Face the Unknown

Serilda had been starting to worry as well, though not necessarily as much about Gren. The younger hound was certainly starting to grow much larger than any Star Wolf that Serilda had ever seen, and it was obvious that the magic Mythal had force fed the hound had effected the animal in more than one way. It was odd, but not unsurprising given the oddities of magic and Kingdom Darkness’s nature.

Rather, what she’d been starting to worry about was when Mythal would approach her about completing the bond between master and hound. From what Serilda had observed, she believed that Gren was ready to undergo his final trial. However, that wasn’t her call to make. While she was sure that Mythal thought the wolf was ready as well, he still had yet to ask her about the bonding. Was he afraid? She couldn’t think he would have any reason to be, and yet she had a feeling he was hesitant to move forward.

Ultimately, she chalked it up to the half of Mythal’s nature that was connected to Kingdom Darkness. They knew now that there was a genetic part of him that shunned and even feared meaningful connections of any kind, and she presumed this could be some lingering remnants of those instincts. As such, she never really stopped to question it, knowing that if it were something different Mythal would come to her about it on his own time.

So when he told her he was finally ready to attempt to complete Gren’s training, Serilda fully believed that he and Gren both were ready to move forward, come hell or high water. Once they had time enough to be alone and address the issue, Serilda joined him in the living room of his house. Rather than sitting next to him like she normally did, she placed herself across from him where they could face one another fully. Xiuhcoatl trotted in and hovered over her brother, giving the larger wolf a sniff before flopping on Gren and trying to wake him up to play. While Xiuh typically behaved in a manner that most people associated with a well disciplined hunting dog, when she was allowed to relax she was just as playful and feisty as her younger brother was.

“Completing a Star Wolf’s training isn’t much more different than most of the training you’ve already done with Gren,” she told Mythal softly. “In fact, you’re going to approach it in the same fashion, going through your normal commands like any other practice you’ve done with one another. But this time, it will be more difficult.”

She paused for a moment, trying to collect her words and find the right way to explain the process and emphasize it to him. Serilda had never had to teach it to someone else, and had grown up learning all of this at a young age. “The most important factor in your relationship with Gren is mutual trust. You must be able to fully trust that Gren is going to obey the commands that you give, just as Gren must fully trust that your judgement in any given situation is the correct call to make -- no matter what that command is, or how little sense it makes to him at the time. Even if it’s something that Gren does not want to do.”

Despite how simple she was making this sound, the tone of her voice betrayed that the nature of this task was to do exactly that: to command Gren to do something that the wolf would most likely balk at doing, if not flat out refuse to do. Gently, she rolled up her sleeves to reveal her forearms. It seemed forever ago at this point that she had received the wounds that still resided there on now fully healed but still visible scars. Mythal had seen the marks shortly after she had gotten them, during their trip to Minstrel when they’d wound up at a ball with Atha, Atma, and Portha. The darkness slayer had not asked about them at the time, presumably because they still weren’t as close to one another as they would one day become. And even since then he had never brought them up, as there had never really been a reason to.

But the scars were still there, the bite marks she’d received from an animal with a jawline that might now be starting to look eerily reminiscent to the shape of a wolf’s. “Go about your training as usual, and when you are going through your combat commands, you must instruct Gren to attack you.” Serilda kept her blue eyes firmly leveled on him to express the seriousness of the instructions, though there was no hiding the muted pain that still lingered in her gaze. “This cannot be half assed. He must attack you as viciously as any other target that you would normally point him toward. He must understand that his instruction is to attempt to take your own life. You, in turn, must fight him with equal respect.”

Meaning, of course, that he would have to battle Gren with all his might as well. She didn’t have to say that this was a trial that was going to be painful in more ways than just physically. Serilda knew how deeply Mythal cared for the hound, and how much he loathed anyone that would harm or hurt an animal outside of the necessity of hunting for food. This was going to be a struggle for him, perhaps even more than it had been for her. “There must be blood… but only you will know when enough has been spilled for you to call off the attack. You will know this has happened when you can feel Gren’s emotions as if they were your own. However, there is a catch.”

There’s always a catch. “The reason you have to be certain that Gren is ready is because you cannot tolerate a refusal on his part to obey the task you have given him. He must obey you within three times of you giving the command. If he refuses to obey you after three times… he has shown that he will never obey that command. No matter what, Gren is still your companion and your hound for life. Failure to pass this training does not mean he will leave you or that your relationship will change. Rather, it means that it will stay the same as it is now. If he does not pass this training, the two of you will never be fully bonded.”