A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Morning light filtered through the windows of Erik's childhood bedroom, illuminating the figures within. Tension hung in the air, palpable and thick. Astrid stood rigid and alert, with wide eyes as she looked at an older version of the boy she once knew.

"You…" she stammered, all thoughts of Emma forgotten.

Her expression was a mix of disbelief, suspicion, cautious optimism, and simmering fury. Her stance was rigid, with muscles and nerves coiled tight, she was prepared to jump into action at the slightest provocation.

Erik, for his part, remained calm, yet with a dash of happy excitement, and kept his distance for now. His confidence remained unshaken, even in the face of Astrid's barely contained fury.

He understood the whirlwind of emotions she must be experiencing, although he wondered what would win out in the end. Relief and excitement, or suspicion and anger.

'Either way, I should warn Emma, just in case.' Which he quickly did through their link, causing her to slip out of the room while Astrid was still stunned into inaction. -chapter

"So… you were finally able to enter my room. Is it everything you imagined it would be?" his voice, was steady, and reassuring, despite his shit-eating grin.

Astrid's response was immediate and without hesitation.

Her expression twisted from fury and with a swift movement, she lunged at him with her fists raised. Bright orange runes appeared with lightning speed, as she had already prepared them a little earlier.

At the same time, she screeched with a voice full of fury born from despair and depression, "You dare impersonate him?! I'll skin you for wearing his face!"

Astrid's rage boiled over, leaving no room for doubt or fear. Her lunge was fueled by a wild, untamed fury, a response honed through years of battle. The sight of the supposed impostor, wearing the face of the boy she had loved and lost, ignited a fire within her that no logic could quench.

Watching Astrid's turmoil, Erik felt a pang of regret for the years lost and the misunderstandings between them, even as he prepared to catch her incoming strike.

In her fiery gaze, he saw not just the warrior he'd grown alongside but the shadow of the girl who had once looked at him with unspoken longing.

Yet, he quickly shook himself free of those thoughts for now. He may have lost a lot of time with her, but far more time was yet to come.

Having shaken off the negative thoughts, a nostalgic grin appeared on his face instead. "I see you haven't changed. You're still as impulsive as ever… Big Sis."

At some point in their past, Astrid had tried to get him to call her Big Sis, but he never did. Now, he used it to deal a fatal blow.

Astrid's eyes widened in surprise at the way he addressed her, causing her to stagger a little, which Erik quickly used to catch her wrists, firmly but gently.

Quickly recovering from her surprise, Astrid roared as she attempted to recover her wrists, but it was as if they were caught in a vice.

Currently, Astrid stood no chance against Erik. She was still weak and would need a few more days to fully recover, yet Erik was not only in top shape, but he also picked up Elora and had her merge with his body before he entered the room.

Yet, Astrid was far too angry to let this simple setback stop her. Bright orange runes appeared on her skin with lightning speed, since they were already charged up from earlier.

Astrid's fury was like a storm unleashed, her runes flaring brightly against the room's wooden walls. Erik's calm, in contrast, was the eye of that storm as he attempted to contain Astrid's fury.

Unfortunately, Astrid was not done yet, as her eyes began to dissolve into brightly burning orange orbs.

"Duck!" Elora suddenly yelled out inside his mind.

Erik barely registered Elora's warning before he ducked out of pure instinct, a mere half a moment before two bright orange beams left Astrid's eyes and passed through the empty air where his head had just been.

The beams seemed unstoppable as they passed through the ceiling and the roof, straight into the open air, where they continued into parts unknown.

"Woah," Erik uttered absentmindedly as he looked at the two holes in his ceiling with a bit of awe. "I'm pretty sure that would have at least singed me."

"It would have done more than that!" Elora yelled in his head with some minor panic. "I can't believe I forgot to check her affinity earlier!"

Feeling his heart warm from her clear concern, Erik responded with a soothing tone. "Don't worry about it, Elora. We both forgot. Besides, yeah it would have done more than singe me, but I doubt it would have killed me, right?"

"I…" came the hesitant response, before Elora slaked a mental sigh. "I suppose so... Still, that gave me a scare."

As their mental conversation took less than a second, the situation in the room had changed little, as Erik still held Astrid's wrists, while his childhood friend attempted to free herself with an angry grimace.

"Let me go you fucking cunt muffin!" she yelled with helpless fury, as tears began to stream down her now once again red eyes. "I'll kill you! I'll make your disguise more realistic by making you as dead as he is!"

Astrid's fury appeared undiminished even in the face of Erik's superior strength. Rage flashed in her eyes as bright and dangerous as the runes on her skin. Her attempt with the eye beams—a burst of desperate power—was her rage made manifest.

Yet, although it was extremely powerful, it didn't seem like she was able to pull it off again so quickly. Instead, she was now helplessly struggling against Erik's vice-like grip as a storm of emotions passed over her face. The tears blurring her vision were those of rage and sadness, a physical testament to her tumultuous emotions

Erik leveraged his superior strength and his grip on her wrists in order to pull her into a hug. He released her wrists, put one hand on her back, and the other on her head, as he pulled her close and pushed her face against his neck.

Too surprised to properly react, Astrid just let it happen, and, before she knew it, was in a perfect position to bite him. She heard a voice next to her ear. "Go on. My taste probably changed a little, but I'm sure you'll still recognize it, even after all these years."

As the two of them had sparred many times in the past, Erik's blood had found itself passed Astrid's lips on more than one occasion, either because Astrid bit him while they fought, or because Erik fed her his blood to heal her wounds.

As his soothing and familiar voice entered her ear, and the unmistakable smell of her childhood crush entered her nose, Astrid shed even more tears. The voice she was so sure was just an imitation earlier sounded more and more like the real thing.

"It- It can't be you." She mumbled. "You died."

"It didn't stick." Erik chuckled. "Either way, you'll know after you drink. You'll need the blood to build up some more strength anyway." Erik answered with a warm and caring tone.

Astrid barely listened. Besides, she didn't care anymore. Either it really was Erik and she would recognize his taste, or he was an impostor, and drinking his blood would weaken him while strengthening her.

So, with tears in her eyes and an angry expression, she opened wide and bit down hard.