A ray of sunshine broke through the barricaded window of an old decrepit building.

“Ughh”.

Aegon annoyingly placed a pillow over his head, rebelling against waking up for a few moments before he finally got up.

Looking around he took in the details of the house. Last night when the villagers brought him here he was already tired and due to the lack of light he didn't see much of anything before going straight to sleep.

He had been awake for over 24 hours after all.

The house was square shaped with no divisions, it only had a bed, a dining table, a fireplace and a stone kitchen counter, besides that it was completely empty.

“No wardrobe…” He commented aloud, but taking a closer look at the wood blocking the windows he realised there probably was one in the past.

“Yet that wasn't enough to save their lives.” A sombre mood washed over the young man who was confronted with death and its consequences for the first time.

After a few moments of silence in honor of the people who inhabited this house Aegon shook the still sleeping Kuro awake.

His legs were still broken and he wouldn't be of much help until they got back to the Martial House where he could get professional treatment.

Looking down at his partner with tenderness, Aegon petted Kuro on the head. ”I'll be going now.”.

After leaving Kuro some food and water to last him the rest of the day he headed for the door and walked outside.

The rest of the group was chatting a few houses down, waiting for him.

As Aegon approached them he noticed a particular face, he couldn't help but be annoyed.

[15 points, I might as well spend the day sleeping, this is ridiculous…you just had to open that mouth of yours.]

Reaching the group he greeted everyone with a smile which only dimmed a little when it reached Linda’s turn.

She was looking at him with poorly hidden amusement.

[Ah, you think this is funny uh? Let's see who’ll be laughing in the end.]

Without changing expressions he greeted her aloud just like the others but this time he leaned in close to her ear and whispered in a hurt tone.

“Senior Linda seems so content to see me suffer, first you saw me in my birthday suit at the river and accused me of peeping and now you engineer plots to take contribution points, I come from a poor family you know? I need all the resources I can get. It's really cruel of you to do this to me.”

The young lady went red as a tomato as soon as Aegon mentioned what happened in the river and didn't hear anything else, just the memory it brought….

[It's too embarrassing.]

Lost on what to do she just stared at him, red faced, her doe eyes laced with embarrassment and fear as he walked away.

The group was intrigued seeing this but given it was Aegon they could guess he had gotten his revenge for what happened the day before, naturally no one spoke up, pretending they saw nothing they set out in search for the alpha. As they walked, the five members of Aegon's group heard soft laughs laced with arrogance coming from behind them, Aegon happened to be the man in charge of the rear….

A few hours later as the sun approached its zenith the group who had been following bear footprints came across a clearing in the forest.

Corpses of cows, deer, wolves, bears and even men were scattered across the area, most only had bones left.

At the opposite end of the clearing, an outcropping of large boulders had a noticeable hole which descended into the earth.

Without diverting his attention from the cave, Travis commented aloud.

“I think we’ve arrived.”

Turning back to face his companions he continued.

“Unfortunately one of my greatest fears came true, since the alpha is most likely hiding inside we won’t be able to determine its strength before we face it.” His face turned grave.” Are you sure you guys want to continue?”

No one spoke for a while as they pondered.

A few seconds later Bella nodded and that triggered a chain reaction in the group which ended up accepting too.

Nodding in acknowledgement Travis jumped right into taking the lead.

“In that case let's follow the plan we made yesterday, maybe change some of the details. I didn't expect such a large open space. We might as well take advantage of that.”

After some time of discussion everyone moved to their positions.

Linda mounted Travis’s rhino and moved to the very centre of the clearing.

Travis hid behind the trees close to the pair that was being used as bait.

Right behind Linda and Tank the other four members hid in the tree line.

Their job?

Bella’s job was to rain down as many arrows as she could.

While Aegon, Roy and Percy served as her bodyguards.

Aegon was quite content with his role, being Bella’s bodyguard was probably the safest task he could ask for, well, apart from being the archer.

As he settled in his hiding spot he happened to glance at Percy’s ankle, a bite mark was visible there and a hint of anger found its way into his heart.

[Kuro should have also gotten that healing potion or whatever…] But thinking back to the explanation he had been given by Bella he couldn't deny the reasoning behind it.

“Aegon, I know you want to cure your dog’s injuries but they aren't fatal and I only have two more healing shards, what if someone gets heavily injured later on?”

[Well I can’t really complain, they aren't mine to begin with, I'm not entitled to her things.]

With that thought he buried his anger and focused on the upcoming battle.

Simultaneously Linda and Tank sprung into action. The massive rhino rose on his hind legs making Linda have to hold on tight to his back.

As his front legs started to fall back to the ground the beast released a deep roar.

The sound that resulted from his front paws forcefully hitting the ground combined with the roar made every other sound in the forest pale in comparison, it demanded absolute attention.

Birds flew out of their perching spots in droves, painting the sky with numerous black shooting stars for a few moments.

As the commotion died down a deep howl echoed out of the cave.

[And so it begins.] Aegon’s grip on his right handed sword unconsciously tightened.

Everyone had their eyes glued on the cave’s entrance, sweat dripped down their backs in anticipation.

Soon a massive wolf emerged from the cave, he was only slightly smaller than Tank himself. His fur was grey and his eyes shone in that same colour