The group was located in a hall, there were no windows inside, and the only light came from the entry and the green lines on the walls. The hall was big enough that the group wasn’t feeling cramped, a single path forward was available for the expedition, it was a long corridor. Edward couldn’t see where it was leading because the corridor was making a sharp turn toward the right. The hall where everybody was situated wasn’t completely bare, two statues were present on each side of the walls, and two statues were also flanking the entry to the corridor. There seem to be some low-relief carving on the walls too but before Edward had the time to look at them closely he heard the sounds of rustling leaves.

“The wolves have arrived!! All guards with me!!" Marc shouted.

He then rushed in front of the entrance.

“We will wait for them inside!! Don’t let them pass you, I don’t want to be attack from behind!!”

Two rows of guards arranged themselves to protect the entrance to the ruins, the villagers were carrying their spears while Marc’s mercenaries were carrying swords.

Glowing yellow eyes were visible in the forest, dark forms rushing between trees. The sounds of paws crushing leaves were clearly audible to the group.

The guards got ready to confront them but the wolves didn’t attack immediately. The carriers went into the corners of the room to be as far as possible from the wolves, Edward went with them. Some were also looking at the corridor. Some dust started to fall on them from the ceiling.

They are above us. At least the ceiling is made of stone they can’t get through that. But we can’t go outside, we will be encircled and attacked from everywhere. How many of them are here for them to even go on the top of those ruins?

Now we only have two choices, stand our ground or go deeper into strange unknown ruins with wolves on our heels. Well, make that one option only, the wolves are dangerous enough, I don't want to avoid traps while running from wolves, we must stand our ground. The entrance isn’t that big, only a few of them will be able to attack us at the same time. Even if they are more of them it won’t matter as long as we can keep them outside. I wonder what they are waiting for.

A huge howl tearing through the night answered him, and a chorus of howls followed right after. All the wolves were howling at the same time. With the wolves all around the ruins, the expedition was right in the middle, and the sound was coming from every direction.

Edward shuddered and put one hand on his knife to reassure himself.

What was that? It’s not the same beast I heard last time. Is that a wolf too? But it sounds different than the others.

After the howls, the wolves attacked ferociously. Two black wolves jumped through the entry at the same time. The guards tried to impale them with their spears. One wolf was touched, but instead of being pierced by the spear, he was just pushed back to the forest. The dense fur of the wolf managed to protect it, it turned the piercing blow into a blunt force that was far less dangerous.

The other wolf managed to avoid the spears by jumping on the wall and bouncing toward the throat of one guard. Luke, one of Marc’s mercenaries, managed to intercept the wolf while it was still in mid-air with a swipe of his sword.

Holy shit! Those wolves are fast, and did that guy just swipe him while he was still in the air? I was lucky the one I encountered was injured, otherwise, I would have been killed in only a few seconds.

Although the first wolves were pushed back it didn’t discourage the others, they didn’t even pause and two others wolves try to force their way in. This time Marc acted directly, he went in front of the entrance and when one of the wolves jumped towards him he did a swift stroke with his sword. The blow didn’t seem particularly strong but the wolf was thrown outside like a cannonball. He crashed against a tree and didn’t get up, a small pond of blood, forming under him. This was one wolf out of the fight. The other one was pushed back by the guards.

Marc is on another level altogether, is that the power of an awaken? If the situation stays like this we should be able to pass the night without worries. But this huge howl wasn’t produced by a regular wolf. It’s uncertain if Marc will be able to deal with it. I should get ready to fight.

Edward took his knife in his right hand and he also took his backpack in his left hand. He intended to use it in place of a shield.

The assaults of the wolves continued without pause even though some wolves were regularly put out of the fight by Marc. The other guards didn’t manage much apart from pushing back the wolves and injuring some. However they were starting to get injured too, the wolves didn’t manage to bite them, but they were able to claw at them. Marc’s mercenaries were wearing a chain mail on their chest, but the villagers were just having leather armor and that wasn’t enough to protect them fully. The claws of the wolves were able to pierce through the leathers even though the damage was lessened. Instead of getting heavily injured they just got some scratches.

It was then that a huge wolf arrived, it was two meters tall with eyes as red as blood. He was like a king among his pack.

Can this still be called a wolf? This thing is the size of a horse. I hope Marc can deal with it.

This huge wolf was walking slowly towards them as if he owned the place. It considered them dead meat, in its eyes they were only prey. The other black wolves stop their attack and let him pass. This wolf was like royalty, and the humans could feel the pressure requesting them to submit coming from it.

The guards hold their breath and step back a little, nobody wanted to face that. A distance was opened between Marc and the rest of the guards. At this moment the huge wolf pounced on Marc. Marc took his swords with two hands and began a massive strike, however, the wolf suddenly turned into black smoke and went right through his strike. Marc only hit empty air. The wolf materialized behind him and swiped the guards before him with one paw. The guards were sent tumbling into the halls. The other wolves seized the opportunity and charged into the hall, they tacitly ignored Marc as if letting the monstrous wolf take care of him.

With wolves in front and behind him, Marc had no other choice but to step aside to avoid being flanked. The huge wolf left the guards to his pack and turned back to face Marc while giving off a regal aura.

Marc and the regal wolf were appraising each other. Marc was the first to move, without him the expedition would probably get overwhelmed by the black wolves. It wasn’t that the guards weren’t able to face the wolves, it was just that they were unnumbered and in enemy territory. They had to secure the entry to the ruins again, otherwise others wolves would just keep coming. He couldn’t drag the fight if he didn’t want to end up alone surrounded by wolves.

Marc swiftly plunged to the right side of the wolf and directed his sword upward to pierce its throat. The wolf replicated with a swipe of his paw, Marc blocked it with his sword but he was pushed back by the force. Marc was assessing the wolf, trying to seize an opening. The wolf was looking at him with a derisive look in its eyes, the situation was to its advantage and the wolf was taking its time, basking in the feeling of power.

Meanwhile, Edward and the expedition were fighting with the other wolves. The guards who had been sent flying by the huge wolf were standing up again as quickly as they could. The others were trying to contain the wolves, but the villagers with the spears weren’t able to deal with the wolves as they were having more space to evade the spears. At least the guards were keeping the wolves busy as they had to focus on the spears' thrusts. Marc’s mercenaries were having more fighting experience, some took a knife in one hand and their sword in the other. When they missed an attack with the sword they were following with another strike of their knife, either to fall back or to try and injured the wolves at close range.

Edward was also facing a black wolf. The wolf didn’t hesitate and jumped right at him. With his previous experience fighting a black wolf and with what he saw in the last few minutes Edward decided to bait the wolf with his backpack instead of trying to force it back with his knife.

Yes, that’s it jump on me you fool.

Edward stuffed his backpack directly into the maw of the wolf. He then used the force of the wolf jump to fall and roll on the beast, trying to maintain it on the ground.

You think you are so strong. Your fur can protect you from hits, but I would like to see you try to defend yourself against repeated hits at point-blank.

He then try to stab the wolf while it was down and wasn’t able to move much. The knife slipped on the fur and Edward almost cut himself.

What the fuck is its fur made of? Ok, I know where you don’t have fur you overgrown rabies-stricken dog.

Edward then slapped the wolf on the ground once more to confuse it. He left his backpack in the maw of the wolf and used his freed arm to choke the wolf. He then took a deep breath and stabbed the wolf in the eye as deeply as he could. The wolf convulse in muscular spasms and went limp in Edward’s arms. Edward released the wolf that collapsed on the floor.

Edward stood up and looked around him, the situation was grim, more wolves had entered the ruins, and each guard now had to face two wolves at the same time, they wouldn’t be able to last for long. Another carrier lay in a building pool of blood one wolf on top of him. Marc was injured, he had taken one paw from the regal wolf on his chest, and three bloody lines could be seen on it, with blood dripping down. One of the carriers decided to flee and run for his life through the corridor that led further into the ruins.

Suddenly another roar tore through the forest. All the combatants froze in place, even the regal wolf looked disturbed. Edward’s heart was palpitating.

That’s the one! This is the one I heard last time.

The regal wolf looked at the expedition, seeing as its pack hadn’t managed yet to take down the humans he did a low howl. The wolves stopped attacking and quickly fell back in retreat. In a few moments, all the wolves had left the place.

People could have thought the wolves’ attack had been a dream if not for all the injured and the corpses of the wolves left behind.