Kenan immediately tried to pull the fire towards him, but it didn’t budge from the man's spell. Then again, Noctis didn’t think the flame would do much damage anyway. With the orc's natural tough skin and his magic being the type of flame, there wasn’t much to be done besides hack and slash. The two heated pieces of charcoal still orbited around his head. He probed the orc, hitting at different angles with them.

Apparently Roshu had learned, and didn’t react to the flame spheres one bit. Mentally he sat the two inside the ring of fire, out of sight, but still within his mind. All the two foes did were circle each other for a time, figuring out a battle plan and a route of attack.

Noctis ran forward abruptly. Roshu prepared with a large swing of the ax, but before he could set it off. A pile of mud was launched in his face. Reacting wildly he flung his large blade. Kenan easily ducked under the untrained swing and twirled. Using his force to slice the orc chest. But the Black Blade hit with a thud instead. Barely with anytime to dodge, a wild hurling fist went straight towards Kenan’s head. Just in time he put his arm up to take the blow. When it made contact, there was so much force that it flung Noctis 10 feet, and it injured his arm.

“You fight without honor!” Roshu yelled out, ripping the mud from his eyes.

“You took my honor!” Suddenly one of the balls flew out of the fire. Now, it was superheated and condensed greatly. Roshu noticed something was off this time, and took measures to soften the blow. As the thing hit, heat and energy released from its shell and blew up in the orc’s face.

The ball of fire surrounding Roshu stayed there for a minute, before an ark of the ax broke the flames. The little clothing he had was licked by flames, and more of his green skin was turned black like charcoal. “The farm-boy was left in the demolition of his home. In his death, I was born!” Noctis yelled.

“I see!” The Gruumsh spawn said. “A tale of revenge!” He yelled back. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Around his wrist a bracelet glowed a dull blue. “I too will fight without honor.”

Kenan looked around. There was no immediate attack, no sign of danger. A moment passed. Something was watching him. He turned, but it was too late. A large white wolf, bigger than himself, came bounding from the fire. Bright blue eyes and a deadly snarl. It was on Noctis in a blink and was already clamping down on his calf. A painful yell came out of his mouth. He was about to strike before he saw another blur of fur. A bigger, black wolf, flew from the ring of fire. As if it was made of lighting, it already snapped shut on Kenan’s shoulder, on the other side, restricting him. Roshu pridefully strode forward.

“Kenan Noctis, it’s time to die..” An object made a thud against the side of the orcs head. An empty tankard. “What!” A body came fumbling and tackled the confused orc. The two of them tumbled in the mud yards away.

Noctis activated the mana in his body and forcefully ripped himself out of the wolf's grasp. Immediately he sent some of the power to cut off his pain. Backing away from the two assailants, he firmly held the sword in his hands. “Back thee way, failthy bork!” He heard Rufus yelling. “I got this sum’bitch. You tame dem’puppers, you hear?” Kenan responded in a grunt of recognition.

Backing away, at some point his backside touched the flame. Maybe a few short months ago this blaze would be scorching him right now, but he had been through much, much worse. Twisting the hilt of the blade to a reverse grip, he sent the tang into the fire and let it collect heat for him. Both of the wolves probed him, stepping forward quickly, snapping their jaws and backing away. Kenan stalled for a while. He watched as Rufus wasn’t just keeping the orc at bay, but actually making the green one sweat a bit. During the fight, Rufus wasn’t tiring, but instead seemed to get faster and stronger. However, his sway and his sleepy movements got worse.

Noctis switched his attention, as one of the wolves got impatient and moved in for the kill. Immediately he switched the grip. Sidestepped the large, black flying wolf and swung at the white one, but directed his arc toward the ground.. A large swath of fire separated the two foes. Either the black wolf knew it was in trouble, or Kenan pressed, but the two began to attack immediately. A sideswipe with the sword, the dog went under, Kenan took a step back and used the flat of his blade to direct the muzzle away.

Without thinking Kenan activated all the mana left in his body, as fast as light, he was already at the wolf's side and plunging the blade into the heart. Mana deprivation immediately made its presence known. At the same time, Nattura’s words played in his ear.

[“In the midst of battle, you can take the souls of your enemy before it goes to Nonesthic. However, it will not aid your, or the blade's growth. Instead, it will merely add to your reserves. Later on you will be able to heal with them.”]

As if reaching with his will, he felt the blade like it was himself. Taking his touch, he seized the heart. Inside of it, was a light blue flame. He took it, and commanded it to reside in himself. Still using his focus, he spit the flame into two, one half went into his core, the other in his body. Then he released his attention.

***

Running. Sprinting. Smelling. Hearing. An elk fell nearby, the same one he was hunting. Yet, it didn’t fall on his claws. Blood was in the air. So was another, nasty, foul odor. Sensing danger, he went towards the kill. Eventually the smell of blood completely faded, replaced with…

In the opening, the carcass was there. Rather, what was left with it. Surrounding the elk were several large green-things. With tusks that went up to their nose, all of them wearing nothing more than lion clothes. He growled, the two-legged had come. This was not good for him, his mate or son. One of the Gruumsh mistakes looked in the air, sniffed, and then looked towards him. The green one barked something that didn’t make sense. But the intention was understandable. He was outnumbered, so he turned tail.

Slinking through the forest, he came upon his home. A tiny alcove. His mate and child greeted him. He gave the message, and his thoughts. They needed to leave. feelings of worry came though, yet also that wolfish tenacity. She was right, this was their land, their territory. Of course.

Two moons passed. Eventually, a smell permeated the air. Foul. Two-legged and green. In the alcove, he had given the growl for the pup to stay put. They weren’t strong enough. Not yet. He and his mate went outside, snarling.

Amarok blessed them. They had taken out many of them. Almost all of them. They ripped necks, cut hamstrings, slashed arties. But eventually, they cornered the both of them. With enough force, they put a collar on them. Suddenly, he was doing things no sane wolf would have ever done.

***

Breathing sharply. His attention came back to the burning world. Kenan flicked the blade out. Energy filled him. His body was buzzing, filled with more power than he ever had. His core however, was only a third full.

His wall of flame withered into nothing. The white-wolf came bounding through. It stopped at her mate, for a brief moment it seemed dazed. Then snapped out of it, snarled at Noctis. Kenan understood now. The wolf launched itself, flying with ferocity. He ducked. He could’ve ripped the wolf belly open, but he was hesitant. No, this wasn’t the wolf, it was the orc. Mana flamed in his body, mid air Kenan caught the dog and slammed her back on the ground. Straddling the giant wolf's belly, the thing stretched at him with its claws, causing large lacerations on his stomach. With one hand he grabbed her neck, just below the muzzle, with the other, he carefully wedged the blade between the collar. Sending mana to the blade, he heated it up, singing the wolf's fur.

A moment later, with a metal ping the collar flew off and Kenan rolled away from the raging wolf. The thing up righted with speed, so did Noctis, he held his sword in front of him. The white dog sook a lung forward as if to attack, growled, and then suddenly stopped. It ran towards its mate, poking them with their nose.

Kenan snapped to attention towards the orc and Rufus. He watched as the drunk was suddenly thrown back and slid on the ground in front of Noctis. “Riught. I’me to get the buug, grude, and bugly.” Kenan helped Rufus up. They both took a step towards Roshu. Kenan kept a thought placed on the wolf. For some reason, he understood that the wolf would either run, or help in the battle of the orc.

The battle duo circled Roshu. Notably, the green-skinned had suffered some damage, A few cuts and some obvious large blunt hits. None-of them were debilitating. Rufus on the other hand was notably limping and had a hand on his torso.

Kenan took a stream of consciousness and lifted the fiery ball he kept for later out of the ring. Looking at Rufus, he said a wordless suggestion. Rufus nodded, and leapt forward into battle once again. Kenan rotated the ball to be on the flank of Roshu. Then he saw an opening for himself, and slid while slicing the orcs waist. Twisting and standing up he pushed Rufus out of the battle. In quick succession he made two strikes on the orcs chest. Making two thin red lines in the shape of an X.

Roshu roared in anger as he released a heavy overhead strike. Noctis took a step to the left, and the ax made mud splatter everywhere. Kenan then lifted his blade to the orc’s neck. “You talk of honor, yet you kill without thought, take slaves, and purge innocents.”

“Honor is found in strength!” Rpshu said, and then lifted his ax. Before he could swing. The superheated ball of fire exploded against the back of his head. The flames engulfed both the orc and Kenan. Yet, neither seemed to have the intention of stopping to douse themselves.

Time slowed for Kenan. In his mind, and as an illusion, a large black wolf formed. It howled and roared. Not at him, but at Roshu. It’s eyes grew bright as its soul gave it’s aid. Roshu yelled in extreme anger as he started to swing wildly, faster and stronger than ever before. The wolf sprinted. Jumping, twisting, rolling, flipping, Kenan followed the wolf as it dodged all of the wild swings. As he ran, Kenan held his blade in reverse grip. Then coaxed the fire to follow his movement. In a roaring tornado of flame, two foes danced for strength.

Sliding on both knees he jumped to his feet mid motion and then flipped backward. Upside down Kenan saw the swinging ax below him. Using a hand he touched the steel and activated the mana in his arm, launching in the air. On his ascension he twirled and started to move his sword in a rapid circle formation. The flames churned faster and faster. Traveling towards the tip of Kenan's sword. Mid-air, looking down on the orc. A word formed in his mouth. “Salpirkos!” Then he began his descent.

Roshu swung, trying to catch the mid-air Kenan. Noctis flipped backward and used the edge of his blade to glide down the ax’s edge. Landing on a three point stance. He snapped his head up, flipping his hair back. The two foes locked eyes. “Dance of the Fire Wolf!” Kenan once again yelled. One hand in a reverse grip, another on the pommel of his blade, Noctis ran forward. All the flames followed. He side stepped another swing, and saw the wolf bite onto the orcs chest. He followed, the flames rushed to the point of the blade. Suddenly Kenan met resistance, then he pushed as he forced the fire inside. As the heat multiplied on the blade's tip, he finally felt give.

The flames disappeared. Roshu fell on his knees as Kenan continued to push forward. Dark blood flooded from the orc’s chest. “Honor is found in your conviction.” Noctis whispered to the dying green-skinned.