Awwoooooooooooh!

The mournful howl of the dire wolf flew outward like a shock. In front of me, I saw Lucina stumble under the pressure. Mia and Frank both backpedaled a step or two, and even Ajax, who was built like a stone wall, brought his hammer before him to absorb some of the force.

The wolves stalked towards the campsite, muscles rippling under their rich pelt. Each step they took only increased the mounting pressure and fear that their aura emitted.

Then, without warning, the alpha of the pack pounced towards the hunters!

Ajax, with reactions and agility that belayed his massive build, brought his hammer up, but it was just a fraction of a second too slow. His senses slightly dulled by the howl, the wolves claws flew closer and closer to his chest. But the fatal attack never landed. A sudden blast of wind, conjured by Lucina, knocked the wolf off the lethal dive.

The alpha wolf snarled as it skidded to a halt, saliva dripping from its foot-long fangs and eyes glowing red with anger. The arrogant gleam in those hateful eyes and smooth, shiny pelt told us that this wolf had never once suffered an injury in combat before us. And, for the crime of injuring an apex predator, he would make us pay.

With a howl, all six of the wolves jumped in unison at the hunters, and the quiet campsite quickly devolved into a nightmare.

Lucina, an assassin type hunter, quickly dispatched of one of the wolves with a swift stab of her daggers to the back of the skull. But, the wolves were unbelievably resilient, and as if possessed by some undying will, the wolf twisted around and raked its claws down her chest even as blood poured out of a hole in its neck. The wolf collapsed, but Lucina fell with it. Bella’s anguished cry rang out through the campsite as she sprinted over and began desperately chanting healing spells.

One opportunistic wolf saw Bella’s back turned, and leaped towards her, ready to kill her and then the assassin.

WHAM!

Ajax’s war hammer slammed into the wolf’s ribcage, cracking a bone and sending the wolf flying through the air. He stepped in front of the injured assassin and the healer, his body language telling the wolves they would have to get through him to hurt his friends. But the wolf was not one to back down from a challenge. Recovering with cat-like grace unbefitting of a canine, it turned and leapt back towards Ajax with blinding speed, leaving the big vanguard with no choice but to desperately parry the slashes and bites with the handle of his hammer.

Meanwhile, my mother, Frank, and Mia had formed a circle, and were desperately fending off the four remaining wolves. Frank’s sword sung through the air, the flames forming a pinwheel of fire and death that knocked the wolves back, but the wolves’ pelts protected them from the flames and blades. Mia’s gauntlets crashed into wolf after wolf with devastating force, but the mana that the wolves had consumed had strengthened their bodies and they only suffered minor injuries from the crushing impact. My mother’s rapier flickered and through the air, blocking every attack that flew towards her and then striking back with the speed of a snake, but her thin blade amounted to only small scratches on the wolves.

For the moment, both sides were evenly matched. Ajax’s defense was rock solid against the unending savagery of the wolf, and slowly but surely, he was gaining the upper hand as the wolf expended more and more of its stamina. Frank, Mia, and mother were holding their own against the wolves, and with each strike against the predators they managed to injure the wolves more and more.

My father’s hands trembled around my body in indecision. I could tell that every bone in his body wanted to go and stand by mother to fight together, but he also abhorred the idea of leaving me alone, exposed to be picked off by any of the wolves. Several times, when my mother’s rapier was a fraction slower than normal, he almost picked up his longsword, but the sideways glances from the wolves told him that if he left, I would almost certainly be pounced on by one of the beasts. In the end, my father remained in front of me, watching with intent focus as the rest of the Knightly Bards fended off the savage assault.

But the hunters were also being worn down. Franks’ breaths were coming in heaving gasps as he continued to swing his longsword in arcing circles at the wolves, his flames growing dimmer and dimmer. My mother’s lightning-fast strikes began to show signs of slowing down as she gasped for breath. This was now a battle of attrition, and whichever side ran out of stamina first would certainly fall.

Then, just as the alpha struck once again at my mother, disaster! As she coolly raised her rapier to parry the strike, her foot caught on a knot of grass, sending her stumbling towards the incoming strike. With the speed and grace of a master duelist, she managed to flick her sword up to block it, but the swing left her side exposed to the other wolves. Another wolf immediately pounced towards her, and though she was already moving her sword to block the attack, she wasn’t going to make it!

Ajax’s hammer swung through the air and crashed into the wolf facing him one last time, finally crushing its ribcage. He turned to save my mother, but he was too far away. Frank and Mia were both locked in combat with another wolf, desperately parrying the ferocious assault. Lucina lay on the ground, still unconscious from her injuries. Bella had finished healing her but was also left exhausted from the effort of healing such a major wound. There was no one else to help her. My mother’s eyes locked onto mine as the wolf drew closer and closer to her body. I could make out her lips as me mouthed to me.

“Goodbye, Gilan.”

Whuump Whuump Whuuuuuump!

My father’s sword spun through the air. Thrown with all his force, the blade embedded itself into the wolf’s side fractions of a second before it sunk its claws into my mother, killing it instantly. The momentum of the wolf’s leap knocked my mother to the ground, pinning her beneath the weight of the beast.

Now, standing before the alpha wolf, my father stood with nothing but a shield. Ajax had already moved to my mother’s side to help pick her up, not realizing that my father was weaponless and had no way to defend himself.

The alpha wolf’s lips curled into a cruel grin. Though his brethren were falling around him, he would at least be able to bring one of us down with his pack. In a storm of claws and fangs, he tore at my father’s defenses, gouging deep scrapes into the shield and sending splinters flying through the air. The alpha wolf continued its onslaught relentlessly, pushing my father to the absolute limits of his speed and agility.

Watching and gritting my teeth, I realized that my father would not last long enough to allow the other hunters to come help him. Though he was an excellent swordsman, the alpha wolf in its berserk state was simply too fast for him to handle. If I wanted to see him live another day, I would have to do something myself.

But what could a ten year old do? I didn’t have a weapon on me, and even if I did, a blade couldn’t pierce the wolf’s skin without significant mana augmentation well above my current level. I had watched Frank’s fiery sword pound down on the wolves’ time and time again to little effect, so my little blaze could do little to hurt it either.

As I wallowed in indecision, my father was slowly being driven back by the alpha wolf. The attacks were so fast and fluid that he didn’t even have time to think about escape; all he could do was desperately bring the shield to the next place that the wolf struck. In the corner of my eye, I could see Frank and Ajax finally realize my father’s peril after finishing off the rest of the wolves. They were on their way!

In the worst possible timing imaginable, not three seconds before help would arrive, the alpha wolf’s savage attacks finally broke through the shield. With a sharp crack, the shield snapped into two useless boards of wood and steel, the destroyed half spinning wildly into the air. As I helplessly watched, the wolf raised its claws for a final, lethal strike, I suddenly felt the air gather around me.

Fueled by my despair and anger at my uselessness, the air condensed into the strongest spell I had ever casted in my life.

I watched as the blast of air picked up my dad and flung him backwards, the wolf’s killing blow ripping the front of the shirt to shreds but just missing his body. With a grunt, he skidded to a halt far out of the wolf’s reach.

As the wolf prepared to leap again onto its defenseless target, eyes tunneled onto its enemy, Ajax’s hammer slammed into its snout, knocking it back. Realizing that help had arrived, and its allies were dead, the wolf howled again and then leapt away into the night. Frank started after it, intending to chase it down and exact vengeance, but was stopped by a firm grip on his arm.

“Let him go,” Mia admonished. “We can’t afford to chase it and get hurt. It knows better than to mess with us now.”

The flames died down on Frank’s sword as he planted it in the dirt. He slumped as the exhaustion of the fight caught up to him, leaning on the sword for support. Mother rushed over to where dad was, and threw herself on top of him tearfully, berating him over how dumb it was to throw away his sword.

Bella looked over from Lucina’s unconscious body. “She’ll be alright,” Bella said. “But we’re almost at Dunby’s Ford, we should stop there to let her rest. It was a serious wound, and I don’t want to make it worse with travel. Ajax, come help me bring her to my tent. I’ll make sure she’s recovering well.”

While Ajax went to help Bella, Mia walked over to me. “Alright, kiddo, lets get you to bed again. Let the adults clean up the mess.”

As she hauled me towards the tent, the adrenaline pumping in by veins suddenly dissipated, leaving a wave of exhaustion crashing onto me. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I was gently deposited onto my bedroll, and the gentle tune of the wind quickly lulled me to sleep.