical. If I lose that duel, it will be an honor to serve you. But you should know that I won't underestimate you. When we meet again, we will fight, you'll find me even stronger than I am now, and if you lose, your ass is mine."

"Just a figure of speech, of course,"  she chuckled, when she saw Erik's eyelids twitch slightly at her last words.

"Alright, I really need to get going now," she then said, and turned around, before changing into her bear-form. "See you next time, boy," she growled softly, before taking off into a sprint at monstrous speeds.

When she was gone, Erik released a sigh of relief, and slowly shook his painful hand. Yet, he also chuckled, as he felt like this event would  likely bring him many benefits in the future.

He turned around to look at the shocked faces of his companions, and grinned. "What are you girls staring at me for? We have places to be, things to do."