The Void Wolf

Ira was sitting in a room adorned with dozens of decorations. It was obvious that the Dark Elves were scrupulous when preparing his quarters, but he didn’t react to the expensive items around him. It appeared that Ira wasn’t even aware of his surroundings, he was concentrating on the concept of space. The greatest thing about space was its versatility, Ira was mainly focused on cutting, tearing, and bending space but there were numerous areas he could explore.

At that moment, a tear in space appeared in front of Ira and remained stagnant. Having the space tear remain where it was wouldn’t be a good idea seeing as it was a death trap. If someone were to walk into it they would be ripped apart.

Ira opened his eyes and evaluated his work for a few minutes before he attempted to close the floating ripple. As he did, the tear became unstable and pulled everything toward it. Ira was immune, but he could only watch on as all the furniture was pulled into the Space Tear before being crushed. After the Space Tear faded, all that was left was a room that looked like it went through a storm.

“Keeper!” Several Dark Elves burst into the room with weapons ready. From the outside, it sounded like an attack had occurred.

“Keeper?” The Dark Elves looked at the mess and showed puzzled expressions.

“It’s fine.” Ira waved them off.

“...If you say so...Keeper,” The Dark Elves were skeptical but bowed and exited the room.

As soon as they left Ira began to laugh like a madman as he celebrated his achievements. He had significant progress in his manipulation of space and they would become more powerful once combined with the properties of the Void. He could already enter the sub-planes of the Mortal Realm though it did take a massive amount of energy and made his spatial abilities far weaker until he recovered.

Ira stood up and pulled a few clothes out of a broken wardrobe. Sylun was adamant that he wear something that “fit” his image. The item that fit him the most seemed to be a long-sleeved black shirt with a small red-colored moon pattern sewn into the chest area. Ira seemed to recall seeing a similar pattern on the Dark Elves flag during the Summit. After learning that Ira was the Keeper of the Red Moon it was obvious that the Dark Elves made some changes to their nation’s flag.

Ira stepped out of the room and as soon as he did, Harper stepped out from the room across from him. Her hair had been unbraided and her long pale blue hair fell down over her shoulder. Amy followed behind her with a tired expression, they spent a large portion of their time in the Underground City killing rogue vampires. It was a process which ended up taking three days and caused them to travel all over the city to root out anyone suspected of plotting against Sylun. What made it worse in Amy’s perspective was the fact that Ira didn’t lift a hand to help and Harper made sure no one asked him for assistance.

Amy sighed but her face brightened when she remembered that they had finally finished their task. Amy knocked on Aldis’ door which was adjacent from Ira’s and he came out after a few moments.

“Woah, did you guys even sleep?” Ira asked as he noticed that Aldis looked even worse than Amy.

“I did but I’m still exhausted,” Aldis stretched as if to wake himself up. Harper had multiple abilities and even Amy had some type of special power, but Aldis was a normal human through and through.

“Oh yeah, I did say I would get you something right?” Ira waved his hand and produced a book that was bound in incredibly dark leather. He opened and flipped through a few pages before pausing to look at Aldis and shaking his head. He quickly decided on something and nodded before closing the book and storing it away.

Aldis felt a strange sensation in his head, but it disappeared when the book did. He blinked a few times to get rid of the lingering feeling in his head, “...What was that book?”

“Don’t worry,” Ira casually waved his hand, “I had my eye on something you might like, so make some time today.”

“Alright,” Aldis became a bit livelier and expectation flowed through his body.

“Quick question, do you like the cold?” Ira made an odd expression.

“...It’s tolerable at times, but I don’t think anyone particularly likes weather that makes them uncomfortable,” Aldis answered with suspicion.

“As long as you don’t hate it,” Ira avoided elaborating and shrugged, “I can’t actually feel that much of a difference between temperatures since my body adjusts to it automatically.”

No one found his statement too shocking since that was the least surprising thing that could have come out of his mouth. Once the group was gathered, the contingent of Dark Elves who were constantly guarding Ira moved to escort them.

Since Ira was a very important figure in the eyes of the Dark Elves, Sylun asked if he would attend the daily meetings that involved the day to day operations of the city. She diverted a large amount resources into locating skilled birth companions.

There were some frauds attempting to latch onto to the opportunity at first, but she sentenced them to public execution once they were found out. That deterred any others seeking to mislead her. While a death sentence could be considered too harsh, if an unskilled individual were to slip past and serve as Avery’s birth companion then it might cause a disaster. That disaster was known as Ira who would hold her accountable since he entrusted her with the selection.

Still, even with the threat of death hanging over them, hundreds of women flocked toward the palace to undergo examination.

Ira was largely unaware of the selection process and only wanted to see the ones who were chosen. He entered the throne room and every gaze focused on him, especially the scribes who were literally creating a religion centered around him.

“Welcome, Keeper,” Sylun and everyone else in the room greeted Ira with a bow. It made him seem like the actual ruler instead of Sylun who had spent hundreds of years building the Empire. Though she didn’t seem to mind at all, in fact, she would be happier if Ira took a more active position in the Empire.

“You don’t have to bow every time you see me,” Ira nodded toward everyone before moving to stand next to the throne. Aldis, Amy, and Harper all stood to the side and spectated. Since they were Ira’s guests they were allowed to listen to the proceedings.

“If it wasn’t because of you asking us not to we would perform even grander gestures, Keeper.” Sylun made a joke that wasn’t quite a joke before she continued, “Before we start, We’ve narrowed down the candidates as birth companions, but…” Sylun trailed off.

“What is it?” Ira asked.

“Sylvia, my daughter, wants to be tested as a candidate.” Sylun’s tone showed that she was opposed to it. Her biggest fear was taking too many liberties with Ira and crossing his line of tolerance, but he showed no adverse reaction.

“If she’s skilled then it shouldn’t matter,” Ira said casually.

Sylvia was indeed skilled as were all of the female Dark Elves since their birth rates were low they would usually spend a decade learning and understanding childcare.

“Thank you, Keeper.” Sylvia bowed excitedly.

Those who witnessed Ira’s abilities saw the position as a birth companion for Avery as a sacred and honorable thing. Sylvia’s personal feelings behind it were entirely pure seeing as Ira was being seen as something closer to a God as more rumors about him spread within the palace.

“It’ll probably be dangerous,” Ira stated before continuing, “Avery's pregnancy is...a bit different.”

Ira’s bloodline came from a race of giant shape-shifting wolves with the ability to manipulate space and copy traits of other beings which caused Gods to be wary. Avery was a fourth generation Valkyrie which would normally be a bad thing, but she had been given the Phoenix Heart and the budding divinity of Helion. Of course, not all of their traits would carry over to the child as it would be too much to handle. Instead, new abilities would be created and whatever they were could already be considered immensely powerful.   

“I am more than willing, Keeper,” Sylvia said with no sign of changing her mind.

“Alright.” Ira gave her a warning and that was more than enough in his eyes. It wasn’t even guaranteed that she would even pass the examination.

“The first thing being discussed today is the overhaul of military training. My general is here in person to talk about the progress,” Sylun gestured to a Dark Elf man who wore dark robes.

“Keeper,” The general bowed as he stepped forward, “After three days of training we’ve experienced twelve casualties, all dead from exhaustion or over-exertion.”

Ira furrowed his brows in confusion, “That’s how the Valkyries train their children before their bloodlines even awaken. How is it that twelve people with stronger bodies die that quickly? They weren’t sick were they?” Rather than berating him, Ira was genuinely puzzled which made it worse.

Sylun pinched the bridge of her nose as a feeling of shame washed over her.

The General noticed Sylun’s actions and the feeling of embarrassment drifted over to him and many of the other officials in the room, “...No, I don’t believe any of them were sick, Keeper.”

“Is it really that difficult?” Ira asked, “Didn’t Avery make it easier so that no one would die that quickly? Both she and her cousins trained way harder than that when they were children.”

The room moved into a stark silence as all sense of pride and enthusiasm began to erode and for good reason. The deaths of twelve people in their military basically meant they weren’t on the same level as little girls.

“It’s just that the soldiers aren’t used to training that requires high endurance, Keeper.” The General had deflated and clearly wished to move onto another topic as soon as possible.

The difference between soldiers with innate racial abilities and the children of Valkyries wasn’t even close. The soldiers would have the advantage, it's just that there was always a Valkyrie overseeing the training of the children at all times. It meant that even if one died they could be brought back to life immediately. Though that never happened since Valkyries were adept at healing and could simply restore anyone in poor health.

While healers were in place for the soldiers, the military was too large to react quickly and the healers weren’t as skilled as the Valkyries.

“...I could go ask her to alter the training if it’s too hard,” Ira offered with apparent disappointment in the military of the Underground City.

“No!” Sylun interrupted before clearing her throat and recovering her bearing, “There is no need, Keeper. The training will remain the same, just instruct the healers to be more aware.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” The General bowed with a slightly fearful expression.

He knew what awaited him if he had disappointed Ira. If Ira was to voice his dissatisfaction then Sylun might’ve had the general killed in his sleep. It was extreme, but Ira was the hope of the entire Empire. If one person had caused him to leave, that person would end up suffering the wrath of the entire population.

“Next, we move on to the matters concerning the Temple.” Sylun gestured toward the head scribe who was understandably nervous. Her gaze bore right into his soul and let him know there wasn’t any room for disappointment.

Ira didn’t notice Sylun’s gaze so he continued to wait for the scribe to speak.

“T-The temple is prepared and in a few days, we should have enough information about the Keeper to present the people with. I-I would like to ask that the Keeper demonstrate his power directly when he attends and if possible address the people directly...It may even motivate the soldiers in the military to train harder.”

“I don’t have a problem with it.” Ira easily agreed.

After seeing Ira’s agreement, Sylun’s intense gaze eased and she gave a satisfactory smile toward the scribe, “Excellent idea.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.” The Head Scribe sighed in relief before retreating to the side.

Ira was happy at the fact that he would only need a few more days to find a birth companion for Avery. Once he had the selected individual or individuals, he would make his way back to the Valkyrie’s hall immediately. He told Rhys that he would accompany her when she visited her parents, but if Avery’s condition changed drastically he would have to delay.

The proceedings continued on and all the while Ira wore an unfading grin.

…

Avery was in space, well, she was seeing an image of space. A sun and three moons revolved around her while she floated in the middle of the star-filled expanse. The speed of the revolutions around her continued increasing. Avery continued to watch while realizing that what she was seeing was the growing child inside of her. She paid careful attention since it was one of the more vivid dreams she had so far.

If it took a day for Ulth to travel around the sun, then what did it mean when the sun was traveling around her. Were days passing? If so then that meant they were passing in seconds. The sun made its way around her at a speed that made one dizzy and then it suddenly stopped. The age-old cycle between the sun and the moons had come to a pause.

Avery was confused and turned around only to see an object floating. Her body moved toward it on its own and as she grew closer it became recognizable. A small infant girl with black hair that matched the dark emptiness of space and eyes that were a soft yellow color.

Avery blinked a few times as she realized it was her own child floating in front of her. The two came together and Avery reached out to cradle her with hands that slightly trembled with emotion.

The infant girl looked up at Avery with an intelligence that was far beyond what an unborn child should have.

“Raveria,” Avery whispered as she gently held the girl in her arms. The Sun and the Moon began to spin around Avery and the young infant in her arms as if to show their happiness.