A Werewolf In Under-Town

"Love, unless a genie is gonna come out of there, I don't see how this helps you win the bet."

"Bet, shmet. I just won the game, baby!"

Shaggy gave the stone oil lamp a dubious look. They were seated at a table in the Viper's Den. The place was packed as per usual. But the founding member of the Legion had their own table on the first floor. Just below them, Slink and his team were hard at work counting up the credits they had all stolen.

He was sure his win was secure after hitting three damn vaults in one night. But Slink, Ren, and Dave had given him a run for his money. Although Dave's win had come with a surprising edition. A Hero, named Dino-something, had chased Dave all the way down into Under-Town. Thankfully, they had eliminated the threat before he set a spawn point. But Ren and Dave's teams were still scouring the underground city, just in case.

"You don't get it," Levy said, bringing his attention back up to his wife. "This is an EMPTY Artifact. With the right spells and proper placement, it can increase the output of my Tower several times over. Making me practically unstoppable and our new cavern into a fortress."

Shaggy raised an eyebrow and then waved a hand at the lamp. "Really?"

"Yes! I lucked out so hard when Rita mentioned that vault. It only cost me one of my mages too, and the others are so enthralled with me I could ask them to summon demons and they probably would."

"Hey, what did we say about demon summoning?"

"Try to cut down?"

Shaggy snorted and shook his head. Levy was clearly delighted at her find and although he didn't see how an empty magical artifact would help, he was happy for her. Plus, it meant there was one less opponent in their bet. Levy sniffed across the table and he looked up to see her making an exaggerated, sad face.

"All you can think about is that stupid bet, huh? Sniff-sniff,"

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "Dear, whoever wins doesn't have to pay the guild tax out of their stolen goods. That could be huge."

"My lamp is huge too!"

"Yes, yes. You have the biggest lamp in the room, my love."

"Don't make fun of me. Especially after you got poor Milo killed. Oh, that poor young man!" Levy placed the back of her hand on her forehead and leaned back in her chair.

"You didn't even realize he was gone until I told you. I even had to remind you of his name."

Levy shrugged unapologetically. "Meh. That's the dangers of being the number 2 Protection Specialist. Want to stand out? Be number 1."

Shaggy shook his head. He wasn't surprised that his wife had saved the best for herself. That was just a good idea. Milo had been a great help in getting into the vaults, anyway. Seth was a little depressed at loosing a friend, but he was bouncing back just fine. Of course, Ephemara's new trick was also taking a lot of the Pack's attention.

He looked around the room until he found the members of his pack. Ephe was showing off her new ability by transforming her hand into its wolf form and then back again. Rita, Sybil, and Vick seemed genuinely happy for their pack mate. Tom was a little jealous, which was fueling his own attempts at a half-shift. Shaggy could feel that Cekrass, Stanley, and the Bug Brothers were all outside the bar, sparring. Ephemara's gains had made them all want to achieve the new goal. He was looking for Seth when Levy stuck her head into his view.

"Ah-ha! Your wife is over here, pouring her heart out and your lusting after your other women. I see how it is, you anime protag!"

"Levy… we both know I'm not dense enough to be in an anime. Besides, I can literally feel the Pack having a good time. It's not my fault."

"Uh-huh, and you just never learned to shut that connection out?" Levy asked, narrowing her eyes.

Shaggy shrugged and sipped his drink. Levy snorted and waved a hand, a purple dome appearing around them both. He even felt his connection with the pack go fuzzy. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at his wife's coy expression.

"Someone is feeling neglected."

Levy rubbed a finger over the rim of her glass before meeting his gaze. "Not really. I just want a moment with my husband. Is that so bad?"

There was an odd twitch in his wife's facial features and her eyes cut down to the artifact again. Shaggy raised an eyebrow in question, but Levy simply maintained a smile and cut her eyes at the stone lamp again. Confused, Shaggy reached for the artifact with his free hand. As he did, Levy waved her own hand again, strengthen the surrounding dome both. His fingers hovering over the lamp, Shaggy looked up at his wife, a question in his eyes. She gave the barest of nods before his fingers raked over the side of the lamp.

A surge of power centered on the lamp itself burst forth across the table. The energy wobbled the sides of his wife's dome and the table splintered dangerously. Shaggy tried to let go of the lamp, but his fingers were locked in as a notification window popped into his view. But he was too preoccupied with checking on Levy that he simply closed it out.

His wife was grinning like a mad-woman, her purple eyes sparkling. The burst of magical power had scattered her long hair all over her shoulders and front. But she didn't care. Instead, she was watching Shaggy like a hawk. Which told him she had suspected something like this. Sighing to himself, he held up the stone lamp. His fingers were still glued to its surface.

"Honey… what have you made me do?"

"Did Xang call out?"

"What? Why the hell would he… call out? What the hell did I just do?"

Levy rolled her eyes, muttering to herself. "Probably closed the window… Shaggy, honey, you are the Champion of the Blood God and you just touched an Artifact of Power. Don't you think your patron would find that interesting?"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I would. If I had any idea what the fuck that meant, Love. Would YOU mind telling me instead?"

Levy, surprisingly, summoned her black wooden staff and looked around at her dome. The purple walls were still intact and Shaggy could feel his pack just beyond. His moment of confusion had clearly summoned his pack. They were surrounding Levy's dome like a bunch of bodyguards.

"An Artifact is a channel through which a patron deity can exert their will. They empower the item with a portion of their power and bless its protectors. Normally, any Witch of Korrigan's would be demanded to hand the item over to her. Instead, I brought it here in the hopes that Xang would take an interest. Did he?"

Shaggy grumbled, but brought up his notification screen.

Notification

You have touched an item of power. The Artifact [Stone Oil Lamp] is empty. Would you like to summon your Patron?

[Yes/No]

"Doesn't look like it. It's asking if I want to ping the big guy."

"Well, hurry the fuck up and do it. I'd rather give it to the Blood God than have the Korrigan breathing down my neck for it."

Shaggy shuddered at the thought and clicked yes in the notification window. Suddenly, the air in their little dome went still. The light around them died and all that shone through the darkness was Levy's dome and her staff. He carefully placed his hand and the lamp on the table as a gust of air swept by them both. Levy shivered at the air, but to Shaggy the wind felt warm. Like a blast of hot air off the desert floor.

A trickle of sound filled their little bubble and both Shaggy and Levy searched for its source. It took them some time until they found it. The underside of the cracked wooden table was bleeding. Dark red blood poured out onto the floor and Levy hopped to her feet to get away. Her staff and the dome flared with even more power as she channeled her magic. Shaggy remained seated as a familiar, deep, booming voice echoed around them.

"HAHAHAHA! She is a fighter as well," said Xang's voice.

"Yeah, I kinda like that about her." Shaggy responded, giving his wife a wink.

Levy scoffed but remained ready as the pool of blood started to form into a person. Its features remained smooth, but a seven-foot tall humanoid now filled one side of the table. Shaggy felt a weight settle over him as Xang's bloody body fully formed itself. Levy glared at the good like an irate cat. But Shaggy felt oddly comfortable in the God's presence. Probably a little too comfortable.

"So… how ya been?" Shaggy asked blithely.

"You still have no decorum when it comes to acting like a Champion."

"I don't think you'd like me half as much if I did."

"We'd never know unless you try."

"Hmm…" Shaggy said noncommittally.

Xang's bloody avatar turn its feature-less face toward the item in Shaggy hand and tilted its head curiously. "Quite the thing you have there."

"Isn't it? My wife says that you can bless this with your power or something?"

"Ahhhh. It is an Icon. How interesting. I haven't had one of those in a long time. Few wish to pray to the God of Blood. Is that why you called me?"

Shaggy nodded, but Levy had recovered her voice. Getting the Avatar's attention, she added.

"I wish to make it the focal point of my Witch's Tower. Something to enhance and protect us."

"And something to enhance your own power, no doubt."

Levy shrugged, not arguing with that assessment. Xang snorted, which sent a wave of power through their little space. Shaggy remained still, but the effect clearly buffeted Levy quite a bit. He got to his feet and hurried to give his wife a hand as Xang's avatar watched. A feint hint of amusement filled Shaggy's mind as his patron deity regarded them. The avatar looked down at the lamp still glued to Shaggy's fingers and reached out a limb.

A trail of blood sprung forth from the Avatar's arm and made contact with the lamp. As it did, their small world began to shake and Levy concentrated on holding the dome in place. Xang's voice echoed from everywhere as the God asked.

"Would you be my Head Priestess then, little Drow? Devoted to blood and the elimination of my enemies?"

"Truly? I'd rather be a Champion if I had a choice." Levy said through gritted teeth, the world still shaking.

"Ha! You'd have no worry in that regard. My Priestesses are not cowards that hide behind walls. They should bath in the blood of their enemies."

"Yeah, then, that sounds cool." Levy said casually, the stone on her staff flickering.

Xang's voice now echoed in their small space. His avatar was being sucked into the lamp in Shaggy's hand. The God laughed as the blood was sucked down into the stone artifact. When the last of the blood body was gone, Xang's presence in the room weakened and Levy seemed to relax. Shaggy pulled her to her feet carefully.

"Place the Icon in the tower. Then devote yourselves to the Blood God. Hmph, a Champion and a Priestess. These are interesting times."

Shaggy shuddered as the Blood God's attention shifted away from them. The lights came back on and the lamp finally dropped from his hand. Its gray stone body was now blood red. Levy snatched the lamp out of the air before it hit the ground and cradled it within her robes. As she did, she leaned back against Shaggy's chest and sighed.

"That was rough."

"If you say so. I just stood here." She slapped his broad chest as she dropped the shield spell around them and the sound of the bar filled the room.

Shaggy's Pack were on them in an instant. Ephemara and Rita surged toward Levy as Cekrass pulled Shaggy to his feet. Questions were coming from all around, as shouts from the bar were everywhere. Apparently, what had happened hadn't gone unnoticed. Shaggy tried to raise his hands for quiet, but his Pack were too amped up. Combined with the general discomfort of the bar, calming things down was going to take a while.

Reaching out, Levy gripped his hand and squeezed. Shaggy gently squeezed back as he tilted his head to the side. Indicating that they should hurry back to their Cavern. Levy nodded at his unspoken words and started to move in that direction. Shaggy used the Pack Link to have his pack create some space. Surrounded by all ten of his pack, he and Levy hurried down into the basement and through the winding tunnels.

They reached the magical pink gateway in record time and left a message saying they were dealing with something. If Slink or the others wanted to reach them, they'd be back home. With that done, Shaggy held his wife's hand and stepped through the portal. He still only had a basic idea of what they'd just done. But something told him Xang, the God Of Blood, was going to be a more permanent fixture in their gaming lives.