Andrew

“Backs to me!” Sophie called. Her commanding voice snapped Andrew out of his momentary shock to huddled close along with the others. With sword in hand, Andrew enveloped himself in knight's armour. The dark energy of his power seeped over him like a second layer of skin. As Andrew eyed the barely visible slopes beyond he snuggled a bit closer between Flynn, Sophie, and Natalie. The others stood looking out to all four sides between them with their weapons of choice at the ready.

“They are heading straight towards us,” Natalie said. She had to be using her angel sight to see them since Andrew could barely make out five descending the foot of a huge slope.

He could hear more of them however as they howled their presence through the sudden picking of winds. Their clokes tasselled in the breeze now along with the forest trees, its rustling made it harder to pinpoint the encroaching howls. Though they were being hunted Andrew could not say how many they were or what direction they were coming from. His mind told him that it was somewhere alongside the direction they were running. They could see the glimmer of the town lights now. The way was clear ahead. So why was it that the howls that carried on the winds seemingly came equally from all sides?

The wind. Something’s off about it. Andrew took a moment to really concentrate. Although he was not too good with gale-like abilities he… his eyes opened in sudden understanding.

“Gale affinity! Most of the wolves must be spirit animals!” He shouted over the winds. It curled around them now. Pulling up countless leaves that formed a kind of swirling wall that stretched several feet high. It surrounded them making it even harder for him to see the figures that were approaching. Given the spectacle and sheer scale of the wind, it had to be made by more than twenty spirit animals all instinctively coordinating their gale powers together into one tempest. In the corner of his eye Andrew saw Sophie turn and thrust her staff out, the crystal end gleaned a momentary hue of pure white light that drew his attention. A large wolf had charged through the vortex of wind the leaves and pounced towards her but before it could harm her it crashed into a barely visible wall of light that stood a few feet between them. Back paws scraping for perches on the suspended wall of light, the wolf snapped its jaw at Sophie's face, its teeth shimmering with the power in each bite, it's brown main tasselled with the same power. Like passing winds through grassy plains, its fur danced in its caress. Flynn's sword came crashing into the wolves' flank making it cry out as it staggered back and ran into the cover of the vortex. Andrew gritted his teeth. Between them, Andrew knew that Flynn had the most powerful strike, so if not even he could cleave through the elemental armour that shimmered off the wolf’s then…

No, that’s not what’s happened here. He looked at Flynn now, really looked at him. He could see the same grim determination in his features that he imagined he had. That along with the same eagerness he saw in him in their battle. But behind the outward front, his body was already betraying him. Flynn fought for breath now, knees shaking from the sheer ordeal of standing. As he took note of the sweat running down the man's face Andrew truly understood for the first time just how royally he messed up.

“Do any of you think that you have the strength to repel twenty spirit wolves because I know that I don’t,” Sophie stated. Andrew looked at Sophie. He saw the fatigue clear for all to see. How did he not notice this? Natalie glared at him in disapproving silence. She’d tried to tell him.

“But the wolves don’t normally come down from the mountain,” he pushed out defensively. As Natalie's eyes met his, Andrew wished that he could take the words back. A flicker of understanding flashed in her eyes then. That just made him wish she could say angry at him. As the sound of howling mocked them, Natalie turned back to the wolves.

They came rushing in soon after, one, two, three of them. As instincts melded Andrew with his father's sword threw himself at the wolf closest to him. Intending to silence through its side like he did the demon back in Lucas, Andrew shifted himself to one side and met the wolf's flank with the passing of his blade. To his surprise, instead of cutting it along the wolf caught the weapon in its mouth. A low deep growl reverberated from its throat as the wolf's golden eye regarded him.

“Look out!” white teeth flashed by his wrist before a purple streak of lightning struck it just out of sight. The wolf staggered to the side before slowly getting back on its paws, this gave Andrew enough time to better focus his power upon his blade and struck the first wolf with a night slash. The slash dug into its front leg, blood seeped through its fur as it struggled to keep balance. Andrew quickly ran through what the wolves attempted on him and swallowed. They tried to disarm him, aimed to separate him from the sword and any valid means of standing up to them. Without a tool or weapon in hand, pentagon knights can hardly use their affinity. They knew how to take on a human with knights' armour he thought, they knew their common weakness. That made him nervously adjust his grip on his father's blade.

“We can still fight,” Natalie said, nodding over to Andrew and herself. “But I don’t know what we can do against this many wolves, not without…” Natalie left the sentence hanging and Andrew understood why. She could summon up a storm cloud and use her angel sight to see the nearby wolves and strike them down with bolts of thunder but to use that power now will mask out the moon, the only light source they had left. Although Andrew was fairly sure Sophie did not know the scope of Natalie’s abilities she nodded grimly as if coming to a similar understanding.

“So then we make a choice now. Fight or flight, what will it be?” Sophie asked. It did not take an expert to tell that he and Natalie were the only ones still fit to fight. Distracted by another wolf jumping into the vortex Andrew blocked some sort of air attack that came off the wolf's claw. Four sharp beams of compressed air crashed into the face of his blade staggering him from the sheer force of impact. Andrew expected mid-ranged attacks from creatures who could harness the elements, which he was not expecting was the speed that such an attack would come. By the time Andrew recovered another wolf had charged in behind the first and. It jumped towards Sophie who stood just beside him. Cutting the first wolf with an overhead slash Andrew stabbed at the flank of another wolf that tackled Sophie's strange energy walls. As soon as the wolf staggered away from his stab Sophie wilted from her efforts. Keeping one concerned eye on Sophie and hearing Natalie fighting off somewhere to his back, Andrew nodded to himself.

“We run!” he said. The others obeyed without a moment's hesitation. There was no knowing how many of them there truly were and how much it would have taken to make them back off, but they at least had a rough idea of how much further they had to go until they reached the village.

“We should make it to the walls within half an hour. Cover us and we’ll keep moving!” Sophie said as she pulled herself upright and got into a steady stride. As Flynn ran alongside Sophie. Andrew and Natalie took one last glance at their surroundings before catching up. They fell into a pace between Sophie and Flynn all in order to keep an eye on their front and back. As they parted through the vortex they got a better view of the open field under the cool moonlit sky. Strength came to Andrew despite his own fatigue at the sight of the luna light. In truth, he was in his element. With the night mature and the moon bathing light upon the land, Andrew was in the best environment to make use of his power. Much like an aqua knight can get a boost in power when fighting by water or a flame knight becomes a force of nature by using live flame, Andrew's affinity bloomed best in the still of darkness.

Often this came with the setback of not being able to see what he was doing but today the stage was perfectly set for him. Between this and Natalie's help, Andrew was fairly sure that they could fend off the wolves for the whole half hour they estimated. He could hear now, padding along their left and right just barely out of sight. He could feel their glowing golden eyes scanning them for weakness. They could not outrun them and the wolves knew it so they stalked them. Most of the wolves had suffered injuries from their attempted attacks and so they fell back on poking and prodding. They planned on playing the long game, to tier them out and pick them apart once they fell. Made their run to the village feel more like balancing on a fine edge. With one slip the delicate line of tension will break and they will all be in trouble. After a time it was getting harder to hear their footfalls chasing them. Is it possible that they gave up? Andrew hoped that perhaps the sight of the village light this close was the thing that made them turn back to their mountain homes.

“You see anything back here?” Andrew asked Natalie. She dared a glance over her shoulder before looking up and turning back as if the enemy was right next to her. The sound of countless howling wolves filled the night air.

“Above us!” she called as a pack of them landed around Andrew. Andrew watched in shock as he was jumped on by three of these wolves. pouncing off a pocket of air a matter off the ground it rushed towards Andrew with jaws snapping when it tackled him in thin air. As he kicked it off its power-infused teeth snapped nearly inches from his neck. Andrew understood them how it was that they'd managed to get how far above them. They had used brief pockets of air to jump and skip above them. As they both hit the ground Andrew got back to his feet just in time to parry another gale claw which he countered with a night slash mid-flip. As he staggered back to a sprint he was surprised to see that the three wolves that were attacking him had dodged his projectile and instead of pushing their aggression and using there trick to make hopping platforms with air they instead slipped back behind the vortex, Andrew wagered that they use up too much energy to get the jump on them like they did. Natalie repelled her two attackers with thunderous punches and kicks, a third got a jumping roundhouse to its face sending it toppling onto the ground in a staggering mess. This caused Flynn, Sophie, and Andrew to jump over it to keep from tripping. The wolves that were injured escaped beyond the vortex only to be replaced with seven more. This time they attacked Natalie, Flynn, and Sophie. Although Natalie dealt with her three quick enough and Andrew flanked the two coming at Sophie, Flynn was left to fend for himself against the last two.

Flynn managed to swat one aside with his blade only to be tackled by the other. Collapsing to the ground Flynn struggled as he tried to shake off the wolf that now had his wrist and shook at it like a plaything. Andrew stabbed at its flank. The wolf, however, narrowly dodged the stab only to retreat back beyond the surrounding vortex with the rest of the pack.

"You ok?" Natalie asked Flynn over her shoulder. Andrew helped the man to his feet. Instead of thanking him, Flynn was distracted, he looked at Natalie now with a face of puzzlement and it did not take long for Andrew to piece together what he saw. Natalie’s angel sight was hard to overlook with its silent, solid hue of purple contrast to the night. Although Natalie wanted them to know yet she knew that this was no time to hold secrets.

“I’m… fine,” he pushed out. Andrew had to respect how fast Flynn took it in. Sophie hid her reactions much better. Had Andrew not seen her looking straight at Natalie's eyes then he would have assumed that she’d missed it. One thing they could not escape was what he and Natalie would have answers to give to the pair once they made it out of this mess, if… they made it out of this mess. Five minutes in and that likelihood seemed slim.

Flynn’s arm was bleeding but most of the damage was mitigated thanks to his knight's armour. As they recovered and got back to running the wolves' methods had once again changed. Instead of attacking all of them randomly, they began to focus their efforts on Sophie and Flynn. They’d only strike at Natalie and Andrew when they intervened. Some times four came in, others times eight or nine, they were trying to whittle them down starting with the weakest among them whilst conserving their packs' energy and it was working. Their sprint began to lull into a shabby jog and by another five minutes, their pace was completely broken as Flynn and Sophie had more close encounters, despite their efforts to back them up the wolves were able to slip in with numbers and a growing understanding of how they fought. It was clear to Andrew that they were coordinating their attacks and trying to find means to avoid him and Natalie. Natalie most of all since she could strike them with thunder punches and kicks from a fair distance.

Being this closely packed together helped lessen the chances for the wolves getting to Flynn and Sophie but it also made effectively repelling them riskier. They knew little about Sophie and Flynn as is and it was all too easy to be struck down by an ally in such situations. Andrew did his best to pull back his punches but soon even that was working against him. He was in his element and yet he could not make full use of his strengths like this. He could not afford to.

I've already harmed everyone here by dragging them into this mess… It only took that moment of distraction for a wolf to get the slip on him.

The flash of electricity struck one wolf moments away from biting Andrew, he blinked in time to see Natalie get tackled by another wolf close to her. It came from the side of her-hardly at an angle for her to miss such an attack and yet she did. She missed hers in order to catch his. There was an airy moment of silence as Natalie toppled mid-sprint and came crashing onto the ground in a tumble.

"Natalie!" Andrew was already turning back to reach her but was intercepted by two more wolves. Before he could think of facing them he caught another two go for Flynn and Sophie. Gritting his teeth he gave one last glance at Natalie before bolting for Sophie and Flynn and cutting at both wolves in an instant. This time they did not have a chance to avoid it because Andrew was through holding back. Sophie dropped her staff as another of those walls of light faded into crystal-like fragments between them, Flynn who's struggled against a wolf that jumped on top of him simply rose to his feet and drunkenly looked about. He expected more attacks after Andrew saved him but finding none Flynn tried to walk off the fatigue. By then, Natalie had not only fought off the wolf that pinned her down but she’d also struck down the others that were on track on attacking Andrew and the others. She held her shoulder now. A splattering of blood ran between her fingers as she took in a long, heavy breath. For Natalie to be showing signs of fatigue now was a bad sign.

The wolf's howls washed over them as if in mocking victory. 'Not long now before they killed themselves some humans.' Andrew imagen it said. He saw Natalie look at Flynn and Sophie who were barely able to move right before turning to him, she searched his eyes for some kind of plan-some way out of this. 'It was his fault' was all the thoughts he was able to conjure. It was not until Natalie turned to the spinning vortex surrounding them with a face hardened, purple eyes glowing and the atmosphere around them suddenly cooled to something dry and static that it hit him. He knew what to do. Just as Natalie’s storm was about to swallow them in complete darkness Andrew latched onto her hand breaking her focus.

"Let go Andrew I have to-"

"-I’ll try first," Andrew cut in. He could barely make out her features in growing darkness but he gleaned enough to know that her face went from incredulous confusion to chilling realization in a blink. Seeing that she understood Andrew gave Natalie a sheepish grin, and her storm clouds faded just enough for Andrew to spot the next wave of wolves closing in. He pushed her out of the way and moved aside himself as one wolf leapt through the space they occupied. Natalie caught the wolf mid bound by its hind leg and tossed it back out of the vortex just as Andrew took care of two others. Seeing Natalie handle the last three over his shoulder, Andrew grew more hopeful that this daring plan might work. The wolves were out for blood, but whose blood they got was not their main concern, only wanting to take out one of them they wanted the easiest target. Flynn and Sophie may be weakened but they were still in numbers. After them the wolves saw Andrew the most easily, making him the next favourable target. So what would they do if he, the third most targeted of the group, split himself from the others?

Picking a direction Andrew steeled himself and ran. He hardly caught Natalie's voice calling his name as he pushed through the encircling vortex and ran opposite the others, now separating himself the wolves tailing him thinned dramatically, likely from being surprised by his sudden split. With two targets encircling both of them vortex, not without splitting the pack. For the first few moments Andrew worried when he sensed pressure, he feared that his hunch was wrong and the wolves ignored him to continue their assault on Natalie and the others. Looking back for them however he was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did over half the wolves follow him but they all seemed wary of him despite being alone from the group. He counted sixteen of them. Most of them had the running gate that betrayed recent injury, no doubt from him and the others gave them. That meant that despite being alone and with no backup Andrew still had some leverage over them. This along with the mature night and the moon being in full bloom topped with the fact that he did not have to worry about striking down one of his own made him confident that he could survive long enough for Natalie, Sophie, and Flynn to make it back to civilization.

With nobody to hold him back, Andrew made a sprint for the rocky plane barely shaped out by the moon's illuminance. Off to either side, he could see the wolves come upon his distant left and right, as they jumped from rock to rock. The vortex of air that surrounded him had returned but it was far weaker than before, smaller too. That further told him that the pack that chased him was getting tired. As Andrew leapt over a wolf's tackle from behind he used lone shadow in mid-air to fade away and repaired back on his feet to strike his baffled attacker. The wolf's protective shroud took most of the blow but not enough to get away intact. Avoiding the gale slashes from another wolf Andrew skipped off a rock as four more gale slashes came raining down above him. The rock shattered to the attacks as the wolves that threw them came descending towards him with glowing teeth wide open and growls in their throats.

Scurrying back Andrew swerved clear from most of the bites to his leg, neck, wrist before landing in a skid along the ground. Andrew had been anticipating the lunge to his wrist thanks to seeing Flynn struggle against such an assault. Thanks to that he was able to repose the attack with a counterstroke of his own. Throughout most of the chase, Andrew avoided and deflected attacks. He just needed to buy time and conserve energy. But even then-even under his element with nobody to hinder him the struggle was starting to tire Andrew out. But even in that state, it was clear to Andrew that this problem cut both ways. Although there were at least fifteen wolves surrounding him and they struck at him in packs of four and five, even then their waves of onslaught were getting more sloppy as injuries and fatigue built up among them. Sure these were spirit wolves, awakened and strengthened by the will of the planet, sure these wolves were coordinated and clever-perhaps able to handle just about any demon that stumbled upon their territory. But he was a knight, trained as a child to harness his power to stand up to such things. Where they used their power to take down prey and average demons to fight both man and demon. This along with him having to use less of his own power thanks to being in his element made the difference. The vortex they shrouded him with grew even weaker, reminding him again that this plan was working. Getting a good grasp of things he simply concentrated on buying the others more time. As long as storm clouds did not bloom and plunge them into darkness Andrew chose to believe that Natalie, Flynn, and Sophie were still ok. Andrew guessed that it must have been five minutes since he separated from the others, they must be close to the town by now. With how things were going here maybe he won't have to lead the wolves on much longer. He had something in mind, an escape route at hand that he was confident he could use to get the slip-on the wolves for at least long enough to make an escape. Maybe in another minute, he will-

Pressure in the air shifted suddenly. The now panting wolves began to howl again. Under the deafening howls of the Andrew picked up his pace in hopes of keeping them too occupied in the chase to be so noisy. They should have little strength now, the lack of ambushes was proof of it. And yet the vortex around him began to redouble its veracity. It grew as strong as when he and the others came into contact with the pack and then surpassed that in a blink. As the tips of his cloak flapped against the vortex Andrew fought to keep from being swept off his feet. Opting to not push his luck in this chase any further Andrew turned back towards the town. If they were not at least by the village walls by now then... A large figure loped in from just beyond the wall of swirling leaves.

A wolf, perhaps three meters tall, loomed over him. Its large predatory eyes glowed a golden hue. Brown fur patched with red on one side danced in the strong gale vortex of its own power. The evidence of which practically illuminated from its body. There was no doubt, this one was the alpha king. Andrew fought with all he had to keep himself steady against the winds. Lowering his centre of gravity Andrew turned his back on the giant wolf and made a mad dash towards the direction of the town. Before he made it even twenty feet the giant wolf blew right past him as though the winds themselves before skidding gracefully in front of his escape route. Although Andrew sensed it cross past him his body was barely able to respond to it before it did so. The giant wolf could have easily attacked him in its passing but it did not, it chose not to. One of the other wolves beside it tried to leap at Andrew but to his shock, the giant wolf smashed it with a tackle, sending it tumbling on its back mid-leap. As it skidded to a halt it bound back as if to attack the giant wolf only to stop its charge when it was right by its face. With low growls the small wolf carefully backed away from the big one until the larger one snarled back, stopping the wolf froze a moment before sitting on its haunches, and as if on a message all the other wolves Andrew could do the same. Andrew carefully watched the whole thing unfold. Although he was baffled about what was going on, watching still helped him grasp his part in this mess.

Andrew could just make out the golden eyes of the other wolves just beyond this larger one. The great wolf regarded him as they laid off to one side. That gave Andrew enough time to gain his bearings, to recall what made him push the others into this mess in the first place.

"If you're going to eat me then get on with it," Andrew mumbled. Though he was shaken by what was happening, frustration bubbled up from his core. The great wolf stooped his head down to his level, still observing him. There was a tingle in the air, a slight shift to the immense torrent of wind that buffered him which Andrew almost felt a connection to but-

"What are you doing?!" Andrew asked, his frustration growing to anger. His head felt slightly dizzy from the sensation. He didn't need this crap-not today. He needed to get to his mother, they already were miles away from their destination and now they got delayed by a bunch of wolves that decided that today of all days they will break out from their known territories to attack people passing the mountain. With these thoughts surging through him Andrew pulled upon all the dark energy he could muster into his blade and with a leaping overhead swing, he unleashed a night slash at the giant wolf. He will reach his mother. He had no intention of dying before then. That simply meant that anything between him and his goal simply became an obstacle to be cut down.

With a roar, Andrew set the blade down upon the great wolf, the sheer amount of energy that he pulled into his blade burst outward like a tidal wave of raw power focused into a thin point. He was a dark knight in his element of power. The great wolf was staggered back by the sheer force of his attack but even that soon faded. As the power of his strike vanished the wolf just stood there a moment shaking itself off like a soaked pup coming out of heavy rain. Andrew was stupefied. Its fur enhanced with its energy made it tougher than steel. That strike was his strongest attack, besides countering a powerful blow with his clockwise counter he had nothing in his arsenal to surpass it.

Before Andrew knew it a giant paw flashed before his eyes and Andrew saw sky and land spin around him in a blinding blur. He crashed back first into a large boulder which took the wind out of him. As the rim of the rock crumbled from the impact Andrew forces himself to get back onto his feet. Staggering forward he sees the giant wolf rushing towards him. Andrew jumped clear as he used lone shadowed melding into his own silhouette.

The boulder exploded into fragments as the great wolf smashed through it with snapping jaws. Andrew knew then that it was suicide for him to face it. And now that he revealed his card of escape Andrew needed to get out of there. One of the flying pebbles from the boulder struck the spot of rock that his silhouette ran across, a numbing pain ran down his left ankle on impact but he was too set on escaping to assess the damage. So long as he could keep running on it he will count that as good news.

He could sense the wolves searching for him as he made it over a lopsided tree nearby. Andrew flinched as a booming howl erupted from directly behind him. A violent hail of sharp winds exploded from up high around the great wolf. It was so strong that it pulverized the rocky and grasslands around it into a mush of dust and rubble. Coming out of a lone shadow for a moment behind a rock just out of sight Andrew took in controlled breaths. He clenched onto his numbing ankle with a wince. As exhausted as he was, Andrew was sure he couldn’t have withstood that level of power even with knight's armour, had he decided to try his luck as a defenceless shadow when it happened he would have been turned into a bloody puddle of mush by now. Shaking those thoughts out of his head Andrew returned to lone shadow and continued to sneak further away from the wolf's. If there was a way out of this mess then it would be upwind to mask his scent. Using lone shadow in the darkness among trees and rocks meant that any shadow that he cast was almost impossible to spot on the already night-covered ground. He gave off no scent when he became a lone shadow. It was only when he reverted back to catch his breath could the wolves sniff him out. There were several instances where Andrew had to revert to normal to catch his breath on his escape. Each time he did so it became harder and harder to remain submerged. The more he held his breath back to back the less time he was able to keep holding it. He was already tired, now that he entered the edge of a forest Andrew concentrated on keeping ahead of the searching wolves. The tall trees permitted little moonlight here. On top of this, the pain from his ankle was starting to flare up but he did his best to ignore it. Right now he needed his other senses focused on the task at hand, he just needed to not fall flat on his face and keep patient. Andrew could still hear the wolves padding around but now that he was in the patch of forest by the mountain he could not see much of them.

During that time he spotted a kind of pattern between them and their search. He could feel the cool breeze more to his right now but still blowing slow and steady updrafts away from the wolves. Every time he’d hear them howl now it was followed by quickly approaching strides of others wolves to that area. Each time this happened it was a close encounter with wolves coming out of almost every direction to rally by the wolf who made the call as they further prodded the land with snouts to the ground, caught the whiff of his cent, and fanned out once again in their search. Luckily he'd made good progress in the first three uses of lone shadow. There was a moment when he snuck right under the gaze of a searching wolf. It stopped for a moment to sniff the ground below them. Andrew, who'd been marching through the forest in lone shadow for what he guessed was ten minutes now, was desperate for air, fighting himself to keep from sucking in too much and alerting the wolves he hid behind a tree opposite as he waited for the wolf to move on. He saw the wolf sniff the ground, perk up their ears and run down the kind of path Andrew ran through. He didn't see the giant wolf around but Andrew could sense him there somehow, not so much participating in the hunt but observing the hunt itself from a distance.

A short time later howls sounded at the back at that same location Andrew last came out of lone shadow to catch his breath and like before a good number of the searching wolves faded past him to investigate. That confirmed to him that they were following his cent. That was good, so long as they remained downwind they will always be lagging behind. Wolves were great hunters-he knew, they even tried preventing him from reaching the village by blocking his path back but if he can give them a bread crumb trail, leave them checkpoints to indicate that he was indeed moving away from the village as they intended then he should be able to break that pattern by using lone shadow and literally slipping right under their noses. So long as they made an assumption on where he will be next based on all the checkpoints his smell has led them towards until now.

As he conjured up these thoughts the soft shift of the winds pulled Andrew to full alert. It was slight, hardly worth any notice in any other situation but… yes, the updraft of breeze that was his key to buying some time was now blowing the opposite way. He’d have chalked it up to bad luck if he too was not sensitive to the presence of the winds, even then he doubted himself. Had he not seen and felt the distinct skill of these wolves govern the gale affinity first hand he would have engorged this thought. The wind had the same sensations as what he felt when he confronted the great wolf. That could only mean one thing.

He’s controlling the winds to find my cent. If he could sense this draft blowing against him then… He was already running before they showed up. His ankle throbbing at the pain however and before he knew it Andrew saw them rushing towards him from all sides. Even if he used lone shadow he was too drained to get too far. There was no escape. With his back to a branch, he pointed his father's blade out in a defensive stance. As the wolves huddled in he tried to keep an eye on all of them at once. Most of them just stood there a few meters away snarling, golding eyes glowing with an instinctive disdain before the giant wolf stepped in between them. As the alpha entered the circle the other wolves sat down. Their snarls were forgotten as they watched their leader approach in silence. That odd sensation returned again as the great wolf stirred the winds around Andrew. It felt like an imprint, an impression, some recognizable pattern incomprehension at the edge of understanding, that surreal sensation made him feel sick like he’d eaten something that rejected him. The great wolf growled at him then, anger like blizzard screams ran through the winds, this great wolf’s anger he was sure now. He was going to get killed apparently because he could not… what? Andrew ignored the sensations and looked beneath the legs of the great wolf's towards the light of the distant village below. The others should have made it there ok by now.

Why did it have to be now that all this crap happens?! If things had not been so irregular then perhaps he would not be in such a predicament. He blinked at that thought now. No, this was not something that only just started happening. Ever since leaving on this journey, they have had their encounter with an oddity. Some complications grew to the bigger issue. And every time he recalled that happening it was linked back to 'them' somehow. Right then Andrew recalled the days of intense travel to Lucas village, the convocation he and Natalie had by the campfire. She'd strung together some past events as evidence that the demon invasion that day she got kidnapped was in fact done by the stars of halo. 'I know because that's how they got me,' she had said. Andrew tried to reason with it logic at the time but he was unable to. Still… she was right. Andrew could have settled for it simply being a pattern or conscience but now he could not help but wonder.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts he realized that the great wolf was much more placid looking than it had been a moment ago. The winds felt calmer around him now. And though there was still that sense of the wolf trying to convey something to him and although it made him feel out of sorts there was a levelled clarity in the sense. Something had changed between then and now, but what? He did not move a muscle, was not paying attention to it at the time but even so. It happened when he was thinking about all those oddities that they’d run into before confronting the Stars of Halo.

Oddities, Andrew swallowed. His sword arm lowered as profound silence grabbed him.

"Why did you pick now to move down from the mountain?" he asked. The great wolf regarded him, the sense of swirling winds had stopped abruptly at the question. Taking a careful step forward Andrew saw the fur on its left side, really saw it this time. It was not simply a patch of red like he'd first assumed, it was blood. A deep gash on its side that was there before he ever laid eyes on the great wolf. Someone or something was able to wound this creature despite its power. Whatever ever managed it was not your average hunter.

Could it be that it’s hunting for the one that gave it this wound? Another sensation of wind tousled Andrew’s cloak and dreadlocked hair. It was all too conveniently from his thoughts to mark it as a coincidence. He knew that some animals made deep connections with a person of their choosing, that some animals, if they'd wanted, could send an impression of their innermost thoughts, with that connection both man and beast are able to communicate and coordinate at a level rarely seen anywhere else. Andrew frowned, this situation was far from being that of a partnership as enlightening as this experience was, this whole ordeal still left him with questions.

“What is it that you are trying to tell me?” just as he asked that the great wolf's ears cocked back as if catching some sounds worth its attention to something beyond them. A second later most of the wolves that sat around looked back in alert to the direction of the town before standing up and moving past Andrew. With casual strides and yawning they go fading deeper into the forest toward the mountain. As the last of the pack vanished Andrew shared one last moment with the great wolf before it too left to join the pack. In seconds all signs of the wolves had vanished from sight, replaced with the sound of two men running up the slope towards him. Only the wisp of the wind remained as a sign that they were even there. Andrew watched the alpha king fade into the dark mouth of the forest. He tried to dissect what that last wisp of wind meant from the great wolf to no avail. As footfalls grew behind him Andrew blinked out of his swirling thoughts in time to catch unfamiliar voices calling his name.

“Hey, you! You over there! Andrew! You're named Andrew, right?” a man's voice, an older man advanced in years he noticed. The smaller part of Andrew took note of this fact, the rest of his mind however was still digesting what just happened with the wolves. There was something… daunting about the whole ordeal. Like peeking into a world that’s always been there around him for the first time. It was so hard to explain let alone put it into words. “He’s been stupefied, just like the others. What do you reckon he will start mumbling?” said another person, they sounded younger than the first man but not by much.

“Can it Hec! Just help pick him up.” The older man said. Blinking, Andrew finally turned to look at him as footfalls shuffled over to either side of him. The older man looked pretty much how Andrew expected, a man in his mid to late sixties. He had a solid build which was only betrayed by a slight arch of his back. The gleam of an axe on the moon-lit night caught Andrew’s notice. With a brown flat cap hiding his greying hair and slightly tattered cream coat he looked more like a stern farmer out to chop logs for the hearth than the hunter knight that he apparently was. Seeing his reactions the old man blinked his eyes a few times near him.

“You hear us?” he asked, Andrew, nodded. The man snorted before shaking at that. “Then say so sooner damnit!” Leaning his axe on his shoulder he began marching back towards the village.

“Can you walk?” the younger man said. He looked to be in his later forties, with short black hair and a thin beak of a nose Andrew found his eyes drawn to it. He held a kind of spear Andrew noted, there was a strong smell of fish on him. Ahead of them, Andrew noticed the older man stop in his tracks when the younger man asked the question.

“I’m fine,” Andrew pushed out, collecting himself. Putting his sword away he walked past the younger man. No sooner had he done so, however, did a throbbing pain run up his left ankle. Cursing to himself Andrew staggered to a stop. Given the circumstance, although it hurt he was just glad that he did not lose the leg itself.

“I got you.” the younger man said, he put his head under Andrew’s arm allowing him to take some of the weight off the afflicted leg. Seeing Andrew look at him in puzzlement the man just shrugged. “No point in straining the thing if it can be helped.”

“Thanks,” Andrew replied.

“I’m Hector by the way. And that over there is my uncle, Shepard.” He pointed up to him with his chin… or was it his nose? “We don’t normally do search and rescue but the village can’t be that picky on who to send out as of late. We all gotta do our part any way we can, and if that means changing hats every so often then...” Hector shrugged at him.

Andrew was about to protest but the words fell on his tongue. Instead, he replied, “I’m Andrew,”

“We knew your name already, we ran into your friend. She asked us to come to get you,” Hector said.

“‘Asked’? More like she demands us to find you. The blasted girl hardly allowed the gatekeepers to get a word in. Why if she was my daughter I’d-” Shepard snorted.

“-It was not all that bad.” Hector protested. “The others apologized on her behalf just as we were leaving.” Though he knew all three were safe, hearing that this was indeed the case however unknotted a tension that he’d hardly had the time to notice until now. “Had to abandon my catch right outside to get here as soon as I did.”

Andrew simply nodded in appreciation, in truth, he was not sure what would have happened next had they not come when they did. Shepherd just looked over his shoulder at him unamused.

“My food’s on the stove,” he grumbled. ”If it burns then the meal is coming out of you and your friend's hide.” Shaking his head once again, Shepherd matched onwards.

“I just hope those gatekeepers ain't pinched my catch.” Hector sighed, the crunch of dry leaves filled the silence soon after. They mention that they came to get him and although he was grateful for the rescue Andrew could not help but marvel at how ragtag these two felt as hunters.

“You are not hunters, are you?” he said. Andrew understood why they looked out of place here now.

“What do you mean?” Shepherd said.

“You know what he means uncle,” Hector said.

“No I don't, that's why I'm asking. What do you mean by that kid?”

“My uncle is a retired hunter-he has been for years now. And I’m sure how I smell was a dead giveaway to where my professions lie.” Hector chuckled to himself lightly. Only then did Andrew notice that he was holding a harpoon, not a spear, that along with the distinct smell…

A fisherman, not noting that sooner said a lot about his current state.

“Where do we need to go to get a boat downriver?” Andrew asked. That made Hector tilt his head.

“At the dock, I can give you directions. But I doubt anyone will ride you downriver,” Hector said.

“Why not?” Andrew asked. Hector grimaced at the question before an underline determination filled his features.

“Progmanfes has got to take care of its own first and foremost, unless they have the means to solve our problems then I will not waste another second helping them,” Shepherd said, there was a sharp bite to the words. Andrew's confusion quickly grew to frustration.

“Was that necessary?” Hector asked Shepherd. With his annoyance building up at the news and the old man's attitude Annoyed, Andrew pushed himself off Hector's supporting neck to face Shepherd.

“Then I’ll take it from here, gramps,” Andrew said.

“What?” Shepherd said as he turned to him. The old man stopped to turn to him whilst Andrew did his best to not show the throbbing pain up his ankle. “Listen, kid, we ain’t at the village yet so keep silent untill-”

“-Maybe your sight is going but I'm not one of your lost locals, so why go to so much trouble for outsiders?” Andrew hissed.

“Can you save this crap for when we are back inside the walls!?” Hector pushed in.

“I’m just laying down the facts,” Shepherd said. “We're a mess now because we’ve been too reliant on outside forces. And now that our ‘protectors’ have buzzed off we can’t help anyone.”

Hector looked like he wanted to say something but thinking better of it he sealed his lips and looked at the ground. Shepherd sniffed at this before turning back to Andrew.

“You asked me why I bothered to help you,” he said before shaking his head. “It’s a good question. It was not like I came to the decision on my own accord. Your rowdy friend made sure of that. Didn't even have the presence of mind to shake on a form of payment,”

“Ignore him. He’s just hungry, right uncle?” Hector said.

“Caught in the moment we often act out on things that we don’t fully understand. It’s not until we’ve given some time to think about these actions does things make more sense. After all the crap that the village’s been through already, I’ve finally realized why I came out here to rescue reckless fools like you at my own risk despite there not being a penny in it for me or anyone else. It was for peace of mind.”

“‘Peace of mind?’” Andrew asked.

“Saving you now will mean one less death for us to grife. One less death means less for the village to deal with. Or people won’t have to conduct a search party and find your corpse the next day. With one less burial to worry about It means that you and yours can get moving and take your reckless presence away from our home.” Shepherd said. Andrew struggled to find his voice but when he did his tone became as low as the temperature on the poles.

“Are you trying to say that we should have known your local predators bullied you off your own land?” he said. Shepherd just shook his head as if he’d heard nothing.

“I’ve seen reckless fools like you in my day. Right now we don’t have the time or the resources to humour your bad decisions.” Speechless, Andrew just stared at him. Pulling himself back under control he forcefully sucked in a deep breath.

“Look, if you really want to be compensated for your ‘fine time’ then fine. Just let it be known that I’ll do it just so I’ll never be in debt to you. I’d have taken my chances with the wolves if I knew you’d be this much of a hoot.” Andrew said. Shepherd just looked at him for a while.

“You plan on leaving here by boat before morning?” he finally asked.

“I’d leave yesterday if it meant I’d never meet you,” Andrew retorted. Shepherd snorted before turning back and walking back towards the village.

“Keep your money,” Shepherd said. “Traveling downriver is risky, nobody wants to sail beyond the village border. Unless you're offering a premium for the ride then you'll be walking.” he looked down at Andrews's slashed ankle opening expressing how much faith he had pinned on that. “It may take all that you and your friends have at hand to convince anyone to take you. Convince them to take you before morning and I’d count that as my due payment.” Andrew could only grit his teeth at the old man's back. Cursing under his breath Andrew tried to walk but was again reminded of the throbbing ankle. Before he could walk on, Hector once again supported him. Andrew tried to push him off but he held a firm grip on him and insisted. In fact, he looked like he was about to have a go at him if he did not allow it. Once he stopped resisting Hector sighed to himself.

“Again, sorry for my uncle. It’s been a rough few weeks,” he mumbled looking at him. Andrew had half a mind to throw that back at him. Sure he might have it rough but it did not mean that he had to blast him with his bad energy. He was going to say as much until he remembered that it was Natalie who likely put him on blast first that resulted in this mess in the first place.

“It’s fine,” he lied. “What does he mean about the hired boats? Are the wolves roleplaying pirates as well as mountain bandits?” The trip downriver was his biggest reason why he even opted that they pushed themselves as hard as they did to reach the village. They won’t be able to hold half this pace for much longer on land. And after almost getting him and Natalie torn apart by wolves just to make it here that bit of news felt like a slap in the face. Hector frowned as he looked back at the distant lights of his village. His features darkened by trouble.

“If only it were just the wolves,” he mumbled. Andrew looked up at Hector incredulous. Catching his confused expression Hector shook his head and forced a smile. “The hired hunters can explain it best.”

~#~

Andrew arrived at the village entrance a half-hour later. And although he could not walk easily Andrew did find that he could keep at an ok pace without relying on Hector's support near the end. As he reached the small gates of the village Andrew saw two guardsmen with long pikes in hand standing to attention, they watched with curiosity as he, Hector and Shepherd walked past them. Andrew caught the gist of the question in that gaze. It was a surprise that they came back with a living person.

The village itself was a mismatch of grey brick houses, black thatched roofs alongside dirt-filled roads. Like any other quaint village he'd been in, it held its own quaint vibe, but perhaps it was the things Shepherd said but he felt that quaint feeling to be tense like a held breath. His eyes scanned the streets around him in hopes of spotting Natalie before she did him. Knowing her she would be in a fit over how he went and split from them out there and so he needed to warn her about his injury before she did something rash. Luckily there was hardly anyone around to sift through, just as he came around a corner he spotted her. Natalie had just turned her back to him as she marched up the footpath in an anxious fashion. In front of her on a long wooden bench sat Flynn and Sophie. As she turned around to make the stride back down the path their eyes met and Natalie froze mid-step. Andrew saw the whirlwind of emotions painted on her face at that moment, shock, relief, then a thunderstorm of anger that he’d feared. Hector wisely backed away as Natalies matched on over to Andrew and pushed him back. Wincing from having to support himself on his bad leg Andrew tried to cover it up with a sheepish grin.

"Fine I get it-really I do! Just don’t go kicking my ankles.” Andrew said, his hand waving in protest in front of her. Natalie who was about to push him again paused, looked down at his legs, and grit her teeth in restrained understanding.

“Is that consent to kick you everywhere else?” Natalie in a tight voice.

“Are you really that upset at me pushing you?" Although he tried to keep a straight face he could feel the corner of his lips betraying a smirk.

"Don't ever 'try' anything that stupid again." She practically stabbed him with every word into his chest repeated jabs of her finger, this made Andrew back up some more.

"I can't make any promise," Andrew mumbled.

"Stupid fool," She hissed, Andrew could tell that she was keeping down anger by a hair.

"I have no intention of dying until I reach my mother." He said, Natalie raised a hand up as if to thump Andrew’s chest but by the time the fist reached him it had no strength to it. With a fist on his chest, she sank her forehead on top of her own knuckles.

“Nobody plans on dying, idiot,” she said.

“Maybe I'm the exception,” Andrew chuckled, it was a weak laugh that Natalie did not respond to.

“What would I have told your mother if you'd-” Natalie whispered. The gesture surprised Andrew at first, it made him become self-aware of his own damp shirt and sweaty face. When he came to, however, he could feel the weight of her words. He could hear the tremble in her voice, feel the shaking in her palms. She’d had to govern her emotions to prevent them from masking the moon-the only source of light to see out there. She’d mentioned to him how emotions governed how her angel powers work, he’d seen her lose control plenty of times over the years, witnessed the storms they made. How much exerted discipline must it have taken? Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder Andrew sighed to himself.

“I messed up, sorry,” he whispered. Andrew looked up to see Sheperd studying him. Feeling a little self-aware he stiffened. The old eyes held weight, a meaning. ‘Remember the deal.’ it said ‘Leave now, Leave now and remove yourself from this equation.’ After a few seconds of looking the old man turned back to walk deeper into the village.

As he approached Sophie and Flynn, Sophie struggled to her feet and pulled out some money to hand Shepherd but Shepherd walked on by as if nobody was there. Perhaps sensing Andrew's disquiet, Natalie leaned off his chest and followed his line of sight to the old man. As Hector apologized on his uncle’s behalf Andrew spotted Shepherds give him one final look before he faded around a corner. Andrew wanted to leave for Aqua Falls more than anyone, but something about this whole ordeal gave him pause.