The wolf looked at all of them with its golden-yellow eyes as the guards and Fionnuala spread out, creating distance between them so they won’t be attacked together.

“Don’t let it close to you—” before she could finish that sentence the wolf’s body started to disappear in front of their eyes, the golden- yellow eyes lasting a second more than the body.

All of their bodies tensed up, their weapons raised, they looked around their back turned to each other, but the wolf materialized from their shadow in the middle of them and before any of they could it bit off half of Brianan, leaving only a pair of leg that fall to the ground.

Fionnuala's water whip lashed out, a second too late, hitting only one of the wolf's eyes, blinding one of its eyes permanently. The wolf howled a cry of pain. She stared to weave a fireball.

Brian filled with anger threw his spear yelling, “die, you monster.”

The spear went right through the abdomen of the wolf pass it as thought it was a mist, forming some sort of vortex of shadow, the wolf had already gone it to the shadow of the night and what was left was a merely shadow substitute which dissolved as soon as the spear went through. The spear lodged itself to a tree on the side.

Conn threw him his spear and went to dislodge the spear from the tree. A sharp looking spear made of a shadow flew from his left side towards him, but he was pushed forward by a high-pressured water jet from Fionnuala making his back hurt, his leather armor showing signs of tears all over it. He smashed his head against the same tree the spear was lodged in, felling disoriented, his vision blurry. He supported himself with his one hand leaning to the tree, slowly picking himself up until he reached the spear and removed it from the tree.

Meanwhile Fionnuala weaved the fireball to something small than a pea, which was so condensed it had the weight an adult man, she threw it at the right after the water jet on Conn. The wolf didn’t have time to react before the fireball— firepea, hit him on its chest creating an explosion, the fire raising up high like a tower build out of flames. The explosion from it was so powerful the ground shock violently, covering all of them, shaking of their feet, lava spreading over the surface, steam rising from the molten earth. The wolf was flung deep into the forest, breaking trees with its body.

Conn was also thrown by and hitting another tree with his back, losing his grip on his spear, the spear fell to the ground at the time his body did. He cried out in pain. All of this happened in seconds so the others didn’t have time to react but now with the wolf gone, at least for a minute they can catch their breath.

They all went to Conn and helped him stand, he was still disoriented but now because of the explosion his ear was buzzing and muffling the sound of the others speaking. He looked around as the other helped him up, everything looked weird, the land was tilted, the sky blurry, he was losing his balance but most of all he felt suffocated being surrounded by all of the other, his breath became hard, he pushed those who were holding him, he stepped forward, walking, stumbling sideways like a drunk person and fell down to the ground before even walking five meters.

Fionnuala rushed to him, flipped him over, blood was leaking from his snout and ears, white of his eyes were reddened, his brown iris was almost red, blood tears falling down his cheeks.

“Stay with me, Conn. You are going to be fine. We’ll get you back home.”

He opened this mouth to speak but all that came out was blood, he coughed so much blood his mouth was covered by it, some covered her cloth, most so flowing on the ground.

“Please,” he coughed another blood, “make sure my family gets—” before he could finish his sentence his head dropped, the light of his eyes dimmed, his body went limp.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, wake up, Conn, wake up,” her voice was filled with disbelieve and a bit of guilt.

The other rushed over when they heard her voice clustered around Conn, kneeling and touching his body for signs of life.

All of them had tears on their eyes clouding their vision, their body trembling slightly but Fionnuala was the most affected by this as she retreated back by her ass using her hand, shaking her heads left and right, repeating, whispering to herself, “NO.”

*****

Maon was running in the forest like a bird in a sky, carrying Aileen, though she wasn’t heavy, his spear on his back. Aodh carried Atrabus beside him and Finni was following behind them, making sure nothing ambushes them.

The forest was dark, darker than any night, the moonlight obscured by the leaves, the silence was only disturbed by the occasional sounds of cricket and their footstep.

“How long before we reach the village?” asked Maon.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“20 minutes, more or less,” answer Finni from the back.

“I don’t think they can hold that long. We need to find one of the people that came to the forest, like the chief,” said Maon.

“You go find them Finni. We will take them to the herbalist. Find the chief possible,” said Aodh.

“But—”

“Go, if we wait until we get there by the time reinforcement came, they might be dead.”

They heard movement ahead and stopped, placing both the girls on a tree and readied their weapons.

“Who is there? Come out with your hands up,” yelled Aodh.

A fox-like man as tall as them if not a little taller walked out followed by ten others like him, his fur was auburn, his sliver robe tightly wrapped around his body, his sliver pants dirtied with the mud.

“Chief Talon,” yelled all of them at once.

“We heard a bear roar and was going that way, was that you?”

“Yes chief, but Luminary Fionnuala dispatched its head, but—” before he could finish a sound of rustling came as the girls woke up.

“DAD,” yelled Aileen as she got up and run to her dad as fast as she can.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” asked Talon as he lifted her up her cloth stilled cover in a dark red-brown blood, but he didn’t mind that, all he cared was if she was safe.

“No, but mommy is in trouble.”

“What do you mean mommy is in trouble?”

Aodh stepped closer and started to explain the situation and how she needed help immediately.

“Alright take the girls home and me and the other will go there, Finni will be coming with me.”

Aileen hugged her dad tighter and leaned to his ears and whispered, “please bring mommy home.”

He hugged her even tighter, “don’t worry. Tomorrow all of us together will have your favorite.”

He handed her to Maon. Just as they were about to leave, a powerful howl shook them. Talon and the ten guards ran towards the sound, his thoughts filled with worry for Fionnuala’s safety, ‘please be safe, Fionna.’

*****

The howl of the wolf was filled with anger and pain.

Fionnuala and the others lifted their heads, hearing the heavy footsteps approaching. They stood, waiting in trepidation as the ground shook with each step.

All of them got on their feet, waiting in trepidation until the wolf comes out, their bodies were shacking uncontrollable, they tried to calm down but the deaths of two of their friends kept playing in their mind.

Fionnuala was already weaving something she hoped to never use, something she can’t control.

“When I hit it with this, run in the other direction and don’t look back.”

“NO” answered all of them but Brian continued, “we won’t leave you; you won’t survive long enough for reinforcement to come. We’ll stay,” that little conversation calmed their nerve a little.

Fionnuala was relived they didn’t leave her, even if she didn’t show it, she was scared, afraid to face it alone.

“Then buy me some time until I finish this spell.”

The three guards only waited a second before the wolf emerged from the shadows of the trees, its burned side glowing with red veins like molten lava.

As soon as it stepped outside the wolf threw small balls made of shadows at them, she used water tentacles with both her hand and pushed them to side while she herself pulled to the back by attaching a water rope to a tree that was on her back and the shadow ball missed her as she pushed it with ice shield, but the other shadow balls fell on the shadows of both guards.

The wolf roared and charged towards Fionnuala who was stilling forming the weaver the spell.

Brian throws his spear from the left side but was blocked by a wall of shadows, while Onchu slashed his sword on the right side leaving a mark, the wolf turned towards him.

Brian quickly picked his spear, and jabbed his spear into the injured side of the wolf and blood mixed with a liquid meat flew out of the wound, covering his face, its smell was nauseating.

The wolf angered by this stopped and jumped on Brian, pinning him to the ground, but Onchu slashed his sword from the back, hitting its tail and his sword shattered upon contact, and he was swapped by the tail and was sent flying.

This give Brian small opening, he stabbed and slashed its legs that were on his chest with the digger he had on his back, making the wolf let him go as it growled in annoyance, he rolled to side and dislodged hi spear fast and retreated back and put the dagger in the back.

Onchu also stood up, took his dagger and charged towards the wolf as he saw Fionnuala was almost finished and she just need a little time, Brian also watched from afar and charger himself towards.

Onchu was closer to the wolf and reached him first and as he was about to stab the wolf something went through his back, heart then went out in the front, blood staining his leather.

Brian shocked stopped and heard a rustling sound from behind without thinking he turned raised his spear in defense, he hit a dark spear that was coming for his heart and pushed it upward slashing his left eye in the process the staggered back.

The wolf saw this as if expecting it and charged towards Fionnuala.