Shadows of the Future

Der Teufel lacht

Disclaimer: The only art I own in this story is what has been commissioned, all other art belongs to their respective owners and franchises. Title of the chapter translated to, 'The devil laughs'.

Yulestaran Festival:

Aleksander woke with a yawn and groan, realizing that he slept longer than he had intended to. He groaned slightly in discomfort until he remembered what happened the day before, a small laugh escapes him as he opens his eyes and sees the bodies of the female and male Ovalarn still laying where he had killed them. Realizing that no one has returned he slowly gets up and stretches, looking down at his handiwork in the process and grinning to himself. Sighing loudly in boredom he turns and starts to walk out of the feasting tent, dunking his hands in a water barrel as he does to get any excess blood off his hands, the slight sting makes it clear that the water has some form of cleaning agent in it as well. After doing so he takes one last look at the carnage, gives himself a satisfied nod, then walks out into the darkness of the night as he only slept for a twenty minutes at most. Seeing no one around he starts walking back to the tent of the Hurokna pack, whistling to himself in the process. He moves a hand to his side and feels the stickiness of his own blood from where one of his sutures likely popped during the excitement, despite this, he feels entirely fine except for some slight discomfort. Looking to his left he still sees the bonfire going on, the chanting and drums slowly starting to die down to show that whatever was going on was coming to a close. Getting back to the Hurokna pack tent he walks inside to see it is still vacant of the pack, which doesn't surprise him in the slightest. The thought came to him of taking a bath, but then he remembered that he needed to look bloodied and battered for his reasons of killing the two vermin, so it would pass off easily. Noticing a pitcher of wine and glasses on the table he pours himself a glass, then he sat down on a comfortable rocking chair near the hearth at the other end of the tent. A exhale of relief escapes him before taking a sip of the wine, finding it to be of a sweet taste but not as bitter as wine he had while in France. Right as he was about to take another sip he heard a loud yell of alarm from outside the tent, making a grin come to his face as he realized someone must've found the bodies. He drinks down the rest of the wine in the glass in one go, nodding his head at the taste before standing up and going to get more. Humming to himself as he does and almost jumps out of his skin at the yell and abrupt entry of Tassandra into the tent.

  "Who did you kill this time?!" She yells while glaring at him, as he was supposed to stay in the tent after they left for the ceremony. Tassandra had been one of the first to see the carnage at the feasting tent, she noted the dead wolves were Ovalarns and the savagery of their deaths made her realize who it was immediately. Aleksander merely stared at her and took a sip of wine, then held up the pitcher.

  "Wein? Wine?" He asks nonchalantly, as if the fact he killed two more wolves belonging to the Ovalarn entourage didn't affect him at all, which on his mind it truly didn't. Tassandra felt her eye twitch as normally she wouldn't care as he already killed two other Ovalarn wolves, but in this case it seemed he came out of it with very few wounds at all. She could smell the wolves blood on him as well as his own, but she doubted that Lady Ovalarn would care at all for that fact.

  "Where is the abomination?! Where is the demon?!" The yells of Lady Ovalarn could be heard outside the tent, which caught the attention of both of them.

  "Be silent you crazy witch! The only demons around here are you and your ilk!" A loud voice could be heard responding, and it wasn't a voice that Tassandra recognized.

  "Silence!!" The echoing roar of Lacina was heard and the clamoring of the crowd did indeed fall silent. Tassandra turned and looked at the tent before walking out, leaving Aleksander to merely listen as he had no intention of being torn apart. Outside of the tent there was indeed a crowd of wolves that had formed a sort of semi-circle around Lady Ovalarn and the rest of her entourage, keeping clear of them and Lacina as well. Standing behind Lacina and flanking her on either side were her daughters and guards, she had finally had enough.
  "Your constant hostile zealotry has brought us to this point, Lady Ovalarn. The death of your son and followers has all been to your own making, you claim to speak for the gods but all of you are truly degenerates of the highest order. You insult my honored guest, insult my family and insult far more honorable packs in attendance at this festival. What more reason do I need to expel you from this place?" Lacina snarls at Lady Ovalarn, who despite her size, seems shrunken down like the craven many believe her to be.
   "Your dead will be prepared for your journey back to your den, but you are no longer welcome at this festival or any more in the future." Lacina says aloud for all to hear, making it clear and obvious that the Ovalarns are no longer welcome or wanted. There are no cheers of jubilation, as doing so would very likely insight a fight.