QuebecoisWolf

My contribution for this issue is "Virtues of a Chevalier."

In the distant future, human society has collapsed and empires of werewolves have grown in their place.  As a matriarchal werewolf species, the most powerful females form the noble class who lord over their mates, lesser werewolves, and the mutant peasantry alike.  The greatest of their number are the Chevaliers of the Potomac Empire, a warrior class of the richest noblewomen and their daughters.  Proud, peerless warriors who follow the warrior code of the Virtues, Chevaliers fight from the beds of their cavalry trucks, clad in heavy armor and wielding the dreaded chainfang - a massive, weaponized chainsaw fitted with the teeth of a mutant alligator with a penchant for chewing through steel.  A chainfang is a true noblewoman's weapon: expensive beyond even a petty noble's means, heavy to the point that only the strongest of female werewolves can wield it, and incredibly dangerous, capable of slicing through both flesh and steel with ease, requiring a lifetime of training to ensure that it harms only the enemy.  And yet, in spite of possessing great wealth and powerful weapons, Chevaliers find themselves longing for the luxuries and fashion of the "Old World."  At the center of the Potomac Empire is Tional Harbor, an ancient city where the lights remain on, the buildings stand unbroken, and rich werewolves walk the street in their human skins, as if the world never ended.

The hero of our story is Dakota Pyrite, a Chevalier, who might be the elite of her society, but as a mere middling noble, she finds herself socially marginalized and a target of mockery.  By sheer luck, she meets Aurelia Tional, a princess, war hero, and Chevalier captain, as massive as she is impeccably dressed, clad in golden armor.  The two fall in love and Pyrite soon becomes her princess's Color Sergeant, finding a place where she truly belongs.  But as comfortable as they are in battle, an order to return to Tional Harbor forces them into a world of manners and luxury where Pyrite most certainly does not belong and Tional dreads her lord mother's plans for her.