Chapter XXXV: The Last Step III

Demonic Wildlands Near the Great Plateau

Month of the Garuda 38, 172 ,328 DE

As I grow to my full size for the fist time since coming to the Great Plateau with Old Man Jones, I stand four meters at the shoulder, with a length of six meters not including my tail. But I have not reached my full growth. I do not know how big I will eventually become, but it will be a good deal larger than I am now.

Words fill my mind in the voice of Sable, my mother. "Raymon, my cub, since you hear this message, I am not with you. I do not know if I am dead or alive, but you must be careful. You no longer have the seal to hide the truth of your nature. The stronger Dragons can see it. Many of their powerful minions will have the ability to see it, as well. You will have to learn to hide your Great Wolf Blood behind your human blood. It is something all Great Wolves can do; we all only have half the blood of the Great Wolf Mother in us. Like you, your cubs will be Great Wolves. It does not matter what you breed with. The Blood of the Great Wolf Mother always breeds true. But I cannot tell you if your cubs will be born as Triunes or not.

"While I carried you in my womb, I was infected by poison made by the Dragons. The poison damage you, and you were born broken. Like your common human father, you were not a Triune. All Great Wolves are Triunes. I knew you would day become one, and the seal was made to break when you took the last step and grasped control over Trinity. As with your Great Wolf Blood, you can never let others know you are a Triune. I was told by those among the War Masters, who studied the Dragons, that they are incapable of becoming Triunes. They fear and hate Triunes.

"If you know where the Great Tree grows, seek it out. A temple stands next to the great with a great deal of knowledge about Trinity and Triunes. The Great Tree can, also, be considered somewhat of an expert on the subject.

"Since I am not with you, I have probably been killed by the Dragons. You may be the last Great Wolf, my cub. The Dragons slaughtered or sealed every Great Wolf they could find. If any Great Wolves survived, they either fled to other planets in this universe or fled the universe itself. I was sealed after being poisoned. After I was sealed, I do not know what happened outside. Time passes differently inside the Dragon's seal. I do not know how much time has passed. I do not know what has happened outside. Once I saw what was done to you, I placed my seal within to hide your nature.

"Now, you have found the path to becoming a Triune and broken the seal. If you have not yet formed a Core realm, you must do so quickly, my cub. Without a Core Realm to contain their Trinity, a Triune cannot survive for long.

"When the Dragons invaded this universe, the Great Wolf Mother was sealed by them. She is the embodiment of the pattern of this universe. Whether or not She still lives within the seal is unknown to me, but you carry Her Blood. The Great Wolf Mother is the only being that can be called a pure Great Wolf. The rest of us are only half-breeds, but we are still Great Wolves. Any cub you sire will be a Great Wolf. When either parent is a Great Wolf, their cub will also be Great Wolf. The other half of the cub's bloodline depends on the nature of the parents. I am of a human bloodline, and your father is human. But do not think humans are special. Humans are a lowly species. Do not trust them. Only the most exceptional have any value. The majority will grovel before those that are stronger and take their shame out on those that are weaker.

"The Dragons tried to replace the natural order with their Daos. Because they have not yet succeeded, we still live. Yes, the Daos currently rule this universe, but they are not the natural order. If they become the natural order of this universe, all Great Wolves will die. The existence of the Dragon Seal is the only thing that allows the Daos to dominate this universe. If the Dragon Seal is broken, the natural order will reassert itself. Since the Daos have not taken complete control of this universe, the Great Wolf mother may still live. If the Dragons have killed the Great Wolf Mother, it is only a matter of time before they take complete control over this universe's pattern and shape it to their will.

"Grow strong, my cub. We are Great Wolves. We are not the prey of Dragons. We are predators that hunt everything within this universe. Break the Dragon Seal! Hunt and kill the Dragons and their minions! Kill all of them! The future of this Universe lies in your hands!"

As my mother's voice fades away, pain tears through me. Blood runs from the gaping wounds in my chest and abdomen. I have too much Trinity running wild within me, its force aggravating my injuries. I have the ability to grasp control over Trinity, but I am not yet a complete Triune. A proper Triune has a Core Realm. I can direct Trinity's movements, but without a Core Realm, I have no way to contain and store it. I need to form my Core Realm as soon as possible, but I cannot do so in the middle of a Beastman horde. I slow the flow of Trinity, reducing its aggravation of my wounds, but I can do no more.

I look around and test the air. My nose tells me more about the current situation than my eyes and ears put together. The three surviving Demonic Gnolls have disappeared. From their scents, each Demonic Gnoll left in a different direction.

Despite my wounds, the other Gnolls keep their distance. The acrid stench of their fear inundates the area. According to Old Man Jones' books, Beastmen, including the Gnolls while they live on this world, they did not evolve here. They may evolve naturally in many universes, but this is not one of them. The first Beastmen were invaders from other universes. They followed an emperor, who was killed by the War Masters, and the Beastmen were nearly wiped out by the Great Beasts. They have greater reason to fear me than any Ferocious Beast.

Even as I take a deep breath through my nose, the strange snake-like scent fades into the background. The creature has left the general area, and all that remains is a bit of its scent clinging to some of the Gnolls. The creature does not appear to have interacted with all the Gnolls. I can only pick it out from a few of the stronger pack leaders.

Standing right next to my front leg, Vorn stares up at me, with his mouth hanging open. As I meet his stare, he bear-like mouth closes with the audible clacking of his teeth. "Beast? That's you, isn't it?"

"Can you speak Beast Language?"

Vorn's jaw falls open again. "Understand. Speak badly."

"As long as you understand. Speaking human language in this form is painful. Get on my back. I need to get to the Great Tree."

Leaping into the air, Vorn lands heavily on my back, but as I am now, his weight is negligible. As big as he is, my back is too wide form him sit upon me like he would on a horse. After a moment of fidgeting, he settles for kneeling and grabs onto the thick fur between my shoulders.

"GRRRRR!" Pulling back my lips, I growl, giving the Gnolls a clear view of my teeth and fangs.

As big as the Gnoll may be, I could easily bite off the entire head and shoulders of one. Looking like a flock of spooked chickens, they scramble to get out of my way. As I walk through the space they open ed up, not a single Gnoll dares to even look like it wants to attack me.

I spring forward at close to my full speed. Racing through the trees at a speed of about two hundred kilometers an hour, I shift my weight, making certain Vorn will not fall from my back. He, still, clings more tightly to my fur, and his heart speeds up. It takes barely two minutes to reach the outskirts of the Great Tree's meadow.

"Get off!"

Once Vorn hops off my back, I shift back to my human form. I cannot keep from frowning. This human form may by my own, but it is so weak compared to my true form. In my true form, I could have torn apart the Demonic Gnolls as easily as breathing. Had I known that my seal would fracture and I would lose control of myself, I would have just taken on my true form in the first place.

As I stare at Vorn, he ends his Bear Transformation. His scent does not change much, but an odor of smug satisfaction surrounds him. Killing him would be the smartest move. The Dragons may or may not know I still live, but if he says anything about me, news of a Great Wolf hidden among humans will eventually reach the ears of the Temple of the Celestial Court's Investigators.

Vorn meets my stare without flinching. He opens his mouth, and his words almost make it seem like he can read my thoughts. "I carry the Blood of the Great Bear in my veins. It may be weak, but I still have the lineage of a Great Beast within me. The Great Bear Mother never betrayed the Great Wolf Mother. I will not betray you. If you are worried, I will swear a Blood Oath to you."

Blood Oath. It is a custom among Cultivators, but it does not rely on the Daos. Its origins are far older. The custom originates with the War Masters. I came across a reference in one of Old Man Jones' books. When I asked him about it, the shitty old man said that Blood Oaths relied on the Od, a Power that exists between Life and Death. He could not explain much more, but he said that he once knew a man who could use it. The most he could really say was that the Od existed to destroy the corruption of the Primal Powers within the metaverse. If Cultivators know what the Od was, they would probably never swear another Blood Oath.

I frown. "I don't need your oath. Just don't talk about me to anyone. Not your ambassador. Not your father. No one."

Vorn nods. "I understand. No one will ever hear what I witnessed today."

As we near our steamer bikes, silvery-green light from the Great Tree bathes both of us. All of my wounds begin to itch, and the bloody flesh twitches and writhes as new flesh begins to grow.

The Great Tree's projection appears in front of us. "I did not expect an Almughayir to be behind the Beastmen."

I stare flatly as the Great Tree's projection. "It was right in front of us. If you were watching us so closely, why didn't you kill it?"

"I did not see it."

"The mottled brown and yellow Gnoll by the archers."

"That was the Almughayir?"

I shrug. "Probably. It got away, so I never had the chance to kill it and see if it reverted to its natural form."

The Great Tree's projection's eyes narrow in a very human-like expression of suspicion. "Probably?"

Again, I shrug. "Ninety percent chance. Give or take."

The Great Tree's projection frowns. After a few moments, it speaks again. "That Gnoll has disa ppeared. I do not know when it disappeared. I was not paying attention to it. The other Beastmen have begun to move away from the area."

After the Great Tree settles into contemplative silence, Aoi races across the meadow. She stops a little more than a meter away from me. Putting her hands over her eyes, she opens a large gap between her index and middle fingers and grins like an idiot. "Beast naked. Aoi can't look. Beast looks so good naked. Aoi will get frustrated if Aoi looks but can't touch."

I smack Aoi on the top of her head. "Don't be an idiot."

Rubbing her head and frowning at me, Aoi stares at the general area of my groin. "Aoi knew Pervert Master was Pervert Master. Upright Master, Aoi's ass!"

Vorn smirks at me. "You have two wounds that would kill a normal man, and all that girl is concerned with is your nakedness. She's an interesting one."

Aoi glares at Vorn. "Pervert Master won't die from little scratches. Pervert Master is not weak like Cat Prince."

"Ha! Even the crazy girl knows a smug cat when she sees one."

With her cheeks puffed out, Aoi glares at me. She reminds me of an upset chipmunk.

Giving the impression that we are beneath his notice, Vorn raises his nose slightly and looks away from us and appears to inspect the temple. If I could not smell the faint hint of irritation in his scent, I would fall for his act. He really does hate being called a cat.

Taking a spare loincloth out of my steamer bike's cargo box, I put it on. While blatantly staring at me, Aoi fills the air with the scent of her lust.

In just a few minutes, all of our wounds heal, but it does nothing to quell the pressure of Trinity trying to race through me. I have to consciously and constantly keep it suppressed.

With my wounds healed, the Great Tree's projection frowns at me. "Foolish Wolf, why do you wait to create a Core Realm? Do you want to tear yourself apart?"

Not bothering to reply to the Great Tree, I enter the Swords Temple and reread the section of scripture that describes the formation of a Core Realm.

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