A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"R— Right," Naeku nodded quickly, not wanting things to escalate. "You… heard from Uncle Enkai about what happened at the battle, I guess?"

"I did," Ankhur nodded, without taking his eyes off the strangers in his bedroom, but most of all the woman in Elora's arms. "Although Enkai didn't mention any third rankers among them? Can I assume that means it was actually she who defeated Aaron, and not the young man lying on that disc, like Enkai told me?"

"I… don't believe so?" his daughter muttered, a little hesitant. "I wasn't there for it, but I do believe it was him… After all, he also managed to deal that witch Lilith an incapacitating blow."

Instantly, a stunned silence filled the room. Everyone's eyes widened significantly. The shock they felt was enough for them to tear their gazes off of the intruders, to stare at Naeku instead.

They'd all seen how powerful Lilith was at one point or another. Neither Ankhur, nor Enkai stood a chance against her on their own, and yet this second ranker was able to deal her such a blow?

Unsurprisingly, Erik's allies all gained smug smirks. Even Seraphina wasn't immune to feeling pride at serving someone extraordinary. Yet, they also quickly remembered Erik's current state, causing them to deflate again.

Meanwhile, Elora was not inclined to stay on the side lines. She may be in someone else's home, and in the presence of people who she had no hope of defeating, but she still considered them somewhat beneath her.

"It was indeed my husband who defeated Aaron, and ensured Lilith will not bother us for a while," she nodded indifferently, with some haughtiness in her voice. Of course, she felt proud of Erik, she just didn't care if these people were impressed by him or not. They would bow before him eventually, and that was all that mattered to her.

Before anyone could answer, she continued, "Now, you can feel free to hear the details of what happened from Naeku, and I would be amenable to talking with you later about your current situation, but for now, I expect someone to show us a room. I wish to put my husband and mother-in-law to rest and begin to heal their wounds."

"What?!" the older couple's male half exclaimed indignantly, with narrowed eyes. "Who exactly are you to be giving orders around he—"

"Shut up, old man!" his partner interrupted him with an authoritative smack to the back of his head. Then she turned to look at Elora with wizened, old eyes, "Are you saying you can help our son, young lady?"

The mature woman with them, Enkai, and Ankhur's wives, had all noticed the same thing as his mother, and now looked at Elora with far less aggression. "Is that true?!" they all said at the same time, a little anxiously.

But Elora ignored them all, as did the bed-ridden Ankhur, who focused on something else entirely. "Mother-in-law…? Husband…?" he mumbled thoughtfully, before turning to Naeku. "Little Naeku, is he…?"

Naeku nodded with a small smile, "Yes, Father. Erik is Runa's son… He came to our lands to find his mother and save her if necessary…" she turned her gaze towards the still-unconscious werewolf, "Which he did, but not without receiving a heavy wound."

For a moment, a complicated expression passed over Ankhur's face, but then he and relaxed as he sank back into his pillows.

A spasm of pain passed through him for a moment, but then he continued in the same weak, somewhat rasping voice as before, "Alright… I've heard enough for now. Enkai, my friend, please show our honoured guests some rooms close to mine and make sure they have everything they ask for."

"W— Wait!" Nadia exclaimed, while directing a piercing gaze at Elora. "I demand you tell us what you know of Ankhur's condition!"

But Elora simply scoffed, and didn't even deign the woman with a glance, "You have no right to demand anything from me." Instead, she turned towards Enkai, "Room. Now."

Unsurprisingly, everyone was getting quite agitated due to her attitude, but Ankhur quickly settled the issue. "Enough!" he growled weakly. "Runa and her son are clearly in bad shape. Get them settled in, everything else can wait. Am I clear?!"

Despite his obvious lack of power, everyone quickly settled down, even though they continued glancing at Elora with unwillingness. Enkai, however, was loath to disobey the man he considered his big brother.

"Please, follow me," he told Elora and the others with a cold but formal expression, and then left the room. Without another word, Erik's allies followed.

As soon as they were gone, the Bastet-Seti family members all turned back to human form—now that there was only family in the room, their traditions allowed them to show their human face again.

Only Naeku remained in her werepanther form, for the simple reason that she wasn't currently wearing anything, unlike her family, who all wore stretchy clothes.

"Are you sure that was a good idea, son?" the only older man in the room frowned slightly. "I know you liked that Runa girl, we all did, but that doesn't prove her son's character, and certainly not of that insolent wife of his."

Ankhur sighed slightly, "I know you mean well, Father, but please remember that 'insolent woman' is still a third ranker, and deserves our respect. Not to mention that she can hear everything we say…"

Instantly, his father paled slightly as he remembered about a third ranker's omnisense. This man's name was Tarek, and he was no more than a first ranker, just like his wife, Ankhur's mother, Fatima.

Once in the past, he'd held the medallion that allowed him to become a first ranker despite Earth's un-awakened state, but when his son came of age, he passed the medallion on to Ankhur.

When the awakening came around, Ankhur was a first ranker in the prime of his life, which allowed him to reach the third rank relatively quickly. Unfortunately, Tarek and Fatima were already too old by then. They remained in the first rank, and, like many older people, Tarek was slow to get used to new things, like omnisense.
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Next to them, the mature woman chuckled with amusement, "Damn, Dad, even at the prime old age of eighty-two, you still manage to let your big mouth get you into trouble." This woman was Leila, Ankhur's younger sister, and an impressive mature beauty.

In response, Tarek just started to grumble incoherently about respect for the elderly, but there wasn't any real anger in his words, and the tension he just felt quickly left his body.

"Instead of speculate about our visitor's character, why don't we ask the person who's spent the last few days with them?" the wiser and calmer Fatima suggested, while turning her attention to Naeku.

At this point, Naeku, Nadia, and Amina had gone back to fussing over their weakened loved one, and barely listened to the other's conversation.

Ankhur, however, did. "Mother is right," he nodded gently. "Naeku? What is your impression of their character, and what exactly happened during your time with them?"