Travelers:
II. Departure
The Styler family was one of the nobles that lived close to the edge of Rivergale. Their fame was renowned for two different reasons. The first one was brought back from the time of the Magi War, where the two factions, Rivergale and Pyroshock, fought each other in a war that lasted for centuries. Their ancestor, Roland Styler, was one of the generals that participated in the front lines along with thousands of soldiers. His combat prowess allowed him to hold back the enemy forces until the assault team had dispatched their ruler.
The king of that era, Ingus Winters, gave the vulpine his reward for his bravery and gave him three gifts for him and his descendants. The first was the title nobleman. His second gift was a long sword, crafted by the kingdom’s best sword crafter: Scorch. The blade was made from the strongest steel around the area, indritia, a substance that had the strength and durability of a diamond, but was lightweight and flexible like aluminum. The blade had a red hilt from its ruby pommel till the fiery design of the cross-guard. The blade fuller was etched with runic symbols that were translated into “Raging Flames”. The scabbard also had fiery design engraved in it.
The third and final gift was the Styler’s Manor. The large three storied building was the new home of Roland and his descendants. The manor was built in an ancient Greek design, with columns standing proud and tall in the front part of the manor. The building was surrounded by a large, green field that covered nearly twenty acres. Protecting the area were a tall, marble wall with a height of fifteen feet and a steel gate door that could only be opened by the people who knew how to open it.
The second reason was the white wolf and his Tusol. John and Terrance were not from their time at all. They were from five hundred years ago, during the period of the Magi War. When Nil Rey was taken over by the Memphisto Seal, the warlock became the ruler of the Pyroshock by force. It was also then he planned to destroy the entire Rivergale kingdom with a devastating spell that was renown to the entire country as Pyroshock. It was a combination spell of fire and lightning that could incinerate lands and left them with nothing.
When John, his other side, went back to the castle, after rescuing the king from the hands of Nil and Grum, he heard the news of Nil’s plan and of the mages of the castle wanting to counter the spell with their own: Rivergale. The wolf knew and explained that the imbalance of the two powers would cause an even bigger catastrophe that could possibly destroy Entaria, their world. Unfortunately, no one would listen to him since was the other side of the same warlock who wanted to destroy the kingdom. The only people who believed him were Ingus, Roland, and Navried. The king ordered the lupine to try and stop the calamity from happening by confronting their leader.
In that final battle, Roland distracted the enemy forces by a frontal assault. Navried, the scout Nil, Terrance, and John met, cleverly tricked their own archers to create a path towards the floating castle Nil used as base. The warlock was confronted by his other side and clashed into a final battle.
The warlock had become even more powerful than before. His studies of the fire and lighting magical arts had overwhelmed John’s magic, which was time art. With Terrance nowhere around, John had trouble to avoid the other lupine’s attacks, and had even more trouble to attack back. Things had turned for the worst when both kingdoms finally activated their catastrophic magic. John used his magic and manipulated the energies to be contained inside of him. Unfortunately, Nil had gotten in the way and the two of them fought each other once more inside John’s subconscious mind. It was a miracle that John won the fight, but not without a cost. His body drifted in the Rifts of the Worlds, an inter-dimensional passage between worlds where time stood still. In a comatose state, his body slowly deteriorated due to the power contained within him.
Terrance noticed the missing of his new master and frantically searched for him. Before he could begin his search, he was stopped by Ophiuchus, the serpent healer, who told him of what had happened to both lupines. Ophiuchus also had brought John in their world, Spirit, where he showed the lion what the result of his recklessness was. With what had remained on the lupine’s body, Ophiuchus wasn’t able to return him to his normal state. However, he was only able to return him back to his eight year old state. The remnants of the lupine’s missing parts drifted in the Rifts of the Worlds, slowly morphing to inter-dimensional beings they called fiends. Some even managed to escape through the holes towards Spirit and Entaria.
It took a long time to repair both damages, to the wolf and to the rifts. Around five hundred years had passed and the lupine was back to his normal state. Almost normal. When the two returned back, they were a little surprised by the fact that the magical drain John did worked a little too well. The magic in the entire world of Entaria had been drained and only a few were able to use them, despite the years passing by.
But due to his eight-year-old appearance, he wasn't treated seriously by others. The five centuries old lupine was treated as any other child. The Stylers, who lived the closest to where John and Terrance returned, even thought he was an orphan, so they took him in and called him one of their own. When the truth of his past was known, some of it, the kingdom greeted the hero both in confusion and happiness. Marvic Winters, a descendant of Ingus Winters, gave him and Terrance a ceremonial blade as a token of appreciation: Constellation, which was used as a contract between John and the rest of the Tusols who joined their cause.
Their new cause was to find his friends...
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The evening sunlight passed through the large windows on the east wall. The warm orange light gleamed through the crystal candelabra, dazzling the dining room. Beneath the pair of lights was a long, mahogany table, stretching from the north wall to the south, near the double doors leading to the kitchen.
John sat silently in one end of the clothed table, closest to the kitchen doors. His tail twitched attentively as he continued to stare at a specific object. In front of the white lupine, a small vial of white liquid stared back at him. He sighed, picked up the vial, and twirled the liquid around. A heavy sigh escaped his muzzle as he began to stare blankly at the potion.
"Closer, huh..." He mumbled, remembering what the husky told him the day before she concocted the potion. "Well... It does bring couples closer together... So why am I so nervous about it? Is it because it would..."
The lupine sighed softly and placed the bottle back to the table. He observed the bottle once more from the outside and went into a deep thought.
“I should’ve thought of this a little more thorough…” he mumbled softly. “It’s not like Terrance would want to…”
“Would want what?”
The lupine’s fur bristled for the second time that day. He turned towards the doorway to see the lion walking in towards him.
“Welcome back, hun,” he smiled. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Ter!!” the wolf half yelled half whispered.
“A little jumpy, aren’t we?” the feline chuckled at the wolf. John just chuckled nervously back. The lion’s gaze caught sight of the vial and walked towards it.
"What's this?" He said picking up the bottle. Every fur in John’s body stood up in fright. He snatched the bottle away from the feline’s paw and hid it behind his back.
“That’s none of your business!!” the lupine barked. His face began to turn crimson red as blood began to rush to his head. The lion took a few seconds before giving his mate a smile.
“Okay. Now I’m even more curious,” he said. “What is it?”
“No!” John backed away from the lion. “Not telling!!”
“Come on, hun,” Terrance stepped closer. “Tell me what’s in your paws.”
“Never!”
“Tell me.”
“No!”
“Now.”
“Nu-uh!”
“Please?”
“No!”
The wolf’s back touched the wall. He scooted to his right, but that was a big mistake. He ended up cornered in the room with nowhere to run. His ears pinned back on the top of his skull and his tail was curled up between his legs. A slight whimper was emitted from his throat. The lion, on the other hand, was standing tall and proud. His buffed figure towered the cowering lupine. A sinister smirk appeared across the feline’s muzzle as he slowly approached his cornered companion.
“Suit yourself,” he said. He leaned closer to the flattened ears of the lupine and whispered the next part. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
John’s eyes were shot open, knowing what the Tusol meant. The lion jabbed a finger to the lupine’s rib, causing him to buck to the other side and yelped loudly. Terrance didn’t waste any time to prod the lupine again and again. After over five hundred years of companionship, the two of them knew all of each other’s spots. The wolf, who was extremely ticklish, tried to prod back. But with the constant jabbing from the lion, he never had a chance. His legs began to weaken and he slid down to the carpeted floor. Terrance went down as well and continued his process. John’s laughter began to increase in volume. His limbs were swinging in the air as the torturous tickling continued.
“Come on, Joy,” the lion called the wolf by his pet name. “Tell me what’s in the bottle!”
“N-Never!!” John barked back in between his laughter. “C-Chris! Help!!”
The wolf didn’t receive any reinforcement. The tickling lasted for a few minutes, but felt like hours for the lupine. The two eventually got tired and stopped. They panted and gazed into each other’s emerald eyes. Terrance slowly lowered his muzzle until it touched John’s. Smiling softly, they licked each other’s lips before engaging each other into a deep kiss. With their eyes closed, their other senses began to focus upon each other. Their soft moans rang almost simultaneously as their paws began to rub each other. A small prod on the feline’s lips gave access to his mouth. Their tongues began to dance inside the lion’s mouth as they began to deepen the kiss. The way each other tasted; it was heaven. They reluctantly broke the kiss to take a breath, panting once more as they gaze into their mate’s eyes. John smiled and gave Terrance’s lips another lick.
“My sweet husband…” the lion cooed as he rubbed the lupine’s left cheek gently. They sighed softly before closing in to each other once more.
“Ahem…”
The pair jumped slightly before turning their heads to the hall doorway. Christian and Dean, who’ve been watching their embrace for quite some time, stood silently with a smile etched on their muzzles.
“I hate to break up your lovey-dovey time, but Dean’s home,” Chris said. “And I’m glad he did or this dining room will become a mess.”
The pair blushed deep red before they stood back up. Their aroused privates throbbed slowly after their interaction. The lion looked away from the fox and rubbed his dark brown mane. Inside, he was silently cursing the two for ruining their tender moment.
“I’ll… go get the dishes…” he stated before walking towards the double doors on the south wall. The canines on the door chuckled lightly before heading towards their respective seats; Chris on the north end of the table, as head of the Styler family with Dean on his right side as the guest of the household.
John looked back to the carpeted floor quickly and spotted the bottle. He picked the vial up and examined it closely. He was very relieved that it didn’t even crack or spill. He sighed softly and smiled.
“I’ll be right back,” he told the other two. “I need to put something away first.”
The lupine walked away from the two and headed out side. Dean and Chris looked at each other in silence.
“So… Dean…” Chris slowly broke the silence. “You’re going to join their journey?”
“Yeah,” the black wolf nodded.
“Why’s that? You could just live here normally like any other.”
“There’s something I need to do,” the timber wolf told the vulpine.
“You guys with your businesses…” Chris shook his head. “And here I am, sitting back waiting for your safe return. I feel like a... House wife."
The vulpine shuddered at the last word. "I hate it when I call myself that..."
"Then don't," the lupine chuckled. "Although, it's always hilarious to see you arguing with yourself. I'm going to miss you for that."
"And I will miss all the arguments we had. It's been a pleasure knowing you, pup," the fox grinned.
"Likewise, old man," the wolf grinned back.
"And I will get you for that..." Chris chuckled darkly, sending a wave of cold air up the lupine's spine.
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The wolf sighed in the cool night air. Sitting on top of the roof of the Styler's Manor, he gazed into the starry sky. Behind him, new figure appeared from the darkness. It was an elderly human with a long beard and a cypress rod in his left hand. His body was covered with a dull brown robe he kept together with the white rope on his waist.
"You seemed disturbed, my apprentice," he said, rubbing the thick white beard under his chin. The lupine jumped and turned his head.
"Father Time," the wolf said, slightly surprised by his presence.
"You have doubts of this journey, no doubt," the elder said, sitting beside him.
"I don't know how long it would take until we find them. And I had thoughts about our little problems," John said.
"Such as?"
"For one, Dean's a mortal. We have very limited time on finding them with him keep on aging."
"That could be solved."
"Hardly. I doubt he wants to be immortal."
"I understand," the human nodded. "We shall discuss this problem another time when he is present. What is the next one?"
"Something stupid, but important. Communication. We don't know if their language is the same as ours."
"Then I shall teach you the spell for that later."
"Thank you," the wolf smiled. "But enough about my problems, father. You came for a reason, I suppose."
"I just come to warn you about your journey problems. It seems that you already tried to solve them already, but there are two more matters that required your attention."
John looked at the wizard of time curiously.
"As you may have known, your body parts floated in the rifts of dimension, slowly corrupting into what you now call fiends. The part that you probably do not know is that their intelligence had increased dramatically and is able to enter worlds."
The wolf jumped to his feet, nearly fell in the process.
"What!?" He barked.
"At ease, son," the human said, standing up. "I wasn't finished."
The wolf nodded and looked at his teacher.
"As I said, they were able to enter worlds. However, they couldn't do that with their powers. The only way they could do that was by entering through the holes you made."
"So in other words, if I enter a world, it's in danger of being attacked by them?"
"That is correct."
"Terrific!!" The wolf growled, rubbing his white furred head. "What are we to do now?"
"You remember that I gave you the ability to share a portion of your power, correct?"
"You mean, give my power to them like what I did here?"
"Exactly. And create a guild of warriors to purge their worlds from the corrupted fiends. A Hunter's Guild."
"A guild..." The wolf mumbled, thinking. "That works fine, father, but-"
"They live in different dimensions," the human completed the sentence, to which the lupine nodded. "Fear not, child. I shall watch over these people you have chosen."
"You will?" John questioned.
"Well, these old bones need something to do when I'm not teaching my one and only apprentice," he smiled warmly. The wrinkles on his face lifted along with his spirit.
"But... Are you sure I will choose the right people?" The lupine asked.
"I have complete faith to my son," he said, patting the back of the wolf. Even if they were not related by blood, John looked up to the elder more as a parent than the Stylers. The Guardian of Time, Hologronium, himself liked to see the lupine as his own blood child.
"Thank you," John smiled happily.
"Now, the second thing," the father sighed heavily. "I have looked into the future and was disturbed of your relationship."
"You looked into the future of my relationship?" The wolf frowned. "Somehow, I found that much disturbing."
"Can't help but to be worried about my child," he chuckled.
"Yeah, I kinda know what you mean," John said. "I can't help but to try and protect Jeremiah as well..."
"But back to your relationship," the old man said with a grave face. "I came to warn you about it as well. In the future, you will be forced to fight the one you loved the most and he will break your heart many times."
"Are you sure about that?"
"As certain as the sun will rise tomorrow. But remember this: even if things are rough, even with him, everything will work out fine."
"Really?" The wolf smiled hopefully.
"Well, there is the part where you fall into the darkness and deserted in the shores of the dark meridian, but that's another story," the elder chuckled.
"Father, you're scaring me," John frowned.
"Well, let that small piece stride," Hologronium smiled and held the wolf. "Now, those languages spell..."
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The lion fidgeted on the dining table. Dean and Christian had retired into their rooms, leaving him alone in the room with two plates filled with untouched food. His tail twitched left and right as his mind continuously thought about his mate. The wolf had never skipped a dinner he cooked, which brought worry to the feline.
Terrance heard the front door opening and closing. His body darted up and he quickly ran towards the door, finding his wolf walking towards him, slightly winded.
"Joy, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah..." The wolf replied, huffing another breath of air. "A little tired, but fine."
"Where have you been? You completely missed supper!"
"Supper?" The wolf questioned before remembering. "Oh! Supper... Blast it... I forgot about our last meal together..."
"Chris and Dean had retired to their chambers. It's just the two of us now," the lion said.
"I'm really sorry, sweetheart," John whined. "I was just trying to clear my mind a bit, then Father Time appeared and we just lost track of time."
"Funny how a time mage and a time guardian lost track of their own element," Terrance smirked. "At any rate, you must be famished."
The lupine's stomach began to grumble, causing him to blush. The lion chuckled and wrapped an arm over his shoulder.
"Come, love," he whispered. "Let us dine alone this final time."
"There will be times we could dine alone, Ter," John looked up to the lion's eyes.
"You know what I'm talking about..." The lion gave a coy smile as he pulled the wolf closer.
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The black lupine tugged the leather strap of his boots one last time, making sure they were firm. He stood straight up and gazed the people around him. Christian and Hillary stood by and watched the three preparing. Several of the troops of Rivergale came over to see them depart. Even the king himself was there to see them off. But then again, they were his friends.
"You guys take care, you hear me?" Hillary said.
"We will," Dean smiled.
"It's too bad that I couldn't come with you guys," Christian frowned. "I have been itching for some adventure for quite a while."
"Chris, as much as I want, we need you to stay," Terrance sighed. "Without me around, this place is prone to attacks. We need someone we can trust to guard this place while we're gone."
"Fine..." The vulpine grumbled.
"And besides, there's a piece of adventure right here in this world. You don't have to be a dimension traveler to have some action."
"I suppose you're right," Chris finally smiled.
"So why did you tell me to bring some of our trusted soldiers with me?" Al questioned the wolf.
"A little parting gift," John smiled. With a wave of a hand, each soldier and he glowed lightly. A surge of energy coursed from the lupine to the knights. The confused soldiers looked down to their glowing bodies, baffled. The light dissipated and John lowered his hand.
"I consider them worthy enough to have a little magic of their own," John said.
"Thank you, sir!" One of the knights saluted. "We will never forget this kindness."
"Then use it to guard this place. Help Captain Christian in protecting the town.
"And you," he continued as he looked at the tiger. The same glow appeared around them before it disappeared. "Make sure you use these powers for good. No going tyrant on me, got it?"
"You have my word, my friend," Al smiled.
The wolf nodded and took out his sword and bow. Crossing them in front of him, he began to chant the ancient words Father Time taught him. Sparks began to appear in front of him and a rift hole opened up. He put his equipments back to where they belong and looked at his team members.
"Ready?"
The two nodded. The three looked back to the group and said their goodbyes, to which they responded with a wish of luck and the same. As the three stood by each other, John tugged the lion's cloak. Terrance looked down at his partner's face.
"Um, Ter..." The wolf blushed.
"Yes?"
"Could you... Um... Could you carry me?"
It took some restraint for the others not to laugh. The lion looked at him questioningly.
"I over did it again and can't move my feet," John whispered. "They're too tired."
The lion shook his head and carried him, bridal style. The others began to roar in laughter and some even stumbled over. The couple blushed as they turned to the group.
"Alright! We're going now!"
The laughing people said their farewells between breaths as the three entered the portal. The pathway sparked a moment before it shrunk to nothingness.
"Will- will they be alright?" A jackal asked, regaining his composure.
"Don't worry," Hillary smiled. "I'm sure they'll do juuust fine."
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