Talwen awoke feeling recharged and energetic. Basking in the sun all day had warmed her scales and energized her muscles. She let loose a gout of flame that burned white hot and held it for a full minute. Satisfied, she grinned to herself. Those Böser wolves don’t stand a chance.

The sun began to set when she finally launched herself from her perch atop the mountain. She rose high into the sky, and glided to the den of the beast. As she’d seen the day before, night fall seemed to be the signal to return to the den. The group of younger wolves all brought back what they could find, and those that failed were sent back into the woods without eating. As these wolves dispersed, she began her plan.

The wolves were working independently, but if they found trouble, they would call out to the rest of the pack. One on one, they were no match for her claws. Even two or three on one, her flames could melt through their hides and reduce them to ash. The whole pack, however, stood a chance against her and, if they alerted the enormous beast that led them, she was in trouble.

She glided overhead and watched as the smaller, younger wolves each went about their business. Soon, they were out of sight of each other. She struck like lightning through the darkness, and took one wolf entirely unaware. The power of her strike crushed the starving beast, killing it on impact. She immediately launched herself to the skies and deposited the fresh meal on a high peak nearby.

If I attack from above and kill before they can cry out, I can thin the pack quickly and easily. They will make a fine prize to bring comfort to our home and welcome the young one. She soared back to the forest and continued her hunt. Three more wolves fell the same way, isolated and crushed before they could even cry out.

As she stalked a fifth kill, motion near the entrance of the den caught her attention. The larger wolves were now leaving the den. Ten wolves, well fed and eager to grow stronger, confidently padded out into the forest. The leader held back and watched the group depart from the mouth of the cave, before turning out of sight again.

These starving pups are nothing to crush, but the large ones will put up a fight. I’ll have to be careful with those. She continued to stalk the younger wolves on the outskirts of their territory and dispatched several more with ease.

With the pile of her kills mounting, she returned to the area and found no more easy prey. Three of the small wolves remain by my count, she thought as she circled overhead. Clouds periodically covered the moons, allowing her to be more risky in her search. Eventually, she found the remaining stragglers grouped together. They paced around one of the larger wolves, but didn’t dare attack it. The larger wolf sat on top of a fallen tree. It growled and bared its fangs at the smaller three, but didn’t move.

Suddenly, as if tripped by an unknown trigger, the three wolves leapt at the elder. One met its death in the jaws of the large beast, caught as it lunged toward the front paws as they rested on the log. The other two found their marks however, and clamped down on the hind legs of the large wolf. It dropped the corpse of the first wolf, and cried out in pain. Talwen watched the surrounding forest to see what would happen but no other wolves came rushing to the spot.

After a moment of silence, the larger wolf realized that it was alone, frozen out from the pack. It let loose a mad howl and whipped its body around, sending the two smaller wolves flying into the ground. Wasting no time, the large wolf pounced on the nearest as it struggled to recover from the blow. Blood flowed from the hind legs of the large wolf, but it ignored the pain and crushed the throat of one of the challengers. Only one remained now.

The smaller wolf calculated its options. The larger wolf was injured badly, and wouldn’t make it through the night. The small wolf could run and survive, and return later to its prize. It would lose the respect of the watching pack however. It hesitated, unsure of what to do.

The larger wolf gave it no time to pause and made the decision for the smaller wolf. It leapt and attacked wildly, snapping at any limb that strayed close enough. The smaller wolf was nimble, and dodged through the attacks. After a frantic minute, the larger wolf began to tire. Its injuries hampered its movements and its blood now covered the small clearing. It stumbled, and the smaller wolf took this moment to strike.

The younger wolf danced to the right and latched onto the back of the large wolf’s neck. It tore and pulled, gristle and fur flying through the air. The large wolf thrashed, but was too weak to break free. Slowly, its movements became weaker until it finally collapsed to the ground. The young wolf shook the body of its elder once, before dropping it and howling. The onlooking pack howled in response.

It was at this moment, Talwen struck. The victorious wolf was about to let loose another howl. It didn’t suspect another fight. She crushed its spine, killing it immediately, and launched into the air again. The urge to let loose a roar of her own, and announce her own dominance of the forest was strong, but she couldn’t announce herself. Not yet. There were still nine of the larger wolves left in the pack and they were stronger. Better to wait to strike when she was at full strength. She deposited the body with the others and watched the sun rise from her peak. Tomorrow, the forest would learn of her dominance.

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Enzo had trouble sleeping the third day of Talwen’s hunt. Howling in the distance woke him before dawn, and he decided it was better to stay awake than risk a wolf finding him unprepared.

I think today I’m going to set up a secondary fire pit in the room below. It’ll be a whole lot safer for me down there. If something does find the cave while Talwen is gone, I’ll have a chance to go unnoticed.

As the sun rose, he pushed through his usual chores. The routine was becoming second nature, to the point that he was able to finish things much quicker than before. He was starting to learn the forest as well, able to identify certain bird calls in the morning and notice more tracks through the area.

Think I’ll move some of the traps around today after I finish on the second fire pit. He looked to the sky and saw clouds building in the distance. They sat parked over the ocean for now, but the last storm had begun much the same way as well. Really hope I can catch something before that rolls in and ruins all the tracks and trails I’ve been noticing.

Rather than hunt for a whole new set of stones, Enzo elected to move the stones from the initial pit down into the second room. I can control fire now, he reasoned, so the risk is a lot lower while I’m awake. I’d rather have additional protection when I’m sleeping down here. Too easy to get caught in the room with no escape if the fire gets out of control while I sleep.

With the main project of the day done, Enzo set to moving his traps around the forest. The four spread throughout the trees hadn’t captured anything anyway, so he wasn’t too worried about missed opportunities. He brought the bow with him this time, and was careful to not disturb the forest while he worked. Maybe I’ll surprise something and be able to get an easy shot off.

Nothing happened through the forest, but when he checked the traps near the stream, he finally found some success. Struggling to break free from the string was a small black bird. I recognize this one, it's got the twittering song in the mornings. He took a small stone from the bed of the stream and put the bird out of its misery, before returning to the cave.

Enzo spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning his catch. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but the feathers have to go for sure. After that, I’ll just heat it and go from there. It took a while, but eventually, he got his prize. He settled down with the egg in his new fire pit, and tore into the meat. Man, this tastes so good after nothing but berries for days. If only Talwen hadn’t drained all my mead.