Upon seeing the man in purple outside Lord Varets' tent, the boy scuttled back into Elias's tent and hid under his bed desperately hoping to avoid attention. "Please don't let him find me, please don't let him find me." The boy stayed silent repeating the thought over and over again in his head, when he heard a soft sigh and the movement of footsteps outside the tent. Suddenly a clear voice rang out from outside the tent, drawing closer.

"Do you know," started the man in purple as he walked into Elias's tent, "there are two things I hate in this world. The first is weak people who pathetically deny reality and think themselves strong, and second is those who sneak around like rats in the dark. " The man bent down and looked under the bed at the boy, "so little rat, mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Without any thought, the boy readied his dark sphere and threw it in the direction of the man. The sphere hit the man and in an instant covered him in dark mana making it impossible to see. Unfortunately for the boy, he was still young and his magic was still undeveloped, so the effect of his magic was quite small and would only last for one minute. However, that was all the time the boy needed. He grabbed his swords and ran. He took Laikos's advice and ran as fast as he could aiming to re-join the wolves. All thoughts of treasures lost, the boy ran.

One minute later and the man's sight returned. "What an interesting little rat," the man mused to himself. A darkness attribute, now that was unexpected. "Oh well if a little rat managed to sneak in, my bet is the guards are being held up by some much bigger rats or," he paused, "perhaps some wolves snuck in with the rat." The man smiled unpleasantly and made his way towards the campfire.

......................................................................................................................................................................................

Back at the campfire the wolves sat still as statues waiting for the earthen walls to crumble so they could get to the humans inside. Suddenly the silence broke as the boy ran faster than humanly possible into the campfire area. "He's....coming," the boy said in between gasps. The pack sat up, immediately alert. "Who's coming" demanded the queen, quickly yet sharply. "The purple robed man," said the boy in mindspeak, still too tired to talk.

"Laikos," barked the queen, "this man, could he take all of us?" Laikos nodded gravely. The queen stared at him, stunned beyond belief. She didn't believe there was a human like that, but she trusted her consort. "We retreat," she called out decisively. "This hunt isn't worth our lives, let's leave before he gets here."

"Too late," called out the man in purple who appeared as if made of air. "My name is Mervyn Oakshield, rank one magician, and the proud head teacher of the first Academy of Magic. I am here today to kill your entire pack and take your magical cores." The man paused and smiled in the wolves direction, "shall we get started?"

A one sided annihilation. That was the only phrase that could describe what came next, even with all seven wolves and the boy attacking, it was still not enough to make a scratch on the man. Mervyn laughed as he saw the fruitless struggles of the seven wolves and the boy, slashing, hacking, biting and scratching desperately willing to do anything if it meant escaping their imminent demise.

He laughed again it had been years since he had seen something so amusing as the wolves' pitiful display. Oh well it's been fun, it's time to end it and with this thought the counter attack began. As the man started his counter attack the queen reached a realisation, none of the wolves would leave the camp alive. As the man attacked three of the wolves died instantly. Laikos was holding the man off with the remaining two wolves and the boy, only barely fending him off.

The queen paused, the wolves were doomed. The man, Mervyn, wanted their cores, but the boy, the boy was not a magical beast he could still live. Her mind made up the queen started to speak to her son "my son," the queen started. Immersed in the fight, the boy blinked in surprise at the sound of his mother's voice. "Run, we are doomed but you still have a chance. In the middle of the forest lies a snake magical beast with the ability to shape shift his name is Darius, you must find him. Tell him I sent you, he will teach you, you must live on and become stronger."

The boy snarled in outrage, "I will never abandon the pack, not till the day I die." With this proclamation the boy threw himself back into the fight, and in that moment, all his mother could do was stare as the magician made his way towards her son a knife in hand.

No one could react as Mervyn suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the boy, no one except the queen who instantly threw herself between the two "noooooo." a heart wrenching scream originated from the boy as he watched the being he had called his mum for the last six years sacrifice herself for him. Forgetting the fight the boy sunk to his knees an overwhelming sense of despair threatening to overcome him when he heard a voice "run...my...child". A tear slunk down the child's face, "no," he cried "I won't leave you." The queen chuckled dryly.

"Stubborn to the end I see, but Laikos is alone now and he won't be able to hold on much longer. You must go, you must live and in the end you must avenge us, run my child and find Darius, we will watch over you my son." And with that the queen took her last breath and Laikos fell at the hands of Mervyn.

Left alone in the world the boy did the only thing he could think to do, he ran, ran as fast as he could tears streaming down his face never looking back his only thoughts on killing the bastard that killed his family "one day," the boy thought "one day revenge will be mine, you will die by my hands Mervyn Oakshield I swear it on my pack." And with this thought he disappeared into the shadows of the forest.