Aaron exhaled as he finally stepped back. Although this had been much harder than he had thought it would be, he was finally finished.

After making sure that everything was finished, Aaron made his way to an additional hole he had dug out while working on his trap.

The moon was already way past the zenith as he used the last magic he had stored to close up the entry.

Aaron started to bind more magic. He would need it if he wanted to be able to hold his own against the wolves tomorrow. Though it was kind of dark in there without the moonlight.

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Aaron woke up with a start. He must have fallen asleep. Without sunlight, Aaron had no indication of how long he had slept.

The dwarf quickly checked his magic reserves. Luckily, two-thirds were filled. It wasn’t as much as he would have liked, but it would have to do.

If his plan worked, he wouldn’t even need that much, but Aaron knew that more was always better. He had already learned the hard way to always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Aaron made his way out of his hiding place and looked around. Even with sunlight, it was hard for him to spot where normal ground transitioned to his spot. Hopefully, the wolves wouldn’t have the time to inspect the area to every last detail.

With the last check completed, Aaron began to make his way to the wolves' den. On his way, he began to occasionally use small spells. He hoped that the wolves would be able to sense them and follow that trail back to the trap.

He added additional turns and twists to slow them down while he would take a few shortcuts. Without them, Aaron would get caught in a matter of seconds. He had no grand illusions that he could outrun a wolf, with or without magic.

Aaron slowed as he approached the clearing where the wolves made their home. Because he hadn’t had the chance yet to learn long-distance attack spells, he would use a good old rock.

When the den came into view, Aaron hid behind the same rock as last time and waited.

It didn’t take long for something to move. One of the smaller wolves made its way out of the hole. It stopped to stretch its hind legs and let out a quiet yawn before moving around again.

Aaron slowly exhaled and focused his attention on the animal. The next time the wolf stopped, Aaron breathed in again and threw the stone.

Aaron was never very good when it came to throwing things. Due to this, it was no surprise when the stone landed a few meters short.

But it didn’t matter. One moment, the wolf was enjoying a quiet midmorning; the next, it reared its head in a frenzy. As it searched the treeline for an enemy, it finally laid its eyes on Aaron.

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Time felt as if it came to a halt. They both stared at each other. Aaron broke the eye contact first and ran.

Through the bushes, over fallen trees. The only thing he heard over the beating of his own heart was a howl. But that wasn’t what spurred Aaron to move faster. The howls that followed were.

It was bone-chilling. He ran like never before. Right now, he was still in pretty good shape, but he didn’t know if he could hold out until he reached the trap.

As he looked back, he thought he could see shadows far back move.

He was coming up to the first shortcut he would need to use. Aaron just hoped that the beasts would sense his used spells and not entirely rely on their noses to find him. He didn’t want to think about what would happen.

Aaron slowed down to make sure he wouldn’t disturb the grass on the ground. It was hard not to rush when he thought about the hungry wolves that were after him.

Suddenly, it seemed like everything came to a halt. He didn’t even notice it at first, but as sweat pearls slowly made their way down his cheek, he finally noticed it. He hadn’t moved for some time.

Aaron didn’t know how long he just stood there, but it couldn’t have been long as he still heard his pursuers behind him.

As he was slowly regaining his ability to move again, he finally heard it. It was a dreadful howl, with magic latching onto the very air. The voice was deep, too deep for anything he had seen in the forest yet. While he only heard the ending, he knew that this creature was bad news.

“Fuck,” Aaron mouthed as he began to run again. Nothing could ever just go to plan. Aaron only hoped that that wolf wouldn’t hunt him. He didn’t want to meet a wolf that could cast such a costly spell.

After some time, Aaron noticed that he didn’t hear any howls coming from behind him. His shortcut must have worked! He allowed himself to slow down a bit. It wouldn’t end well if he got to the clearing but couldn’t fight because he was out of breath.

The bushes began to grow thicker, making it harder for him to move. Even with his dwarven biology, Aaron began to accumulate small cuts from branches that seemed to almost want to get in his way.

His breath began to grow labored. Still, he held on. Slowing down helped, but it was still hard to maintain his speed in such intervened woods. This fight would certainly be hard.

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It wasn’t very long before Aaron heard the howls again. He had taken every shortcut he had prepared and was still only slightly ahead. If his, admittedly imprecise, calculations were correct, he would reach the clearing with only a little time to spare.

It was hard to not run with everything he had, but Aaron managed to hold on. Even though he didn’t give it his all, he still made significant progress towards his destination. It was amazing how much ground one could cover if they just never stopped.

The continued increase of howls didn’t make it easy for Aaron to not look back. It might have been superstition, but he felt like they would be a bit further back so long as he didn’t look.

After ducking under one last tree, Aaron finally burst into the clearing. He quickly cast looks around his trap, searching for mistakes he might have missed before. He couldn’t find any.

After a few deep breaths, the dwarf made his way across his trap towards the one inaccessible side. He would not let a pack of wolves attack him from behind. Even with his abilities when it came to sensing magic, he would not risk it.

Aaron checked his magic reserves again; they were half filled. He would need to be careful not to waste it.

Just as he contemplated the spells he would use, they appeared.

The first one to enter the clearing was the big one. It was the one that had noticed Aaron's attempts to feel its magic.

After that, the other five wolves slowly began to appear around him. It seemed like they wanted to surround him.

They slowly began to inch closer to him as they growled. Soon, they would step onto the earthen sheet that lay over Aaron's pit. He would only need to use his earth-shaping spell to disconnect it in a few key locations.

Just before the first one stepped on it, the big one barked. It was as if the world froze. Not because of a spell, but because every wolf just stopped. If a coin had dropped on the floor, Aaron would have heard it.

Then, another bark followed, and with it, all hell broke loose.