"Lukia-!" I shout her name, witnessing the terrifying visage of a massive creature's teeth closing in on her.

The flames waver around us, and smoke bellows from the ground, obscuring my vision. Sounds of a wet squish splatters across the ground, a deep red crimson spilled across. I reach forward, brushing the smoke away, to find Lukia on her knees staring up. Standing in her place is Celia, her arms pressing the inside of the Dire wolves' jaws. Its teeth pierced her arms and sides, blood quickly seeping through the wounds. Celia holds the beast at bay, the flames starting to burn its legs. The jaws begin to move, closing even more on her, and she reacts in kind to holding it open.

"Celia! W..What are you doing!" Lukia questions the act. Dumbfounded and stunned.

"My strength won't last... Kill this thing...! Anything!" Paced breath, Celia has blood running down her body. She grunts as she attempts to pry the jaws away to free herself; however, it only tightens its muscles, and blood begins to pour down the creature's mouth.

Her concentration on the Wall of Fire wavers further; they flicker and become translucent. Time is running out. Lukia is still stunned by the experience, so it is up to me to act. With my sword in hand, I charge forward and pierce the immobilized creature in its eye. The violent reaction of pain causes its jaws to loosen and reel back; blood spews from Celia as I have to stop her from falling.

"Ceila!"

"I'm okay, Master... Just some bleeding that I won't die from. But I don't think I can fight as long as I can hold these flames."

"Right, we might as well use this time to retaliate! Lukia!" I shout toward Lukia, who is shaking from her fright and looks at me. Her face is stained with some of Celia's blood. I brush her face with my cloak and get her on her feet. "We need to cover Celia and pick and choose our targets. When I give the word, one of the sections of fire will go out and allow them to charge in. When they take the bait, I will use a barrier to create a block; when I do, Lukia, you will kill it. Celia will put up her flames to ensure it won't escape."

"You sure we can risk something like that? What if Celia loses the strength even to do that? What then?"

"I'm workshopping as we go; I'll figure something out, I always do. Just be ready!"

Focusing on my artifact, channeling the magic from my body into the symbol creatures, I had a vibrant feeling. I watch the movements of the Dire wolves and see how they stalk us. Moments pass before one breaks off alone from the injured alpha, giving us that opportunity.

"Celia, take down the flames to our right!"

Celia listens the moment I finish speaking and snuffs out the part I said, freeing an opening for the single creature. It isn't very intelligent, thinking it has an opportunity; the wolf charges instantly and slips past to pounce the wounded Celia but hits my barrier. Crashing straight onto the field I summoned, Lukia quickly drew her bow and arrow and fired an arrow that pierced its torso. It yelps in pain before she nocks another arrow and fires another into its neck. It spews blood from its mouth before sliding off my barrier and landing on the ground, bleeding to death in seconds. Celia pours her power into the flames and closes the opening.

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"Good! Now we need to do that a few more times, and we should be okay!"

Understanding my direction, Celia drops some flames behind us and to our left, making a significant gap. She doesn't have the strength to control her magic anymore fully. I quickly produce a barrier to the one that exposes us and blocks it from a wolf's attack, reflecting it.

"Damn! Celia! Hold on a bit longer!

"I'll try..." Her voice is raspy; she is barely holding onto consciousness.

"Damn it, let me heal you quick!" Lukia kneels and places her hands on Celia, assessing her wounds and preparing healing magic.

"Lukia! I need you to stay with me! They are approaching!"

"Just a minute!"

"Damn it! Lukia, pay attention!!"

During the moment of falter, the flames flicker and reduce, allowing a massive opening from the front of the circle; the intense fear rushes over me. Three of the wolves charge forward, their fangs visible.

"Barrier!" Clapping my hands together, I summon much of my mana into the artifact and produce a wall of protection. The wolves split off from each other and leap over the flames.

I realize they must have figured out that my barrier is solid, unlike the flames. I reposition and surround Celia and Lukia in a bubble, protecting them from two of the wolves. They bounce off the sphere and quickly take off toward me. The other wolf leaps forward and jumps off the burning corpse of its sibling and barely misses my head.

A bright glow emits from Lukia as she casts a healing spell on Celia. Her wounds quickly close, and her stamina recovers. I release the bubble and deflect a wolf to the flames. Celia reaches out, shifts the fire into a single spot, and catches the beast in a vortex that torches the wolf. It struggles but quickly falls over dead. Leaving the remaining wolves to face us. The flames rapidly split and created a spinning sphere within Celia's hand.

"Burning Sphere!" Celia unleashes a ball of fire that spins around, gaining velocity before striking one of the approaching wolves. It stumbles from the impact, giving Lukia enough time to fire an arrow right into its head, killing it instantly. The last two wolves leap and knock me to the ground beside Lukia.

"My lord!" Scrambling toward me, Celia raises her hands and produces a stream of fire toward the one that pushed me down. The flames do damage, but they recover and pounce on Celia, who has the strength to avoid a fatal blow.

"Celia! Hold on!" Lukia draws her longsword from her side; the long, thin blade shines against the flames. She leaps forward and pierces its side. Blood shoots from the mouth; it writhes in pain before falling still. Lukia begins to push it away and draw her sword, but she exposes her blind spot, allowing the last wolf to pounce her side.

The jaw of the creature catches some of the ground, but they scrape against her arm, slashing her arm like ribbons. She yells in pain, the blood pouring from the wound before I leap forward and stab the wolf in its side, twisting the blade and ripping downward. The intestines spill out, and the dark red crimson pools onto Lukia, who scrambles away, holding her bleeding arm. With most of the Dire wolves killed, only the injured alpha stood against us alone.

The one-eyed beast licks its paws, wipes at its ruined eye, and stares at me, almost like it is scanning for something. I raise my crimson-bathed sword and prepare for the charge. However, the alpha seems to realize it is outmatched, not before bowing its head and howling into the empty air. The loud bellow of its howl is reflected in the distance as more tribes or groups of the same Dire wolf howl in response. It once again stares at me; a feeling of respect radiates from the glare of the wolf before it turns away, leaps through the woods, and disappears.

"Why did it run?" I ask, breathing heavily.

"Grr... It must have... I realized it was outmatched with you alone. After taking its eye and killing most of his group, he showed you respect for it. It is something about the dominance of the food chain. The howl it did just now must have been for the surrounding wolves not to attack us. It is a blessing to have such an honor, but we have it, or at least it took an interest in you, Caleb."

"It might have, but for now, let's take care of those wounds on you two."

"I have bandages in my bag; fetch them for us." Lukia points to her bag on the ground. I quickly grabbed it and pulled out the bandages, patching up Celia and Lukia.