I keep my eyes on the watch while I fasten my machetes on my back cross-hold style. Ollie and I decided that the game begins at four while we both put the clocks to be ten to four, giving as a clear start when the time is right. Having finished my preparations with two minutes to spare I stand up and go over my gear. Leather armor jacket, made in standard style from soft and flexible leather, with stronger coarse leather used as padding around chest, stomach, sides, both lower and upper back as one piece, shoulders, and forearms. The small gaps around the armor show the flexible leather that all this is connected to, allowing better mobility as the gap areas can stretch with the movements. Fingerless leather gloves that reach nearly up to my elbows under the jacket, which I originally didn't want but the fact that they had iron fillings as rudimentary brass knuckles turned my head. Leather pants made with same idea as the jacket, with flexible leather as base and stronger padding around the shins, outer thighs and crotch. Helmet made with only hard leather segments sewn together and no boots, they would only slow me down. I also check that the machetes are secured on my back and the hilts peeking behind my shoulders allow easy access, with nothing having gotten stuck.

And the clock strikes four and Ollie takes flight, while I step back to the wagon or what is left of it anyway. As soon as Ollie disappears behind the walls, I carve the location of the heir in the wooden board I used as a seat and prob it up so it can be seen easily. The others only need to read that sign and rescue the heir while I keep Ollie busy with his game. With that done I begin scaling the wall in front of me, as I figure that the gates would be locked, so no need to waste time trying to open them. As I reach the top of the wall I head on my right, going in the counterclockwise route I was instructed to go. Surprisingly easy, there are no traps or hindrances on my way as I travel along the top of the wall. Passing the first tower that has caved in I reach the second one, with Ollie standing on its roof. I guess I found the fist one I think and head towards the nearest window, only to be interrupted by Ollie throwing a dog sized stone at me. I avoid the stone by jumping back, but the path ahead of me crumbles under the force of the throw, leaving me with the options of trying my luck by jumping or finding another way in. So I decide to do both and jump to the side of the tower, scaling downwards with my claws onto a window of my choice, only to have Ollie drop another stone as I close in, causing me to fall off the tower's side. He really wants me to go in by the door, which means that it should be the last thing to do, but I don't have time to waste for only one kind of attempt, so I accept one defeat and open the door without any surprises jumping at me to my surprise.

The tower's entrance is a large circular room with spiral staircase running around the inner wall of the tower, but the room is filled with carcasses of dead animals, probably from Ollie's hunting trips. Well, none of that matters to me so I...

There is movement between the carcasses, from multiple locations. I place my hands on the machetes' hilts and wait till the first one of the creatures comes to a sight; a regular human crawls from under the carcass of a boar and more follow. I turn my back on the people as they possess no threat for me and begin climbing the stairs, only to have more humans come from the upper level, brandishing different kinds of weapons at my direction. I grab a machete with my right hand and walk forward to them, causing them to shiver and step back, this ought to be easy. I move forward till one of them jabs his spear at me, which I simply snap in half with one strike from my machete, causing him to run behind the others. The few of the braver ones start stabbing at me with different weapons the scavenged from the ruins of the fort; axes, halberds, spears and bill hooks, all which I strike half from their wooden parts, shouldn't have chosen polearms as weapons. One of them seems to realize that and grabs an iron mace hanging from his friend's waist and rushes at me. I simply knee him gently in the stomach as I parry the mace strike. The group catches him mid fall and check if his okay.

"The demon was right; the wolf will not hurt us!"

Comes the shout from an elder man in the group as the inspection is over, which raises a ruckus in both groups. Before I have time to move I begin to be pelted by stones, bones and other hard object the people can get their hands on, while a three men begin ascending the stairs. They throw few hunting nets over me before descending to the floor as the group ahead of me runs back to the upper level, leaving me alone. I don't think more of it as I rip through the nets, but as I smell something I hadn't smelled before I stop for a moment to investigate. The smell of lamp oil and animal grease mixed together, coming from five sources; wine bottles with silken cloth stuffed in the neck held in the hands of five individuals of the floor squad. Ollie had seemingly instructed them on how to make Molotov's cocktails. I begin ripping through the nets as fast as I could, but the people were far faster, only having to lit the cloths hanging from the neck and then throw them at me. The mess of ropes and my leather armor are both ignited after being doused with the burning mixture.

I wailed as the fireball engulfed me, scaring the people who were cheering into silence and causing some of them turn away as they saw me trashing on the ground. My fur doesn't seem to burn but the heat alone makes this painful as I can't get rid of the burning ropes and leather, and the fact that the heat has ruined my eyes to the point of blindness doesn't help. But nobody approaches me anymore I realize by listening and instead of getting rid of the burning mess I break into a run, dashing through the parting mass of the people. I make it to the upper level without stopping, slowly ripping of the burn-weakened strips of armor and nets. The last of strips take pieces of me with them as they have burned into me or my fur, but I can spare this much without having to restock.

After the regeneration is completed and I have my eyes back, I take a look on the watch to see if it still works, only for my joy of to be crushed by the fact that it has been fifteen minutes since the game began and the first one would be dead by now. I clutch the half melted clock in my fist and jump out of the window, scaling the side till I reach the wall so I can begin to make my way to the second one.