“Ssssh!” Arda put her hand on her lips pointing in front of her from the low bushes they were hiding and pointed at a steep incline a half a mile ahead of them. A creature with a shaggy coat of white fur and a set of long, straight horns with rings along its length jumped from rock to rock, climbing down from the incline. It was in a hurry, afraid of something the three of them couldn’t see.

It was a good-sized mountain goat of at least two hundred pounds, if they smoke the meat, it would last them for half a week at least. And the fur would be useful to keep too. They were entering the snowy land after all. The creature was practically heading towards them too, so no need to scare it away.

“Ready?” Arda whispered to Garan.

Garan nocked an arrow to his bow and raised it and aimed towards the goat’s head, but he didn’t shoot.

“What’s the matter? Fire it.” Sena’s low scolding came from behind him.

“Too far,” Garan whispered.

Yeah, It was too far to get a proper hit right now, especially from the front where it can see the arrow coming.

Sena shifted her on her feet as the seconds passed by them. But seeing Arda’s annoyed glare at her, she stopped and clenched her fist. She wasn’t used to this type of hunting.

Garan paid her no attention, concentrating his mind on the approaching creature until nearly every other sight or sound disappeared. A bit more. His muscles strained as he drew the bow to its full capacity, his fingers reaching his cheek. just a bit— there!

He let his fingers loose and with a twang, the arrow shot free of the bow and whistled towards the creature’s right eye.

the goat swerved its body to the right with the sound of the bow. The arrow missed it by a hair and thunked into the trunk of an oak. Half of its shaft disappeared into the wood, but the prey it sought had already escaped it.

“Dammit!” Sena and Garan said in one voice as Arda stared at the escaping creature with a frown.

“It was only twenty yards! How could you miss!” Sena asked, not caring anymore to lower her voice.

Garan ignored her and drew out another arrow from the quiver on his back. But before he even knocked the arrow a small black shadow sprung out of a bush near the goat and landed on it. Its fangs clamped down on its neck and although it was smaller than the goat, it brought the bigger creature crashing down behind a boulder.

“Damn!” Sena cursed and pounded the ground in front of her. “It took our prey.”

“Or maybe it took it back,” Arda said as she stood up. “I don’t think the goat turned away because of the sound of the bow.”

“Hm? But the goat ran towards the thing, whatever it was.”

“Yeah, maybe there are more of those creatures,” Arda said as she craned her neck, trying to spot the goat and its assailant. “It's so strong though. The goat was at least four times as big as it. What is the beast?”

“It’s alone,” Garan put away his bow and stood up. His eyes were quite good and he didn’t spot any other creature approaching them. He took out his sword and walked out of the bush. “Let’s go. Let’s chase it away and get the goat.”

“No way!” Sena shook her head. “Even though the goat was supposed to be our prey, It hunted the creature by itself. If we take it, we’d be no better than hyenas.” She was a knight. And a warrior noble on top of that. She couldn’t accept such an act.

“Tsk!” Garan twisted his lips in annoyance. “Don’t be a child,” he said as he headed for the beasts.

“C’mon,” Arda gestured at her as she also stepped behind Garan. “I understand what you want to say, but we haven’t seen anything other than a few birds the whole way. And sometimes we just can’t be fair and just. Besides...” she looked at incline casting a long shadow towards them. “Sun’s already tipping to the west. We don’t have too much time to spend hunting anymore.”

Sena hesitated a moment, but looking at their back going farther from her she couldn’t help but follow. Trust her teammates, Erhan had said. So she’d do that.

Though in her dilemma, she forgot Erhan had also said to trust herself more.

Behind the boulder, under the shade of a bush sat a small creature that looked like a four or five months old wolf cub. It had been so hungry after it ran away from that place. Was its brother alright? And mother? Was she still alive? It didn’t dare to go back to check.

The last it ate was a week earlier when it was still with them. It had tried to catch something, even eat the green leaves and grasses like these big horns. But those things were unpalatable.

It panted a little as it looked at the big carcass of the big two horns. The first prey it caught by itself after a week of trial and error. It took a lot of strength from its little body and mind to bring the two horns down. Scaring it, chasing it down, cornering it, all of it had been exhausting. Still, it stood up.

It couldn’t rest yet. It could enjoy its meal after it chased away those annoying two legs. Did they want to rob its first hunt? They didn’t know what they were dealing with yet, especially now that it could scare others.

It lowered the body, tightening it. The shadow around it darkened and flickered, twisting like smoke. It was ready.

“Hat!” Garan scolded the small black wolf looking ready to leap at them as he waved his sword from a few yards away. He had never seen anything like it before. It had fluffy black fur that was as smooth as satin and its golden eyes were full of intelligence and pride. The beast only reached above his knees, but it had an elegance and majesty that he had never seen in any other animal. Although he wanted the goat, but he didn’t want to kill the beast for it. Otherwise, an arrow to its neck would be enough. “Hat, hat,” he said as he tried his best to scare the beast.

Instead of being scared, the little wolf became more angry at his behaviour. Did the stupid two legs think it was a dumb mongrel? It bared its fangs and sent a low growl from its throat. Doing its own part to scare Garan in return.

The shadows around them still deepened a little and even though the sun hadn’t set yet, evening darkness covered the three hunters.

“What is this?” Sena said. A little perspiration seeped out of her forehead. This creature was giving her a dangerous feeling. She didn’t want to stay here at this place another moment more. And she wasn’t the only one. Each of the three felt the same thing they wanted to get away from here.

Arda shook her head and looked around her. The darkening of shadows wasn’t normal. She looked at Sena casting nervous glances around herself, she looked at Garan sweating in fear, yet still stubbornly trying to chase off the beast, and she looked at her own fingers clenching tightly around her sweaty palm. How much time has passed? A few seconds? Did they perspire so much in such a short time?

This fear! This fear also wasn’t normal!

She turned to stare at the beast. They had been content to let Garan chase the beast away on his own. Especially since Sena was so reluctant about the whole thing. But the little creature refused to budge. She looked at its paws and her eyes shrunk.

Darkness coiled between its claws like fog rising from the surface of the water. It spread outwards in ripples surrounding them, darkening everything around them.

“Kill it!” she shouted as she flung one of her throwing knives at the wolf. The knife flitted through the air and appeared before the creature before it could move out of the way. The point struck the side of its neck and—

It passed through with no resistance at all!

The knife passed as if there was nothing there and clattered against the boulder behind it. The three of them stopped their acts in shock. The wolf still stood there but it lowered its neck and gave a low howl that vibrated through the bones of the three. The howl spread through the low bushes and high oaks and… other howls answered it. One, two, ten, hundred- soon the whole forest shook from an innumerable number of howls. The three looked around them in fear. They could see the silhouette of wolves. Pitch black, full-grown wolves lurking under the shadows of every tree and bush. Although their forms were unclear, their red eyes burned like embers inside the darkness as they inched closer towards them from every direction.

The sight of them sent chills down Garan’s spine. Where did those wolves come from? There were hundreds of them advancing towards them and they had nowhere to run. He swallowed heavily. Those could tear them to bits in seconds. They had to run away! His eyes, bulging from fear glanced everywhere, looking for an outlet.

As his eyes fell on the small wolf, a trace of anger appeared in his eyes. It was the culprit of their peril! They were in this situation because of it. He raised his sword and dashed out. His instincts told him, all of these would only end if he killed this little beast. He swung down his sword. But just like with Arda’s knife, it hit nothing. The creature in front of his body started dissipating little by little like smoke in the wind until it vanished and all the wolves around them howled once again in a fearful cacophony.

They stepped out of the shadows and rushed out towards the three like a tide of darkness.their jaws open and fangs somehow dazzlingly white even in the darkness surrounding the three. Their eyes like hoards of red fireflies headed their way. The mind of the three people jumbled in fear. They flailed their swords around, incapable of noticing the lack of resistance as the blades passed through the creatures. It was as if they were fighting smoke.

Within the hoard lurked two golden eyes, looking at the three two legs wave their swords around. Yes! Although it couldn’t perfectly control the scare, The second time was already much better. If it could do this when it was chasing the two horns, it wouldn’t take so much time to hunt it down. But why weren’t the three two legs running away yet? Didn’t it scare them enough?

But It was too hungry. Though the two legs had those shiny, sharp things it couldn’t wait anymore. So it leapt, its figure hidden within the other wolves, its fangs aimed towards the neck of Garan who was right in front of it.

Sena’s instincts screamed at her. She reached out with her free hand and grabbed Garan’s scruff. She hauled him behind and thrust her sword out. She was lucky. She felt it piercing flesh.

The evening darkness vanished in an instant like it never existed. The twisting shadows, the hundreds of wolves, and… the sense of terror corroding their minds like termites on wood- all of it gone in a sudden unexpected way, leaving them feeling empty.

Sena lowered her hand and the wolf slid down from the blade, its little body falling to the ground with a thump. Blood flowed from a wound below its neck from where the narrow sword had pierced through its heart. It didn’t have a chance to feel pain, its eyes still bright and hungry, unaware of its death.

The three of them surrounded the little creature, their breaths heavy and limbs tired from the whole ordeal.

“What is this thing?” Gregor asked the question that was on all of their minds.

Sena kneeled beside the wolf and ran her fingers through its soft, smooth fur. They had wanted to snatch its food. It didn’t have to die. She didn’t want to kill it. “I don’t know,” she said, but she had some suspicions. She picked the creatures frail body and standing up. “We should take it back. Erhan might know what it is.” she had a feeling. A terrible premonition in her heart. She looked at the sky. As the sun had started its homeward journey, the coming twilight had also begun to die the sky red as if painting it with the blood of the wolf.

A sudden howl full of anguish and grief-filled the reddening sky. It came from an unknown distance and direction, but all of them felt it was right next to them, surrounding them.

Sena’s expression turned grim as she clenched her teeth. Yeah, she shouldn’t have killed it.

Erhan stood up and glared at the bleeding sky with a frown on his face.

“What creature was that?” Herker asked with a hand over his heart. It was beating like a drum under his palm. He had never heard anything like it.

Erhan didn’t answer. A restlessness filled his heart.

Not only him and Erhan, but Arban had also sprung up to his feet. “Nearly cut my hand in half,” he said clenching Sena dagger in his right hand. He hurried towards Erhan and thrust his left hand out. The palm had a shallow cut on it. “I’m gravely injured, heal me.”

Erhan lowered his eyes on Arban’s hand and touched the wound with the tip of his fingers. The edges of the cut wiggle and came together.

“Ow, itchy!” Arban drew his hand back, wiping it clean cloth and watched the long hair-thin red mark on it. He was somewhat surprised Erhan remained so impassive after seeing his grave injury. Not that he blamed him. Even he was affected by that howl. The grief in it made his mood sink to the bottom. He looked at the oak forest where Sena’s group went hunting. “Which hole did those three dive in? If they are not back soon, my stomach will start to eat itself.” he turned and glanced at the sacks on strung on the saddles. “I guess I’ll go chew jerky.”

Sena, Arda and Garan’s figure appeared amongst the trees when only the tip of the sun was left over the hilltops of the west. Arda led the other two, appearing at the sight of their camp first. Garan was behind him, carrying the goat over his shoulder.

“Sorry, we are later than intended,” Arda said to the three of them while wiping her forehead with the hem of her cloak. “We ran into a prob—”

Erhan arrived beside Sena who was following the other two like the wind. His movement a black blur that their eyes could hardly follow. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the little black body in her arms. “This…” he whispered as he extended a shaky hand to touch it.

“Do you know what it is?” Garan asked as he slung the carcass of the goat down on the grass with an 'uff'! “The thing almost killed us in the forest.”

Erhan’s fingers stopped just an inch shy from the wolf’s fur. His hand shrank back and He took a sharp breath. His face twisted in an expression of grief. That howl, the grief in it reminded him of something familiar. It was the cry of a parent who lost their child. His voice came from between his clenched teeth. “Who did it?” he asked. “Who killed…”

Sena’s heart tightened at the question. He had seen this expression on Erhan’s face once before. It was at the inn in Garola when uncle Corvin mentioned the Fade that took her grandmother’s life.

“I- it was me,” her voice was barely a whisper as she swallowed the painful feeling in her throat.

Before Erhan could stop it, his hand moved and landed on Sena’s cheek. It was just a light slap that only stung the skin of her face a bit. But it was like a lightning strike to her heart.

Silence descended on the camp as everyone stared at Erhan with the same shocked face as Sena’s. Even Arban was dumbfounded and speechless. Sena raised a hand and touched her cheek. She had been beaten down countless times before when she was going through her knight training. But no one had ever slapped her before. Not even her father. But she couldn’t feel angry as she looked at the man who despite slapping her was staring down at his hand in disbelief.

“Why?” she asked. A voice of genuine question.

Erhan closed his eyes to compose himself. The howl had affected his mind too much. “Sorry,” he said as he opened his eyes and looked at Sena. “But regardless of the reason, you have done something incredibly stupid.” he touched the back of his on the wolf’s forehead with a bitter smile. “A grave mistake and we might have to pay a heavy price for it.”

The other four also gathered around Sena and peered down at the dead beast in her arms. “What Exactly is it?” asked Arban.

Erhan looked up at the western sky where the sun had disappeared. “It’s the child of the creature whose howl we heard,” he said, as his fingers tightened around his staff farther, “the child of a Shadewolf.”