Lilac woke up the next morning, feeling groggy and exhausted. She vaguely remembered what happened last night. It was one of the most intense night she ever had. Was that what it felt like to have sex for the first time? Part of her somehow regretted it, considering how sore she was. Did they end up being rough? She doubted it. They did not bother wearing blankets and was laying on the bed, naked and cuddling with each other. Ifrit was sleeping beside her while cuddling her in his grasp lightly, so she slowly pushed his arm away to properly wake up. She smiled and kiss the hellhound in the forehead as thanks and show of love.

But as she woke up, she realized something was off. She found that there was a lupine snout in her field of view, following her as if they were hers. At first, she thought it was still in the middle of the night and she was still a werewolf. But she soon realized that it was bright outside, and the clock in her room showed that it was morning.

She wondered if it wasn’t really involuntary and she maintained her transformed state before she turned to a nearby mirror. She looked just like she did when she transformed last night. She sighed and tried to will herself back to human, only to find that she was unable to. She then look at her eyes’ reflection on the mirror. They were blue and animalistic, different from a human’s eyes. However, she soon found that her eyes weren’t really like a wolf, but something else. Upon closer inspection, her pupils were shaped like slits, much like a snake. But, she only knew a canine race with snake eyes, and one of them was sleeping beside her.

“This felt almost like a dream,” thought Lilac while shaking her head. “It can’t be possible. There is no way Ifrit….”

Again, she tried her best to will herself back to human, but even after trying her hardest, it was impossible. In fact, she felt as if she wasn’t really walking on two lives, as if her werewolf form was the only form she had. After the third attempt, she gave up. She wondered if it had something to do with her love making, which sounded fantastic enough if it wasn’t for her lack of understanding of a hellhound’s effect on a Lycan. But, even if it changed her, the one thing she did not want was having a child by accident. She hoped the contraceptive pills she got from the drug store worked. She wasn’t ready for the worst-case scenario.

As she contemplated on her current situation, she soon found that Albert or Eshdar might know something, so she cleaned herself up and got dressed. She was surprised that her form was like that of a human, as Lilac was aware that becoming werewolf usually involve a sudden gain of mass. In fact, her body proportion was identical to her human form, only now she had a lupine head, short fur covering all her body, and a bushy wolf tail. Also, her feet turned into paws, so she could not wear her shoes anymore. Adapting to a life of a permanent werewolf felt weird, but Lilac found it wasn’t that bad.

Lilac left a note for Ifrit telling him to clean up before she walked out of the room and knocked on Albert and Eshdar’s room door. After a while, Eshdar opened the door.

“Yes?” he asked, oblivious that it was Lilac. “May I help you?”

“Is Albert in there?” asked Lilac.

“He is. You his acquaintance?”

“Get me inside and let me explain to you two. There has been an accident.”

Eshdar seemed to think that Lilac was a Lycan was someone who Albert knew personally and someone who he contacted before, so he let her in, albeit with caution. Albert was getting ready for the day with a vest and a jacket pair over a white shirt, apparently bought last night. Like Eshdar, his expression suggested that he did not know who she was.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m Lilac,” said Lilac. “And there is an accident.”

“Is it bad?”

“No, not exactly. It’s just….” Lilac looked away. “We had sex…and for some reason, I can’t change back.”

“Wait…what?” said Eshdar, dumbfounded. “That doesn’t…did he forgot to…”

“No, listen to me. I drank a medicine the drug store said can prevent unwanted pregnancy. But, even he can’t predict that I cannot change back into a human.”

“Can’t change back?”

“I mean I’m not human. It’s morning and I’m not human. My form reverts into my human form when the full moon ends. But not today. I fear it has something to do with having sex with a hellhound.”

“Wait. You…you’re not transformed? This is what you look like now?” said Eshdar. “To be honest, you’re not half bad. I’m surprised you haven’t showed us this form before.”

“Does it matter now? Look, do you know anything about this? Is there anyone I can relate to?”

“Where is Ifrit now?”

“Still asleep.”

Eshdar sighed. “Okay, Lilac. Look. This is something new for me and I bet even Ifrit doesn’t know what he did. But, if this change distresses you…”

Lilac looked at herself on the nearby mirror and contemplated on her own reaction. Even she was surprised that her first reaction wasn’t to scream and blame Ifrit for this, but instead gasping upon realization and calmly walk to Albert and Eshdar as if it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe she was acting accordingly, knowing that making a scene would only draw unwanted attention to them. However, there was another reason. For the first time in her life, it felt so liberating. She felt like a burden was lifted from her shoulders. While the form she ended up in would be her permanent form, it wasn’t that bad. Either human or werewolf would be fine. She considered this the most unlikely ‘cure’ to her dual identities.

“No, it won’t be a problem,” she said with a toothy smile. “This is who I am, after all. There will be no regrets.”

Lilac returned to her room to find Ifrit already preparing himself for the day. The only person in the group who knew her werewolf form was Ifrit, so he simply greeted Lilac. Lilac proceeded to tell Ifrit everything that had happened, especially her permanent form. When Ifrit expressed confusion, Lilac said that what happened the night before changed her, surprising Ifrit.

“(Is it because I’m a hellhound?)” thought Ifrit. “(How the hell is it possible?)”

Lilac, noticing Ifrit was deep in thought, assumed that the hellhound was regretting the sex. She then cheered Ifrit up by licking him. The hellhound was caught unaware by this and turned towards Lilac, who simply smiled.

“I consider this a gift, so don’t worry about it,” said Lilac. The smile on her lupine face was so sweet and sincere, now that Ifrit could understand her expression. Like her form under the full moon, Lilac was sweet and pretty. Her body was covered with soft black fur similar to her human form hair, and her blue eyes looked like a pair of sapphires. Her beauty was also supported by her personality, which was sincere, sweet, and supportive. The humans might not consider courting her only because she was a werewolf, but for Ifrit, knowing that she was grateful was enough.

“Yet, I’m sorry,” she said. “I underestimated your endurance. Again, I think you can get quite rough on the bed.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“Nothing permanent. Just scratches and bite marks. Maybe you should wear a muzzle next time. Not only it’s safe, but it also makes a very amusing look on a wild beast like you.”

“I can say the same to you, dear.” Ifrit never thought that Lilac had that side of her, considering how this was the first time for Lilac. Still, it was amusing to know a little bit more of her, now that she was more open about herself.

Due to losing their carriage and the horses, Albert could not take a job. However, he quickly appreciated the virtue of saving up for emergencies, which he did. Using the money he saved in the bank, he bought the group new clothes and also secured a transport bound to Adaline, in the form of a steam-powered train. For Lilac, this was the first time since she started this journey that she traveled as a passenger, not as a worker. She soon found that she missed Albert’s horse-drawn mobile home already. Albert, the owner of the home, could relate, and he was glad when Lilac let him know about it.

The steam train was a Dusdolfian invention that was capable of transporting more cargo than a horse-drawn carriage could and could also travel more distance before needing to stop. Lilac wondered if Albert lamented the fact that he must try and find a different mean for his business and asked him about it.

“Well, I never consider my job is going to be something I do for the rest of my life,” said Albert. “But still, the job for haulers like us will never stop, even with trains.”

“How so?”

“There are towns and villages train services can’t reach. You can’t move cargoes on a train with hard labor. You still need carriages. Yet again, I always knew the time of horse-drawn carriages will be over by the start of the 20th century. I never thought it would end with it burning down.”

“Well, it comes with the risks, I suppose. The hellhounds are still a problem, but I know the risks if I want to stay with Ifrit.”

“Regarding hellhounds, how are you doing? That permanent form of yours can cause you more trouble than it’s worth. There are merits of staying human, you know.”

“I told myself to accept whatever I got in life, especially after Ifrit told me to make a decision. I decide to live as one being, and I got this permanent werewolf form. I won’t complain, and I won’t regret what I lost.”

Albert chuckled. “For a village maiden, you have come so far.”

“Except I’m not a maiden now, am I?” said Lilac with a wink.

While Albert and Lilac talked, Ifrit and Eshdar, sitting on a bench near one of the train platforms, had a conversation about what happened the previous night.

“(I can tell she’s satisfied, though not in the way that she expected),” he said. “(Good thing she’s alright with it).”

“(I still fucked up),” said Ifrit while rubbing his head. “(I know Lilac felt that I granted her wish, but it shouldn’t happen).”

“(Hey, at least you’re not going to be a father yet. Sure, her transformation’s sex-transmitted, but it’s not a disease or anything. The worst you did was turning her into a pseudo-hellhound. It’s not like it changes a thing between you two or us).”

“(What if it’s a bad thing? I mean, there are benefits of being a human).”

“(Shit happens, alright? Some are bad, some are good. This ain’t it, so cheer up. She doesn’t think this is a mistake, so why should you?)”

Eshdar had a point and Ifrit felt obliged to just let the matter go. The black-furred hellhound peered to watch Lilac laughing at Albert’s joke. Seeing her happy made Ifrit felt that maybe only he was concerned about it. Lilac did not seem to.

As for Lilac, her first day in her new form was not that different from any other day, except that she felt less burdened with her identity and embraced her new pseudo-hellhound form. That form was as natural as a human’s or a hellhound’s form and, to her surprise, she was not shedding like she was as a werewolf in a hot summer day. But, even with all the benefits of having non-intrusive, non-shedding coat (that could or could not be fireproof until proven), there were also downsides and limitations compared to a proper Lycan or a proper hellhound.

As she could no longer transform, she lost her feral wolf form. She almost never used that form, so it wasn’t that much of a loss. The next downside was her senses. Her hearing and her smelling were enhanced in werewolf form, but only temporarily. As her pseudo-hellhound form was basically a permanent werewolf form with several attributes of a hellhound, her senses were permanently enhanced except her vision. She could hear what people were talking about from a distance she could never hear in her human form. She could also smell the smoke of the town’s industry and it was bad. It could be overwhelming, so Lilac tried to concentrate, just like what she did the first time she got enhanced senses. Before long, they did not bother her anymore.

But the most curious aspect of her form, and one that she was glad to keep, was her food preference. Lycans were carnivorous predators in their werewolf form, so they could only consume all other types of foods only in their omnivorous human form. She found that she was still omnivorous when she tasted an omelet with vegetables wrapped inside the egg. It tasted wonderful, but it also caused a Lycan couple beside her to give her a weird look, just as they gave the same look to both Eshdar and Ifrit.

After checking everything on her new form, she decided that it wasn’t that bad, even if it was caused by an accident that even Ifrit wasn’t sure what. Her only concern was the pills she ate not effective enough to stop her from becoming pregnant, as the chemist claimed. She tried not to think about it.

Lilac accepted Ifrit’s apology about the situation. She even implored him to let it go and not think about it. There wasn’t anything wrong with her that she was aware of and even if it did, Ifrit wasn’t to blame unless he knew something about it. Following Eshdar’s words, Ifrit decided not to think about it too much. It was not intentional, and it would stay that way. As for what they needed to do next, there was an announcement.

“Passenger for Stelikan! The train will leave the platform in ten minutes!” barked the announcer. “Ready your tickets for boarding!”

“That would be us,” said Albert. “Let’s go.”

And thus, they left Tragoria region, and towards the region of Adaline.

***

It was lunch time when they passed the region border. There weren’t any problems on the border crossing, so the train continued its journey to Stelikan. For Lilac, this would be the first time she left her home region and into a new region she was completely unfamiliar with. Adaline was, as Albert said, a region where cultures mixed and adapted as needed. Albert and Eshdar had already got the taste, but both Lilac and Ifrit had not. Then, three hours later, they finally reached Stelikan central station. As Lilac stepped out of the train wagon, she found herself dumbfounded when someone spoke Tragorian, yet with a different accent compared to her own. It was raw, direct, and loud, so different from what she knew. In fact, what she thought to be two people arguing was in fact two people having a jovial conversation.

Albert caught on her surprise and said, “Adaline is a region with so many different cultures they meld into one another. They speak Tragorian, but they sound like Dusdolfian. It can be surprising for most newcomers. I know I did.”

“So, you learn Tragorian from this region?”

“I learned Tragorian as a second language. It’s part of my school’s course.”

Considering Albert’s occupation, it would be surprising for her if he did not learn any Tragorian. It would not be helpful if there was a language barrier in business. That being said, Lilac might have a trouble understanding Dusdolfian except for a couple of words that sounded alike.

Their arrival in Stelikan also came with the update on Sidve and the surrounding areas, and it wasn’t good. Lilac’s now-enhanced hearing caught a conversation among two older gentlemen discussing the current news of Tragoria about the sudden increase of violence apparently started by a group of ‘Lycans’, which not only caused a wake of destruction, but also a conflict in which many became involved. Lilac, worried of the situation, bought the evening news from the station’s newsstand, specifically searching any article about the situation in Tragorian.

It wasn’t pretty. Along with the ones the travelers were directly involved (Sidve, Snohand, and the road to Sandorf), there were other attacks to villages neighboring Sidve and even Wayfer, which was evacuated after their defense was broken through. Eyewitness accounts noticed that the attackers looked Lycan, but conflicting reports also gave accounts that many did not even look like werewolves, but closer to that of dog breeds. Lilac showed her companions about this.

“I mean, it makes a lot of sense of calling us hellhounds instead of hell Lycans, right?” said Eshdar. “Even the term ‘hellhound’ is a misnomer and bad generalization. Hellhounds, like humans and therianthropes, can be different. Just look at me and Ifrit. He looks like a wolf while I look like a fox. Not sure why they translated (hellhound) as hellhound in the first place.”

“Because it’s a direct translation?” said Lilac.

“Not that it’s inaccurate,” said Ifrit. “Underworld can be considered hell.”

Lilac considered it to be true and nodded in acknowledgement. Since the Underworld was not a place for humans and Lycans to be, it would made sense if the concept of hell came from there.

Reading the news made Lilac uneasy. Tragoria was her home, but now it had become a zone of conflict. She already experienced it during her travel, but she never thought it would become much worse. The towns and villages that she visited with Albert and Ifrit were just several of many settlements that were attacked by the hellhounds, apparently to hunt down Royals like Ifrit and Eshdar. They were relentless. Too relentless. Two royal hellhounds would not account for anything more than nuisance in a grand scheme of things, but the hatred against them was ridiculous and unrealistic. It was as if they were doing this for a completely different reason.

As for Albert, the news sounded like it was inevitable. He always knew that the hellhounds would start attacking the people of the surface. He had the fortune of being warned by a hellhound who knew the situation, which also made Albert much wiser and prepared than most of the people on the continent. The hellhounds who fought against the enemy were the exception, as seen by the warning given by Anarim Winsel. He must admit that he had his own doubts, but after witnessing the attacks and the hellhounds’ brutality, he became completely convinced.

Nevertheless, he was still kept in the dark for most of it. All he knew came from the warning Anarim Winsel gave to him five years ago, but nothing else. What was the plan? Senseless violence could be easily quashed and hunting the Royal hellhounds and their followers did not need to resort to destroying a village or even conducting a public lynching. There must be a reason for it, and before Albert could fully commit himself, he must know the bigger picture.

And he felt he could find the answers from the Winsel he traveled with.

While Lilac and Ifrit were going around the city’s nightlife using the city guide she purchased in the train station, Albert invited Eshdar for a quiet drink near their hotel. The vulpine hellhound sensed that Albert wanted to talk to him concerning his grandfather, so he accepted and joined Albert at the bar.

Once they got themselves comfortable and after sipping the liquor, they began discussing what Albert heard from Anarim.

“Your grandfather and I met somewhere in the Adaline-Dusdolf border region, in an Adal town called Tixelt. I was there for a job and Anarim was there for his own reasons. Of all the people living in that town, only I was aware that he wasn’t really a werefox. I’m surprised no one even realize that werefoxes don’t venture far from the forest. Tixelt was a town built around a river, and there was no forest around it. Also, werefoxes do not live so far from the Tragorian-Adaline border.”

“But you can’t be the only one who notice that, right?” said Eshdar.

“Everyone only assumed that he’s a werefox who abandoned the forest life or just doesn’t care much. I, on the other hand, knew he was something else. The truth is, Eshdar, he did not even bother disguising those peculiar antler horns of his. Like yours, it was very apparent over his red fur. Anyway, we met, and we talked. He soon told me to be prepared for the worst.”

“And he’s telling this to a cargo hauler from Dusdolf?”

“I had a different line of work. It was far more dangerous and more conspicuous than being a hauler.”

“I wanna guess that you’re a hunter, but that rifle…it wasn’t something used for hunting. It’s a sniper rifle used for combat. You in the army?”

“Something like that. Well, got rusty after I quit. You saw what happened, right?”

“It happens to the best of us, so don’t fret about it,” said Eshdar while patting Albert’s back.

“But I think I should give it a little bit more thought. I was lucky you were there, but I won’t be as fortunate next time. Anarim told me to be prepared for the hellish incursion. You ever hear him said it to you?”

“If it refers to the hellhounds, then yes, it’s quite obvious. But grandad knew that it was inaccurate. We are not demons. We’re Underworlders. Those two words are not interchangeable. Knowing grandad, he would refer to our current problem the Underworld incursion.”

“Then it’s much worse than I initially thought. We’re not just dealing with hellhounds, but we’re dealing with demons, too? I guess the Demon Hunters are more prepared than I am.”

“You know them?” asked Eshdar. “People dismissed them as a witch hunt cult wrongly persecuting people for being influenced by demons. They are said to be one of the things you should avoid when visiting Dusdolf because, being zealots, they’re dangerous. I can even bet that they are the reason we’re called hellhounds in the first place.”

“They’re not bad. Overzealous, yes, but a cult, no. I describe them more as a rather structured organization working in secret, using the cult image as a cover against their enemies. You don’t want your enemies to know how things really work, right? Consider it a military secret.”

“You seem to know a lot about them. You sure you aren’t one of them?”

“Ask a Dusdolfian and they’ll tell you the same thing. Maybe you should change whatever you’re reading about Dusdolf and see the region for yourself. You won’t regret it.”

“You really need an outsider’s perspective for that, you know.”

“Maybe so. Anyway, the Demon Hunters of Dusdolf knows what they’re doing, but I prefer not to tell them anything that’s misleading. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just if things did not happen as Anarim thought, it would look bad on you. In their eyes, the hellhounds are both the perpetrator and the victim, plus the collateral damage that is us. In fact, I believe they already know of the incursion. They are not called Demon Hunters for being witch hunters, you know.”

“Then we don’t need to be worried of the surface dwellers being unprepared,” said Eshdar while sipping up the brandy in his glass. “I’m more worried with how prepared we are, Albert. I traveled the region to find allies, preferably royal hellhounds who ran away like us. I was not having that much luck if after so many years, all I got was Ifrit. But one is better than none, right?”

“So, what’s your plan now? Go back to your grandfather?”

“I think I will. There is no sense in doing something that’s clearly not working unless there is luck involved. If you have no other plans, we are going to the town of Summinat, of the Adaline-An’ah border up north. That’s where grandad and I lived.”

“Hmm…doesn’t look like there will be a train service going there. An’ah is mostly water, so train services and road are scarce. It’s perfect against full scale attacks, but it’s still remote and we don’t have a vehicle.”

“Yeah. It’s a shame your carriage burned down, huh?”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ll call in some favors. I already know this will happen to me one day. Besides, horse carriages are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Might as well upgrade what I have with the recent in Dusdolfian technology.”

“Oh? Is it cutting edge?”

“You’ll see.”

Albert took a big sip, finishing his glass of brandy. He paid his share of the drink when Eshdar decided that he wanted to continue drinking for a little while longer.

The day started with something very unexpected in Lilac’s part and ended with a knowledge that things would start to move in a faster pace from then on. Albert knew he couldn’t just stand around thinking that Anarim’s warning would not come, because it had begun long before Albert took it seriously.

But to act, he needed more answers, and there were none more than what Anarim had in Summinat.