Kai bounced his spear against his shoulder as he strode along the road, his eyes peeled for any sign of their quarry. The village was just over a day’s walk from Hobson’s Point, and Lieutenant Silver had called an early stop last night so they would enter the creature’s potential territory during the day. Fifteen people and a cart full of supplies being pulled by a donkey was a tempting target, after all.

Thankfully, there had been no attacks or delays on their trip so far. Under normal circumstances, Kai would consider that a good thing because it meant that the guard were patrolling as they should and keeping the land safe. Knowing that this wasn’t the case in this area, Kai was conscious that it could indicate something dangerous was lairing nearby.

This particular village, Willowbrook, and its surroundings had been attacked several times by the elemental bear over the last few weeks, according to Lieutenant Silver. With multiple attacks in the area, the beast must have found a lair rather than be passing through. Putting those two observations together made Kai concerned; the last thing he wanted was an impromptu encounter with the creature.

Their first destination was the village itself, to see what the locals knew about the current situation and to prepare accordingly before beginning their hunt.

“Jenkins, how close are we?” the Lieutenant asked, his voice pitched to reach the guard leading them forward. Jenkins was from a small farm just outside Willowbrook, so he knew the way there like the back of his hand.

“Not long, Sir,” Jenkins called back, not taking their eyes from watching their surroundings. “We just need to pass over the creek, and then it’s over the hill, and we’re there.”

“Good. Once we arrive, take a few others and lead a patrol of the area, Jenkins. Try and ascertain if there are any local threats we need to be concerned about beyond our target.”

“Yes, Sir,” Jenkins said, their shoulders straightening in pride at the lieutenant singling them out to lead a patrol.

The group continued steadily through the light woodland that was so common in the area, coming to a dried-up creek a few minutes later. Jenkins frowned at the dry creek bed but shook his head and continued onward.

Kai and Tom were in the middle of the formation they had been maintaining, so Kai had been taking the chance to help Tom with activating his mace. Verdan had made sure they both had sorcerer-friendly enchantments on their weapons, and Kai was still experimenting with his own.

Tom still struggled to use his Essence; he could manage a few small things consistently now, but nothing on a larger scale. Thankfully, channelling his Essence into the weapon was relatively straightforward, so Tom was using that as Essence control practice.

If all went well, then Kai and Tom wouldn’t be involved with the fight against the elemental bear at all, but Kai had been on far too many hunts to trust in that. These guardsmen were unused to fighting back against such creatures from anything short of a highly fortified position, after all.

With their new weapons, they would likely prevail even if it all went wrong. At the very least, Kai expected them to drive the beast off by wounding it. How many of them would live through the fight was less certain, but that was why Kai and Tom were here.

A distant howl came to Kai’s ears on the breeze, echoed by a series of other howls a moment later. Kai’s pulse quickened as he heard the distinct gravelly undertone to the howls. Those were no ordinary wolves.

“Jenkins, which way to the village?” Kai snapped, his blood pumping already as he readied himself for a fight.

“That way, right on the other side of oaktop, it’s too steep for the wagon is all,” Jenkins said, gesturing to a fairly substantial hill that the path meandered around.

“What’s wrong, Disciple Kai?” Silver asked, a concerned look on his face as his hand fell to the sword belted at his side.

Kai had managed to stop Silver from calling him ‘Master Sorcerer,’ but the Lieutenant refused to drop the honorific altogether, despite Kai’s lack of a sect.

Kai was saved an explanation by another chorus of howls, this time a little clearer and definitely coming from the far side of the hill. The rumbling undertone was clear for them all to hear, and more than one guard went pale as they heard it.

“Ash wolves, damn it. Peters, Auger, Baras, Laar, get up that hill and give the sorcerers covering fire. Auger, you have command. The rest of you, let’s move it!” Silver barked out orders, sending four of the crossbow-wielding guards running for the hill with Kai and Tom in close pursuit.

Only the spear-wielders had their enchanted weapons to hand; the rest were in the wagon for safe-keeping. Silver’s reasoning was that spears would be the most crucial against the bear, so they would be ready if the group was attacked. If anything else came, however, the rest of the guards would deal with it, saving their enchantments for when they mattered.

Ash wolves were fast and incredibly vicious, so if they were attacking Willowbrook, there was no time for the guards to swap weapons. Still, a crossbow bolt would take one of the beasts down if they could hit it, though that wouldn’t be easy.

“Tom, protect the guards on the hill. I’ll go for the wolves,” Kai called out, igniting a portion of his Essence as he sprinted for the hill. Energetic fire flowed through Kai’s limbs as he raced out ahead of the others, powering up the hill in great bounds.

Oaktop had a steep slope on one side and a gentle descent on the other, giving Kai a clear view of the situation once he vaulted over a boulder and finally crested the hill.

Willowbrook was only a few hundred feet away from the base of the hill Kai stood on, its north and eastern sides bounded by a small river. Walls should have completely encircled the village, but Kai could see where something big had torn through the gateway on the western side. The gates and a good portion of the wooden palisade in that area were splintered and torn.

Focusing on the damage, Kai could see where the villagers had started repairs and put a makeshift barricade in place to cover the exposed areas. Under normal circumstances, closing the gates would be enough to ensure that the wolves wouldn’t get through. However, with only a rudimentary barricade holding them back, it was a much more dangerous situation.

Glancing back, Kai saw that Tom and the arbalests were making steady progress while the rest of the guards were hurrying the donkey along as best they could.

Distant yells were coming from the village, and Kai looked back to see a dozen ash wolves lope out of some woods to the northwest of the village. An array of arrows and projectiles issued forth from the village's defenders, driving the wolves back but not managing to injure any of them.

The threat of injury might drive off ordinary wolves, but ash wolves were incredibly aggressive in the right situation, such as when they thought their prey was cornered or weakened.

Seeing how this would end in advance, Kai started sprinting down the slope toward the village, calling on every iota of the speed he could muster from his Essence as he went. There was no time to wait for the others, not if he wanted to save the villagers.

The wolves had drawn back somewhat, but this time they didn’t fall back to the woods, instead spreading out and sinking down low as they stalked toward the village.

A volley came from the village again, this time with a pair of arrows hitting one of the approaching wolves. The creature yelped in pain and backed away, but the other wolves ignored it, pushing on at a quicker pace toward the village.

Two of the closest wolves saw Kai moving quickly toward them and broke off from the group, loping toward him as they split up, moving to come in from either side.

The village defenders were attacking as quickly as they could, but the two wolves that broke off to chase Kai had spurred the rest on, and they were racing toward the barricade.

Angling toward the closer of the two wolves, Kai raced straight toward it as he shifted his grip toward the rear of his spear. Closing with his target at speed, Kai thrust out as it pounced at him, twisting his hip and shoulder to project his spear as far as it would go. Uncomfortably hot blood washed over Kai as he tore open the creature from sternum to gut.

A croaking gurgle from behind was all the warning Kai needed to throw himself to one side, a gust of pressurised, super-heated ash blasting through the space he’d just been standing.

Rolling up out of his dodge, Kai closed with the other wolf, keeping it off-balance with fast jabs of his spear until an opening presented itself, and he drove it home for a killing blow.

Pulling his spear free, Kai continued toward the village at a run. Ash wolves were a nightmare for non-sorcerers, but when you were fast enough to keep up with them, they became dangerous, not lethal.

Flickering orange flames were licking up from the barricade when Kai arrived. Multiple blasts of hot ash must have kindled flames among the untreated areas of wood. Seven wolves were still attacking the village, the others having been wounded and driven off by the villagers.

The ash wolves were half again the size of a normal wolf, but they lacked enhanced strength, so they could only rip the barricade apart so fast. For every moment that they did, the villagers were hitting them with spears and arrows, then hiding when one of the wolves unleashed their ashen breath. A scream of pain from inside the barricade told Kai that not everyone had been able to find sufficient cover from the blast.

Maybe if the villagers didn’t have to hide, they would kill the wolves in time, but right now, the wolves would be among them before they could manage unless they could get a distraction.

Drawing heavily on his Essence and feeding it into the flames in his core, Kai felt fresh energy flood his body as he rushed the closest wolves. The first one was too busy biting at a spear that was coming from between the axles of a sideways cart to notice him until Kai’s spear burst through its chest in a spray of blood that sizzled against the wooden barricade.

A nearby wolf let out a menacing growl as it let out the tell-tale croaking gurgle and roared out its ashen breath. Taking cover behind the dead wolf, Kai avoided the worst of the blast, only the heat really impacting him. As a fire sorcerer actively burning Essence, it would take more than a little spike in heat to hurt him.

Bursting out from where he’d sheltered, Kai hurled his spear ahead of him, impaling the wolf who’d attacked him before it could recover from using its breath.

In his periphery, Kai saw a figure sally out from the barricade, moving fast as they attacked one of the wolves nearby.

Between Kai, the newcomer and the archers inside the village, the remaining wolves were picked off before they could escape or cause any further issues. Leaving Kai covered in uncomfortably warm blood as he faced down the man who’d joined him outside the gate.

Thick, shoulder-length black hair with dark brown eyes, a stern expression and a partially burnt tunic, gave the man a feral look. A look that was only complimented by his broad shoulders and impressive presence.

“Thank you for your aid,” Kai said, keeping one eye on the other man as he wiped his spear clean. He didn’t release his Essence quite yet; there was a wild look in the other man’s dark eyes that he wasn’t sure about.

“There were too many for me to fight alone. You’re faster than I am, currently,” the man said in a deep, throaty voice, giving Kai a half-smile that was just short of threatening.

“I see. My name is Kai. Are you a local?” Kai asked, holding a hand out toward the other man. There was a thick layer of tension in the air, but it seemed to defuse as Kai shifted to a more relaxed stance.

“Blane, and no,” the man answered, sheathing the two short swords he held to shake Kai’s hand. “I’m looking for my little sister. She said she was heading through this area when we last spoke. Have you seen her? She’s a little shorter than me with long hair, and her name is Tara?”

“No, sorry, I haven’t met anyone like that, but I’ve recently been further north. We’ve only been back in this area for a short time,” Kai said slowly, thinking back on the people he’d seen recently. None of them matched that description, though it was a bit lacking in details.

“Another failure,” Blane muttered, looking out into the woods surrounding Willowbrook as he sighed heavily. “I’ll head for the city next; maybe she’s there.”

“Are you heading there now?” Kai asked, letting his Essence die down as he relaxed a little. There was something strange about Blane, he didn’t feel like a sorcerer or a wizard for that matter, but there was something to him. Kai had seen a lot of things, but whatever Blane was, it was something new.

“Maybe,” Blane said, grimacing slightly as he looked at the villagers taking down part of the barricade and putting out the smouldering flames. “I don’t want to abandon these people to their situation. I’ve only been here a day or so, and I can tell they’ve been having problems for a while. I am no sorcerer, but I can still make a difference." Blane made a moue of distaste as he mentioned sorcerers, a more blatant reaction than most people would allow themselves. Kai couldn't argue the sentiment, but Blane clearly felt safe from reprisal, which was interesting.

Tom and the arbalests joined them before Kai could respond, the guards sweeping the area for threats before moving to help the villagers with Tom.

The surviving ash wolves had long since fled, but Kai was watching the woods all the same, just in case.

“Come, let’s lend a hand, then I’ll introduce you to Tella, the village head,” Blane said, moving to help with the aftermath of the battle.

Kai watched the odd man walk away with a guarded expression. He wished he was more familiar with sensing external energy, like Verdan. For now, he’d settle for keeping a wary eye on the other man.