Natalia could feel the surge of warnings her wolves were sending her. It was almost a physical thing, as if someone was yelling in her ear. All of her years of learning in the Battle Houses and training on the Battle Grounds made her ready for this moment. The many times she watched her father give commands to his men went into effect as she started barking out orders at the three young men before her. She turned and looked down at the swirling mass of black that was coming out of the forest and circling the Smallhenge.

"The only way we can defend against so many is on top of the stones. Kaleb, you take the cap stone in the east, facing the wolves. Alvari, you take the tallest stone to the west, with your horse-bow, you can watch over the horses and our backs. The Tundras will help from below. Kal, you take the stone to the south, and I will take the one to the north." Natalia belted out.

"Make every shot count and when you can pick your targets shoot the big ones. You could be killing a pack leader. Do not let them get close. Their bite is death and their claws are sword-sharp like a cat. They can jump and climb and are masters of the ambush so watch all your sides. May your arrows fly true and strength be in your arms, NOW MOVE!!"

The three young men who towered over her had been hanging on her every word. They looked at her with a new-found respect and more than just a little bit of awe. She stood as straight as an arrow, ruddy red light from the Blood Moon dully gleaming off of her plain steel armor. Her face was framed by strands of sun-gold hair that had escaped her braid. Her tilted eyes were burning a bright green, instead of brown, with the gold flecks swirling around like embers from a fire within. None of them had ever seen an Elf before, but if they had they would know that a Princess of the Elves stood before them in full battle-mode, radiantly beautiful and extremely lethal. She strapped her shield and bow across her back and threw her spear up to the top of the cap stone to the north and moved.

No one mentioned the Blood Moon coming out of the trees behind the raving blackness of wolves. It was an ill omen, a night when demons roamed the earth possessing man and beast. Legend had it that the Grim Wolves were more courageous and grew stronger on the night of a full moon. Men who lived in the Snow Forest said they became shrewder, more vicious and were more feared under its cold light.

Alvari had no idea what a Full-Blood Moon would do to the beasts, but he could see he would soon find out. He turned and looked at the stone he was to be on top of and wondered how in the world he was supposed to get there. When he turned towards Natalia to ask he was amazed to see her shimmy up the side of a standing stone. She seemed to be running up the smooth rock grasping at hand holds he could not see. He took one more look and could see nothing at all to grasp on the polished surface of stone. He then looked to the twins and saw them both climb up at the lowest point of the stone circle. He watched as Kal made his way running and jumping to his post. Alvari ran fast as he could chasing after the two Sea Marines.

Once Alvari jumped up to where Kaleb was he ran and jumped half way around the stone circle until he was on top of the huge granite slab. He gazed down the hill to get his first good look at the Grim Wolves below. He could still see the grass on the hillside, but any grass around the Smallhenge was covered by a black writhing mass swirling around it. In moments he watched as tendrils from the mass started shooting up the hill, tendrils getting thicker by the minute as more and more wolves joined the charge. Suddenly, he found himself in agreement with Kaleb, something he rarely did. He too did not think they had enough arrows.

Alvari then double checked his weapons. He made sure his bow was strung and undamaged and felt for his quiver of arrows. He found his spear on the stone and slid his long sword in and out of its scabbard on his back. The young hunter also checked his armor making sure everything was on tight. A few minutes ago he would have given anything to take it off, now he did not think he had enough of it on. He looked forlornly down at his helm sitting on top of his bedroll below and wished it was up here on his head. It came to Alvari he really had no idea what he was doing as he was no warrior. He wondered how they were all going to get through this. Fear was in danger of setting in.

Suddenly he felt a shining bubble of strength rise in him, and it came through the bond from his Tundra Wolf, Sirus. The big Saddleback Tundra had stopped looking down the hill for a minute and glanced up at him from the grass. Sirus gave him a wolf smile. Firelight gleamed off of his four-inch fangs from the blazing fire pit below. Alvari was just beginning to understand this wonderful wolf and see the wondrous things through the wolf's eyes.

Tundra Wolves did not know fear, and they did not know death, just a beginning and an ending. With the memories of their fathers, fathers, fathers' swirling around in their head (what most people would call instinct) they always lived on. Memories going back tens of thousands of turns to their ancestors, the great Dire Wolves of old, they always lived on. They lived for the hunt, the kill and the closeness of their pack-mates. And through the Wild Wolf Magic, they lived for their bond-mate.

The first twang of an arrow leaving its bowstring sounded from Kaleb's long bow down below. It was followed by two more from Natalia and Kal. With the eyes of a hunter Alvari looked down hill and saw three large black blurs take a tumble, only to be swallowed up by the wolves from behind charging the Tallhenge. How many Grim Wolves were running up the hill he could not tell, there were too many to count. Within minutes the huge pack enveloped the Tallhenge and made it the center of its maelstrom as they raced around. Wolves started darting in through the standing stones in ones and twos as they began their attack. The twang and swoosh of string and arrow became constant as all four companions felled beast after beast. Every arrow seemed to find its mark, but there just did not seem to be an end to the wolves.

The Tundras down below ambushed the intruders from behind the standing stones as they ventured in on the run. They hobbled and downed and ripped out throats, one black wolf after another. There was no honor among wolves, only kill or be killed.

The War Horses started screaming in fury as these mortal enemies of theirs attacked. They stomped any that came close with their massive hooves. Others they kicked out of the circle of stones with powerful hind legs sending broken bodies back into the whirlpool around them. The two poor packhorses screamed in terror with the whites of their eyes showing, but the sturdy Daisy joined in on the fight. She delivered kick after kick with the strength of her hind legs to any black wolf that came near.

It seemed like only minutes before Alvari was reaching for his last arrow. He was so intent on shooting the largest, most vicious wolves he could find that time just went rushing by. He had never been in such a battle before. There were a few close scrapes he lived through with his clan in Finnic against Nordic barbarians and Svealand raiders. But he was only a boy then, with warriors around to protect him. Those conflicts were always resolved with little, if any, bloodshed and always settled by reasonable men. There was no reasoning with these bloodthirsty wolves. He could tell through the bond and his own two eyes they meant to kill and eat him. He shot his last arrow and then picked up shield and spear. Alvari got ready to face the wolves scrambling, scratching and jumping up the stones to get to him.

Alvari looked down and saw Kaleb also fired his last arrow. The Sea Marine was now in full killing mode with the Sea Lord trident he practiced with every day. The two outside tines of the trident were razor sharp along their edges and glowed white in the firelight. It was made of the finest Sea Lord silver and never lost its sharpness. The tines came to deadly points with the third in the middle. Kaleb did not use a shield as his trident was a stave as well as a slashing and stabbing weapon. With the polished silver trident on one end, a heavy silver ball on the other and the solid oaken staff in-between it was an instrument of death in Kaleb's hands. A fast spinning ribbon of white light encircled his body as he spun the weapon around, faster than the eye could see. It was only dulled when he splashed the black blood of the attacking Grim Wolves jumping up on his stone.

Natalia and Kal were also out of arrows, both now holding their shields and long swords. They were fighting for their lives as wolves came at them from every direction. Alvari could see the tops of the stones upon which they stood turning black with the blood and gore from the many wolves they killed. He watched as Kal used the slickness on the stone to his advantage. The young warrior moved with blinding speed and grace as he went back and forth along the top of the stone. He slid about on the smooth blood soaked stone using the metal of his greaves covering his knees and shins as skids. He turned every which way as he moved smoothly back and forth either kneeling or standing while flicking his sword out quicker than the eye could see. Alvari was in awe as he watched the young Sea Marine deal death with each strike.

Below Alvari the Tundras fought in a circle in front of the fire, covering each other's backs as they did. They formed their own little pack and were fighting for their lives. They looked to soon be overwhelmed. The War Horses still held their own as they kept the black wolves at bay. The blazing fire and the wide standing stone were working to protect their sides. Alvari looked down at them and realized if he fell the wolves could attack the horses from above, his resolve became even more determined.

Suddenly there was a huge commotion and disturbance in the forest to the south. Alvari looked over and saw tall, thick larch trees shaking and shedding showers of needles and snow as something as big as a boulder stormed through them. Over the sound of snapping and breaking branches a loud roar could be heard as Bull Roar joined the fight. He bellowed his presence as he entered the vortex on his way into the Tallhenge. Where the bear had gone to no one knew, but he was back now. Wolves jumped all over him as he twisted and turned on his way into the circle. He swatted them off like flies that swarmed in the summer time. His rage was unmatched by any wolf he met as he clawed them and threw them against each other. He entered the circle of stones and joined the small pack of Tundras in front of the fire. Wolves kept coming at him from all sides. Alvari could see from his perch above the cave bear briefly disrupted the flow of the black tide around them. Yet in the end the bear was in just as much danger of getting swallowed up as the rest.

The young Finni started stabbing at wolves with his spear as they reached the top of the stone he stood upon. Earlier he hoped to see the sunrise from this vantage point above the tree line. He looked up at the full moon starting to return to its cold white light as the blood drained from it. He looked to where the sunrise would be in the morning. He tried not to think about never seeing it again as snarling maws of black poison fangs closed in.

Alvari stabbed and knocked wolves off the stone, but no matter how hard he tried he could not clear it of the mangy things. Soon vicious jaws pulled the spear from his grasp. He slammed them back with his shield while pulling his blood-sword from over his shoulder. The top of the stone was becoming slippery from the blood and the gore of wolves he killed. It was getting harder to keep his balance in his thick leather riding boots. He took many bites from the wolves on the strong steel armor he wore. His vambraces, greaves, gauntlets and even his cuirass all bore scars from their claws and teeth, but none had penetrated, yet. He knew it was only a matter of time. A weakness was growing in his arms and legs as he fought. He was growing tired even with the strength and stamina the Wild Wolf Magic gave him through the wolf-bond.

None of the four companions noticed the moon shining down on five black silhouettes that circled high in the sky above them. They were all locked in a struggle against death, a death that was becoming more certain with every minute. None of them had time to look for any new danger around them, or from above.