An Axe and a Soft Place

Koga tapped his chin, handing over the baby with his left hand to one of the women. He looked up at Manley, then coughed into his right hand. "So, I assume you don't want to accept your responsibility as chief?"

Burning Wolf fixed his gaze on Manley, while Bill looked away from his friend. Manley took a deep breath, looked down at his feet, then shook his head at the shaman.

"I can't take this seriously; I doubt even you do. I just want to know what has happened to me, can you help me or not, Koga?"

"Mmm…I will have to commune with the spirits, give us a moment to gather the ingredients." Koga instructed the ladies to get him some ingredients, then sat down to meditate, with his tomahawks on his thighs.

Manley watched the shaman closely; he was surprised that the man was actually taking this so seriously. The argument he was prepared for didn't come, he lowered his gaze, staring at the shell-like blades of the shaman's tomahawks. He would rather think about the man's dislike of metal, rather than potentially owing him a favor.

"I am here if you need me my friend," said Bill.

"Thank you but night is approaching, I can deal with him myself if need be." Manley gave Bill a slight smirk, Bill nods his head in understanding.

"One way or another, our nightmare will be over." Bill walks away, to prepare for the night. Burning Wolf, left not long after, in a huff.

Manley folded his arms and waited for the shaman to do whatever he was doing. Soon enough, a couple of the ladies started a campfire in the middle of the teepee. They then threw in something that created a lot of smoke. The shaman gestured for Manley to approach and take a seat in front of the fire.

Manley sat down casually, looked at the shaman. "Now what?"

Koga took a moment for the smoke to gather some more. "Open your mind and let me guide you."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" asked Manley. He attempted to sit like Koga, with his legs crossed but abandoned that after it started hurting.

"Be open and I will do the rest." Koga kept his eyes closed as he spoke.

Seeing how serious the shaman was being, Manley nodded. "I will try."

He closed his eyes, as his vision was being obscured by the smoke. He sat like that for five minutes before feeling his perspective being pulled away from his body and into the land of dreams.

Manley awoke in a meadow, as the flowers frolicked up the hill. He studied their sensual forms as they moved. Deciding to join them, he skipped after a pair with bulbous stamens and flowing pedals. His shadow darkened their path as he caught up, but his boot blacked out their light because of his carelessness.

He scooped up the trampled flowers, with shaky hands, then consumed them to preserve what little joy they had contained. He heard a noise and almost choked trying to quickly hide his shame. The last of the flowers entered his stomach before anyone could notice.

Searching for the origin of the sound, he found two women in red flowing, flowery dresses, dancing around a fire. They laughed and moved faster as he approached, he could hear their singing increase in volume, enchanted, he sat down to listen. The ladies sang and danced through the night, but as the dark descended and the fire was only light source, they both collapsed screaming.

Rushing to their aid, Manley was terrified, he didn't know what to do. He laid them on their backs, the bulging bellies clued him in on what was going on.

"Push! You can do this, I am here with you," he said.

As the ladies calmed, stabilized their labored breathing, he lifted their dress to have a look. As they were close together, he could monitor both at once. The crowning of both women brought a smile to his face, he reached out both hands to help deliver the babies. Manley pulled his hands back, smiled at the beautiful, identical babies in his hands.

He presented the mothers, with their babies, even they couldn't help the smiles and tears that burst forth. The inscribed purple blades, and ivory handles of the tomahawks, Manley has never seen a more beautiful sight.

"What will you name them?" he asked the mothers.

"I will call my baby Gap," said one.

"Mine will be Lock," said the other.

"That's beautiful, may I bless them?" asked Manley. The mothers nodded, while handing their babies to him. Manley gently took the babies by their handles and began imbuing them with his magic skills.

"Why is his mind so strange," said Koga.

Manley started hearing a strange voice the moment he started manipulating his mana, but he chose to ignore it and just focus on his work.

MANA SUBSTITUTE ADVANCE LV6 Gained

REGENERATION ADVANCE LV3 Gained

CURE ADVANCE LV3 Gained

SCAN ADVANCE LV4 Gained

GROWTH ADVANCE LV3 Gained

SHIFT LV2 Gained

BOUND WEAPON Gained

Gap & Lock

Twin born tomahawks conceived in a dream, made possible by a god.

WEAPON SKILL Gained

DEVOUR Consume enemies and gain new power.

Manley awoke with his mind occupied, weapons in hand. The feel of the ivory handles brought him comfort as he sorted through his memories.

"How did you do that?" asked Koga. He sat across from Manley, calmly assessing him.

Manley took his eyes away from his weapons reluctantly. "Koga…what's going on?" getting to his feet, he drunkenly walked around the fire to get closer to the shaman.

"You…I will find out what you are." Koga continued his contemplation as his eyes track Manley.

After getting close enough to the shaman, Manley struck out with one of his tomahawks, hitting Koga on the shoulder. He quickly swung the other, as the man's body liquified into shadow, the second swing only cutting of his left arm at the shoulder, as the shadowy creature disappears. The blue tinted clawed arm dropped to the ground, the only evidence that Koga existed.

"Mother fucker!" Manley clutched his weapons, as his eyes roamed the smoke-filled teepee. Not finding anything after some time goes by, he planted the blades of his weapons into the wiggling appendage. He watched satisfied as they consumed the clawed arm.

"Ahhhhhh!" A scream resounded as the arm was consumed, then silence reigned once more. Manley hefted his tomahawks, after they finished their task, then walked around the teepee. He soon found the women, on the ground, in a deep sleep. He ignored them and kept searching, he quickly found the one holding his daughter.

Manley with his daughter Valley in hand, walked out the teepee; one of his tomahawks transformed into a white feathered bracelet on his left hand, that hand, held his daughter, while the other still contained a tomahawk. He walked out into the light of the giant bonfire, he stared into the flames, as the reflection of the fire danced in his eyes.

Knowing he had to get home, he exhaled aggressively before walking over to where he left his bag. The moment before getting to his destination, his senses warned him of an ambush. Twisting around he hit a giant bright brown, almost red furred wolf in the face, with the back of his tomahawk. The beast fell to the ground and whimpered.

Another giant wolf came to its defense only to skid to a stop. "I am not in the mood for this shit, you two follow me, now!"

The creatures trembled at Manley's shout, lowered their heads, then cautiously walked up to lick his hand, that was still holding his weapon.

GROUP Created

Werewolf Pack

TRAIT Upgraded

Pack Leader→Alpha Dominance, Werewolves and Canines occupy 50% of GROUP Max.

Cornered→Pack Support 20% increase in Attack and Defense when Fighting with Pack.

Manley shifted his daughter more to the side so that he could get a good look at them. He noticed how docile the wolves were in his presence. "Change back to human!"

The wolves backed up, whining, then their bodies started shifting. It looked like their bones became soup, as their shape reformed, fur became skin, and they assumed human form once more. The two humans puked out bile, then shivered in the cold.

The first to recover was Bill. "How! It's night, I should be—"

"Ahhhh…my head," said Burning Wolf.

"My…son…is it really you?" asked Bill.

"Who else would it be you…father?" Burning Wolf removed his hand from his head and stared at his father in surprise.

"Shut up, both of you! Get your things and get dressed," said Manley.

The father and son pair, immediately clammed up, raced off to get their things with fear in their eyes. Manley waited until they got ready and back to his position before walking away. "Follow me."

They followed in silence for ten minutes before Bill couldn't take it anymore. "What happened back there, why can you control us, like he did?"

"I don't know, but that creature may be a god. It invaded our minds and rewrote our memories, stole our children, and paraded them in front of us…"

"A god! So, is that what you are?" asked Bill.

"No, I…my powers are different, plus I don't control you, I gave you control. It's the middle of the night and you're human…"

"Feels like we're being controlled to me," said Burning Wolf.

"I know how my powers work you fuck, I don't control you, you do what I say because of instincts. You can resist it if you like but I doubt you want to."

They both went quiet at that, walking through the woods in silence. Manley adjust his daughter in his arms, to make her more comfortable. Bill and Burning Wolf took notice of the child then.

"What do you plan to do with that baby? The child is innocent—"

"She is my daughter!"

"…I remember now…what happened. It was my son, that was infected. He turned one night, killed his mother and sister, I fought but…I became like him. We ran, tried to be a family but then he showed up…" Bill hung his head, Burning Wolf looked away.

Manley noticing the heavy mood, stopped, turned to look at them. "The boy should consider getting an alias too, like Bill."

Burning Wolf smirked, easily willing to stop thinking about the past. "Then call me Carl—"

"No! chose something else," said Manley.

"Okay, calm down kid…how about Bob?" asked Burning Wolf.

"Bob is fine," said Manley.

Bill just looked at his son and smiled. He was once again a father, after years under the thrall of that monster. "Twenty years…"

"What was that?" asked Manley.

"I kept track, I didn't know what the numbers meant before but now I do…I've been with that monster for twenty years, I think it was a ritual of some kind…twenty years," said Bill.

"He said something similar to me, about twenty years…wait, how old are you?" asked Manley.

"I should be…sixty-two, my son is…thirty, is it related?" asked Bill.

"No, just curious…what are your plans for the future?" asked Manley.

"Getting out—"

Bob was silenced by his father's glare. "What would you have of us? We have no freedom from the curse without you, I assume."

"Great, then you work for me…if I am in a good mood, I will think about paying you. It's not like you can deny me," said Manley. He waited till the pair were visible nervous. "Joking, I am rich, I can pay."

"What about that…thing?" asked Bill.

"Oh, I don't think he wants to lose anymore limbs," said Manley.

"You don't fear, what you believe to be a god?" asked Bill.

"Fear? In my experience, it doesn't stop terrible things from happening, plus I am on autopilot."