The auras grew as we neared them, obscuring any green that might have been present. The howling was louder too. It was different than what I would have thought a wolf would sound like. I’d thought the howls would be long and low, rising and falling in pitch just as a dingoes howl did. These were different; they were high-pitched and eerie, almost like a fierce wind that whistled through old farmhouses making them creak. To add to the strange sound, the howl was more drawn out than I’d ever heard an animal manage. The noise of it had my hair standing on end and the skin of my arms pebbling.

Stella was furious because of it. Her lip was stuck in a perpetual snarl and the hair along her neck before her coat had stiffened into peaks. Boopzy was shaking so hard in my pocket that it felt like having a stupidly powerful electric toothbrush stuck in there. It’s a weird feeling when half your chest is vibrating and the other half isn’t.

Frank was silent and stoic compared to the others. His claws dug deep into the leather covering my shoulder. His wings were clamped tight to his sides as he stared forward. If it weren’t for the fact he was breathing I would have thought him a statue.

We slowed as we neared the room that held the noisy monsters. Nora reached out for the handle of the door and whipped her head back around to face me, making sure I was ready. I held up a finger to make her wait and dug out the Tentarat. A flash of anger crossed the warrior's face as I dumped Boopzy onto her shoulder. Nora’s month wasn’t over yet. Protecting Boopzy was supposed to be her problem.

She mouthed something at me that was a little hard to make out in the dull glow that lit the hall. I shrugged and motioned for her to open the door already.

She shoved the door open and let out her warcry. I felt the potent energy of the skill fill me, bolstering my own stats as I followed her in, Blinking so I could dodge into the shadows where I did my best work. I froze there with my sword in hand, my eyes sweeping the room as Stella and Nora, moving much slower than they really were, spread out, ready to attack. The red auras flared like a fire fed a healthy dose of petrol. I let go of my Blindsense before the flare could blind me in the gloom.

The room was empty.

I frowned and snatched my glob-like friend from the shadows with barely a thought of activating my Unrelenting Force skill and lifted him up close to my lips so I could whisper, “Find the monsters.”

He vanished almost as soon as the words left my lips. Nora and Stella stopped in the center of the room, Nora with her axe held at the ready and Stella crouched, prepared to leap.

“What the hell?” Nora asked, turning back toward me.

I grumbled and stepped out of the shadows. There was no point hiding when she’d just given me away.

“Joe, where are they?” she demanded.

I brought my Blindsense back, squinting past the brightness at the red auras that were burning at the far end of the room. They should be here. Whatever the red auras meant it didn’t matter because our guess had been wrong. Gabby and Jacob weren’t here either. We’d just run headlong into the most bizarre danger for absolutely no reason.

“I don’t know, my skill says the monsters are right here,” I said.

“Welcome, your skill is a bloody liar.”

Stella was still holding her crouch, snarling at the concrete wall like it might somehow open up and reveal the true danger. Boopzy squeaked and climbed onto Nora’s head, his tentacles falling around it like another layer of odd-looking hair.

Nora swore and turned around, stomping back toward the door. “We don’t have time for this. Where are Gabby and Jacob?”

“If I knew I’d tell you,” I said, walking backward as I stared at the wall.

Stella let out a loud echoing bark and lunged forward halting me in my tracks. My shadow friend ran into the center of the room, his small form a spot of black in the glow of the moss creeping over part of the wall. I dodged forward, grabbing hold of Stella to keep her from charging before I remembered the glob was nothing but a sentient shadow and couldn’t actually be hurt.

The howling started again, bouncing around the room as though it came from everywhere all at once. My arm flew up, the pointed bolt in my crossbow sweeping the room as I spun, searching for the monsters. I even flicked my eyes upward just in case they were hanging from the ceiling like bats.

They were, in fact, not doing that.

Nora grabbed my arm. “Come on, we have to keep moving. Gabby might be in the Hollow, she liked going there sometimes.”

“The Hollow?” I asked.

“I’ll show you. Jacob has a knack for finding new and unusual hiding places. He shared a few of the nicer ones.”

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I swept the room one more time. The shadow was bouncing up and down in its place. It was a strange way to tell me there were nothing but pretend monsters here but what else could I expect from a mini monster?

I had to drag Stella out of the room with me. She was determined not to leave the empty chamber. We were only marginally into the hall and already Nora and Boopzy were so far down the hall they could turn a corner and be lost to me.

“Stella, come on. Move your ass,” I growled.

Stella barked again, trying to lunge back into the room. Well, I shouldn’t say ‘trying’ since, you know, she succeeded. What can ‘I say, she’s much stronger than I am. I flew off my feet, landing full body on top of her back. I tried to roll off as fast as I could but it didn’t seem to matter over much, Stella was indifferent to my weight.

Good to know.

Frank, however, was very unhappy at the sudden jerking movement. He finally broke his statue stance and leaped into the air squawking his head off. It was hard to hear the strange howling, which I was beginning to think was actually just a breeze working its way through cracks in the concrete, over his blaring anger. Frank swooped around the room, beating his wings only when he couldn’t manage a glide. The shadow was still where I’d left him, bouncing up and down like his life depended on it.

“Joe?” Nora’s voice rang outside the room from somewhere far away. “Where the hell are you?”

I’d had enough. I climbed to my feet and bellowed at the temperamental animals, “Enough! What is wrong with you? Get your act together or I swear on Satan’s butthole I’ll leave you all behind.”

My reprimand had Stella sitting by my feet and whining with her ears drooping. Frank, on the other hand, swooped and raked his talons over my head, dampening my hair with my own blood. I shrieked and bent in half, clutching at the damage. Thick warmth spread over my fingers as the wounds seeped. My health bar dropped by a fifth, far more than a rough head scratching should have.

Once upon a time, I was a man who enjoyed a good firm raking of nails over my scalp, preferably when another person and few to no clothes were involved. This might have put a damper on that little passionate moment from now on. Thanks, Frank.

The wound healed over enough to stop leaking important red juices. The pain lingered but I’d had far worse which now that I think about it, is not great for me.

I rose to my full height again, glaring at the stupid bird as he circled overhead. I lifted my arm, aiming my bolt at him only to swear and let the arm drop. He might piss me the fuck off but he was still my main man Frank.

“Frank, I’m gonna find a birdcage and shove your ass…”

Before I could finish my well-thought-out threat the howling came again, so loud and forceful it had the floor beneath my boots shaking. I stumbled like a landlubber on their first sea voyage. Stella started a stream of furious barking as she jumped in front of me. Frank dove, the tips of his wings glowing lilac. Little flecks of glowing purple rained down over the small patch of floor he was flying over.

It was something I’d never seen him do before. I couldn’t focus on it for long however because when the bird began the climb out of his dive, three glimmering forms were left standing in his wake. The little shadow glob bounced around hysterically before rushing to me. It hid behind my legs as I watched Frank’s odd magical fairy dust settle.

The forms were easy enough to make out, I looked at an ancestor of theirs almost every day. They were giant wolves. Two of which were glaring at the bird, unappreciative of his magic act. The other was stalking toward us, one paw placed slowly in front of the other.

Stella snarled and barked but her threats did not impede the wolf's forward march. I lifted my arm again and fired a bolt at the thing's head. I smirked as it struck but it vanished almost immediately. The bolt clattered against the wall behind the specter, shattering into little unsalvageable splinters.

Despite my failure, the specter disappeared in a puff of lilac flecks. So kind of a win, I guess? The disappeared wolf’s siblings did not take kindly to me destroying their brother. They lifted their heads and let out the same droning howl that had been torturing me since the moment we’d returned here. The lilac flecks that had settled on the ground began to swirl as if caught in a whirlwind only there wasn’t one. Frank landed heavily on my shoulder again, his talons barely digging into my leathers this time. I could be delusional but I took that as an apology for the scalping earlier.

Instead of charging at us the moment they finished their howl they simply looked at me, almost like they were smiling. I braced myself, ready for the attack that was bound to come. Stella snarled and took a single cautionary step forward. It was only when she did that I saw the lilac flecks on the ground scatter around an invisible pawprint.

My bolt hadn’t destroyed the wolf, instead, it had returned it to its invisible state. Wonderful.

Another thing I couldn’t help but notice was that my bolt hadn’t brought up any health bars or floating names. I swallowed hard at that one. What were we, a warrior dog and not-so-great thief, supposed to do if physical damage wasn’t an option? Frank might have a tiny bit of magic but mostly he used his talons and beak to fight, more weapons that cause physical damage. That ruled Nora out too even if she was too far away to help. Even my Grim Kiss was a no-go because it required the physical act of kissing.

All these thoughts rattled around my head in a matter of seconds while my feet were sliding backward toward the door.

The wolves moved forward in a singular line in slow floating movements. I held up a hand and yelled in the same firm voice I’d used on Stella only minutes earlier, “Stop.”

In response, the Goddess Umbra’s words rattled inside my head one more time, as if the primordial thought I might have forgotten her warning.

She is weak for now but she will grow. Don’t let the wolves find her until she is ready.

The wolves didn’t stop for even a second. I grabbed Stella, yelling her name as I turned and ran. Surprisingly, she listened to me. Together we rushed out the door and turned in the opposite direction than Nora had gone.

If the ghosts of wolves were going to stalk me there was no way I was going to lead them to Gabby’s possible hiding place. I didn’t need to piss off the sister of my Goddess. Somehow I didn’t think that would end well for me.

The wolves followed us into the hall, their rattling howls chasing us as we ran through the maze of tunnels back toward the main entrance.