Roni set off at once, maintaining her low crouch as she prowled toward the wolves. Falynn began moving forward as well, holding her staff in a tight grip, her face set in determined lines. Taiki and Leonov watched in confusion, not sure what was expected of them at the moment nor what the two elven women had in mind.
“What are you doing?” Leonov asked, the tension of the moment making his voice come out a little higher than intended. “Isn’t corruption really bad?”
“Of course it is,” Falynn replied, her tone unusually harsh. “That’s why we have to get rid of it at once!”
That settled it for them, and they rushed after the elf girls, though a doubt still lingered in the back of their minds. How could they hope to combat creatures consumed by the rot of corruption? There were nasty stories of what happened to people infected by corruption. It ate away at your body and mind until you were driven insane, and then it killed you. Except that your body never stopped. Corruption consumed it and controlled it completely, leading to a fast spread. It was an epidemic that could spawn from the smallest scratch.
Roni rose to a standing position perhaps thirty feet away from a clearing they could barely make out and drew back the string on her bow. From two yards away, they could see the side of her face contorted in concentration and her lips moving, either in prayer or magic, they couldn’t tell. Then, as the head of her arrow burst aflame, they realized that it could easily be magic. With a quiet twang, the arrow flew away from her bow, the wind of its passage reducing the arrow’s flame to a mere spark. They lost sight of it quickly among the trees.
“Had to have hit a tree,” Taiki grunted. Then they heard a loud yelp and a sound that was half scream, half snarl. “No way, she actually hit it?”
“Get ready!” Roni shouted, backing away to hide once more. “They’ll be coming!”
Taiki and Leonov had their weapons ready in an instant. The moonlight, in this less-densely packed section of the forest, glinted off of the metal face of Leonov’s shield as he hefted it, his sword resting lightly on its top. He was crouched low, ready to intercept an attack, and Taiki stood just to his left, the heavy spiked club gripped tightly in their hands. Falynn hurried to stand behind them, knowing that she couldn’t possibly contend with multiple wolves at once. She was just barely behind the two larger figures when the beasts appeared, running directly at the largest figures they could see.
The light of the moon revealed horrifying figures. They were undeniably wolves, but they looked like month-old corpses left in the sun. Great chunks of flesh were missing from their bodies, revealing putrid meat and yellowed, cracked bones. Their eyes gleamed a dull, lifeless yellow, and even from yards away, they could smell the stench of them. It clogged their nostrils, threatening to suffocate them with its stench. They had to resist the urge to vomit as it hit them, but only just.
The lead wolf, perhaps a few inches taller and longer than the others, let out a fierce snarl and leaped at Taiki. Leonov was quick to intercept its gray claws, which raked across the metal face of the shield, leaving no mark. It was a high-quality piece of equipment, as was his sword. He swung down at the beast with a mighty slash, but it danced away before he could make contact, that snarl still coming from its throat all the while.
Quick as a flash, one of the other two wolves jumped at Leonov’s exposed back as he turned to defend Taiki. He spun again, ready to block it, but was too slow. He was saved only by the powerful gust of wind that erupted from Falynn’s position, catching the wolf and throwing it back against a tree. Had it been alive, it would have been a crippling blow. As it was, it rolled to its feet at once, eyes fixed piercingly on the slim elf girl who had hit it. Falynn gave a yelp of fear and ducked back behind Leonov.
The third wolf had also started forward to attack, but Taiki had brought their club down on its head with a resounding crunch. The metal spikes of the weapon tore a great deal of fur and muscle away, but it continued to move, fleeing to a safe distance before the club could find contact once more. Just as it turned, slowing down for another lunge, an arrow appeared out of nowhere, striking it solidly in the side, piercing through to where its heart would be. Flames burst into life all along its body, licking along the dead flesh and fur with frightening speed.
“Watch out!” Taiki warned Leonov as another wolf charged in, ignoring the one Roni had shot, which collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony. Leonov needed no warning and already had his shield up, stopping yet another attack. So far, they’d avoided making direct contact with any of the beasts, but their luck wouldn’t hold for long. The largest of the wolves got in under his shield and managed to open a tiny wound on his left leg. Taiki swore and lashed out with a foot, kicking the monster away a foot or two.
Leonov barely noticed the initial wound, but he did feel the corruption take hold quickly. Suddenly, his left leg, which had been presented in the direction of the threat, gave out from under him, and he fell to a knee with a grunt. Now he truly felt the fear wash over him. Without the ability to move, he was vulnerable against such quick opponents. The wolves sensed this and closed in again, focusing on him.
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Falynn shouted a quick incantation, and a small wall of flames appeared right before Leonov’s eyes. He lurched away from the burning, bright flames, instinctively trying to escape them. The lead wolf wasn’t as fortunate and dove right through it. The sensation of the flames went straight to what remained of its brains, and it forgot Leonov entirely, screaming in pain as it flew over him, bouncing off the wooden shield. Unfortunately, it barreled right into Falynn, and the flames caught at her robe, igniting them immediately.
Then, without warning, a wall of wind hit Taiki and Leonov, knocking them clean off their feet and throwing them several feet. Falynn had panicked after she’d caught fire and sent out the strongest wind spell she had, not bothering to give it much control or direction. The burning wolf had been flung away from her, but so had her best hopes of protection. The last standing wolf landed near Taiki, who had slammed painfully into a tree, and recovered first. Instinctively, it attacked the closest target.
Those dead fangs were inches from their throat when Leonov, letting out a blood-chilling roar, hurled one of his small javelins. It pierced through the beast’s own neck, yanking the body back and burying it into the very same tree that Taiki had hit. Again, in a living creature, it would have been lethal. But the wolf, pinned in place, continued to snarl and yap at the prey mere inches away from it, its front legs scrabbling feebly to try and reach the flesh.
A third arrow appeared, striking the monster’s hind leg, and in seconds, flames had consumed it entirely. Taiki reeled away, covering their face against the stench of burning flesh. The flames were hot on their face, but they paid it no mind, rolling several times to put space between themselves and the wolf. They stopped only when the beast stopped screaming.
It took them several seconds to realize that it was over, at which point Falynn let out a quiet whimper of relief and fell to her knees. She’d gotten so close to death there, she thought. For the others, they were too busy trying to get back to their feet. Taiki was weak-kneed by the last few seconds but stood without much effort. Leonov, however, couldn’t get his leg to move and was failing to rise. He struck the forest floor in his temper, trying harder, but to no avail.
“Leonov!” Falynn shouted, her face pale. She didn’t know how she could have forgotten his wound. “Stay still, or it will spread faster!”
“We have to get him to a High Druid,” Roni said, appearing from behind a nearby tree. For once, her stoic expression had slipped away. She’d seen corruption a few times in her life, and knew how dangerous it could be. “Don’t touch him, Falynn!”
But the druid girl was already kneeling beside him, pushing him flat on his back with a surprising show of strength. “I know what I’m doing. Just lie still.”
In spite of the fact that they’d barely known each other a week, Leonov trusted her and complied. His face was twisted in pain from the corruption, and he could feel it crawling its way up his leg and into his system. Without being told, he knew that if it touched his heart, he would die. “Fine. Just hurry.”
“Guide me, Lord of the Wilds,” Falynn muttered hurriedly, holding her hands over the small scratch in his leg. The flesh was already blackened there, and the wound was rotten. “Give me the strength to purify this corruption and cleanse his body against it.”
A gentle green light coated her hands and solidified into a thick liquid. It dripped down from her fingertips, splashing against the wound and sinking into his flesh. Immediately, the wound began to show signs of life as the corruption in it was cleansed, and Leonov let out a sigh of relief as he felt the pain fading. In seconds, the flesh looked completely normal, save for the small nick and the barely noticeable trickle of blood that ran out of it, staining a small section of his breeches.
“I’ll tend to that in a moment,” Falynn promised, feeling woozy. She rose unsteadily to her feet and faced the corpses of the wolves. “I have to cleanse these first, to prevent it from spreading to the trees.”
It took her only a moment longer, in which time Leonov had mustered enough strength to get to his feet. She muttered a similar version of the prayer, covering the inert remains of the wolves and everywhere they’d walked in that mysterious green light. As she worked, the air itself seemed to grow lighter, and a welcome cool breeze swept between the trunks of the trees as if the forest was giving a sigh of relief at being saved. Falynn smiled weakly as she felt it and touched the amulet around her neck, offering a silent prayer of thanks.
“We did well in that fight,” Leonov said. “Even with my injury, we clearly handled it well.”
“Except when Falynn blasted you two away,” Roni said with a glower at her companion. “That was nearly the end of Taiki’s life. Don’t the druids teach you self-control when casting magic?”
Falynn had nothing to say in reply to that. Lowering her red face, she clutched her staff tight to her body as if hoping she could hide behind it. “Sorry.”
Taiki put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting sort of way. “Don’t worry about it. We’re untested as a group. Mistakes are bound to happen. At least it wasn’t worse, right?”
Falynn looked heartened but didn’t speak on the matter further. Shyly, she gestured towards the clearing ahead. “Well, we should finish the job, shouldn’t we? I should wake Elderclaw up before I’m completely out of mana.”
“You mean it’s in that clearing?” Leonov asked, incredulous. He’d had no idea the goal was so close.
Falynn nodded, regaining some of her confidence after the rebuke Roni had given her. The ranger girl was still scowling but seemed averse to speaking more. “Yes. That’s what drew the wolves, I think. They could sense the latent natural power and wanted it but couldn’t get past the seal.”