A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

In the bustling London harbour, Emma and Emily were eyeing a boat. This boat, used by the council officials to navigate between the European mainland and the UK, held the promise of escape. Something Seraphina had been kind enough to share with them.

Two stern-faced peacekeepers guarded the boat's boarding plank, oblivious to the nearby girls. The sisters, veiled by their hoods, moved strategically, concealing themselves while a sense of urgency fueled their movements.

As the thugs-turned-pack-mules were ordered to wait, Emma and Emily removed their hoods and revealed their beautiful faces. The dark veil Emily had always worn in past spared her from recognition.

Suddenly, the sisters ran out of the crowd towards the peacekeepers. Panic etched on their faces, the sisters sprinted towards the peacekeepers, their voices raised in distress.

"Help! These two brutes are trying to force us to come with them!" Emily's cry pierced through the air, setting the stage for Emily's ruse.

Reacting swiftly to Emily's mental command, the two thugs under her control emerged from the crowd as well, hot on their heels. The guards, however, prioritised their duty over the damsel's distress, commanding everyone to halt.

"Halt! All four of you! No one may approach!"

Emily scoffed inwardly at their behaviour and pressed forward, feigning ignorance of the guard's orders.

As the guards prepared to intercept, a sudden realisation struck one of them–the energy levels of the approaching woman exceeded those of a mere first-rank initiate.

Before he could warn his partner, Emily displayed a vicious grin and reached the guard with a sudden burst of speed. In a blink, his eyes glazed over, succumbing to Emily's magic.

The second guard, distracted by this spectacle, failed to notice the impending danger from the second sisters and the pursuing brutes: vampires.

When he noticed their approach, he panicked and attempted to conjure defensive magic, but the two deep blue magic circles remained useless as Emma deftly slipped past him. The vampires pounced, subduing him with ruthless efficiency.

Onlookers, now aware of the unfolding commotion, hesitated. Some wondered if they should intervene, but most had long learned that being a good samaritan was a great way to get killed.

Suddenly, the first guard appeared, and with fiery red magic circles around his hand, he proclaimed the council's justice.

"You dare attack a member of the peacekeepers?! Face your punishment!" he said righteously.

Chains materialised from his hands and wound themselves around the thugs, subduing them as he asserted authority.

Emily felt disgusted at puppeteering a display that embellished the council's peacekeepers. Still, she knew it was necessary to keep the commotion low.

The first guard turned towards the crowd and shouted, "Nothing to see here! The council has subdued some troublemakers, that is all! Move along!"

Unbeknownst to the onlookers, this guard had not worn sunglasses before. His now-masked eyes concealed the true nature of the events as their glassy stare remained hidden.

The crowd, attributing the vampires' weakened state and strange behaviour to a lack of blood, moved on, leaving the harbour to its deceptive calm.

The second guard was a little bruised but mostly fine. Yet, when he stood up groaning, ready to thank his partner, all he saw was Emily's cruelly smiling face before his mind descended into darkness.

******

About half an hour later, Erik arrived and looked at the boat with curiosity. This was the first time he had seen a vessel like this.

The ships on Söl were very different, while the boats he occasionally saw in his youth when he went to buy supplies with his father had never been more than cargo vessels.

Yet this sailboat resembled a luxurious yacht. If somewhat modified.

He momentarily observed the two peacekeepers standing before it, wondering if Emily and Emma had succeeded but decided to risk it. Should things turn ugly, he could always kill all of them.

Thinking that Elora would easily be able to tell if they were enslaved, his thoughts lingered on her for a moment, as he was already missing her presence. He briefly wondered if he was getting too dependent on her but quickly shook his head and approached the boat.

As he approached, he realised it was strange they both wore sunglasses and suddenly had the urge to smack himself. Of course those sunglasses were Emily's work.

Now less cautious, he strolled up to the boat with a casual grin. He couldn't help chuckling and appreciating Emily's powers when the two guards saluted him.

Perhaps Erik's seemingly indifferent attitude towards the enslavement of these relatively innocent guards contrasted with his strict stance on Elora's action. But he actually had little problem with the practice itself, so long as the enslavement remained short-term.

He was perfectly fine with short-term enslavement but simply wanted to ensure he and Elora still had lines they wouldn't cross.

once aboard, the guards released the lines, and the boat set sail, a testament to Emily's awareness of Erik's arrival.

The guards remained ashore, saluted the ship and turned around before walking away to nowhere. Emily, as the cruel Witch of London she had become, would likely make them do some humiliating things before undoing the enslavement.

But we won't talk about those here.

Meanwhile, Erik had made his way inside the ship and was immediately jumped by a small woman with white hair wearing a maid's dress. "Sir! I was so worried! Thank you for coming back alive!"

Erik hugged Emma back and couldn't help but chuckle. "Why are you thanking me for coming back alive?"

Emma looked confused, "Well… who else should I thank?"

Silence fell as Erik was stumped for a moment. He coughed, "Fair enough. Anyway, where is my armour? I don't mind being naked so much, and you clearly don't either, but perhaps Emily would."

He had already changed back to human form while he was boarding the ship, leaving him naked as the day he was born.

Emma paled and blinked, even as she continued to hug him, "N- Naked?"

It appeared she had jumped him so fast she hadn't even realised his current state of undress.

Suddenly, she felt something long and hard sneak under her short maid skirt and brush up against her nether regions.

Emma yelped and jumped back, her face flushed like a tomato. "Ah! I- I-" But she couldn't face the current situation, so she turned around and ran away, "I'm sorry, I'm not ready!"

Erik smirked, scratched his head and mumbled, "Perhaps she does mind a little. The suggestion that she might be ready in the future is interesting, though."

Chuckling, he thought to himself, 'She's so cute, too. I'll make sure she's ready as soon as possible.'

He looked around, "Anyway, I guess I'll have to find my armour myself."

Luckily, it didn't take long as he found the bags tossed in a corner. He took out the various armour pieces and put them on before sighing, "Ah. That feels better."

Ever since he got this armour, it had become his standard attire and going without it felt wrong.

He mumbled, "Now. Where to find Emily?"

Luckily, the boat wasn't very big, and he had some idea of where she might be.

A few moments later, he arrived at the ship's helm. It was located in a small cabin at the top of the boat, holding a steering wheel and various buttons. This boat's sails were apparently fully controlled from inside this room with rotors and pulleys.

Emily was leaning against the side, listening to a glassy-eyed man with black hair and a beard explain how the boat worked exactly.

They had now reached the open sea, and the man worked various buttons to unfold the sails. Apparently, Emily had taken it upon herself to start learning how to sail the ship. Erik couldn't help but commend her for that.

When he entered the small cabin, Emily greeted him with a nod and a look in her eyes that Erik couldn't immediately place, "There you are. I guess you made it out alive. Couldn't just leave us poor sisters alone, huh?"

She made it sound like she might have left him behind, but Erik knew it was bullshit. She needed him and Elora to keep her in check. She just didn't like it. Besides, she was now bound to his service through the covenant, so she couldn't leave him even if she wanted to.

Erik grinned at the somewhat cold welcome, "And leave two beautiful servants like you and your sister without my magnificent leadership? No chance! Besides, we don't want you to relapse and start chaining your sister up again, right?"

Emily seemed to want to make a comeback after his first rhetorical question but fell silent after the second.

She made an expression that showed she was clearly unhappy with her fate and future being up to someone else. Still, she said nothing and scoffed before turning back to the captain-turned-slave. "This guy needs a destination."

Erik nodded, "Our destination is Norway. We're headed for a small port town by the name of Kirkenes, all the way on the other side of Scandinavia."