Upon hearing the growl the remaining six members of the pack assembled in the biggest of the caves. One by one, the wolves entered, paying respects to the queen as they came. "My queen," the last wolf bowed as he entered.

"Well then," said the queen in mind speak, as the last approached them, "I assume you all know why we are gathered?" Two of the wolves nodded while the other four let out light growls of excitement. "If not then I will have Laikos explain." With this remark the queen gestured to her consort, the second largest of the wolves. "I’ll keep this short," started the wolf, as the others quieted down. "It is once again the time of year when the vulgar humans invade our land and use their pathetic powers in a desperate attempt to capture us and take our magical cores with the naïve notion that we will lie down and let them take it." At this a few of the wolves smirked while another chuckled. "I have staked out the humans’ campsite and can verify that this year we are once again graced with the presence of lord Varet and his intolerable son. In terms of fire power there are twelve knights and three magicians. The knights are new, unskilled, and untested in battle. The same is true for two of the magicians. However, the last of the magicians has extraordinary powers. He is wearing a purple robe and is to be avoided at all costs." Laikos paused momentarily and looked around letting his words sink in before continuing. "Other than two servants who are accompanying them, there are no other humans."

"Thank you Laikos. Now, as you all know, this year is not any ordinary hunt, for this year my son has reached his sixth winter, and is now eligible to participate in hunting the humans." With this the queen looked to face her son. "Are you ready?" she asked him with a solemn face. The boy paused, then smiled, his face bright with enthusiasm. "I am," he claimed calmly, despite his smiling face.

"Very good," said the queen who was also starting to smile. "Go and get your weapons. The rest of you, get ready."

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At the aforementioned camp, the humans also started their preparations for the hunt. The leader of the hunt, Lord Varet, sat calmly behind his desk, reviewing the plan which was relatively simple. First, the knights would act as bait, drawing the creatures out of the forest before the three magicians would trap them in a barrier, leaving the lord and his son to kill them and collect the cores. He would of course donate the lesser cores to the magicians.

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The man’s plotting was interrupted by a loud cough to the left of where he was sitting. Startled, the lord looked up to see the mysterious magician in the purple robe. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and had joined the hunting party after meeting the lord by chance on his way to the magical beast forest. He had not divulged any personal information but merely smiled upon being asked. Very mysterious indeed. The man coughed once again. "Yes, what is it?" snapped the lord, who was fully focussed now. "Not much, my lord," said the man in a cold yet smooth voice which sent shivers down the lord’s spine. "I just wished to enquire about the strongest magical beast in the vicinity." The lord paused for a minute slowly considering it.

"A pack of about seven shadow wolves, I believe." The man’s face lit up visibly excited and the lord could see why. Shadow wolves were exceedingly rare, with only one new shadow wolf born every 100 years. "Unfortunately," continued the lord, "they are a rather troublesome pack. Some six years back we killed one of their new born pups, and in retort the wolves slaughtered half our hunting party. Even now we take careful pains to avoid conflict with them." Upon hearing this, the magician’s face retained its smugness. "It will be fine," he boasted proudly, "as long as I can see them I can kill them." Upon stating his ridiculous claim, the man left the tent. The lord sighed once more. Although it sounded impossible, something about the magician’s voice led him to believe him. He left to prepare his weapons.

A sudden scream resounded throughout the campsite. Hearing this, the hunting party assembled, running toward the campfire from whence the scream had originated. Upon approaching the campfire the party stopped, frozen with shock: two knights lay ripped to shreds. "How could this happe..." the young magician’s speech was halted as two swords were thrust through his head and heart. As the magician fell forward the crowd looked in a state of shock to view the killer only to see a young boy of about six years old smiling happily drenched in blood "What in hell’s name......" started the lord when the wolves appeared behind the child and all hell broke loose.