Soulforge Legacy Series

Slowly the dark of sleep faded only to reveal nothing but darkness. Only, it wasn’t really the typical darkness. Instead of black, everything was some kind of gray with only the darkest parts of the room being pitch black.

Which was weird, but honestly, I could use magic so maybe it was just an ability that manifested while I slept or something. Especially as it wasn’t the weirdest thing that caught my attention.

No. That honor belonged to the fact that I was on what looked like a dog bed of all things. That is, if a dog bed could be big enough to hold a whole pack.

As I moved to get up, to get out of the place before whoever owns this bed returned, I found myself stumbling. Not only was I closer to the ground than I usually was, I couldn’t seem to stand up.

The last thing I could remember was running through the forest. The happiness and freedom in the memory alone was enough to bring a smile to my face. Still, there was something about that memory that was off. Everything moved too fast and my turns were too sharp.

Though, as I recalled racing around a massive wolf and latching onto his tail I finally realized why everything seemed so off. After all, Kitsune could transform and I had to learn sometime. And unlike the wolf, I wasn’t all that surprised my fox form was smaller than my humanoid one. The form also explained the whole gray vision thing.

Sure the colors were there while I raced through the woods. But out there I had light. From what I could tell, there was almost no light in this room. Sort of reminding me of the time I had managed to make makeshift blackout curtains while I worked the graveyard shift.

So I knew a bit of what happened before I passed out. That was all well and good but now I had no clue where I was or how to get out of here. Something I had to deal with so I could get back to my unit before they started training.

A soft huff of air washed over my fur. Not only was it sudden and not something a tool would just give off, but it was warm and moist. Both pointed to something that I didn’t want to be true. Especially if it was who I thought it would be, given how I had toyed with him only a few hours ago.

As my head turned toward the source of the air, I found myself looking at the only objects in sight that seemed to have any color. Both orbs were watching me, waiting for me to do something.

Probably so he could use it as an excuse or something. All in an attempt to get me back. Good luck dear alpha as there was no way I would make any of this easy on you.

A tiny bit of mana flared into my muscles as I pushed off the dog bed. Moving as fast as I could, not toward the door that just so happened to be cracked open.

Nor even toward the completely open door with what looked like a bathroom on the other side. No, I moved to get under the bed. A space that looked barely big enough for me to fit under it.

At least, that was the case when I was in my humanoid form. In my fox form I slid right under with room to spare. Just in time too as something gave a light thud as it hit the ground behind me.

Now I just had to figure out what to do next. While I was safe from him reaching me while I was down here, I also couldn’t see him. Which meant that I was at a bit of a disadvantage now.

What to do? Sure I could make for the door. Pump as much power through my body as I could. But something told me that wouldn’t work. That he wouldn’t let me get away.

Wait, what if I used a spell to distract him. But what spell? It couldn’t be a fireball. That was too flashy and way too obvious. Not that most of my other spells would work. Not when it was this dark. No, I needed something new.

Hmm. Actually, what if I did use fire, just not in a normal way? Well, not in the way I have been using it. Sure, it wasn’t how I had been trained, but it wouldn’t be the first time I had used it to do something different. Only last time I used it to move heat around. To cool a part down while heating another up.

But where to get the heat. It wasn’t like I could freeze a section of the room nor did I want to use all my mana for the spell. Especially as I didn’t know how much it would take.

Wait, what if I layered the hot and cold masses of air? That would push the effect even further. Theoretically I could even create nearly perfect copies of people and things. Of course that would require a ton of training. Something I didn’t have time for right now. But still something to keep in mind as it would be a decent tool when fighting. So long as it worked that is.

A trickle of mana streamed out of me and into a spot not five feet away. It stripped the heat out of the air, returning it to me just as I pushed it back out. As fast as I could, I moved heat from one place to another. Building up layer upon layer of cold and hot air.

Then, with a bit of mana to encase the whole thing, I had the blob move out from under the bed. For it to race toward the bathroom.

A massive thump of something hitting the floor was all I needed to know that the wolf had taken my bait. Without wasting a moment, I raced to the door and out of the room. Not stopping as I bounded around the floor, looking for some way out.

Soon enough, I found myself in a large room. And standing there in nothing but a pair of jeans was the alpha. “Seems like the little fox has some energy she would like to burn.” He sounded a bit excited. I just rolled my eyes.

Unfortunately for me, he was blocking the only path I had yet to take. One that likely led out of the building. Well, that is unless one of the doors behind me hid a set of stairs behind them. But given the lack of any signs indicating their location, I doubted it.

Of course, that wasn’t the worst part of my current position. Because I was in my fox form, I couldn’t talk. And I couldn’t shift without appearing naked. While quite a few people had shifted in the open last night, I wasn’t one of those people before my little change, so why would I be fine showing skin now?

Not really given much of a choice, I turned around and made for his room. Thankfully he was silent as he followed me. Though, he did stop in the bedroom as I continued onto the bathroom.

With the door shut, I pushed a tendril of will at my orb. Asking for it to shift me back into my human form. All the while not knowing if it would work or not. I mean, the possibility was fairly good that it would, but there was always that chance.

Mana flared out of my body as it poured into the orb. It twisted and turned before whipping around my body. Pushing and pulling, twisting and compressing each muscle and bone. I watched as my muzzle retracted.

A muscle spasm sent me to my side as the rest of my body followed along. Soon enough, I found myself on the cold tile in the pitch dark. There wasn’t even a hint of gray to be seen. It was also deathly quiet. Something I hadn’t had since I woke up on Xander’s bed.

I reveled in the lack. The only thing I could have done without was the sore muscles. By sore, I mean everything felt like it was a combination of too tight and bruised at the same time. Then again, given how I was tossed around like a rag doll yesterday, I shouldn’t be all that surprised.

With a groan, I made to get up. To get dressed. It wasn’t like the day would wait for me. A bit of a weird issue made itself know as I put on one of my new panties. These things were made with a small, enchanted hole in them for my tail to fit through. Only I couldn’t find it.

No I wasn’t talking about the hole. That was easy to find. It was just below the waistband after all. Even in the dark it was easy to find. No. I meant my tail. It just wasn’t there. Which made no god damned sense.

Not that I was going to ask the alpha to confirm that I wasn’t insane. I would just have to figure it out later. For now, I needed to get dressed. With everything on, I opened the door to find the room beyond completely lit up. And sitting on his bed, looking a bit bored, was Liam.

His eyes widened a little in surprise at my appearance. “I didn’t realize you had a third form.”

“What are you talking about?” I rolled my eyes as I didn’t have a third form. Instead of answering with words, he pointed at where my ears sat. I didn’t even realize what I was doing as one of my hands rose to check the top of my head.

And I found nothing. No antlers. No horns. No extra flesh. Only hair.

It took me a minute of feeling around to realize what he was talking about. And the moment I did, I raced back into the bathroom. This time I turned on the light as I looked toward the now visible mirror.

Staring back at me through the mirror was a human woman. No fox ears. No tail. Sure my hair was an odd blue and my eyes seemed alight with blue fire. But otherwise I was no different than any other human out there.

With the evidence in front of me, I suddenly recalled that the orb did mention something about a human form. I just thought it was something like an odd artifact. Some developers mistake. While this wasn’t a game, the system was still made by a god and even they were bound to make a few mistakes.

Then again, how else could Kitsune hide amongst humans. Or trick them as they had in the stories? So maybe it wasn’t something the system added. It would also explain how no one knew who the other Kitsune were. They could just hide in plain sight after all.

With a shake of my head, I returned to the bedroom. “Look, I have to get back before training starts.”

He didn’t argue with me about staying or anything else. Instead, he gestured toward the door. Which made no sense given how he had practically chased me down. At my confused look he smiled as he spoke. “I just wanted to make sure that you were fine before I let you leave. I mean, it wouldn’t do for you to return from learning to shift only to find you cannot shift back.”

That actually made a ton of sense. It also made me respect him a bit more. Not that I would ever tell him that. Instead, I chose to change topics. “So what is an alpha?” With a quick handwave to stop whatever he was about to spout, I quickly added “I know what an alpha is in stories but those don’t exist in wolf packs. At least not according to all the information I read.”

“And you would be right.” He smiled as we made our way through the building. “But the difference between wolves and shifters is one of power. While a wolf would kill you for food or territory, shifters can just hunt you for no other reason than they want to.”

Liam took a second to think about how to phrase something. “Think of the pack hierarchy as the shifter form of government. One where the strongest help the rest keep control. Keep everyone in check.”

“Wait, are you something like the president of every shifter in the city.”

Laughter rolled out of him at my words. “I am no more the president than the rest of the city council rules the city. Sure we help the populace under us, but give someone enough strength or power and we can be replaced.”

He made it sound like there were a few people out there stronger than him. That they could just come in at any time and replace him but were choosing not to. Likely because they were too busy, too lazy, or just didn’t want to be tied down. And I didn’t blame them.

Before I knew it, we were outside. “I assume you can find your way back?” While I had a good guess, I wasn’t going to ask for a guide or even for directions. If I got lost, oh well. It would give me a chance to learn the layout of this place. “Come back any time you want to shift in peace or just to get away from everything.”

With those words, and a nod of my head, I set off. Walking down the path through the forest.