The morning went swiftly, the fire extinguished, and their camp packed up. The forest at their backs ended abruptly and gave way to the lush hills before them. Only a smattering of small trees and shrubs dotted their path forward. Regal checked his map and compass, confirming they were still on a suitable bearing.
“Are we there yet?” Cassius asked with a goofy grin.
Regal shook his head without turning around, and Lloyd laughed briefly. As they crested one of the hills, they saw a few lambs laid out on the ground, slaughtered, and being consumed by a pack of wolves. In one swift motion, the men reached for their weapons: Regal for his sword, Lloyd for his bow and arrows, and Cassius for his fists. The beasts at the bottom of the hill responded in kind, each turning to observe their human trespassers. Lloyd could tell the wolves were large, even from the distance they stood. A quick count put the number of wolves at eleven, ten of which stood around three feet tall. All but one of the wolves stared at the men with normal black eyes. One wolf varied from the pack. This wolf ripped off a piece of meat from its kill while its companions started to growl. Rising to its full height, the wolf stood almost five feet tall and glared at the men with burning red eyes. Raising its head into the sky, a howl erupted from its jowls. The wolves surrounding the Corrupted began to glow with a red aura as they grew in size. The Corrupted beast returned to its meal while the surrounding buffed wolves started their charge up the hill.
“Triangle formation!” Regal yelled.
The three had worked on a few calls to yell out in battle to change tactics or formations based on the enemies they might encounter. The triangle formation was the most basic and likely would be one of the more commonly used. Regal would position himself in the front with Lloyd and Cassius behind him. Simple, but effective.
Lloyd, nocking an arrow, pulled back the string and lined up a shot. He aimed for the leftmost of the wolves streaming towards their direction, now maybe 80 yards away. Not accustomed to avoiding attacks, the wolves ran straight at what they desired to kill. That would be their downfall. Loosing the arrow, Lloyd found his target as the arrow struck the wolf through its left eye, the red aura around its body fading as its corpse flopped to the ground. Lloyd grinned as he nocked another arrow. Not a bad shot, one wolf dead, only nine more to go, Lloyd thought. Well, nine more of the normal ones. The Corrupted had not moved from its position next to the lambs. It continued to eat while its pack descended upon Lloyd’s group.
At about 30 yards away, lightning cascaded from Cassius' fingertips. The electricity connected solidly with two of them, dropping them to the ground as the lightning fried their fur and the auras faded. A third was grazed but continued its advance, although slower than before. Standing ten yards away from Cassius, Lloyd could feel the electric charge even from there. The hair on his skin rising from the electricity. The pack finally reached Regal’s position; of the initial ten, only seven survived.
Three wolves descended upon Regal, leaping at him in quick succession. The first wolf went for the throat. The telegraphed attack was easy for Regal to dodge. With an upward thrust of his sword, Regal cut open and caved in its rib cage. It landed with a whimper but was still alive. The second wolf went low towards Regal’s leg. Its fangs clamped down on Regal’s right thigh and it began to gnaw and rip as it tried to gain purchase on his leg, but found none. Lloyd smiled at the scene; his brother was a beast, a monster in his own right.
Movement from Lloyd’s right jump-started his alertness as he chastised himself for getting distracted by his brother's fight because his own was within a few yards. What must have been instinct, a second arrow was ready and pulled back, the fletching brushing against the skin of his cheek. Two wolves had descended upon him, now within ten yards of where he stood. In theory, the shot should have been easier than his previous one, but the presence of the wolves and the pressure of them quickly descending on him was more of a factor than he realized it would be. Loosing the arrow, he shifted too much to his right in anticipation of avoiding the lunge that was likely coming. The arrow pierced the body of the wolf on the right. It did damage, but not enough to take it out of the fight. The injured wolf stumbled, allowing for the second to take the lead.
The wolf, encompassed in the red aura, bared its fangs as it leaped at Lloyd. Not having enough time to switch weapons, Lloyd held his bow with both hands and swung as he dodged to the right. The wolf cried out with a sharp yelp as Lloyd’s bow cracked against its head, directing the momentum to the side. Lloyd rolled on the ground, dropping his bow and pulling his short swords from their sheaths. He stood as quickly as he could, finding a wolf directly in front of him. As strong as these wolves likely are, they don’t seem to be very intelligent with their attacks, Lloyd thought.
Lloyd could hear yelping wolves, crackles of lightning, and swords connecting with bone all around him, but he focused on the two injured wolves in front of him. One wolf was now adorned with an arrow in its side, clearly not enjoying the accessory. The other one seemed primed for the fight, having only suffered a slight tap to its skull. Within the haze of the red aura, this wolf stared Lloyd directly in his eyes before attacking. Kicking up dirt, the wild canine snapped forward, attempting to latch onto Lloyd’s leg. With a last-minute side-step, Lloyd deflected any possible attack with his left and, with his right, cleaved downwards towards the nape of the neck. In one clean sweep, his right-hand sword pierced through the wolf as if cutting through air, not bone and sinew. The wolf landed behind him in two parts, one its body and the other, its head. The red glow quickly faded from its body, no longer under the buff of the leader.
The remaining wolf kicked up dirt as its paws and claws dug in and sprinted toward Lloyd. The wolf advanced with a snarl as its mouth dripped drool and its side leaked blood. The wolf charged and Lloyd assumed he was going low, readying his blades as he had a moment ago. A few feet before the wolf reached Lloyd, it leaped into the air at his throat. Caught out of position, Lloyd’s left hand was useless. Instead of being able to slash with his right, Lloyd thrust the weapon towards the wolf. The sword pierced the underbelly of the animal as its claws raked Lloyd’s chest and arm, its fangs scrapping off of Lloyd’s shoulder. The weight of the wolf and the momentum of the movement lodged the sword in the belly of the beast. The wolf made a loud whimper as it landed, shoving the blade up to the hilt, but it was still alive. Attempting to take advantage, Lloyd sprinted forward and slashed down with his remaining sword at the wolf's neck, also severing this one. Looking up, Lloyd saw that his companions had also dispatched their respective wolves. Clean cuts from those Regal took down, and small singes and burns from those Cassius defeated. Lloyd focused on breathing deeply as he retrieved his blade. Rolling the deceased wolf over, Lloyd slid the sword from the wolf’s stomach and then cleaned the blood on its hide.
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“Hell yeah, man!” Cassius said as he looked over at Lloyd. “That was sick. Shit, dude, you handled the wolves well.”
“Not over yet,” Regal said before Lloyd could respond.
Regal stared down the remaining wolf. No longer fixated on its feast, the Corrupted glared up at the men with a frenzied focus, likely enraged by the slaughter of its pack. Not shifting its gaze, it released another piercing howl. Instead of casting a red aura around itself, the glow swelled and flowed over its entire body. Initially covered in dark black fur, the beast now crackled with red and orange.
“Fuck, it's element must be fire,” Cassius said.
Regal looked back at his friend as he tilted his head and scrunched up his face. “Yea, no shit. I want us in triangle formation again, but double the distance. I'll try to keep it focused on me. You guys kill it from afar.”
“You aren’t immune to fire…” Lloyd began to say in protest.
“Then kill it fast; it’s my call, not yours,” Regal said before facing the beast.
That was one of the stipulations for Lloyd coming with them. Regal would lead them, and his decisions would be final. Lloyd and Cassius nodded as they took their positions. The wolf trotted towards the men, too casual for the fierceness that its gaze suggested. Still about 90 yards away, none of the men had an easy shot. Lloyd noticed the grass around the sheep had been charred and burned when the wolf turned into its fire form. Every step it took incinerated the grass and charred the ground with its footfalls. Once the wolf was within 60 yards, Lloyd decided to take a shot. Looking at the slow trot of the animal, Lloyd assumed it would be an easy one. Loosing the arrow, it flew straight and true. A flame erupted as it got within a few yards of the wolf, and the wooden arrow shaft incinerated. The metal arrowhead continued its path, bouncing off the fiery fur of the wolf, doing damage more akin to throwing a pebble rather than shooting an arrow. Fuck, if I can’t do damage at a distance, I’ll be basically useless in this fight, Lloyd thought. Readying another arrow, he hoped this one would have a different result.
The wolf stopped in place, shook its body, then lowered itself into a crouch. It stayed statuesque for a moment as the air even stilled in anticipation. Its front paws twitched ever so slightly, and then it began its advance. The regular wolves were much quicker than they should have been, but the Corrupted shot forward like Cassius’ lightning did. Lloyd’s second arrow burned up as easily as the first, and within moments, the wolf was upon Regal. In a flash, its right front paw came up to batter Regal’s ribs. He parried the paw with the side of his blade as the wolf skidded past him, leaving a patch of burnt ground as it did. The wolf focused on Regal, its back now turned to Cassius and Lloyd. Cassius' skin danced with electricity before arcing away from his body and toward their opponent, finding its mark in its haunches. It yelped before swinging a massive paw at Regal, who was forced to dodge backward. Turning in place, it shifted its focus to Cassius.
The wolf shook its body and opened its mouth. In place of a howl, a fireball shot forward. The size of a human head, it sizzled as it seared through the air. Cassius was much too close and much too slow to avoid it entirely. The fireball caught him on his right side as he dodged. A yell left his lips as Lloyd, even from 20 yards away, could smell the singe of flesh. Regal had not been sitting back during this time. Now that the wolf had its back to him, Regal mounted the beast. Much like Cassius, the beast was just a fraction too late in reacting. Regal gripped the fur with his left hand and used his right to thrust his sword into the top of the wolf’s skull. The moment it pierced the bone, the flames on its body dissipated in a black puff of smoke, and its sizeable canine body collapsed. Regal hopped off, tucking and rolling on the ground to put out the flames that now encompassed most of his body.
“Fuck!” Regal yelled as he rolled around in the grass, quickly putting out the fire.
Lloyd rushed over to see his brother’s red skin littered with welts. Lloyd reached down to help his brother up; Regal extended his left hand but pulled it back almost immediately. His left hand received the most extensive damage from where he grabbed onto the wolf. Fortunately, his leather pants helped mitigate the damage from the wolf rodeo. Regal took a few deep breaths as he extended his pointer finger, swiftly followed by two thumbs up. Lloyd nodded and turned to see what state Cassius was in.
Cassius got to his feet with a limp, and a soft, muffled pain left his lips. Scorch marks and welts peppered his skin, although not nearly as abundantly as it did on Regal’s. Cassius’s gear also looked to be fully intact, the flames only damaging the exposed skin of his arms and legs on his right side. Cassius delicately removed his pack and pulled a glass flask containing a red liquid. Popping the cork with his teeth, he quickly downed the contents.
Cassius winced before chucking the vial on the ground. “You should too,” Cassius said, pointing toward Lloyd’s shoulder.
Lloyd took a moment to finally assess the damage. There were clear claw marks on his left arm and a hole in the shoulder of his tunic; blood draining for each wound. The pain became more evident as the adrenaline began to subside. Still not as bad as that poison, though, Lloyd thought. He followed Cassius’ lead, reaching into his pack to grab his healing potion. Both men walked over to where Regal was lying in the grass and sat down next to him. Silently, they looked each other up and down, making sure the others were all right. Lloyd could see that Regal’s palms had returned to normal, and Cassius was well along the way of healing. Lloyd was fortunate he didn’t have to compete with the flames. They seemed to do a number on Cassius and Regal, which wouldn't have boded well for him. The healing potion was closing his wounds at a similar pace to Cassius and Regal. He was pretty much useless in that final fight against the Corrupted. He wasn't sure what he would have done if he was alone and had to fight that beast. Die, I would have died, that’s what, Lloyd thought.
Cassius thrust out his arms, palming the shoulders of his friends, fortunately not Lloyd’s bad shoulder.
“Hell to the fucking yeah, boys!” Cassius said as he cracked open the silence.
“That…was…fucking intense,” Lloyd said.
A large grin spread across Regal's face as he stayed staring up at the sky. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome. We rarely see wolves near Breakwater. Those would have been brutal to constantly fight.” Regal said.
“Pretty awesome? Pretty awesome?” Cassius said, mocking Regal. “Dude, that fight was fucking epic, my man. The wolfpack alone was pretty vicious. I think we all handled that like a bunch of champs.” Cassius said as he turned to Lloyd specifically, giving him an approving head nod. Lloyd felt pride well up in his chest.
“Then, that fire wolf came charging at us. That fireball hurt like shit. Of course, like a badass, you jumped on the back of a flaming freaking wolf and stabbed it straight through its skull. Yeah, I think that qualifies as a little more than pretty awesome. It looks like we are having wolf tonight, boys!” Cassius said as he slapped his friends again before getting to his feet.
Cassius walked over to the Corrupted corpse, kicking it in the side. “You know, the only thing that beats the alpha of a pack?” Cassius asked, directing the question to the dead wolf at his feet. “A couple of Omegas, baby!”
Cassius walked past the Corrupted wolf and over to one of the regular wolves. With difficulty, Cassius bent down, picked up a wolf, and threw it over his shoulder. Cassius then threw back his head and let out a large howl.
“Ah, ah, awooooo!” Cassius yelled. Regal and Lloyd choked out a quick laugh before mimicking Cassius. The three men's howls continued as they gathered up their stuff. They checked their navigation and continued on their path. The sound of howling slid across the plains—the howls of men.