~

The boys were petrified. Neo wolves were some of the roughest, toughest and downright meanest breed of monsters to ever exist. Maybe if there was one or two they’d have had a fighting chance. But this was a horde. Even more intimidating than their numbers were their size. These were adult neo wolves, ones as big as a fully grown man. Snarling through their thick fangs, the pack approached.

Running away would have only been blood in the water. No, the boys couldn’t do that, that would mean admitting their fear. But they couldn’t just stand in one place either. That was equally as dangerous. In fact, it’d be like they were inviting the neo wolves to rip them to shreds. Whether they stood and braved the coming assault, or ran and hoped for the best, neither option was looking good.

Almost dropping the gorgon swine’s head, Leo was shaking. “What do we do?” He murmured to Crest. “What the hell do we do?”

“Nothing,” Begrudgingly Crest suggested that they stand still. “If we do anything we’re dead.”

Gritting his teeth in anxiety, Seal argued against Crest. “If we do nothing we’re dead. Stupid.”

“I know.”

Before the boys could decide on their next action, suddenly the neo wolves picked up the pace. Having identified the kids as targets, they were no longer hesitating.

Screaming to the top of his lungs, Leo dropped the pig’s head.

“Crest!” Seal exclaimed terrified. “We gotta make a run for it.”

Crest’s face tensed. This looked like the end for them and their hunting days.

Snapping their jaws as they closed in, the mad dogs prepared to taste flesh.

However….

Luck was on the boys’ side because those wolves tasted nothing of the sort.

A large shadow soared overhead past Crest and the others. The boys looked on in wonder as the mysterious figure landed in front of them. A few neo wolves wailed in pain as a sideways slice became their demise.

It was Sign. He had arrived just in time to save the boys. The man was mighty. With one stroke he had taken out four of the beasts.

Blood covered him. It sprayed from the neo wolves’ vitals like violent rain. Unrelenting, eight more of the things attempted to pounce him from all sides. The first two that reached him, he struck quickly through the neck. That ended them rather quickly, but he couldn’t keep up with the remaining six.

One of the neo wolves pounced high up, falling into Sign’s chest.

“DAD!” Crest cried out. But he didn’t dare interfere. None of the boys would.

Sign was knocked over, but wouldn’t let himself be overtaken. Slicing at an angle, he cut open the neo wolf from his stomach to his chest. Before he could even get the creature off him, there were already more at his legs. He could feel teeth in both of them. Sign bared the pain, but he had to take care of his attackers quickly. Tossing the wolf he had cut open off of him, he turned his attention to what was causing his legs agony. Those bastards! Down below his belt, those vicious things had torn through his pants and violated his legs. Powering through his discomfort, Sign wriggled around and swung on them. It was near impossible to aim his sword, seeing as the beasts wouldn’t let him get off the ground for a second. But fortunately, he was able to wound them at an angle despite being on his back.

The two leg gnawing shits now had deep cuts on their snouts and noses.

The neo wolves, backed away. The remaining five now hesitated, growling but not moving. Sign was more than he appeared, and now the creatures seemed to be having second thoughts. Their hesitation at the very least gave Sign enough time to recover. Swinging his sword on the neo wolves to ward them off as he got up, Sign managed to keep them at bay. Slowly but surely he stood to his feet. Shockingly, he had a glimmer in his eye and a smile upon his face.

“You things think you can do whatever you want? You think you can hurt my boys?” He questioned them desperately. Though it wasn’t as if they could give him an answer. But he probably wasn’t seeking one either. “You thought wrong. I’m these kids’ protector. Now I can’t go letting you kill these boys now can I?”

One of the neo wolves circled to the front of the pack and barked.

Sign scoffed. “You have to protect your own too, huh? Us monsters are all the same I guess.”

The wolf at the front of the pack jumped to attack, but Sign went for a devastating horizontal slash that split the wolf open. The beast’s body collapsed in front of the remaining four wolves, whose morale had slowly waned. They backed away from the body, looking up at the wolf slayer in all his glory. Neither bark nor growl could any longer be heard. Now there were only whines. Standing tall and unmoved, Sign looked down on them.

“Things not looking the way you planned huh?” He mocked.

“YEAH, GO DAD!” Seal encouraged his father with a happy heart. “THOSE WOLVES AIN’T GOT NOTHING ON YOU!”

Sign smiled. “Thanks son.” He said proud that his son looked up to him. Turning his attention back to the neo wolves he gave them a word of advice. “Now look if you guys want to live, I’d suggest getting out of here right about now. I just killed eight of your boys, and I can kill the rest of you if I want. I’d get going.”

The neo wolves didn’t need to be told to leave, they already knew the situation. Instincts told them they no longer had a chance of winning. The wolves ran in multiple directions, leaving the scene and the crew alone.

“Yeah, you better run.” Sign remarked.

He had a lot of bravado, but he also had the guts to back it up.

“Dad!” Crest shouted. “You were so awesome.”

“Uh huh! You made that look easy.” Leo agreed.

Sign looked behind him to see the boys fawning. They were looking at him as though he was the coolest person in the world. Deep down that made Sign happy. Smirking, he didn’t hesitate to give the boys their props as well. “Well you guys didn’t do too bad yourselves now did you?” He pointed to the gorgon swine’s massive body. "A gorgon swine, huh? Nice job."

“Oh yeah,” Leo sounded surprised. He quickly picked up the head of the beast that had been lying on the ground. “It was nothing.”

Crest stared at Leo with an aggressive look. One that was thoroughly unamused. “I was the one who slew it jackass.”

“Details. Details. It wasn’t much of a monster anyway. You killed it with no resistance. You can’t be proud of that.”

"How would you know if it offered no resistance? You weren't even looking at the time." Crest's eyes were guilty. He looked off into the distance as though Leo wasn’t even talking to him. Secretly he knew Leo was right. But he was also just happy to have another kill under his belt.

Putting his hands on his hips, Sign laughed heartily. Despite the boys’ haughty natures, he was glad they at least seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Well it doesn’t really matter who did what I suppose. As long as you killed something worth eating, that’s all that’s important. Though I wish you boys would follow orders for once.”

Seal spoke up. “It’s Crest that never wants to follow orders. He tempted me to misbehave. I would have totally waited if he hadn’t ran in like that.”

“I agree.” Concurred Leo.

“Oh shut up,” Crest said taking up a belligerent tone, his eyes shifting to the side as though he were being accused of some crime. “You guys just want to one up me because I’m on a winning streak. But guess what, it ain’t gonna happen. I’m a stay winning.”

Sign sighed in frustration. How often the boys’ conversations turned into arguments. Boys would be boys he supposed, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t believe it got old quick.

“Come on boys,” he said. “Let’s head home.”

Before they could head out Crest took notice of something important that he’d almost forgotten. “Wait a minute,” he insisted. “What about your legs dad? Are you sure you can walk? How are you?” He questioned looking down at the bloody scars that the neo wolves had left.

Sign had shut all thoughts of the horrible pain out, so much so that he earnestly felt he could walk without thinking about it. Not wanting to worry the boys, he smiled. “Never better.”