A few days had passed since the awkward dinner meeting with the pack.
Fenris stood in front of what looked like an underground cellar. He wasn't alone. Buck and Gwendolyn accompanied him.
After Lycan's claim that the rest of the pack had ventured into the other world, Fenris remained skeptical.
To avoid a conflict between him and Lycan, Buck, being the good friend he was, offered to show Fenris some proof.
Fenris looked around. The cellar was more like an underground cave, supported by man-made pillars. The pillars had magical carvings of runes and magic circles, all trailing down to the ground and ending at a specific wall.
"The runes… they seem dimensional," Fenris whispered, trailing his hand over the symbols. "Makes sense if we're going to these supposed worlds. And I have to admit—the structure is impressive."
He felt a tap on his back.
"Yep. Gwen's a genius, isn't she?" Buck said proudly.
Vexed, Fenris turned to Buck, finding him in light brown leather armor with a whip attached to his side. His eyes narrowed on it.
"Isn't that…?"
"Yep," Buck interrupted, tapping the whip. "The same whip from the hunter a while ago. But no worries. They're dead now."
"Right," Fenris said awkwardly.
"I'm done over here," Gwendolyn said, wiping chalk from her hands. She walked to Buck. Her eyes met Fenris' for only a moment. She showed clear contempt; he turned away, caring little.
"Remember, you're only taking him for exploring. Nothing else," Gwendolyn said, concerned.
"I know, I know. This isn't the first time I've done this," Buck replied. "You don't have to worry."
"I know, it's just…" Gwendolyn paused. "Never mind."
Watching this obvious love affair was quite the eyesore for Fenris.
'When are they going to end this?' he thought, annoyed.
"So, what world do you want to visit?" Gwendolyn asked.
Buck scratched his bald chin, thinking. Then he stopped with a wicked smile Fenris knew all too well.
"You know, I think I know just the place."
He began to whisper into Gwendolyn's ear.
'What kind of hellish prank is he trying to pull now?' Fenris thought, guarded. 'Whatever it is, I'll be able to hear it.'
But he couldn't. Not because of a useless thing such as privacy. He just couldn't hear them. A first for him.
He tried harder, but still—nothing.
'What's going on? Is Buck just saying nothing to mess with me?'
Fenris listened harder, trying not to show it. That's when he heard something. Not words—something similar to a gentle howl.
"Wind," Fenris whispered.
His eyes diverted from Buck. A dome of barely visible wind surrounded him and Gwendolyn.
Fenris' eyes returned to Buck. Sticking out from his neck, he saw Buck's runes pulsating.
"Using wind to block out any sound," Fenris said, intrigued. He wanted the runes more than ever now.
The dome of wind vanished. Both Gwendolyn and Buck smiled at him deviously.
'That can't be a good sign,' Fenris thought.
Gwendolyn walked to the wall, which was covered in drawings and symbols, and began to mutter incantations. Her power bled through the carvings, pulsing with blue light. An orb appeared as Gwendolyn stepped back. It expanded until the wall was no more, transforming into a portal.
"Are the two of you ready?" Gwendolyn asked.
"Yep," Buck answered, tossing Fenris a pouch.
Instinctively, Fenris caught it.
"What's this?"
"Everything you'll need," Buck answered.
Loosening the pouch string easily, Fenris looked into the contents. It felt like he was staring into infinity. Items far too numerous for such a small pouch were displayed inside.
"It's enchanted," Fenris remarked silently.
Blessed Ones, despite having no limits to the types of magic they could perform, often settled for certain types of magic to specialize in. Maybe dimensional magic was Gwendolyn's.
Looking deeper into the pouch, Fenris saw dried meat—a lot of it. And also something that made him raise an eyebrow.
"Rubies?"
Also known as fragments of the Flame God Pyros' blood. The gems shook slowly, embers pulsing from within. All it would take was shattering them to release their crude power.
"Quite the firepower."
In the middle of his thoughts, Buck grabbed Fenris by the hand and dragged him toward the portal.
"What the hell?" Fenris yanked his hand back, looking at Buck with disgust.
"Ah, sorry about that," Buck said, scratching his head. "Here's the thing. We both need to cross the portal hand in hand so we don't get separated."
"Sounds like nonsense you just came up with on the spot," Fenris said.
"I'm insulted you would think that of me," Buck said dramatically. "But you have a keen eye for magic. Is what I'm saying really complete nonsense?"
Fenris contemplated it, but not for too long. He let out a sigh of defeat.
"No… it's not," Fenris grunted.
Buck smiled and went to grab Fenris' hand, but Fenris slapped Buck's away.
"I thought you—"
Fenris interrupted Buck by placing a hand on his shoulder and looking away.
"This should be enough."
Buck sighed, taking what he could get.
Before they both walked through the portal, Buck waved slowly to Gwendolyn. She reciprocated.
Passing through the portal, Fenris felt odd. It wasn't the first time he had gone through one of Gwendolyn's portals, but traveling between them felt almost instantaneous.
"Ahhhh," Fenris growled.
He faded into and out of consciousness, seeing colorful and dim lights. He had no idea how much time passed. Maybe hours or even a whole day. Then it stopped.
His eyes flickered open. Then he felt it.
"AH!" he screamed, or at least he tried to. He collapsed on his knees in a desert of snow and an unforgiving blizzard. The piercing cold reached him to the bone, trying to end him as quickly as possible.
But he wouldn't let it. He summoned all his strength. His eyes glowed. His fangs elongated and his hide came out. He howled, and the blizzard carried it for miles.
He panted heavily, looking at his clothes and his grey hide.
"This… this… shouldn't… be possible," Fenris stuttered through the cold.
Fenris couldn't feel the full moon, so came his confusion. A horrifying realization dawned on him.
"I'm dying."
His body was trying to keep him alive at all costs. He had faced a few of these situations in the past when fighting for his life against hunters. He wouldn't be as strong as he was under the moon, but he'd be close enough.
He rose.
"I have to find shelter."
He stopped, realizing something else.
"Where's Buck?"
The jolly wolf was nowhere to be found. Fenris' vision was blinded by the blizzard, his smell masked by the unending cold, and all he could hear was the snowstorm.
"I can't use my senses to find him. But what happened? I placed my hand on him before we walked through the portal."
"I'm sure of it!"
His eyes darted, trying his best to think of how they could have been separated.
"Maybe… maybe my hand slipped."
Fenris heard a howl. He turned to where it might have come from.
"It might have been just the wind. Or maybe…"
Fenris howled louder than before and waited. He heard a howl.
"It's you," he said, relieved but slightly vexed. "I should meet up with him. He's been to this world before. He'll know how to survive it."
"If this truly is another world, maybe he and his witch lover just teleported me to a mountain."
Fenris felt rumbling, shaking not just him but the mountain itself. He froze, not from the cold, then turned away from Buck's direction. His instincts of danger kicked in. He readied himself, fangs bared and claws stretched out.
Something was approaching.
Appearing from the covers of the blizzard was a creature, a giant made of stone and ice. Its white and hazy eye landed on Fenris, and it roared at him.
"Damn," Fenris cursed.