Chapter Twelve

The wolves circle around the camp, yipping and snapping at the travelers. Igneous stands back to back with Nelly, Mitch stands on unsteady feet, his bronze sword following each wolf as it walks by before switching to the next. Yasevl stands close to Nelly and Igneous, his wooden hands morphing into claws, Korren stands in the center with Marigold, both of them preparing shielding spells, and Nora stands nearby, her bow aimed at the giant black wolf. The travelers and the wolves eye one another, the tension and anticipation smothering. Mitch tracks the wolves’ movements, not daring to take his eyes off of them and whispers just loud enough for Nora to hear, “I count thirteen normal wolves plus that leader.”.

“I don’t know if we can kill them all, with that dire wolf here. Our best bet would to be to scare them off.”, Nora says drawing her bowstring taut, “Igneous, think you and Nelly can give us a show?”.

Igneous feels for his energy, it presses against his skin, begging, no, demanding to be unleashed. Igneous whispers to Nelly, “Do you think you can make a fire big enough to give them doubts about attacking?”.

Nelly squirms next to Igneous, “I need my staff if I want to last longer than a minute, this infection is eating away at my mana.”.

“Crap!”, Igneous mutters then points his voice towards Nora, “Did yo-,”.

Nora cuts him off, “I heard. Alright, everyone get closer together, then Igneous sends out the biggest wave of fire out, and while they are distracted we’ll get Nelly her staff, after that you two will keep up as much flame as possible. Korren, can you shield us from the fire?”.

Korren’s eyes pop open and he forces out words as if he’s trying to keep something else in, “Yeah, Marigold can help, but hurry!”.

Nora nods and says just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Everyone besides Igneous move into the center and get ready.”.

The others do as they’re told, moving away slowly they stand with their backs to the fire, except Igneous you stands out, Korren and Marigold release their spells, a transparent dome of blue and gold flowing over the group. Igneous lets his flames out and is about to release his energy in a sweeping blast, when the dire wolf barks and the wolves descend upon the group. Igneous tries to get his fire out, but the dire wolf is too fast and rushes at Igneous. The monster seizes Igneous’ arm between his jaws, the bones snapping as the fangs dig into Igneous’ thin arm. He lets out a scream of anguish, and losing focus his flames die. The wolf darts away from the camp with Igneous flailing from its mouth. The rest of the pack circles the magical dome, barking and snarling.

The wolf carries Igneous through the dark forest, until he can no longer see the light of the campfire. Doing his best to fight the pain, Igneous forces mana through his wrecked arm, flames bursting from his gaping wounds. Fire gushes into the wolf’s maw around its teeth, burning its gums and tongue. The wolf yelps and drops Igneous, and darts into the surrounding darkness. Igneous lets out a groan as his body hits the ground and skids to a stop. Gritting his teeth Igneous pushes himself up with his good arm. Standing, Igneous looks at his injured arm, the sleeve of the robe shredded and burnt. His arm twisted, jagged bones jutting out, and steaming orange blood flows down his arm, dripping onto the ground with a sizzle. Igneous moans in pain as he rips his robe off and wraps it around his mangled arm. Inhaling deeply, Igneous pushes past the pain in his arm and wills a ball of crimson flame in the other. The surrounding trees are bathed in flickering red light. Igneous stands still, listening for any sound or glimpse of movement. A snapping twig causes him to whip around, pushing his flame out he turns the ball of fire into a stream of blood red flame to engulf the underbrush and a nearby shrub. The light from the flame gives the forest an eerie atmosphere, the trees casting shadows in the red light. Igneous takes a tentative step towards the flames when he is hit with a tremendous force slamming into him from behind, knocking him off his feet and sprawling across the ground. Forcing flames from his mouth Igneous propels himself into the air, flipping as he watches the wolf leaping towards him with its maw agape, ready to tear into Igneous. Acting on instinct, Igneous raises his hand as he rotates in the air, fire spiraling around him. The flames lick at the wolf’s face, causing it to yelp in pain and drop to the ground, the fur around its mouth burnt. Landing hard onto the ground with a crash, Igneous pushes himself up, just in time for the wolf to tackle him, its claws rip across his exposed chest and stomach, steam rising from the wounds. The wolf snaps at Igneous’ face, Igneous feels the hot breath of the wolf in his ear and he shifts his head just in time to avoid the creature’s teeth. Placing his good hand on the wolf’s chest, Igneous blasts fire out, the force knocking the wolf back as the smell of burning hair fills Igneous’ nose. Scrambling to his feet, Igneous bathes the ground in front of him with crimson flames, the dead leaves and twigs catching fire. Igneous stares across the flaming wall separating him from the wolf as it paces, eying him with hungry eyes. Then the wolf darts into the forest, out of the light. Igneous releases a torrent of flame into the night, catching the surrounding trees a flame. As the fire spreads Igneous catches, a sight of a large shadow moving through the trees. Igneous turns in a circle trying to keep track, when the wolf comes up behind him and latches onto his already injured arm. Screaming in pain, Igneous swings his free first into the wolf’s face, each hit releasing a puff of flame. Igneous grits his teeth and screams through clenched teeth, “Guess you forgot what happened last time. I’ll remind you.”.

Igneous forces mana through his mangled arm as fire erupts from his gaping wounds, filling the wolf’s mouth with flame. The wolf yelps and, jumping back, releases Igneous. Igneous breaths heavily as the wolf coughs and paws at its mouth. Igneous, not daring to waste his chance, forces fire to spew from his pores, shrouding him in crimson and black flames. Rushing the distracted creature, Igneous pulls the flame from his body, the flames swirling around and converging into his palm before condensing into a ball of unstable energy. The wolf jerks his head towards Igneous as he slams his palm and the ball into the wolf’s side. A geyser of flame erupts from the spot, engulfing the wolf, sending it flying upward past the treetops. Igneous listens as the wolf yelps with pain as he crashes through the trees, then again as it reenters the forest again, taking branches and treetops with it.

Then there is silence, with only the faint sound of fighting coming from far away, in the direction of the camp. Drained of energy, Igneous falls to his knees, then lands face first in the smoldering dirt below him. Igneous lays still, only daring to breath, for a couple of minutes, when he hears the approaching of paws snapping twigs and rustling underbrush. Igneous hears the dire wolf yip, but instead of the sound of a beast, he hears the laughter of a person. He shifts his weight to his good arm and forces himself to stand as quickly as possible. Now standing, Igneous looks to the source of the laughter and sees not a wolf, but a man. He looks to be a human wrapped in fur, but his mouth and nose extend like a wolf’s, his teeth sharp, hands and feet resembling claws. The man notices Igneous getting up, wolf ears twitch and a smile, possible a sneer, comes to his face, “Not bad little imp, not bad at all. I see why Mother wishes to keep an eye on you.”.

Igneous looks at the man, then looks around, not sure what is going on, “Where did the wolf go?”.

The man steps forward with a yipping laugh, “I am the wolf.”.

Igneous studies the man, just now noticing the black fur he wears, is smoldering and smoking. Fresh burns cover the mans face and chest. Igneous studies the man closely as he begins to transform. His body shifts, growing fur and in size, his face contorting into that of a wolf. Falling to all fours the man turns into a dire wolf, right in front of Igneous’ eyes. Igneous stares at the wolf with shock and anticipation, waiting for it to attack. Igneous jumps when the wolf opens its mouth and the man’s voice comes out, “I am called Lupin. And you, imp, have some fighting spirit in you.”.

Igneous looks at the wolf not sure how to handle the situation, “I have no idea what is going on, are we done fighting, or do you still plan to eat me?”.

The wolf, Lupin, bares his teeth in a smile, “I was sent to test you, and even though you are not quite strong enough to kill me you show potential.”.

Igneous looks toward the direction he believes his camp and friends to be, seeing as this Lupin lays down, his head eye level with Igneous, “Don’t worry about them, they killed most of my pack and the rest ran away.”.

Igneous looks at the wolf, and despite himself asks, “You’re not upset that they killed them?”.

Lupins shoulders bob up and down, “Law of nature, the weak die and the strong live. Your friends were strong enough to live, simple as that.”.

Igneous looks at his arm then back at the wolf then asks, “Now what?”.

Lupin tilts his head to the side and cocks his ear, “What now? Now you go on your way. I go find something to eat that won’t fight back.”.

Igneous thinks about what the wolf has said, “You were sent to test me? By whom? And why?”.

“I was sent by Mother to see if you were worth keeping an eye on, and you are.”, Lupin states with a sigh.

“Your mother wanted to test me?”, Igneous asks thoroughly confused.

Lupin shakes his giant head and says, “Mother Nature, Gaia, goddess of nature. She sent me to check you out. Now, I see why.”.

“Goddess? Like Dorean? And if you wanted to, you could have killed me.”, Igneous ponders.

“Oh, Dorean! That guy is such a spoils port, always talking about dealing with things peacefully and secretly. And you’re wrong- if we kept fighting, I would have killed you, yes, but you would’ve also hurt me enough that I wouldn’t last long after that.”, Lupin states getting to his feet.

“You know the god Dorean. Who are you?”, Igneous asks beginning to get frustrated with not knowing what was going on. Lupin lets out a sharp howl and Igneous hears rustling coming from behind Lupin, then sees the reflecting eyes of wolves. Igneous shift his hurt arm behind him and readies fire in his other hand. Lupin shakes his head, “Don’t worry imp. Our fight is over.”.

Turning towards the other wolves, Lupin begins to walk away, then stops and turns his head to look at Igneous, “You asked who I was. I am Lupin, demi-god of wolves. Servant of Gaia. I will be seeing you imp.”.

Then Lupin walks into the shadows, flanked by the other wolves, and watching them walk away, Igneous yells after them, “I’m Igneous!”.

Lupin voice calls back, already some distance away, “Good to know!”.

Igneous stands in the dying light of the surrounding fire, sighing as he looks at the direction he thinks is the way to camp. Walking forward Igneous mumbles, “My life is never simple.”.

A stout man, bulging with muscles, and a long shaggy beard, swings an iron pickaxe, chipping a chunk of stone from the wall in front of him. Using the pickax to lean on the man wipes his brow with a rough calloused hand. Calling out with a tired gruff voice the man yells, “Gimmel! Come clean this up!”. His words echo through the tunnel, followed by the sound of small scurrying feet. A man no taller than two feet with a light blue beard and red hat comes running through the tunnel. The light from the magical torches mounted on the wall casting shadows on them. The man stops a few feet away from the taller, but stout man, eyeing the piles of rubble taller than himself littering the tunnel. Sighing the tiny man complains with a high, musical voice, “You couldn’t have called before it got this bad.”.

The stout man shrugs, “Didn’t want to waste time waiting for you every two minutes.”.

Rolling his eyes, the tiny man holds out his hands, “Next time call sooner.”.

The tiny man, Gimmel, waves his hands over the piles of rock and mutters a quick incantation. At his words the rubble begins to shake and vibrate, then moves around the walls before molding together to strengthen the tunnel. After the process was done Gimmel wipes the sweat that had formed on his brow, “There, now come on and have a drink with Tul and me. You’ve worked all day, it’s almost quitting time anyway.”.

The stout man shakes his head, his beard swaying back and forth, “Just a few more minutes, if we can find a new cavern, we’ll get dibs on all that is built there.”.

Groaning in defeat, Gimmel drops to the floor and leans his head against the stone walls, “Fine, I’ll just wait here, better than having to come running back.”.

Grunting his acknowledgement, the stout man lifts his pickaxe and gives it a powerful swing, knocking off a chunk twice the size of Gimmel. The man gives another great swing, but instead of a chunk falling his pick goes through the wall and becomes lodged. Smiling the man, looks down at Gimmel, “I think this may be it!”.

At this, Gimmel jumps to his feet and gives the man a toothy grin, “Oh boy! We’re going to be rich!”.

Chuckling, the man grasps the pickhandle and pulls with all his might, his muscles popping, veins throbbing, and with a loud grunt he gives a great tug. The man falls back onto the ground, his pickaxe landing next to him. Dust fills the tunnel, Gimmel and the man start coughing. Bracing himself with the pick the man pushes himself off the ground. Gimmels musical voice whispers out towards the man, “Oh! WOOOW! Rix you got to see this!”.

Clearing the dust from his eyes the man, Rix, opens his eyes and stares through the hole. Through it he can see a dark purple ceiling with sparkling lights and a giant glowing rock. Below, on the cavern floor, tall dark shapes reach out to the ceiling. A gush of air rushes past the two, blowing their beards and hair back, Gimmel having to hold onto his hat in order to not lose it. Rix looks down at him and grins, “We did it!”.

Gimmel smiles back, “YEAH WE DID!”.

Rix smiles while dropping his pick and turns to walk away. Gimmel looks to his friend with confusion and calls after him, “Where are you going?”.

“To get that drink!”, Rix calls back over his shoulder. Gimmel smirks and turns back and looks through the hole into the cavern they had just discovered. Holding his hands up he wills the rubble to form back into a thin sheet blocking the entrance to the new cavern. Mumbling to himself, “Don’t want anyone stealing this from us.”, he runs after his friend calling out, “Wait for me!”.

Igneous stares into the eyes of his slack-jawed friends, while a befuddled Marigold heals his wounds. After taking a minute to find his voice, Yasevl speaks up, “So you mean to tell me that a goddess of nature, who no one has ever heard of, sent those wolves to test you.”.

Igneous nods his head, “Yep, that’s what Lupin said.”.

Feeling the arms knitting themselves back together, Igneous sucks air in through his teeth. Marigold winces , “Sorry. I should have warned you. I am just… kinda in shock.”.

Igneous gives the usually chipper, priestess and small smile, “It’s fine. It is a lot to process.”.

Clearing her throat, causing all eyes to dart to her, Nora picks up her bow as she states, “We have even more reason to get out of the forest. It’ll be first light in a few hours, you should all get some sleep. We are leaving as soon as the sun rises.”.

Mitch looks up at Nora with worry, “Don’t you need sleep too? I’ll stay up.”.

Nora shakes her head once, “No. We’ll need our fighter in full strength tomorrow, besides, I want to skin the dead wolves. We can sell the fur in town and eat the meat on the way.”.

Looking as if wanting to object, Mitch opens his mouth, but closes it quickly when Nora gives him a hard glare. Nora looks them all in the eye, then smiles softly, “Get some sleep, the morning will be here sooner than you think.”.

Mumbling their agreements, the group of travels pick themselves up to find their bedrolls. Igneous smiles and thanks Marigold as she uses torn pieces of his robe to tie a sling around his neck for his arm to rest in. Marigold nods her head, “It’s my pleasure. Try to keep your arm up, its healed mostly, but there are still some fractures and strains, it’ll need time now to heal properly.”.

Igneous nods and begins to walk to Nora, but the hunter holds up her hand to stop him, “Bed, Now.”.

Nodding his head, Igneous spots his bag and pulls out a bedroll, too tired to unroll it, Igneous lays it on the ground and uses it as a pillow. As his sleep over take him, he hears Nora whispering, “What does this all mean?”.

Igneous hears Marigolds soft voice whisper out, “Trouble.”.

Before he can hear more, Igneous is out cold.