--Zarak cut one of them down. All it got was a mouthful of the girl's white dress. Its blood sprayed in an arc all over her, following his swinging sword. She was terrified. The other one bit his leg hard, and didn’t seem inclined towards releasing it. The wolf pulled on it, throwing him off balance and making his second slash miss. He refused to fall down though. As he struggled to stay on his feet, another beast leaped from the darkness, grabbing his sword arm and knocking him over. Zarak was getting chewed up like a squeeze toy, while Magda helped Sophie climb the wagon. She then started digging through her things feverishly, scrambling to find that trusty old crossbow.

--The wolf holding Zarak's leg pulled his boot off and tore it to shreds; seemingly thinking it was a piece of the prey. Another one ran up to rend his neck, but he grabbed it by the throat with his free arm, as it was closing in. While he wrung the life out of it, kicking and trying to get up, a crossbow bolt smacked the back of the one on his sword arm. It loosened its grip from the shock and he swiftly put his blade to work, slicing the wolf's innards open. He jumped to his feet and cut the wolf with the boot over the snout, but the blade didn't cull it. Seeing that the prey was more than they bargained for, the wolves backed off and vanished like shadows in the woods.

-They're leaving? – Sophie asked in a panicked voice – Are we safe now?

-Now, now dear. Fret no more. – Magda hugged her and petted her head.

-They'll be back. – Zarak said, poking his tattered boot with his sword.

-Do you have to say such things? The poor girl is scared out of her mind already.

--Zarak turned towards them, resting his sword on his shoulder.

-They'll be back. – He took a quick look at the wagon and asked – What've you got in them crates?

-Clothes mostly. Some supplies for the trip. The usual. Why?

-Perfect. Pop one open, we need to make this fire bigger. – Zarak said, now holding his bleeding arm.

Magda hesitated for a moment, but complied. As she pulled an armful of clothes from the chest, she looked at Sophie apologetically – I'm sorry dear. We'll get you new ones.

She sluggishly got off the wagon and walked up to the flames, devoid of her battle fervour. Realizing what's about to transpire, Sophie cried out – No, you can't! Those are my favourites!

Zarak glared at her – Do you prefer to look pretty, or not die?

-Don't you dare talk to her like that! – Magda intervened.

--Zarak rolled his eyes.

Magda turned towards Sophie with a dejected look – Sweetie, we have to do this.

--Sophie gave her the sad puppy look, complete with tears welling up in her big blue eyes, but the old lady remained adamant.

–Can I at least keep some of them? – Sophie asked.

-Whatever, just do it fast, ladies.

--The rest of the night felt painfully tedious to him, as Magda pulled out Sophie's dresses one by one, and the blond girl struggled to pick out the ones which had fallen out of her favour. The fire burned bright though, keeping the wolves at bay. Irked by all the needless drama, Zarak contemplated going out into the night, to play with the wolves some more. Morning couldn't come soon enough.

--The next day, the horses were nowhere to be found. After scouting a bit, Zarak found one of them in the fields. Or what was left of it anyway. The rest of the trip Zarak pulled the wagon himself. The women wouldn't abandon the luggage, and he didn't feel like leaving them behind after all the effort it took to keep them from turning into fertilizer.

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-Thank you for reading and sorry for the late update. Still not satisfied with the drawing on this one, will have to update it with a non-shitty background at some point. Next update will be on Monday.