Chapter 1 - Interrupted wedding.

Máni was a world at war.

In all its history, this world had known very little peace, but now, especially, Máni was burning.

This planet was inhabited by three races, two of which, the therians[1] and the vampyrs, had barely known peace between each other over the years. The closest they ever came was the occasional Cold War period.

Yet, this time, the war was not caused by the two dominant races inhabiting this world.

Instead, for the last two hundred years, these two bitter enemies were forced to join hands in defending their world from a foreign invasion by an insectoid species they had named the qhanrid, simply meaning 'bug' in an ancient language common to both the therians and the vampyrs.

Before this invasion, the inhabitants of Máni were not even aware that life existed outside of their world. Yet, one day, portals opened somewhere on their planet, and the qhanrid started pouring out.

At first, the situation was largely ignored by the therians and vampyrs, both unsure if this was an actual invasion by aliens or simply a ploy by their rivals to lure them into an ambush.

However, as the situation progressed, both the therians and vampyrs realised these qhanrid were equal opportunity butchers, as they made short work of any cities and villages near their original entry point, whether therian or vampyr.

When they also noticed that the invaders seemed incapable of communication and had no interest in taking prisoners, as all the fallen cities had turned into mass graves, they quickly started taking the qhanrid threat more seriously.

Unfortunately, the qhanrid had already gained a foothold in their world because of the indecisiveness and paranoia of Máni's original inhabitants.

Immediately, any ongoing hostilities between the vampyr and therian races were put on hold as they both started focussing on defending their own border from this new threat.

Nevertheless, both races quickly realised they stood no chance against the seemingly endless supply of qhanrid troops pouring through those portals. 

They had tried numerous times and with various methods to close the portals, but to no avail. 

The problem was that they simply had no idea how those portals worked, and getting close enough to inspect them properly was nearly impossible, as the most powerful of the qhanrid were constantly guarding them.

So they realised that only with the entire world of Máni united against the invaders would they stand a chance.

For the first time in the planet of Máni's recorded history, the therians and vampyrs worked together.

Of course, it went a little stiffly at first, and many mistakes were made on both sides, but as the bitter war against the qhanrid continued, old grievances were buried, and new alliances were forged. 

These were the kind of alliances that had been tempered amid various battles against an overwhelming foe. The kind of alliances that turned into lifelong friendships and would take an incredible effort to bend, let alone break.

One of these alliances was between the mighty Fenrir clan of the therians and the noble Dracul family of the vampyrs.

Both of these factions were extremely powerful within their own race, and after fifty years of continued friendship, they had decided to cement their relationship with something that shook the world of Máni to its core:

The first official wedding between a therian and a vampyr.

There had been plenty of rumours and even some confirmed incidents of vampyrs and therians getting married in the past. Still, these situations were usually quickly resolved, either by sweeping it under the rug or by making sure the involved parties were never heard from again.

But this was the first time such a marriage was not only happening out in the open but also without anyone publicly opposing it.

The bride hailed from the Dracul family and was named Aurora Dracul.

The groom was a therian of the Fenrir clan named Ivar Fenrir.

The current leaders of these factions had become vast friends over the years fighting the qhanrid and had decided to arrange a marriage between two of their children.

Interestingly enough, Aurora and Ivar had the same birthday, and their wedding was planned for the day they both turned eighteen.

Eventually, the big day arrived, but things did not go to plan.

At first, it was going fine, but as the bride and groom were about to finish tying the knot, the qhanrid attacked en masse.

Did they know about this wedding and wanted to stop this symbol of unification between the two races, or was this a coincidence? No one knew for sure, nor did they care, because, at that moment, all they knew was chaos.

The qhanrid were there in force, even having brought some emperor-level leaders to contend with those at the same level among the weddinggoers.

Unfortunately, this meant that people like Ivar and Aurora had to fend for themselves, as their family was busy making sure the most powerful among the attackers did not start a massacre among the weaker therians and vampyrs.

Luckily, they had both received extensive combat training and knowledge about the various types of qhanrid they might face; plus, they had been particularly powerful examples of their respective races from birth.

Yet, despite their training and power, they were currently running side by side through the woods as numerous soldier-level qhanrid chased them.

While either of them could take on two or even three soldier-level qhanrid at the same time, even though the bride and groom were technically soldier-level, too, there were currently around ten qhanrid chasing them.

They could only count their lucky stars that there were no quick-wing qhanrid among them, as that particular species of qhanrid was not only extremely fast but also had the ability to fly.

As they fled, Aurora was frowning and looked distressed but otherwise calm, not uttering a word as she continued racing through the woods alongside the man she was supposed to have married today.

Aurora was a beautiful young woman with an athletic hourglass figure and a height of 1.8m (5'11). Her breasts, while providing a good handful, were not the biggest, but that just added to her athletic charm. 

She clearly kept her body in exemplary physical shape, ensuring she was ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Her hair was raven black and tied in a long ponytail, which she usually kept hidden under the helmet, still lying back in her tent with the rest of her belongings.

Her face was regal in its beauty, with high cheekbones. Her eyes were sharp and showed clear intelligence; they were the colour of midnight, matching well with her hair, yet around the dark blue pupil was a ring of bloody crimson, giving them a very unique look.

Meanwhile, the man running next to her was her fiance, Ivar, who seemed more than happy to voice his displeasure over the current situation, unlike her.

"Damn, these fucking bugs! Moons curse the lot of them! If I had my weapons and armour, I would have put you all down already!"

These words were no boast; the previous estimation of being able to handle two or three qhanrid was assuming both Ivar and Aurora were unarmed and unarmoured as they currently are; with their proper gear equipped, they would have made short work of a mere ten bugs.

There was a reason these two were the most powerful of their generation.

Unfortunately, their gear was right in the middle of the clash between emperor-level beings and going there was out of the question.

Ivar's physical appearance was a great contrast to Aurora's regal and noble beauty, as he looked more like a barbarian, with his well-defined muscles, thick arms and barrel-chested upper body exposed to the world.

While they had both started in their official wedding clothes, those had not been the most comfortable for a fight, so they had made quick adjustments when the fighting started.

Luckily, while not the most comfortable, their clothing was still relatively practical, so the adjustments had been manageable for Aurora, even while running. On the other hand, Ivar had opted to simply toss away almost all the clothes he had been wearing, apart from some relatively tight pants.

Ivar was quite tall, standing at two meters (6'7) in length in his human form. His face was handsome and had a wolfish structure; his eyes were amber-coloured and sharp, much like Aurora's, hiding a cunning intelligence behind his otherwise barbarian-like looks.

His hair was short and messy and had the colour of greyish silver despite his young age; it was a colour that ran in his family.

Aurora finally broke her silent streak as she said with an almost desperate tone, "Why don't you just shift and get out of here? Your wolf form is built for speed; you could easily outrun those bugs."

While the therians were considered a single race with an outwardly human appearance, they also all had beast forms, which came in more variations than stars in the sky.

And Ivar's Fenrir clan just so happened to possess a fast, humanoid wolf form. Something that also affected his speed in human form, which was the only reason he could keep up with Aurora and her powerful vampyr body while in his current form.

To Aurora's words, Ivar rolled his eyes while grinning, "And leave you behind to die when I haven't even fully claimed you yet? Forget it! We will both survive this, and then I will make sure you won't be able to walk for at least a week!"

Aurora kept her calm expression, but there was an undeniable blush now; she was happy he didn't leave her but wished he had put it a little differently.

[1]: Therian is short for therianthrope, which is a blanket term for mythological shapeshifters. (lycanthrope is more well-known but specific to werewolves)