We sheltered the night in the first chamber of the wolf caves. Thankfully, despite our posting watches, nothing came to disturb us in the night. The wolves, under the command of the werewolves, had pushed out all the creatures that might normally have proven problematic, and the young fiendish wolf cubs we left alive in the den were too cowed to try and approach anywhere near where Frostmane was.

As we sat for our evening meal (the same simple fare as ever, provided by our magic items), we discussed our plans for the next step. We all agreed that simply leaving the runes here until we managed to finish off all the werewolves in the forest was a poor choice. We didn’t have the tools to destroy them properly. It would add another two days to our travels, going there and back again, but returning to Moonwater, to let the people there know what was going on seemed like the safest course of action.

Of course, that was only if we stayed together. Since the area of the Moonwood between the wolf den and Moonwater seemed fairly clear of enemies, a single person, who didn’t need to hunt and follow a trail, would be able to go more quickly. If I were to take wing, and go on my own, then I could cover the ground far more quickly, cutting across the lake to shorten the time further, making it the business of an hour’s flight either way, or half that, if I truly went all out.

The other question, of what to do with the charmed fiendish dire wolf, was somewhat trickier. If a ranger or druid were in the party, they might try and see if the planetouched creature could be made into a companion, but such things were not possible for us. And bringing one of the wolves back to the village may cause trouble. In the end, we decided to have Vestele order the wolf to flee someplace safe before releasing it. What it did after that was not our concern. If the beast tried to come after us, well, then it wasn’t smart enough to live anyways.

So, when it was first light, I took wing, and burst above the canopy. Flying over the Moonwood like this, looking down upon the sea of green with the blot of blue in the middle, I couldn’t help but smile, for it was not something that most people would ever get to see. The sensation of flying under your own power, with no magic or mechanical devices was a freedom I had never known in my old world, and I cherished any time I was able to just go out and fly.

But, all too soon, that time was over, as Moonwater came into view, and I slowed down, to land near the gates. Unlike the last time I’d come to these gates, the guards on the wall didn’t challenge us, but opened the door straight away. Well, they had probably spotted me from a ways away, since I hadn’t been trying to hide as I flew up.

My impression was proved correct when I saw Captain Sweetling and Celaena heading my way, from two different directions. Umphrey was probably busy with the other crafters, and that would be why he wasn’t coming as well. As I walked up to them, the Captain smiled. “Well, ye’re a sight for sore eyes, lass. I won’t deny that it was right nice to not have any wolves at our gates for once last night.”

I chuckled. “Yes, the wolves were somewhat preoccupied. But the full story can wait, can we go someplace private? The fewer ears that hear what I have to say, the better.”

Quickly becoming serious, Sweetling led us to a nearby corner where we’d be out of earshot. “I reckon ye’ll be wanting to get back to your friends, so this’ll do, for the time being. I take it ye found the wolf den?”

I nodded. “Yes, we found the den, and slaughtered most of the wolves. More concerning was that there was a mix of wolves there. You had the normal wolves, like have been bothering you at night, but there were several litters of fiendish wolf pups, along with fiendish dire wolves, further back in the cave. And a final werewolf, who came close to killing us, being far stronger than the others.”

“Unfortunately, the other discovery we found was even worse. I am sure you wondered how they were keeping all the wolves and werewolves fed, especially if they spent so much time harassing the town instead of hunting. Frankly, their solution to the problem was to simply ‘farm’ meat for their wolves.”

I took a breath, and then said, quietly, “They took some of those they captured, and performed a profane ritual, causing them to constantly regenerate wounds, such as regrowing lost limbs. And they locked them in that state of constant torture, unable to die.”

Sweetling looked pale. “By the gods!”

Celaena frowned. “I know something of the magics that would be required for a ritual like that. It is not something just anyone could do. It would have to be an evil druid of some sort, at the least, to perform such a ritual.”

I nodded. “There were no spellcasters there, but the array was self-sustaining by the time we got there. We gave the victims the only mercy we could, but the cave needs to be purged, so that its secrets can never be known to the wider world. Because someone, somewhere, will think of a use for something like this that doesn’t boil down to causing the maximum amount of suffering one can while feeding wolves.”

The elf nodded. “We are in accord on that, young Aurelite. With the town no longer needing to worry about nightly attacks, I will go to the wolf den and take care of it.”

“In that case, I’ll leave you to it. I need to return, so we can continue on. However, we would be appreciative if either you or Magdalin could use scrying to keep an eye on the Temple of the Moonmaiden’s Glory. Before, we suspected it was at the heart of this matter, but we’ve now had confirmation. I don’t know how much information you might glean, but any you can gather by the time we need to head to the Temple would be more than welcome.”

Sweetling nodded, and said, “I’ll have Bessie head out to chat with Magdalin, and see if she can help out. In the meantime, I’ll not be keeping ye. We’ll hold the line here, so go and find a way to stop this, before it gets worse.”

We said quick goodbyes, and I took wing again, heading back to the caves as swiftly as I could. It was only when I was on my way back that I realized that I hadn’t exactly made any plans on how to find the wolf caves again. I knew the general direction, but trying to find it, especially from the air, would be an exercise in frustration. If only GPS existed in this world!

Melinda’s Spot check: 1d20+2 = 3

Melinda’s Listen check: 1d20+2 = 14

“Where you going, Melinda? Cave is this way!” Fortunately, it seemed that the others had thought about me needing to find the cave from above better than I had. Turning to the source of the sound, I saw Siora and Vestele flying slow circles above the trees. I’d flown straight past them, it seemed.

Trying to hide the fact that I was blushing (not easy with pale skin), I said, “Well, the tundra doesn’t exactly have forests, now does it? I’m used to having wide open areas, where landmarks stick out!”

The twins laughed as we descended to the ground, but quickly let the subject die. Everyone in our group had their strengths and weaknesses, after all. If either of them tried to, say, dance into melee combat alongside me, then they would be far worse off.

The day before, our travel through the forest had been quiet, and unimpeded. Now, however, there was an air of watchfulness, as though a pressure was following us, stalking us. We all felt it, to one degree or another. And we all knew who we thought was responsible.

Even if they hadn’t been in constant contact, the Huntmaster of these Malarites wouldn’t have simply left his lieutenant to fend for herself. If she had called for aid, or at least sent word that adventurers had wiped out the forces sent to harass Moonwater, then he would have to either reinforce the lieutenant, or allow his prey in Moonwater a chance to breathe, and regroup. That was not in the nature of Malarites. Even if they had bigger things to focus on, they were not the sort who would simply allow prey to escape their snares.

Of course, there was also the fact that the isolation of Moonwater was clearly being done deliberately, in order to keep the more powerful players in town from intervening in the Hunt’s plans, or summoning more capable help from outside. If the truth of the Malarite influence in the wood was known, the Temple of Selune would have sent a far more powerful team than us to quell the disturbance, after all. We weren’t weak, by any means, but the fight with the lieutenant had driven home the fact that we were not the top of the food chain.

At one point, Frostmane slowed to a stop, sniffing the air for a moment, before he shook his head in confusion. “There is something on the wind. I have never scented the like of it before.”

I frowned, not liking the sound of that. With a thought, I activated my ability to detect magic. What I saw was… concerning.

Before my eyes, two currents of magic were flowing around us, ebbing and rising in intensity as they clashed with one another. As they clashed, they negated each other, as if each of them was spending the better part of their power on forcing the other into submission. The creepy feeling we had was from the interaction of the two.

“I think there are two powers at play here, each trying to come up on top. I don’t think either one will be particularly pleasant for us to deal with, in the long run. They seem to be competing for the moment, but if one were to fall, or they were to work together, then I doubt we would appreciate the result.”

The others were less than pleased to hear about this, but Siora frowned openly at the idea. “The ruins are up ahead, aren’t they? It may be that the Hunt, in creating the Blood Moon, bringing these fiendish wolves to the material plane, and whatever else they’ve been doing, have awoken something inside the ruins, something that would be best left sleeping.”

Vestele grimaced. “In that case, we have a choice. Do we continue on to the ruins, and get rid of whatever is causing this aura, and risk the Blood Moon’s powers getting stronger? Or do we pass it by, and potentially have a new threat, which has had more time to gather its strength, while we are still recovering from facing off against the Hunt? I doubt seriously that anything waking up in the ruins after so long will simply let us go about our day once the wolves are disposed of.”

Frostmane chuffed. “Anything that can counter, even in part, the effects of something like the Blood Moon is not something to keep at our back when fighting the demon wolves.”

I nodded slowly. “Yes, Frostmane is correct. Even if the force behind this second aura may prove to be friendly, or at least not hostile, we should probably find it, and make sure of that before we continue on. I don’t want to be caught between the two forces. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily a friend, after all.”

The others nodded reluctantly. No one liked the idea, but there was precious little about it to like. The potential problems with leaving the source of the second aura behind us while we went to deal with the Malarites were too great to be ignored.

We had just started forward again when Frostmane once again stopped, sniffing the air. With a growl, his eyes focused on the trees ahead. “Wolves, like the ones in the cave.”

That was the only warning we had before the howls reached us.