[https://img.wattpad.com/15a72f2d0d18ce5a2b5b3cdb5ffac410af993246/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f34306d777143366a4945345230513d3d2d313238383531303633322e313736613262646532356232363035653536333932313837343237392e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
The sun struggled to climb above the hill. The higher it climbed the more orange spilled across the grass. The blue climbed over the sun's glow to push the purple away. The symphony of birds signalled the momentous accession of the clear sky. The cool breeze scattered over the hills running from the giant orb in the far distance.
Jack yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eye, Luna and Tana followed suit. The rest of the crew was ready. William sat with paper and piece of lead, Ophelia stretched her limbs and the corners of her mouth into a large smile, and Stella was still. Her breathing was calm, and her eyes were unwavering. Ace and Tenny looked ahead with soft eyes and a relaxed expressions across their faces. All focused on the monster wolf peacefully sleeping in the open field. The eyelids of the creature slowly peeled back to a narrowing pupil being pushed in by the bright yellow iris. Its head raised up as its ears pointed back and it stretched its jaw all it could in a deep yawn. After standing up the wolf extended every muscle before shaking its fur.
"I have a bad feeling that yawn was our best chance to get him to eat this." Jack swung the straw dummy by its feet.
"Darke. I have named him Darke," Ace calmly said without removing his eyes from the creature.
"That is terrible. Dark the dark wolf? I think you can do better than that," Jack objected.
"No, I spelled the dark with an e. It is Darke the dark wolf."
"How was I supposed to know that."
"You know now."
"I like it. I have seen you bond with Darke while playing with him. I think you deserve to give it a name," Lyon chimed in.
"He played with it?" Tana exclaimed.
"You are fun, Moustache. Spar with me!" Ophelia grinned.
"We should save Darke first," Ace replied.
Jack tightened the shield's strap. He dusted off the dulled metal. He looked at the scuffs and scraps. It is about to get some more. Stella and Luna didn't have shields, and Ophelia grabbed a larger shield and hooked it on her back. Lyon made sure his shoulder guard was snug and tugged on the rope wrapped across his body.
"Okay, the plan is simple. Confuse it with the quick attacks and toss the dummy when it is on guard. It should attack and devour the herb. Stella, Ophelia, you handle defence. You approach first. Jack, Lyon, attack and move. Luna, toss the dummy at the signal. Stay with Ophelia until then. Tenny is around to create dark shields in case. Questions?" Ace's words were clear. Stern. It brought an air of seriousness they needed to start this mission with.
"I am stronger than the wolf, but it is hard to keep track of everyone at the same time. Try and stay out of its range as much as possible and if only one at a time at close range will be great," Tenny spoke like a general. Stern and condescending, but the fluffy small stature mounted on the head of the moustache made the makeshift hunters chuckle.
"I am here as well, so you guys can step into range if you need to. Do what you have to but be careful. Look out for each other." Ace reverted to a light-hearted tone.
"We know you are Moustache, but we can handle this one without you." Stella smiled.
"You can sit back and watch old man." Jack gave a thumbs up. Tana and William grinned from behind Ace. Tana's eyes still spoke worry. William's screamed excitement. Jack took a deep breath.
"Old man? I am only 25." Ace's eyebrows were at different levels. Stella and Jack stared at the creature on Ace's head. The creature looked away. "Take a couple of minutes to figure out how you will be moving together. Leave at your command."
"Jack, how are you feeling today? Still thinking about stuff?" Stella lowered her voice.
"Nah, I think I am more excited than anything. I don't really have much other on my mind other than saving Darke. I also think it could be that the weather is nice, and everyone looks confident."
Stella just smiled at her comrade's sparkling eyes. The rest of the group fell in. The little one quiet and holding onto Ophelia. Lyon had a bit of nervousness to his look. Chaperoning seemed to take away some of his fun. Ophelia was ready to go. They all were. Go. They were gone.
"I am going to keep a closer eye on them. Please don't leave this hill. You can see everything with the spyglass. William, use a fire spell if you need my attention." Ace turned to the mission supervisors.
"No complaints here." William responded.
"Goodluck Ace," Tana said.
"Thank you very much." The smiling moustache disappeared in a blink.
***
Ace and Tenny stood in the field a fair distance away. They didn't want to alert Darke before the team made it to him.
"Look what I got friend. I didn't want to show it off because I only had enough for us." Ace pulled out two apples from his pockets. He tossed one up to his friend that munched on it immediately.
"That hit the spot. What do you think, Ace? I am not sure they can capture Darke," Tenny mentioned.
"If it was a fight then probably not. Jack said it best, they don't need to fight. I believe in them, and the more time I spend with them, I believe more and more. I think we really are forming quite an interesting team. I think he will be proud of me when he sees me again."
"I have only heard about him from you and The Three. I can't say, but I am proud of you, my friend."
"Thanks buddy. I really hope you are having fun as well. You know this is for you too."
"I know and I am. Oh crap. I almost forgot. I have to go check to see if that man is really there. That would really be fun." Tenny disappeared for roughly three seconds before appearing in the same spot. "He is there. Quite a distance away, but he is watching. What are you going to do?"
"Nothing yet. Let him make the first move," Ace addressed calmly.
"That can be dangerous. He is one you might not want to wait for."
"I never heard you worried before. I like this side of you."
"Shut up."
***
"William! William! Look over there!" Tana was jumping up and down pointing at something in the distance. The reporter was hesitant to peel his eyes away from his friends to see where he should focus.
"What is it? What are you looking at? Oh. How did you spot him?" William placed his spyglass at his side.
"I got lucky. I was just seeing the sights and I saw that menace snooping around."
"It is a good thing you did. He has a lot of them with him. I will tell Ace. He will stop them." William began to gather red in his hand. Tana clasped her hand onto the orb.
"Wait. I am sorry. William, I noticed that you were a bit bothered by Ace's words at the guild the other day. How he is tired of fighting."
"Yea, I was, but he told us to tell him. I think it would be the right thing to do. He can probably get them to stop and avoid the fight."
"What if I can get them to stop without fighting as well? I can go for help. With a large enough force then Lok wouldn't want to risk fighting here. We can avoid causing Ace any trouble. I know, it isn't the best idea, but something tells me that he has been through a lot. I want to be around those guys to make things easier for them. All I have is my connections. I want to try and help them."
William released a sigh. He looked into her soft eyes. He took out a cigarette and took his time striking the match. "It's the way you said it. You can be a writer. I understand your words loud and clear. Go ahead but if—"
"I know. Tell Ace as soon as you need to. Thank you, William. I will be right back."
***
Jack's heel tore grass from the ground. He was supposed to stay behind Stella and Ophelia, but he was side by side with them. Green mimics pushed him forward as he cut through the fields flowing with the terrain. He glanced over at Ophelia who was smiling.
"Hummingbird, huh. I will let you spread your wings. Let's go ahead. They can launch the second attack." Ophelia burst ahead. Jack couldn't resist. He shot behind her. They ran side by side. He skipped over rocks and uneven ground with spiral motions and quick zigzags. He hadn't run like this in a while. Stella shook her head, but she felt glad to see her friend was enjoying himself. Lyon and her were a couple of paces behind but the distance was getting a little too much. Lyon chuckled and increased the pace to match. Luna was running close to Ophelia. She took her orders seriously, but Stella was sure she saw a smile. They were getting closer.
Stella saw the wolf's attention grip them. Its eyes looked soft. Surprised. Its weight shifted onto the front paws. It was time. Defence was her game. She saw Ophelia step in front of Jack. The woman dug her feet into the ground and used a green blast to keep her in place. She dropped to one knee and placed her palms close to the ground. Jack planted his foot on her shield and blasted into the air. Floating sideways, Jack gathered Red in his palm. Whoosh. The orb took off just before a yellow wall emerged between him and the wolf. The wolf leapt backwards enough for the red orb to fizzle out. It stumbled slightly on its left side. Stella was running swiftly with her hands close to the ground. Her speed slowing down as Yellow was glowing in her palm. She wasn't good at this spell, but she couldn't afford doubt. It was her turn.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Stella stopped in her tracks and swung her hand as hard as she could in an upward motion.
A yellow slope formed quickly out of the ground and around the wolf. It loaded all its weight to take off. Lyon was dashing up the slope as he continuously launched small red orbs at the creature before ducking behind the yellow wall. The creature dashed forward in the only opening not covered by yellow. Luna tossed the straw dummy in the air at the dashing wolf. It was perfect. The wolf would snap at the dummy. Everyone was safe. They would just have to grab Darke when he falls asleep.
Jack's jaw dropped open. Ophelia chuckled. Lyon scratched his head while Stella placed her hand on her hips. The Little Reaper was expressionless as always. Darke had continued running. It ducked the straw dummy and dashed forward. The crew huddled together to watch the tail swing back and forth as the wolf got further and further away. Stella's yellow wall vanished.
"Sorry guys, I could only make it big without giving enough mana to make it strong and long lasting," Stella said first.
"I mean...that is quite okay, but...everything was perfect. What happened?" Ophelia's laughter seemed to interrupt her speech.
Ace and Tenny appeared in front of the huddle. The moustache spoke first, "That was strange."
"Everything looked perfect. I was really impressed. Too bad you have terrible luck." Tenny giggled.
"Yea, it completely ignored the dummy. It didn't even look back. It just took off. It seemed like it didn't want to fight. It didn't even growl." Jack couldn't look away from the fearsome beast fleeing.
"It can fight. We have seen him fight you, Ace. Why would it run away?" Lyon asked.
"Do you think it is because Ace startled it when he appeared in front of it? That would scare me if someone could do that," Stella mentioned.
"That has to be it, but then if it knows it can fight. It didn't even try." Jack's tone trailed. His disbelief stretched his sentences.
"What do we do, Ace?" Stella asked.
"What do you guys want to do? Jack was right. There is a lot more to this story. That wolf is special." Ace questioned back. Ophelia's yellow wall finally disappeared.
"It is still going to be around the town. It will still be in danger. I think we have to keep trying," Jack answered.
"This is also our ticket to Null Metal. We have to have some kind of result," Stella answered.
"This means we are going to have to create more of a threat like Moustache. Get it to fight back," Ophelia answered.
"Yea, but how sure are we about cornering a beast like that?" Lyon asked.
"That is my worry too, but they have a point. I'll figure out a way to—" Ace started.
"I have an idea. Let's track it down first and see the terrain. We can discuss the idea from there," Jack finished.
***
Darke didn't go as far as they expected. On the other side of the wide hill hiding and licking the injury on its left paw. It was calm. Jack thought there would be signs of panic, but the calmness caused sweat to form on Jack's forehead. Calmness can be dangerous. Darke didn't even see them as a threat. He just chose not to engage with them. The wolf yawned and lied down on the grass. Stella felt uncomfortable bothering it now.
"What are you thinking, Jack?" Lyon asked.
"Seeing Stella's curved Earth Wall gave me an idea. Ophelia said that we have to corner it and force it to fight, but that thought scares me. I think we can get the same option if we take away its ability to run."
"What is the difference between that and cornering it?" Ophelia asked.
"The thing that stops it. I think we should tie it down and then toss the dummy at it. If it can't run away from the dummy, then it will have to bite it. I don't think we have to attack it anymore since he should be alert."
Lyon took off his rope. "I brought this, but I am not sure all of us can hold down the wolf."
"We don't have to hold him down for long. We just have to get him to stay still a bit. We can do that by breaking the tension. We can use Earth Pillars to tie the rope off for a second."
"Oh, I get it. My rope is 80 ft long. I can split it in two so we can grab at two different directions." Jack gave a nod. Lyon began to unroll his rope.
"What about Darke's dark magic? That felt like a lot to say," Stella questioned.
"That's the troublesome part. It can easily cut the rope with dark magic. That is where I think the earth wall comes in. Ace stick out your arm." Jack walked over and began placing his forearm on perpendicular directions on Ace's. "I think if we cast earth pillars and walls in patterns like this, then we can lock Darke in. Once we do it fast enough, then it should by us enough time to toss the dummy at it before it breaks away from the earth pillars."
"That is genius. I think it can work." Lyon smiled ear to ear.
"I am with the Treble. That was good thinking Jack." Ophelia gave him a hearty pat on the back.
"I like it. There is just one factor—" Ace started.
"Yea. If Darke decides to bite the dummy or use dark magic to destroy it. It also could just ignore the dummy completely. It is a gamble. If we fail, we may have to try again another time," Jack stated.
"I think it will attack. It is just between the magic or a bite, but we have seen it attack with its fangs when someone is in front of him. I think we have good odds. Good job Jack." Ace had a gentle smile and extended his knuckles for a bump. Jack responded then bit down on his lip.
***
Jack was right in front of Ophelia. They kept their distance and slowly crept from the wolf's blind spot. Jack was glad Darke was sitting against the wind. I guess it cooled its face better. Slowly moving forward. The wolf eyes closed. Jack looked over at Stella and Lyon keeping time with them. Luna gripped onto the straw dummy like a new friend. Lyon holding onto his rope and Jack holding the other half. 15 feet was how close he imagined he would be, and it was not a comfortable distance from Dark. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Hey, if you are nervous, do you want me to throw the rope?" Ophelia whispered.
"I am not as good at Earth Mimics. You and Stella will be able to create the Earth pillars quicker. I also don't think I can handle that level of responsibility." Jack chuckled nervously.
"You know, you guys are new to it, but you have a lot of talent. I get that your teacher is strong, but I think you guys are great students. You should be a bit more confident in yourself, Hummingbird."
"Thank you, Miss Ophelia. That means a lot to me, especially since you are the strongest in the town. That is pretty amazing, being the strongest in a town full of the strongest hunters."
"Oh, this town isn't the strongest hunters, or I would like to say most people that are strictly hunters aren't close to the strongest. You have to remember that hunters don't fight Mystical Creatures, their biggest threats are animals. There are many soldiers and mercenaries that are way stronger than any hunter in this town, but they rarely need to fight a beast. There are few in the world that can take on a Mystical creature in strength by themselves. Like each of fourteen generals for example. I hate to admit that I am not even close to that level. Think you guys will get their eventually? Is that your goal?"
Jack took his time formulating a response. "I think so. Ace says it is possible. I think we might have to be at that level to help him out."
"Big dreams. I like it. We are coming up. Are you ready?"
Jack looked over to Lyon and Stella. They gave a nod. Ophelia cast a fireball a couple of feet away from the wolf. Its ears perked up. Once it raises its head then they can toss the ropes. Any second now. The wolf's eyes opened but its head still rested on the ground. Did it not notice them? Should she alert it again? The dark wolf dashed forward from the lying position. It was quick.
"Why is it so good at running away!" Jack yelled. "Following him. We will take any chance we get."
The team sprinted forward. Green trails were used to launch them forward. The wolf was quick, but that wasn't the problem. The wolf's ability to change directions was astonishing. It quickly planted its hind legs into the ground before cutting into another direction. Jack thought about how impossible it would be if Darke wasn't injured. Jack could feel his mana getting lower. He hoped that Ophelia and Stella weren't getting tired either. They need the earth walls.
The wolf hesitated for a second. Jack notices a half white and half black fluffy mascot just ahead. Nothing wrong with getting a little help. Jack tossed the rope. The lasso grabbed around Darke's neck. Lyon followed suit. Ophelia and Stella made their anchor pillars before darting off. Jack wrapped his rope against the pillar as quickly as he could. He felt the tension on the rope ease. The problem was that the reduction of tension in the rope lead to anxiety in the warrior. Jack was barely a couple feet from Darke. It's massive body sinking into the grass. Thick black fur shaking as the wolf gave a small wiggle. Its mouth slightly open to breathe but the teeth sent a chill down Jack's spine. Its bright yellow eyes locked onto Jack's. Damnit. This is crazy. This is crazy!
A shadow ejected from the font paw of the beast. Sharp dark spikes cut the ropes. Stella and Ophelia were quick enough to cast 4...5...6, 7 Earth Pillars around the beast. Jack didn't even notice Lyon was helping them. Jack struggled to find his breath. Dark was fixed in place, but its eyes were locked onto Jack's.
"H...hu..." Why can't he speak. Sound needs air. Damn there is no air. Breath Jack. Breathe.
"Luna! Now!" Stella yelled from the back. The little Reaper tossed the straw dummy. Darke snatched it out of the air with its teeth. Swallowed in one gulp. Stella grabbed onto her frozen friend to drag him. Darke released a loud howl that snapped Jack back to his senses. A black orb shot out of the wolf's mouth into a far-off distance before scattering into the terrain. Jack scrambled to his feet and began dashing ahead. They hurried over the hill to a waiting Ace. Darke cut the spells with its shadow, taking its time to wiggle free. It looked around and stared directly at them on the hill. Jack and Stella catching their breath behind their mentor. The others standing and waiting for the reaction of the wolf. Ace's turn. They were sorry it came to this, but he would have to hold off that beast. There is no way they can fight that if it is angry at them.
"Ice Queen. I totally get it now. You are extremely cool under pressure." Ophelia pat Stella on the back.
"I actually have been working on it. It isn't my strong suit." Stella chuckled.
"That worked. We did it right?" Jack laughed while sitting on the ground.
"You did kid. There is just the one thing I told you that you were forgetting." Ace ruffled Jack's hair.
"The timeframe? I don't think we are in a rush." Lyon asked.
"Damnit. How are we going to move something that big!" Jack sunk his face into his palms. The crew looked back at Darke. The massive creature sat there staring at them.
"How did we forget that?" Lyon laughed. They all shook their head.
"We can get Nod's team to help us. They will get the credit too and become the official military for the town." Jack suggested.
"I like that, but Lok is smarter than he looks. He keeps tight tabs on the town. He will notice if Nod mobilizes the entire unit. We can still do it, but you have to be ready for a fight," Ophelia mentioned.
Luna began shaking her head. Everyone's eyes fell on her. She firmly pointed to their mentor. "Yea yea. You guys impressed me. I will move Darke to the new location."
"Guys. I think we spoke too soon." Stella stared at a neighbouring hill. "How is this possible?"
The entire crew swung their gaze to see a massive white wolf staring at them from the top of the grassy mound. Its eyes were a cold blue. Its gentle walk to meet the dark wolf sitting at the bottom of the slope was elegant but filled the crew with dread. The creature locked eyes with Darke before using its teeth to remove the ropes from around the dark wolf's neck. They turned and walked back on top of the hill and sat there. Not a word was spoken by the crew during this exchange. Just heavy breaths.
"Their actions are too unique. They have to be Zodiacs." Lyon was the first to talk. "We can't fight Mystical Creatures."
"Fight? I am not sure you noticed but we didn't fight the last one. We don't have any more medicine either do we?" Ophelia turned to every member of the team.
"What do you think the town will do? They will have to call the military. They will kill the wolves. Ace you have to save them," Stella said.
"They would come back here. Jack was right. They are special. They may not be fully Mystical, but I guess anything is possible since Tenny is a new creature. They are here for a reason. I don't think taking them away will fix this," Ace said.
"I am pretty sure that there is no other Mystical creature that came after me, but I do admit that this is strange. We should have found out more. It isn't too late. We have the extra day," Tenny said.
"Jack. What do we do?" Stella asked. His silence stretched a bit too long.
"Jack?" Ophelia tried.
"Jack? What are you thinking about?" Lyon tried last.
"I am waiting for Ace," Jack mentioned without shifting his gaze. Ace disappeared and reappeared in a flash. "I am guessing its name is Lighte. I did add the 'e'."
"Nah. I am thinking Jennifer."
"I wouldn't have guessed." Jack sighed.