Our Bond (discontinued)

Chapter 23

"Izuku, take your mother and run!"

The little omega ducked down as an arrow sailed through the shattered window, embedding itself into the wall behind him. "You have to come with us, Da!"

The black haired alpha looked down at the small child, flashing him a bright smile despite the trickle of blood leaving his lips. "I will follow, but I must find your uncle first. He's in danger, and I must save him."

Izuku's emerald green eyes twinkled. "Save him?" he repeated. "I want to help save him!"

The taller man bent down on one knee, shielding his child's head with his arms as another stream of arrows came flying through the window, some hitting against the outside wall and falling harmlessly to the concrete courtyard below.

"Your mother needs saving, too," the black haired alpha said, ruffling the omega's hair and gently taking his hand. "Will you be brave and go back to find her?"

Izuku nodded his head energetically. "I'll save Ma!" he cried cheerfully, still blissfully unaware of how serious this situation was.

The older male smiled again at his son, then patted him on the shoulder. "Go on now, little wolf pup. Get your mother and run outside the castle. Run as fast as you can, alright? Don't stop until you reach the creek. Be brave, my son."

Accompanied by his father's parting words and a kiss on the forehead, Izuku ran out the door, immediately morphing into his wolf form, a rather small wolf pup. Ma had told him that his wolf form would grow alongside him as he got bigger, and Izuku couldn't wait to transform into a big and strong wolf one day.

Immediately, he was met with the sounds of battle.

He was long accustomed to the familiar rhythm of swords striking against armor, and was used to the sounds of pain and the screams of the dying, so none of it deterred him in his steps one bit.

He kept his head down, emerald green eyes bright and vigilant as he leapt over bodies and fallen tapestries in the large hallways. The little wolf couldn't help but notice that some of the bodies didn't look human.

Izuku hid around the corner when he heard loud, pounding footsteps coming down the castle hallway. Instinct told him to hold in his scent, and he held his breath to keep in any unnecessary noise.

The wolf's green eyes widened when he saw his own mother, bloodied and battered, being dragged by her long hair down the hallway towards him. A strange looking creature harshly gripped her by her scalp, and she stumbled over her elegant, tattered dress and fell to her knees.

The creature grew enraged with her behavior, its large tusks jutting from its bottom lip gleaming in the torchlight. As Izuku studied the beast closer, his sharp eyes caught sight of its sickly green skin, and its large, bat-like ears on the sides of its bald head, and blood red eyes swirled with the darkest black.

A goblin! Izuku finally recognized the creature from the old picture books he used to look at as a young child. Goblins were organized into dignified tribes, usually led by shamans with remarkable intelligence. This creature appeared to have small, white horns jutting from the top of its bald head, and wore rather extravagant clothes and feathers hanging off its shoulders.

Not a shaman, Izuku noted, remembering how his picture books had illustrated the goblin leaders. Shamans were usually depicted as wearing large, feathered headsets and long, flowing cloaks.

That was good for him, then. The further shamans were from their subjects, the dumber the goblins were.

The goblin dragging his mother across the floor had stopped in its tracks, then pulled out a wickedly sharp khopesh from a strange looking sheath at its side. It said something to her with a low, guttural tone in a language Izuku did not understand.