Beyond Family

From atop a cliffside, several large vehicles were spotted rolling across the wintry roads. Fortunately for Ludmila and Kazan, they had stopped in several villages, allowing for them to catch up. Their Wolfy-drawn sled had encountered the result of several families being kidnapped in the name of ‘clearing debts’.

Ludmila clicked her tongue in frustration. The men had given out empty promises, looking to ensnare anyone they could into their schemes. It didn’t matter to them that their demands were unreasonable; one click of a rifle voided any disagreements.

Kazan grimaced as he heard rumors scattered about. Families that gave into demands were seen as ‘obedient’, targets that they were sure wouldn’t resist with a little force. And so, other families, like Kazan’s, were rounded up and whisked away in a large truck.

Thanks to Ludmila’s tracking skills and Wolfy tracing the scent of gasoline in the air, they headed off the kidnappers on their way to the next stop. Another small village up ahead. Another stop to gather more prey. Ludmila was ready to make them prey instead.

Not long after, the roar of engines stopped, and several armed men spilled out of the vehicles. One look at them caused the villagers to scatter. None of them wanted to do business with men of such appearance. But they didn’t care. Their targets were already marked.

One person signaled to his men, circling one of the houses. After a few minutes, an elderly couple and a young girl were roughly pulled along, begging for help from the rest of the village. In these lands, there were few people to enforce the law. And for those that had them, a bribe on the side could make one absent for an hour.

One man walked right up to them, cupping the young girl’s chin with his hand. He grinned, knowing that she would fetch a good price for someone in the city. There were plenty of buyers that could forge names and relationships, money to create ideal situations that they could not gain with honesty.

Silent tears trickled down the girl’s face as she trembled, knowing all too well of her fate. She knew that screaming would do nothing for her. At worst, they would kill her parents to shut her up. So she did nothing and prayed. She hoped for someone brave to whisk her away. To take her from tragedy. Or for some kind of mercy from the heavens.

A low swish sounded, followed by a grunt. One of the armed men stumbled forward a few steps before falling to the ground, a knife planted right into the back of his neck. A bullet fired and then another. It picked off the two men that were holding the girl’s parents.

Before the men could draw their weapons, the girl saw a bundle of white emerge from a snowbank. It charged right for her, making her heart stop. The white devil’s jaws sank its teeth right into her, the fear at that sight forcing her to close her eyes and overwhelming any expectation of pain. The feeling of being dragged away, possibility torn apart, alluded to her doom.

But a moment of surprise came at the realization that she was neither dead nor hurts. Opening her eyes, she found herself carried by its teeth, which had nimbly caught her by the clothing. They were a fair distance from the bad men, much to her surprise.

‘Is this animal saving me?’ she wondered. But immediately after, she was dumped onto the snowy ground and swarmed by her parents who had also run away from the ordeal. The wolf turned back toward the bad men and charged forward, not even waiting for thanks from them.

By now, the kidnappers had formed a tight circle, aware of their attackers. Their guns were trained to fire at anything that moved.

A clump of snow was kicked up. Bullets instantly converged upon it.

Fortunately, Ludmila had not decided to run right out and attack. She knew how deadly rifles were, and more than anything, the loud bangs gave her an extra sense of caution.

She was not afraid to die for her beliefs. She never was. But if she did, then there would be no chance to save Kazan’s family or anyone else that was being taken advantage of. Patience was a hunter’s advantage. And a window of opportunity would open eventually.

However, that was only if both sides were playing fair.

“Let go of me!!!”

The sound of a young boy echoed in the village. One of the men had found one hiding and promptly used him as a hostage. The sight of that made Ludmila go pale. She wished that she had the ability to act how she wanted, to be so swift that she didn’t have to wait.

“GRRRRRR!!!”

Wolfy took down the man holding the boy in a single leap, its jaws tearing at the man’s throat. But instantly, a barrage of gunfire showered both Wolfy and the man, riddling them both with bullets while the boy ran away, thankful that he had been released.

Something within Ludmila broke.

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“I’ll be fine, Milensea. One last job, and then, we can finally go on a vacation.”

A man walked out the door, leaving those final words to her. He never came back.

Milensea and her partner were journalists looking into various scoops for money. But apparently, they had dug a little too deep into a territory that no one dared to enter. Sometimes, being first was not always a good thing. Speed over caution led to trouble.

“Over here! There she is!”

The same men who had killed her partner were now after the data that she held onto. A single job too deep had caught the attention of bad men, and now, they were willing to do anything to silence them.

Milensea ran through the streets, holding onto a data chip, cursing herself. If they had only gone together, then they wouldn’t have been caught. They wouldn’t have been found out. This latest job made her afraid, causing hesitation and her partner picking up the slack.

A sharp pain struck her arm as something whizzed by. Immediately, she knew that she had been shot. And if she stopped, then it would be all over. She wouldn’t have that, so she continued running while ignoring the terrible pain, feeling them closer and closer on her tail.

A few more turns around corners brought her suddenly into a column of light, so abrupt that she had no way to avoid it. It swept her up and into a whole different world.

The next thing she knew, a man bent down before her with a grin. He extended his hand towards her.

“Do you believe in second chances?” he asked. And to that she nodded.

This time, she wouldn’t let anyone outrun her.

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Suddenly, a purple glow enveloped Ludmila. Before she could consider what it meant, her feet were already in motion. In an instant, she was next to the closest armed guard. The knife in her hand plunged into a thick artery, making sure that the wound would be deadly.

The next man didn’t even turn around before she struck next, and then again and again. Like dolls frozen in motion, Ludmila went up to each of them and stabbed. And it wasn’t until she drew a deep breath did they move differently, if only to fall over from a fatal blow.

Ludmila stared at herself. Never had she moved so fast before. All she knew was that she regretted not taking the first step. She regretted letting Wolfy be gunned down while she did nothing. But in the instant after, it was like she had stopped time to make up for it.

The remaining kidnappers turned toward her, but with another burst of purple energy, she ran around to their backs. It was surreal, but she took the opportunity to slay them as well. In a few moments, the entire ordeal was over, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Hey, that was amazing! You just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and they were dead after I blinked! And while you had them distracted, I was able to bust out my family and everyone else that was locked in the truck!”

Kazan placed a hand on Ludmila’s shoulder, thanking her for everything.

Ludmila wanted to feel happy about that, but seeing Wolfy killed in action soured any urge for celebration.

“I can’t feel happy, not when Wolfy-”

“What about Wolfy? It’s over there playing with my sister apparently.”

“Huh?!”

Ludmila spun around. To her surprise, the white wolf that had aided her was leisurely running circles around a family. A young girl reached out to pet it, which it happily obliged. It was quite strange to see a wild animal act so docile in front of other people. Extremely so…

“Ana! Don’t get too attached to him!”

“But I want the big doggy as a pet!”

Kazan simply chuckled at that.

Wolfy looked toward Ludmila, their eyes meeting. Like it had something to say, it walked right up to her and gave a cheeky grin.

“How? I saw bullets tear through you….”

Wolfy bent down and ran through her legs, using its head to lift her onto its back. She had no choice but to comply, feeling herself tossed into a position where she had to hug its soft fur to stay on. It took off through town, like it wanted to parade the hero that had saved the village from the evil men.

People waved and cheered as they saw her. Ludmila caught sight of the family that she saved first, and suddenly, she felt very warm. For once, this trip was something that she wanted to do, and the reward at the end felt so satisfying. She bent low and gave Wolfy another big hug as they continued to walk right out of town.

When they were away from everyone else, Wolfy playfully rolled, tossing Ludmila into a patch of snow. Digging herself out of it, she looked to see the animal apparently chuckling at her. It proceeded to nuzzle its head over her hair. The gestures were uncharacteristic, human even.

A slew of voices suddenly hit her.

“I forgive you. So please.. find it in you to forgive yourself.”

“Does love not mean trust and rely on each other?”

“You cannot cling onto me as your sole hope… You should not waste the life given to you… Not for me. But use it for yourself.”

“I, Ludmila Dikly, swear to fight by Master’s side.”

Ludmila reached out and petted the wolf’s fur. By doing so, she picked up a familiar scent, one of kindness and acceptance.

“M-Master?”

Wolfy emitted a purple glow at that moment, which triggered her own as well.

“Ha! It seems like I finally got through to you! Awakening your hidden power seemed to do it. I would like to say that it went according to plan, but I never expected to take over a wolf in this world. Boy, do I have a lot to tell you. But… let’s do this instead.”

Wolfy placed a paw onto Ludmila’s forehead, and immediately, she regained the memories of her past self and then some.

Claude had entered this site where Ludmila ended up, new body and life created for her. Somehow, his spirit took over a wolf upon entry. Since he couldn’t talk, all he could do was accompany her on her travels.

But now that Ludmila’s power had awoken, it was a simple matter of connecting with her. The power of the Origin Goddess had revived within her, locked away after the God of Speed’s power was stripped away.

After the glow disappeared, Ludmila looked at Claude with determination.

“I see. There will be a time when we will fight together again… But first…” Ludmila looked back toward the village where they came from. “I wish to take care of some things here.”

“Feel free to. Your path is your own. I’m just here to give you a choice.”

Claude and Ludmila sped back to the village, where the people greeted them once again. Seeing their happy faces and family once again enjoying the freedom to be together, she made a vow.

This site was her own, born for her own insecurities. It was up to her to fix them. And until she did, she had no right to stand by Claude once again. As she thought this, a flash of purple escaped from Wolfy, which only she could seemingly see.

She watched as the spirit of Claude drifted away, saying a silent blessing for safe travels. Turning back to Wolfy, she gave it a good rub on the head. It had warmed up to Kazan’s family, looking every bit like the guard dog that little Ana was begging for.

And then, she turned toward the edge of town.

But before she could get very far, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kazan asked.

“To take care of the rest of them. So that no one will have to feel lost again.”

“Care for some company? I’m nowhere as good as you, but I would like to think I’m a decent shot.”

“It’s the effort that counts.”