Chapter 128

Lykan

A Long Awaited Reunion

Before Lykan even began moving his enhanced senses were already taking in a measure of the world around him. The cry was that of a child, a small girl to be exact. The zapping sound was manifested lightning, low grade enough to stun full sized adult. The only problem was, such a jolt was too much for a child. If the child was lucky they might just be stunned with a bit of internal bruising. If it came to the worst, then, well Lykan didn’t want to imagine what would happen then. Thus he moved.

He had wanted to stay low-key, to go into the city and out unnoticed. Perhaps he still could leave unnoticed, so long as he didn’t draw too much attention. Those were the initial thoughts.

Everything changed when he saw the child in question. She had dark smoke rising from her back, as a piece of near rotten fruit rolled on the ground. A quick glance set the scene. This was the market district, or at least a market district. This looked to be the area where the high end wares would be sold, the one closest to the entry gates. Thus the guards here were extra vigilant.

It came as no surprise that the guards would notice a potential thief, that the girl was likely a thief of food was no surprise. The girl was dirty and thin. Clearly she like so many others had lost family to the war, at least these were the assumptions Lykan made upon a quick glance.

Without pause nor hesitation, Lykan darted forward. As he moved, he could feel the buildup and charge of electricity. The girl was down, nearly unconscious and the overzealous guard was going to strike her a second time with electricity. Lykan’s senses took in all of this, and then he reacted on instinct.

Instinct that was honed by hunting the most dangerous creatures of the universe. Creatures brought here by the very Titans themselves. Creatures who could by their very nature change the entire landscape of the planet, should they be released. Thus with these instincts, honed from years of fighting monsters, Lykan moved.

Open palm strike.

Lykan moved quickly and efficiently. Most missed the movement, especially as he made the strike with his off hand, the hand not holding his walking staff. Also, he had the aid of his cloak hiding most of the movement, at most his movement would have been a blur to all but the most observant of the guard. Even then, few would be able to understand what had happened based on Lykan’s movements.

So sure was he of his strike having its desired effect and disabling the buildup of magical energy, that he was already down next to the girl inspecting her injury. At most his actions might appear to have accidentally brushed up against the guard in his haste to render aide.

“Gah!” The guard gasped out, as he clutched his chest. Burning hot pain filled him, as energy that had been pulled upon to draw out lightning suddenly and violently dispersed within his meridians. Such a forced stop of mana usage is not advised, and can often cause injuries. The most severe of which could result in rupturing of the meridians, which as Lykan well knew was a death knell for anyone in the military. Fortunately Lykan held back his punch, and only did enough to render the potential combatant incapable of fighting.

Fingers gently felt for a pulse, brushed away cloth that clung to the burn wound where the lightning bolt contacted her flesh. From the soles of her feet, he noticed burn marks as well, a sign that the bolt of lightning had gone clear through her body.

With quick motions and an eidetic understanding of the medicines he carried on his personage, Lykan began moving. The first thing he did was grab some aloe leaves to apply as a compress to the entry wound on her back. Then he pulled out a pre-made healing remedy that was a combination of potent herbs and plants. Gently cradling the child, he turned her to where she was upright and able to drink easily, before pouring the liquid in.

By this point Brenna had already pulled herself out of the crowd and had instinctively turned to place her back towards Lykan’s. They were a team, one that moved with military precision.

The guards, many of whom had recently been transitioned from the front lines to garrison duty observed the two newcomers actions and paused.

Things got even worse, when the cute little girl who had been with her father suddenly pulled out a battle axe, as discarded tree branches fell to the ground. Gone were the two who wished to enter the city unnoticed. Gone was the chance at a peaceful night’s sleep at an inn. In this instance Brenna knew Lykan, and knew it was in his nature to protect others. It was after all how they first met. While she still had a long way to go before she was on Lykan’s level, she knew she had come a long way in the few months that they had been together.

“What is this!” A voice called out.

To Brenna’s surprise this was a voice she recognized, if only because they had just spoke to the commanding voice not a moment ago. With a sigh of reluctance she turned to lock eyes with the gate commander Vancie.

The commander herself looked off as she took in the sight before her. An officer clutched and violently pounded at their chest, while they tried desperately to get mana circulating through their meridians properly. A quick glance by Lykan showed that he might have struck the man harder than he originally planned.

Running footsteps could be heard, as people darted off to different parts of the city. Based on the sound of the steps being taken, Lykan assumed it was the footsteps of a guard’s boots against the paved road. Lykan mentally assumed that reinforcements were being called. Still this was all beyond Lykan’s control at the moment. Realizing there was little that could be done, Lykan focused on the only thing that mattered, his self-claimed patient.

“I will repeat! What happened here?” The Captain Vancie called out.

With that, a few of the guards who had been on patrol with the now gasping Azani officer looked at each other. Then one of the guards who had been with the officer took a step forward and spoke.

“Captain. This girl was caught in the act of stealing. At which point she was apprehended by the good Lieutenant here. After which, this man came through and punched the Lieutenant in the chest, then proceeded to tend to the girl.” The guard said, a slight tremble to his voice.

“You saw this man strike the Lieutenant?” She asked.

A slight pause, “well no. I didn’t see the strike. But looking at the scene it is the only thing that makes any sense.” The guard replied.

“Did you see the strike?” Captain Vancie asked the other guard.

That guard too shook his head, not wanting to meet the eyes of the Captain. These were serious accusations, ones that could come back to haunt him if he was proven to be caught in a lie. “I couldn’t see him, on account of my covering the Lieutenant’s flank.”

Hearing this Vancie then turned to the audience. “Did any of you see a strike on the Lieutenant?”

The crowd was silent, most shook their heads. Finally, the commander turned her gaze to the still struggling Lieutenant. Once she was certain he could answer her, she asked the question in a different way.

“Did you see what happened?”

During this time Lykan was not idle, his hands worked quickly and methodically. He purposefully slowed down his actions, which only made him seem to go faster to the eyes of the Captain who was always watching the strange man from the corner of her eyes. She had clearly been intrigued by the man and his daughter from the start, though seeing the two now, it was clear that she had been taken in by an act. Why these two competent warriors would put on an act to get into her city was something she wanted to get to the bottom of. As it was, these two had done a service, saving a girl against the overzealous invading forces. If she didn’t handle this scene correctly the tide of the people watching would turn bad. If it turned bad enough they could quickly have a mob act, or worse, insurrection. So it was that the Commander played for time. She already sent a runner to get her commander, a few silent hand signals were all that was required to get the general’s staff’s attention. If she was lucky, the general would come and deescalate this situation himself. No one dared to defy the General of the southern Azani forces, not even the ghost stalker.

The Lieutenant for his part just looked lost. He opened his mouth to speak, but then seeing the crowd that was staring daggers at him paused. In that moment the Lieutenant realized that he himself needed to tread carefully. Looking down he saw the burn marks on the back of the girl’s shirt and realized he might have been a bit too hasty with his strike. Still it had been a long shift, and he saw the girl take off running and he reacted on instinct more than anything. Truthfully he was as shocked as anyone that the thief was a child, he just saw a fleeing thief and acted. Then there was the stranger who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He was death. The sheer look of contempt he had for the young Lieutenant spoke volumes. Just as he was about to do something, his body once again reacting on instinct more than anything, he called forth more lightning. This time rather than targeting the girl, he targeted the onlooker who separated themselves from the crowd. The only problem was, the onlooker was too fast, he paused for a second. That second was all the onlooker needed. He saw movement, but not what happened, not exactly. He felt more than saw the action and the aftermath.

The man was quick like lightning, only doing enough to disable. The fact that he could have just as easily killed the Lieutenant with that strike was readily apparent to him now. He looked at the man who didn’t even spare a glance his way. Instead he saw the man press something into the young girl’s hand. The girl he had been tending to moments ago. Then he stood up to his full height. His sudden stand caused all of the guards present to react on instinct. He was dangerous, and clearly thought nothing of being surrounded by so many warriors.

In hind sight the sudden stance and aggressive posture of turning violent eyes towards the Lieutenant should have been known for what they were, a distraction. As he stood, Lykan used his free hand to gently push the now tended to girl forward. She stumbled forward for a step, before the audience opened up and quickly hid her from view.

This action was noticed by Vancie as well, as she too saw the way the crowd reacted to the girl. The way they all seemed to be complicit with her escape from this scene. Now the only thing she could do was either go after the stranger, a wandering healer, or go through the mob to apprehend a little girl. This was a no win situation for the commander. She knew the wandering healer was now more than he seemed, likely a former leader of the army here. He had some of the features of northerners, though his complexion was too different, too perfect. If she had to guess, Vanice would say he was royalty. But all the royals had been killed.

She conducted a quick scan and tried to see if she knew of the man.

Name: Lykan Vov’Vita Race: Human Class: Valiant Wanderer Age: ?? Strength ?? Awareness ?? Mobility ?? Intelligence ?? Power ??

Her mind spun wildly at the information. Her inspection skill was fairly high, being a gate commander she needed to have the skill high. Originally she had discarded the man and his daughter as harmless, but now after seeing them standing as a team. It was clear she had been played. Worse, the daughter was a dwarf. That was clear now, a tanned dwarf, one who looked stronger and lither than any dwarf she had ever encountered before, but a dwarf none-the-less. Still there was more to the man as well. He had the title ‘Vov’ in his last name, meaning he was a veteran of valor. Then she also noticed the class modifier, Valiant. The man was a hero, one who had served in multiple battles and been recognized by the gods for his actions in the battles of man. Not only that, but his actions were also deemed to be virtuous in the process. It was one thing to earn the ‘Vov’ name distinction, and another thing entirely to earn the class distinction as well. The more she looked at the man, a boy by all accounts before her, the more things didn’t seem to add up. First he was too young to be a veteran, not unless the Gods bestowed some type of blessing on him? She thought, but even still surely she would have heard about a warrior like this. Then there was the name.

The name seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Perhaps she had heard of this man, in some way.

“Lykan Vov’Vita.” Vancie began speaking. As soon as she spoke the crowd started mumbling to themselves.

“Ghost of the North.” Members of the crowd spoke, then echoed back to each other. With this the attention that had been drawn by the original altercation began to grow in intensity.

As soon as she heard the name being uttered by the crowd Vanice felt stupid for missing who the man was. She had seen the reports of the Ghost of the North going to Azani settlements and then leaving. Rumor had it that he was betrothed to the younger sister of Ajimal the Great himself. Some said Ajimal wanted him for leaving his sister at the altar. Now seeing him with someone who clearly was not an Azani made her wonder if the rumors of him leaving the bride-to-be were true.

Shaking her head, she cleared her head and focused on the moment. She had let this moment get out of hand. She needed to do something to lower the aggression of the mob that was forming. Unfortunately her mind went blank as she just stared at the man before her, the ghost before her.

“Why have you come here?” Vancie asked.

A simple question. One that if there was more time would have solved a lot of future problems if Lykan had more time to answer. Unfortunately for Vancie and everyone witnessing the act, time was out.

Clip-clop.

The sound of booted feet marching on the paved streets rung out. As a platoon of soldiers came forward. At the front was the color guard banner for the general himself. Everyone turned to see the unmistakable silver hue of the spear of destiny, the legendary weapon of the great general. A spear that had been used to take hundreds of lives throughout the last few years. A spear that spoke loudly, as the carrier of the weapon often chose to let the spear speak on his behalf, or so the rumors went.

As it was Ghane Everhart was intimidating and imposing. His high elven heritage was easy for all to see, as his sharp ears pointed through long strands of golden hair that hung down his back. As he arrived, he scanned the scene before him. Then almost did a double take as he saw the Ghost of the North.

Rage filled his eyes as he took in the cloaked man before him. True to form he lowered his spear, letting it speak of his anger at the current situation. Then with a deep bellowing yell he shouted.

“LYKAN!”