The bandit still standing beside the leader fires his crossbow, the bolt just striking part of Hope's wedding dress near her knee, causing her to jump and shout "Hey! This is a rental!". At the same moment, Tyrion looks to the bandit in the back, sizing him up and aiming carefully before firing another bolt that hits the poor man in his chest, sending him sprawling across the ground to lay in a heap.

One of the wolves barks and leaps into the carriage, biting down onto Anna's shin. She shrieks and bats at it as another follows suit, grabbing at her other leg and pulling the elf to the floor of the carriage. "Tyrion, help!" The one bandit still behind the wagon fires his crossbow, the shock of seeing Par fall throwing his aim off.

The leader of the bandits grabs two daggers from his belt, throwing one at Amadeo and the other at Hope. The one aimed at the devilkin hits the woodwork of the wagon. Without a weapon or her shield, however, Hope can only watch as the other dagger slams hard into Amadeo's leg. He howls in pain and yanks it out as the leader laughs. "Not so tough now, are you, little mage?"

Anna drops a cup of water on herself and coughs, icy armor sprouting like thorns across her body as a surge of healing energy fills her, some of the wounds stitching together with a soft light. "Yeah, try taking a chunk outta me now!" One wolf nips at her heel and she backs up. "Ok, nevermind!"

Amadeo glares at the bandit leader, flicking a splotch of butter into the air. "You don't have a leg to stand on!" The butter expands into a patch of grease that coats the ground around the two still standing bandits. Their footing loosens a little, but both manage to keep themselves steady. Amadeo's face slumps. "Oh, that's not good."

Hope pats his arm. "Go! I've got this! Help the others!" Amadeo nods, his form vanishing into a silvery mist before he reappears around the back of the cart, not ten feet from a growling wolf, its fangs frothing with saliva at the sight of another meal.

Hope reaches behind her, gripping her sword out of the back of the cart and unsheathing it in the same motion she uses to leap from the front seat toward the leader. Her feet plant firmly in the ground, the grease hardly effecting her footing as she slams her longsword down with both hands into the leader, cleaving a long slash in his chest. "Pick on someone your own size, sil na bog." Though he doesn't recognize the tongue, the implication of an insult is quite clear. He draws a scimitar, the blade curved and viciously jagged, and grins wide through the pain. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The last of the wolves lunges at Amadeo, who backs just out of reach. "Down, boy!"

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The bandit standing by the leader loads another bolt and fires at Hope. While he maintains his footing, the bolt misses her by a few inches, making her jump a bit. "Jeez, learn how to aim that thing before you use it on the job!"

Tyrion draws a dagger from his boot, eyeing the wolf in front of him and taking a stab at it. The beast moves back and barks, nipping at the air where Tyrion's hand had been just a moment before. "Get back, you furry fiends!" Drawing a second dagger, he stabs again, the blade burying deep in the creature's hide as it yelps.

Despite the pain, it glares and prepares to attack the halfling as its compatriot bites down on Anna's leg again. That icy armor shreds some as parts of it lodge in the wolf's jaw, causing it to shriek. The immense pain does little to effect its disposition and it readies to strike again. "It's like they're possessed!" Anna calls out.

The wolf attacking Tyrion bites at him and tears at his hand, the halfling pulling free of the beast, though his hand is shredded rather badly by it. "Hells, maybe they are." The bandit behind the wagon reloads and fires at Amadeo, the bolt missing its mark by a wide margin before he draws his dagger and heads for the wizard to cut him off.

The leader's eyes seem to shine as he draws another dagger. "Let's see how you handle this!" The first swipe of his scimitar cuts Hope along her stomach, and though she intercepts the second strike with her longsword, the dagger catches in her side and elicits a cry of pain. As the leader steps to reposition himself for another attack, his footing catches on the greasy ground and he slips, falling prone.

Anna looks behind her, throwing a hand out. That same healing energy flows from her fingertips to Hope, undoing some of the damage she's taken. "You can do it! Just keep it up!" For her own part, Anna's other hand begins to arc with lightning, and she grips the wolf in front of her, sending a pulsing shock through it that sends the creature slumping to the floor of the wagon. "One down!"

Amadeo sees the disadvantageous situation he's in and gulps down a bright red potion before throwing out some fine sand grains. "Take a nap!" From their position, Anna and Tyrion watch the wolf in the cart with them collapse into a deep slumber. Outside, the bandit and wolf assaulting Amadeo do the same, and he sighs. "Alright, they'll be fine for a minute, but we need to help Hope in the meantime."

"Nice work!" Anna exclaims as she and Tyrion prepare to come out of the wagon.

Hope grips her blade tightly, wincing from the pain, and glares at the bandit leader where he lays. "Hey. What's your name?" The leader raises an eyebrow curiously. "...Cal. Cal Thornburg. May I have yours before you bleed to death, little girl?" The devilkin readies her sword and grins at his boldness. "I'll tell you when you lose." She swings again, knocking the scimitar from his hands and slicing his arm, blood flowing from the wound as he smirks. "You guys are in for a treat."

Hope raises an eyebrow, stopping her assault when she hears the rumbling howl. Something crosses over one of the hills on their western side; a beast unlike the wolves they've seen, towering over them by at least a good two or three feet. The giant of a wolf bounds down the hill and soon reaches them, snarling and dripping slobber across the ground as yellowed eyes hone in on the battle ahead. "Good boy, Harken! Come help daddy take care of these pests!" Cal calls out to the beast.