The next day mostly passed uneventful, the wolves were looking around the area, searching for our hideout, but they failed to find it for most of the day. Inside our valley, we relaxed and trained our magic, as there was no way to spar. I had managed to create a spell-chant for my Shadowcloak and taught it to Rai, letting him practise some magic. He needed more Astral Power to cast, but it worked quite well, even without strong mental attributes. He would never be a powerful caster, but I had a couple of ideas that would allow him to make things work. Not enough to use it as a serious mode of attack, but strong enough to support from range, using curses and deception. I would have to look into getting him a crossbow, to add a ranged-option. Or maybe look into different spell-schools. There was a possibility that he was gifted in one of the other schools, but I had no idea how to verify that.

I was pondering the possibilities when I felt my concealment ward warp, disturbed by some outside force. Using the shadows around me, I used a scrying-spell to look out of the ward and the scene made me grateful that I was already sitting, or it would have knocked me down with laughter.

The ward was warping and slightly shimmering, as something passed through it. One of the stupid wolves had apparently decided to mark the territory right at that spot and his marking was disturbing the ward. A nearby wolf was looking at it with suspicion and gave of growls and barks, calling attention to it. If I would had to place a quess what caused our wards to break and the valley to be found, a wolf following the call of nature was not on the list. Stupid mutt.

“They found us.” I told the others. “Lenore, how about you fly out and take a look?”

Lenore was not terribly happy to be asked out of her Hallow but she obliged, as she always did. I think her growling was mostly for show and to tease me. I could have looked outside using scrying magic, but that took a lot more Astral Power, something I wanted to conserve if the wolves attacked.

As Lenore started to fly, we moved to the wall, Sigmir standing in the gap with Rai right behind her and Adra and I on the wall beside her. If the wolves needed a push to engage, I could channel spells through Lenore, giving them something else to think about. Outside, the howling called the wolves together, calling them to their cornered prey. Well, we would see who was the prey and who the hunter.

Watching through Lenore’s eyes, I saw that the wolf-pack was quite large, maybe thirty of the grey wolves and five of the larger black wolves. But most imposing was their leader, a huge black wolf, easily the size of a small pony and shrouded by an aura of menace. Not something I wanted to face on the open field but manageable in the confines of the valley. It would depend on the strength of the big wolf, and it’s ability to bring that strength to bear.

But seeing them gave me another idea, the last time we were hunted was because one of them got away. If I could make sure that none of them got out of the valley, it should buy us more than enough time to fully get away.

“Lenore, can you inspect the snowdrifts on the cliffs above the valley?” I asked her, thinking that an avalanche would allow me to easily seal the valley with a mountain of loose snow. She flew over, and I saw that the snow on the cliffs was piled high, giving me an insane idea. Once, in an old movie, I had seen the action-hero throw two grenades onto a glacier, triggering an avalanche and riding it down into the valley. If necessary, I might do something along those lines. It was just insane enough that it might work.

The wolves outside gave a loud howl, all howling together in a display of unity and intimidation before the shaggy, grey wolves started to run into the valley. The smooth ice made their charge falter in an almost embarrassing manner, their claws failed to gain full purchase on the ice and they tumbled down, causing a puppy pile at the mouth of the valley. If those puppies were not hellbent on killing and devouring us, it would have been incredibly cute. But the snarling furball was sadly not cute at all.

The wolves sorted themselves out and started to slowly and with great effort crawl up the valley, far from their earlier charge. Looking over to Adra, we decided with a shared nod that it was time to light a small fire under them. Adra started to draw back her bow, creating arrows from her Astral Power and taking aim, while I calmly drew the runes for my trusty icicle in front of me. It was almost the same spell I had first used, especially against the grey, low-level wolves there was no need to waste Astral Power on creating fancy magic.

Adra’s bow twanged and my magic formation flashed as they sent their deadly projectiles towards the crawling wolves. They tried to dodge but only succeeded in scrabbling a little before two of them were impaled. Twice more, Adra and I struck, before the wolves abandoned their attack, retreating back outside the valley.

What happened next would be crucial, either they had something more in their paws or they had no chance to get us out of the valley. At that point, we might be forced to either sally out and attack them, or leave the valley in the night, climbing the cliffs. Neither felt like a good idea, so I was curious about their next step.

And they did not disappoint. The huge, black wolf moved to the mouth of the valley and it seemed to grow and glow for a moment. A powerful aura swept over us and the wolf let out a deep, powerful howl, echoing through the valley. But it was not only sound that echoed, the howl was accompanied by a magical shockwave, travelling up the valley and shattering the ice. Even the wall Adra and I were standing on had a few small cracks in it, but nothing too damaging.

I felt stunned for a second or two, my senses scrambled by the immense power that beast had just used and it seemed as if the others were not faring much better. Lenore was luckily on the cliffs above, or she might have fallen from the sky. Rai, on the other hand, had been knocked down, sitting on his behind and blinking in confusion.

After Sigmir had shaken off the effect of the howl, she relayed a message from Ylva, who had remained in her Hallow. “That wolf, it’s strong. It has crossed the first divide and is quite closely related to Freki.”

“Dearheart, she thinks that that wolf might help her to cross the first divide, if we manage to capture it alive.” Sigmir told me. That sounded quite interesting, getting Ylva over the first divide would be incredibly useful, not to mention that it might allow her to add even more strength to Sigmir, when she was in her Hallow.

A plan formed in my mind, contingent on getting all wolves into the valley. As the grey wolves charged again, the uneven ground allowed them to gain traction, I asked Lenore to take to the air so she was able to see the remaining wolves.

Using her sight I started channelling Darkness-magic through her, shaping it to attack their minds with a curse of Madness. It was quite similar to things I had done before, but strengthened by the new abilities I had acquired. The five black wolves outside succumbed first, their eyes glowing red and their growls turning savage, before they joined their grey brethren in their charge. The huge wolf held out longer, but I managed to get close to its mind, feeding it whispers of greatness, that devouring us would allow it to claim the bloodline of Fenris, making it stronger than ever before.

The maddening whispers seemed to work, the wispy aura around it increased and it started to make its way into the valley. Not charging all-out as its lesser brethren did, but a regal, stalking motion.

Skill increased You increased your skill: Darkness Rune-Mastery [64/100] Skill increased You increased your skill: Darkness Magic [43/100] Skill increased You increased your skill: Mind Magic [10/60]

After a short glimpse to my skill-gains, I gathered myself for the next step. Our enemies were gripped with madness and hell-bent on devouring us. So far, everything was going as planned.