Meowlynn stared at her sleeping companions. After they left Rolivish’s shop Gene had realized the team needed sleep before the coming fight and since it was early morning, they would wake up before mid-afternoon.

Being an elf meant she didn’t have to sleep. Which is why she would sometimes make eye contact with Ciylia. Even though they had similar motivations, the ranger annoyed Meowlynn. It wasn’t that she had a personal grudge against the wood elf, but she found the woman’s tactics unrefined, dirty, and troublesome. Not to mention that having the thief that didn’t belong to the group in the first place meant less money for the wizard when it came time to share the profits.

Breaking eye contact from the lesser elf, Meowlynn went back to scanning the room they were in. It was a simple barracks with bunk beds and tiny chests to store your belongings. This was the room in the Hunt that members could sleep and it was across from the room that the Jellybeans were in, where they got their silvered weapons.

Another thing that was bothering the higher born elf was the fact that Aliya had some sort of secret mission. As if she was chosen by a god to fulfill some role in the world. In truth, that must have been a load of dragon’s dung. Gods were too great to involve simple creatures like gnomes in their plans. They would ask the higher born elves, shadow elves for the dark gods, maybe dwarves or humans if they were lucky but never other races.

Also, did Aliya think she was better than the rest of the members of the group because she has some sort of kind of so-called sacred task? Was it so wrong that Meowlynn only wanted to earn gold and seek magic that she couldn’t learn in her boring life in her home? No, it wasn’t, the wizard had proved herself a valuable member of the team and she was confident that if no one else saw that, that Gene would. He was slowly proving himself a capable leader and therefore should be able to see the benefits of having a capable magic-user.

These kinds of thoughts passed through her mind for hours before the team awoke. “Everyone get ready, we need to move quickly so when can get to the forest beyond the farmer’s plot by nightfall,” Gene announced. Everyone gathered their things and headed out.

Moving quicker than usual forced Meowlynn to be more cautious about where she walked. Usually, she enjoyed moving at a slow pace and removing dirt and grime from her path using her utility cleaning spell while avoiding commoners. She didn’t like to get her clothes dirty and the only exception she made was for her hat. The small singe mark on the tip of point at the top of her hat was the first time she ever conjured a bolt of fire. There was also a barely noticeable warping on the black leather strap the circled the base of the hat. It was caused by a splash of acid that she used on a wolf too close to herself when the Jellybeans first were assigned the task from Tormund. Though all the usage of her witch-like hat had caused the point the bend down as if it was sad, she felt it added character to her otherwise pristine wardrobe.

As they hurried through Erend, she was doing her best to not pay attention to where she walked, she could always wash away the grim once they left the city’s gate. It was suffocating her with how difficult it was to break away from her habit but once she stepped out of the northern gate she panted. That was a mental exercise for the young woman.

The walk to the forest’s edge was uneventful while she mentally prepared herself to be attacked by werewolves. The thought was terrifying but she had faith that at least some of her more competent allies would assist her if she needed it.

Ciylia led the group into the forest since she was the ranger that could see in the dark. Gene had turned on his hooded lantern that swayed gently on his hip. Kira followed behind him as they were the only ones unable to see in the darkness. The rest of the group followed behind cautiously the wood elf.

“I’ve found some fresh tracks from a werewolf going deeper into the forest. I think it might be paroling the area near where we killed the member of its pack,” whispered Ciylia.

“If anything goes wrong, I’ll act as a diversion or bait if needed,” insisted Gene. “They watched me killed their brethren, so it’s my head that they’ll want. While I’ll distracting them, you’ll have to put them down.”

“Understood,” replied Kira. Fern patted the monk on his shoulder as a show of faith but Meowlynn did nothing. If he wanted to offer himself up as bait then why should it matter to her? She would do her job and assault the wolves just as he instructed. As long as they weren’t attacking her, she was happy.

They went through the dark forest until they came across a tiny clearing. This clearing had a giant tree in the centre of it that looked like it had absorbed too much of the water and nutrients for other plants besides grass to survive near it.

The moonlight illuminated this humongous from the rays that could penetrate the canopy above it. A weird flickering of light as the leaves closed and open gaps as the wind blow. Those with dark vision like Meowlynn could see the three figures that lurked by the tree. Meowlynn listed off the creatures in her mind but did it in the tone of a child playing a game. “Wolf, wolf, tiger,” she muttered.

One of the werewolves was in the tree with a bow and arrows. The other wolf was creeping it’s way to the tree line, a bow at the ready as well. These creatures were armed for a fight unlike their brother from the other night. Finally, there was the tiger-like person that loomed in the giant hole in the tree. It also had a bow ready and a blade attached to a belt on its hip. This tree must have been their den.

Looking at these three predators, one thing was certain. They were aware of the group’s presence, of course with Gene shining like a lighthouse on a foggy day, who couldn’t notice. More importantly, they were looking to hunt and were out for revenge. Their eyes seemed fixed on Gene, but the wizard noticed that they were also scanning everyone else as well to see who the weakest were to pick off early. It was a simple morale destroying tactic.

Gene ran into the clearing to distract the beasts. An arrow from the werewolf in the tree sailed towards him only for it to be sidestepped. The moonlight above that beast brightened and started burning through the leaves like sunlight concentrated and directed through glass. The leaves didn’t catch on fire but almost became particles of dust. The wizard looked around for the source and saw it was Fern.

Ciylia ducked for cover behind a tree and tried to fire at the tiger just to lodge one of the limited silvered arrows into the giant tree that Meowlynn didn’t know the name of. What she did know is that thief let her as an easy target, one that was shot at by the beast that finally made its way into the tree line. The higher born elf dove to the ground and felt the wind as the arrow narrowly missed her. Not only that but now she was covered in grass and dirt.

She stood up, her anger and frustration were flaring. Meowlynn spotted that wolf bastard’s head peeking out from a bush. She wasn’t going to miss her target and she was going to pull that creature out of hiding. The tip of her wand lit up as a flame sat there like a candle before she shot it at the unfortunate piece of shrubbery.

The plant was set ablaze and the werewolf yelped as its fur was burnt. Meowlynn was ready to burn the whole forest down if that meant she could get her revenge. No one had the right to shoot an arrow at her.

Not far from the wizard, Kira shot an arrow at the beast in the tree. It cried in pain as a silver-tipped arrow pierced its flesh. At the very same moment, the weretiger fired an arrow at Gene. The monk seemed to watch the arrow as it sailed through the air and back-stepped as he snatched the projectile from the air with his bare hands.

A dark beast and feral voice erupted through the clearing, “So the fucking prey thinks it can hunt the predator. I’m going to make you pay for what you did! Kill his pack! They don’t deserve to live!” The striped beast roared as if it was a battle cry and the werewolves howled in response.

In an attempt to shut the creatures up, Aliya produced the white holy flame that she had become fond of using. It lingered in her hand before she released it towards the tiger. As is began leaving her hand, the fire started to turn black, and then the flame disappeared completely. Confusion appeared on the gnome’s face as her eyes started to well up with tears.

Gene ran at the tiger-like man and stabbed at it with his new dagger. The beast grabbed its longsword and clashed against the smaller magical blade. The monk then punched the creature in the ribs with his free hand. The silver rings sunk into the body of the weretiger a bit before the beast backed away. It licked its teeth with its long tongue before smiling at the human in front of it.

“What the fuck!” yelled the werewolf in the tree as his body was bathed in silvery white light and blue flames began to dance along its fur. The beast jumped down and rolled on the ground then ran climbed a new tree to attack from.

Fern ticked his tongue before shifting into the form of a bear. Visibility upset his pillar of light didn’t kill the beast. As a bear, he began stomping and groaning, and slowly his concentrated moonlight began to move towards the weretiger instead.

The creature that was burnt by the burning bush readied another arrow and prepared to shoot it at Meowlynn. The wizard covered her face, trying her best to not be killed instantly. Why in the nine layers of hell, did she agree to be with this group of suicidal idiots?! A moment passed but she didn’t feel pain. She looked up and saw a silver-tipped arrow impaled through the arm of the wolf that was going to attack her.

Not going to waste her opportunity, she sent forth a bolt of fire and it collided with the chest of the beast. Its screams of pain were music to her ears. Now that the melee fighters actually had a way to harm these beings, the fight was going a lot better.

Meowlynn smiled as gazed upon the rest of the battlefield. She witnessed Kira mutter something before releasing another arrow at the werewolf climbing the tree. It burrowed into the beast’s shoulder and it yelped in immense pain but it kept climbing.

The weretiger and Gene were fighting toe to toe. The animalistic humanoid stabbed with its longsword but the monk slipped past the blade. It then swung its paw at Gene. Gene blocked the attack but then the weretiger extracted its claws from its paw and raked them across the monk’s forearm.

Even though it must have hurt the Jellybeans’ leader, he still used his non-bloodied arm to slash across the abdomen of the beast. He then pivoted to release his arm from the claws and delivered an uppercut into the weretiger’s ribs as it became enveloped in the peculiar moonlight.

Aliya had a strained look on her face as she summoned a weird giant ghostly version of her foot just above her. A black aura was trying to creep across it but was being repelled by an unknown force. The foot floated into the air and kicked the werewolf in the tree. The beast caught itself and dangled off a study branch with its good arm.

The werewolf finally made it to a branch it felt was suitable and fire an arrow at back at Kira. It flew through the night air and struck the halfling in her left calf. The force was so great that the arrow cleanly went through the poor woman's muscle and embedded itself in the dirt behind the arrow's exit hole.

Fern's giant bear form rushed towards the weretiger and slammed down on it with claw. The cat-like humanoid caught Fern's arm with its bare hands and tossed it away. Not to be deterred, the bear came back and bit into the weretiger. The abnormal beast flexed its muscles in response causing some of the bear's teeth it crack.

Turning her focus back to the pest in front of her, Meowlynn narrowed her focus. She was determined to burn this annoying pooch to a crisp. Her wand was raised into the air and a slightly larger flame ignited on the tip of it, it felt like she someone want able to concentrate more of her arcane will into this fire. Ciylia shot, the wolf the wizard was preparing to attack. The arrow went through the snout of the creature. It turned in blind fury and dashed at the ranger who just gave it an unwanted piercing. The werewolf's claw attempted to disfigure the elf's face but Ciylia through her arms up in time to protect her head. Her arms were torn open, and she yelled in great pain which made the werewolf smile.

That smile was soon disintegrated from its face as the beast was engulfed in flames. Meowlynn walked to towards the beast confidently as she hit it with another bolt of fire. The creature squirmed on the ground for a few seconds its eyes popped from the heat of the flames and its life ended.

Kira stood her ground despite a hole in her leg. She grabbed a few blades of grass nearby and placed them on her arrow and shot it at the werewolf in the tree. Magical vines wrapped around the beast as the arrow sunk into its flesh. It was writhing around, trying to get free while the halfling limped her way to Aliya. Seeing the wolf trapped, Aliya commanded the giant foot to stomp the werewolf's face as if it was a human stamping out the life of an insect. The beast's head splattered against the tree before its body fell limp.

As the foot was crushing the skull of the entangled creature, Aliya turned to heal her friend. Green energy passed through the wound in the halfling's leg before strands of muscle shot across the hole and slowly pulled it close. Aliya then turned and ran towards the final beast.

With the other threats gone, the Jellybeans started to close in on the striped being. The weretiger roared in pain as the moonlight burned the beast like it did to his companion only moments before. The creature reacted by moving into the tree and it appeared to be retreating. The group gave chase down into a tunnel, Fern shifted back into his normal self and started grabbing for the bizzare potion he bought. When Meowlynn saw that, she backed away. That was trouble waiting to happen.

Gene and Aliya kept chasing the beast into a large open cavern within the trees. The room was large and seemed like it once was a secret hideout of sorts. Aliya tried to use her mace to hit the weretiger but missed. Gene then stabbed the beast in the shoulder as it went to retaliate against the gnome. Its cry of anger was cut short as the three being in melee stopped as a bottle shattered at their feet and an unnatural explosion erupted around them.

Gene and the weretiger reacted quickly and both dove away from the bottle but Aliya wasn't so lucky as she was enveloped by the wave of flame. Meowlynn watched as the smirk on Fern's face faded as he witnessed the crime he just committed. He had thrown his bottled fireball just to hit his own ally.

Tears streamed down Kira's face as she ran towards her burning friend and started putting out the fire. Ciylia on the other hand took careful aim and shot the weretiger through the skull as it was trying to recover from the explosion. The wizard scoffed as Ciylia cheered. It was a distasteful way of claiming the kill as her own as all she did was get the last hit. If this woman was a real ally shouldn't she have been concerned with their companion bathing in flames? Meowlynn sauntered over the go help the poor unconscious gnome, at least she was able to help.

With the wizard's expertise of magical fires and Kira's mastery of crude medical practice, the pair was able to stabilize Aliya. Kira started rubbing cream all over her friend. Meowlynn recognized it as a honey-based cream that's purpose is to make it so burn didn't scar and help with the healing process. Nodding to herself she saw out of the corner of her eye something she had never seen before, Gene's pissed off face. Their leader was marching right towards the foolish half-elf that tried to blow him up.