“I know where your claws are!” You shout to the shadowy wolf and step forward.

“What is this, Dampfur?” The shadowy wolf growls in discontent. “You let bipedals talk for you now? So be it. Where are my claws, human?”

“I know where they are,” you say looking up at the shadow. “But first I want to know what they are.”

“When you came here didn’t you see another light coming right from behind you?” you point past the shadow wolf there the adventurers’ camp should be. “Four “bipedals” there have set up a camp similar to ours. They have what you seek.”

“They’re not your allies then?” The shadow asks. “And my scouts were certain you journeyed here together with them. And when I saw these little traitorous mutts here…”

“I simply did not want to witness a pointless loss of life. On either side, “ you explain. “But it appears that those adventurers wanted to use me. And while there were some benefits to keep them alive, I feel the scales turning. And not in their favor. What exactly are those claws that you’re looking for?”

“They are just that—my precious claws from my paws that the four vermin stole from me while I was sleeping!”

“Tsk! How horrible! You most certainly should go and take back what is rightfully yours!

“Oh, and I suppose you’ll just stand here and let me go there to kill them all?”

“Of course not! We’ll go with you to watch.”

“Eh? Really?” The shadow wolf clearly did not expect this interaction to go in the direction that it did. “We’ll probably rip them apart while they’re still alive. You have no problem with that?”

“I have a companion with me that would probably very much enjoy seeing that,” you say and look at Epsilon.

“Awesome!” She exclaims, grinning, giddy in anticipation.

“I must say it’s been a while since I’ve met someone like you,” The tone of the shadow wolf changes. He’s clearly excited. The wolf gigantic jaw forms a menacing, teeth-baring grin. “In that case, don’t mind if we do!”

The shadow morphs, you see the contours of a gigantic canine as it turns around and slowly walks to the other camp. You feel the weight of each of the wolf's steps. The ground doesn’t tremble. Rather, the sound comes as a soft shock-wave, strong enough to feel it in your chest. The creature is ancient. And powerful.

The other dark wolves follow their master. Your wolves stay by your side. Some were about to walk after the shadow, but the snarl of your alpha stops them, waiting for your orders. Your wolves are uneasy, scowling at each other. Clearly, the shadow you spoke to is their supreme leader. Not following it is now clearly causing confusion and tension in your pack.

“Let’s go!” you say to everyone, and follow the shadow yourself. Epsilon nearly skips ahead of you. You hear shouting coming from up ahead. Not dissimilar from what you heard the night before.

“What? How?” you hear the dwarf Mori shouting. “Lyanna, your potion was supposed to keep it out for a week!”

“I—Aaaah!” you hear Lyanna’s piercing scream.

You run forward, catching up to the giant shadow wolf. It slowly strolled the small distance between the two camps, letting its loyal wolves do all the work.

You see the adventurers surrounded, yet again. This time the odds are even worse. The dark dire wolves are beyond the counting, forty or fifty, at least, but are not launching a full assault just yet. Three of them are lying in the moss a few yards from the four adventurers, bound by the same magical purple rope that bound Elza earlier in the morning. Lyanna is also on the ground, crying and screaming—her leg is torn open, staining the moss with a stream of blood. Gorrazsh drags her by her collar closer to himself. Mori swings his ax back and forth keeping the wolves at bay. Though not a single one has actually been slain.