Baldwin Returns

Nathan was out in the night, taking some good air into his exhausted lungs. Shereena had given him quite too much work to do today, and it was only a matter of time before she called him to bed again. She would call his name with her honey flavored voice and thrust him against the soft bed of royalty.

Then she would pull of her royal wears, dispose of her royal jewelries which he made grab of her royal waist.

She would run her royal tongue down his common lips, and dig downwards for his common sword. With the royal grace of her highness, his royal sword would ensure some good sharpening, feeding her highness right into the depth of her mouth.

Shereena did all kinds of things with him, things Scorpio could only dream of. She had Nathan on her bed each night, and him only. Even after Scorpio agreed to lie to Daemon and his vampire guest, even when he denied that Clingy's name was really Nathan, Shereena had never looked at him the way she would look at Nathan. No matter how much he would try to impress her, Nathan knew that for some reason, the princess of the giants was in deep intoxication with him.

As he fantasized the drill, the feel and the aura, a shadow crept behind him. He noticed almost as once. If there was something he had gained in his travels with the princess Alorea of the night wolves, it was his faster instincts.

"Who is it?"

He turned around at alert, holding himself up and from the palace gigantic balcony where he had been rested earlier.

The shadow was coming from within the darkness. It was tall, and had a foxy movement as it came closer.

Nathan could tell from its terrifying aura. "A fox wolf..."

"Nice to meet you too, Nathan." Frey said as he walked out into the light.

"You... You are the leader of the foxes. You are not supposed to be here in this city, not to talk in the palace."

"The king has summoned me." Frey responded. "And I felt the need to enjoy the glorious view of this land from this towering height, as well as the scent of the nourished air as it breezes across the horizon. It helps me to think. I feel like you share the same cravings, is there anything you would like to think about?"

Nathan turned away carefully. "No. I just like to come here."

The truth was that the scarred man was right. Nathan had come out not just to enjoy the cook breeze of the higher air, but also to think about Shereena's plan. She had given him the responsibility of killing her own father, the strongest alpha at the time. How was he supposed to achieve that?

She had also promised him the throne as she would marry him instead of Scorpio, but it was still a task almost impossible. Daemon was a terrifying beast, strong and fierce. And now with four of the five claws in his possession, he would be even a hundred times stronger.

"I heard you delivered the claws of power to the alpha yourself." Frey noted, as if he was admiring Nathan's achievements.

"I did what he had commanded." Nathan smirked, trying to avoid Frey's suspicious scans.

"But how come there are only four true claws instead of five? What happened to the fifth claw?" Frey inquired again, almost curious.

Nathan was taken aback by this. Nobody else knew about the little smart game he and Shereena had played on the claws they presented to Daemon.

When he returned to Shereena that night, bearing the box of claws in his possession, they soon realised that one of the claws was missing. And that they were only four our of five.

So when Shereena decided to present the claws to her father, she took away the fifth claw from a werewolf prisoner whom she tortured. That was the last claw with which she replaced the lost one.

Daemon had no idea that the last claw was a fake one and that was the reason he could not combine the powers of the claws yet. If he combined the powers of the claws, he would control everyone in the land and beyond. But because the claws were not complete, their powers could only be used individually. But this was a secret, how did Frey know about it?

"I do not understand what you are saying.." he feigned ignorance, ready to abscond from further questioning. But he was stopped again the moment he decided to take a step, with Frey standing before him once again.

"I will be straight to the point, slave boy." He continued.

"You and your mistress, the princess. I hear ominous things about you and what you are planning against the throne. Just to let you know, whatever it is, I will be here to stop it."

His eyes glowed as he towered about Nathan who could only stare back in astonishment. He could only wonder and wonder again...Who was the person who gave Frey all these information?

Could it be Scorpio? Did he finally realize that Shereena was only using him and she would never give him a chance?

Could it be the cloaked vampire who attacked him in the palace? But there was very little that vampire or anyone else knew about his secret plans with Shereena.

Then who could it be? He searched fervently, but nothing came to him.

As Frey was about to leave, he said one last thing. "Once again, nice to meet you... Nathan".

Then a bell rang on Nathan's face. He had totally overlooked it the first time and for some reason, he did not realize how weird it was. But when Frey called him by that name a second time, he saw that he had been tested the first time.

"Nathan..."

How did the scarred man know his real name?

"You look suprised." Frey noted, coming closer.

"I am. Because there is no one by that name."

"Is that true? Because you answered just fine just some minutes ago. Or did you happen to not hear me that one time?"

As he came closer, he seeked to attack Nathan but he stood his guard up, ready in defense. As the forceful blow landed on Nathan, he held a two fists close in defense. Surprisingly, this worked a lightening strike towards Frey.

The scarred leader of the fox wolves flew backwards from the impact, landing strong against the wall and dropping onto the floor. His collision with the wall left a crackled scar on the string and magnificent wall of the palace.

As Frey managed to slowly return to his feet, he grew even angrier.

"What are you?" He growled, edging closer to Nathan in his wolf form.

But yet again, Nathan was able to send him tumbling backwards with the lightening strikes.

**********************

Down in the land of the night wolves, the gates of the kingdom opened to welcome a friend of a long while.

"It is the old chief! It is the old chief!!"

Noises and screams started and rose higher and higher as the people gathered to see Baldwin. They could not believe their ears. Baldwin was back? That would mean the princess was back too.

The news reached the palace in no time. And the king and queen were soon at the edge of the palace looking out to see the return of their daughter and Baldwin. They thought that it was exactly as the wizard had promised. Okrapticuiz was right in his predictions afterall.

But there were no horses in the distance. Instead, an old wolf was seen running towards the gate, with a letter hanging by its fangs.

"An old wolf. It is really Baldwin." King Micheal said. He could never mistake Baldwin in his wolf form for anyone else. Back when they were still younger, they used to travel the world together. Thus he knew whom it was the moment he set his eyes on him.

"But what about Alorea?" Marrianne searched for her daughter. Or maybe her wolf form. But she remembered that Alorea had no wolf when she left. Flur had disappeared mysteriously. Unless Alorea had found a solution during her journey.

As Baldwin entered the gates, his shape shifted back to the old man that he was, covered immediately by the soldiers around.

He was accompanied to the palace where all the chiefs were waiting to hear the news he had brought from the far lands of the giants.

"What about the princess Alorea? What about the rest of the peace party?"

Everyone asked the same questions. But the answer was vague to them.

When finally, Baldwin appeared before his majesty, everyone waited silently for the words of his mouth.

"The princess did not come with me", he declared. "But here is a letter from her."