I found myself in a mostly empty room with stairs leading up and down. There were footprints and drag marks in the dust covering the floor along with a blood trail. Pieces of what might have been furniture were against the mold covered walls. I decided to start at the bottom and work my way up, not wanting anything to surprise me from behind.

The first floor was gloomy with the only light coming from the stairwell and through the gaps in the barricade. There was enough light to see more scuff marks in the dust and a pool of blood. There didn’t appear to be a basement so I retraced my steps back to the second floor.

As I was about to go up the stairs to the third floor, I heard growling coming from outside. I cautiously peeked out the window to see a wolf sniffing the wagon beneath me with more wolves milling around the courtyard.

I swore silently as I ducked back inside. There wasn’t much I could do about it at this point so continued my search. The third floor was the same as the second with not much to see. The fourth floor was blocked off by another barricade at the top of the stairs.

I approached the barricade which was made of broken furniture stacked together and listened but couldn’t hear anything. I called in a low voice and waited but didn’t get a response. I called again and finally heard some movement on the other side of the barricade.

A gruff masculine voice spoke in Lin’s language but I still couldn’t understand it. I sighed, this was going to be harder than I thought. “Hello, I came to help. I don’t suppose you could let me in?” I asked, trying to sound friendly.

The voice spoke again and I could hear another fainter voice that seemed feminine. It sounded like the two were arguing back and forth for a couple minutes until the female voice suddenly got closer. “Who are you?” The voice asked.

I was caught off guard but managed to spit out my name. “Matt, it’s great to meet someone that can actually speak this language.” The voice remained silent so I continued. “Can you let me in? Lin found me and told me you were here.”

“Lin, do you mean Linterquezol? What about Ranterzoel?” The voice asked excitedly. “I’m sorry, but if that is her brother he didn’t make it. Lin is fine though.” I replied apologetically. “Now do you think I can come in so we can talk face to face?”

”Of…of course. Please wait a moment.” There was some more back and forth in the other language and a hole started opening up in the barricade. When the opening was wide enough a head poked through. She looked like a slightly older version of Lin with the same grey colored wolf like ears and pretty face.

“Greetings, my name is Anterquezol but I suppose you may call me Ann. Now please hurry through.” She said, making the hole just wide enough for me to squeeze through. It was a tight fit but I managed and found myself in another mostly empty room like all the rest.

I was confronted with a tall, muscular man with the same wolf ears. He had a sword out but kept it lowered and had a scowl on his scarred face. He looked like the textbook grizzled veteran. I gulped and placed my spear off to the side, holding my hands up non threateningly.

“Don’t mind him, that’s our father Luxterzoel. Since he can’t understand you anyway, you might as well call him Lux. I’m Linterquezol’s older sister. How is she?” Ann asked, while fixing the barricade. “She was injured but is recovering at my place on the west side of the city. How is it you can understand me?” I replied while looking around.

There were open windows around this floor as well which illuminated the room. There was a ladder that went up to a hatch in the ceiling that I imagined led to the bell itself. I also noticed there was a body along the wall that was covered with a blanket.

Ann noticed where I was looking. “That was our father’s human friend Isaak. My healing magic couldn’t save him.” She explained sadly. “I’m a mage and most mages can speak old empire. How is it you can’t speak common?” She eyed me curiously.

“That is a long story which I can explain once we get out of here. Are either of you injured?” I asked, glancing at the pair. Ann was about my height, maybe even a little taller with shoulder length hair and was well endowed. Her father towered over me with huge muscles. They wore similar armor to Lin which was also heavily damaged by the wolves.

Lux growled in his throat when he saw me staring at Ann a little too long. I turned my head away sheepishly and Ann smiled at the reaction. “I’ve already healed our injuries. We could use some food and water however. Most of our supplies were lost.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I dug in my bag and gave her a bottle of water and two pieces of fruit. She drank some, marveling at the plastic bottle, and passed the water and one of the fruits to her father. Lux nodded his head at me after returning the water bottle. I hoped I had scored a few points with him. I definitely didn’t want to get on his bad side.

“There are wolves around the tower so we’ll have to get past them somehow. If you are a mage, can you shoot fireballs at them?” I asked hopefully. Ann laughed. “Sorry, I’m not that kind of mage. I can cast healing spells, strengthen party members, and cast temporary barriers.”

I figured it wouldn’t be that easy. I looked around for inspiration and noticed a bow and quiver of arrows next to the covered body. “Can you or your father use a bow?” I asked, pointing at the bow. “I was never very good with one but father is a hunter. I don’t think there are very many arrows left though.” She replied then started talking with Lux.

I went over and counted the arrows while she discussed things with her father. There were only five of them but it was better than nothing. “We’ll just have to make them count.” I muttered. There was a stockpile of arrows in my loot room but I couldn’t use a bow yet so didn’t bother bringing any. I had planned on practicing with a bow but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

“I’m going to check things out from the roof.” I said to Ann who nodded. I went over to the ladder and studied it before climbing up. The wooden ladder was fastened to the wall but it could probably be removed. I was betting Ann and her father could jump from the second floor windows with no problem but I didn’t want to risk twisting my ankle and becoming wolf food. The ladder would make it much easier to reach the ground safely.

With that thought in the back of my head I climbed up and through the hatch. The top portion of the tower held the large bell. There weren’t any birds but plenty of bird poop. I hadn’t noticed a rope on the way up the tower so wasn’t sure how the bell was supposed to be rung but it’s possible the rope had disintegrated.

I looked over the edge and counted eight wolves. Because of the courtyard, there was a large clear area we would need to cross to reach the streets and alleys. We would need to whittle down the wolves numbers if we hoped to have a chance.

If we made a commotion to get the wolves under one of the windows and had Lux shoot them with arrows while Ann reinforced the barricade at the entrance with her barrier we might be able to pull it off. That was assuming Lux killed a wolf with each arrow and didn’t attract more wolves. There would also still be three wolves to deal with once we left the tower.

I went back down the ladder and told Ann my plan. She then discussed it with Lux. He sheathed his sword and crossed his arms in thought before going over to the ladder and effortlessly ripping it off the wall and handing it to me. “Thanks.” I said in surprise. Yup, definitely don’t get on his bad side.

I helped them clear a path in the barricade and carried the ladder down to the second floor. After looking out the window, it was decided that Ann and Lux would jump onto the wagon while I would lower the ladder and climb down. I set the ladder on the floor and Ann handed me my spear. She had a long staff with a white crystal on the end of it that must help her with magic.

I eyed it curiously but now wasn’t the time to be asking about magic. We all got into position with my job being to draw the wolves in. I wanted to get them to come over but not be so loud that it attracted other beasts. I started throwing chunks of broken furniture onto the ground by the wagon and sure enough the wolves started appearing.

When there was a group of three below us, Lux methodically shot each one through the eye with the arrows. One more showed up below us but the others decided the best way to get to us was through the entrance. Ann cast her spell and the barricade was suffused with blue light.

I could hear the wolves throwing themselves at the barricade but thanks to Ann’s spell it was holding. Lux shot the fourth wolf dead but he didn’t have an angle on the rest. It wasn’t ideal but half of them were dead. I yelled for Ann to retreat and she sprinted for the second floor while I lowered the ladder.

Without her presence, the spell quickly faded and the wolves started breaking in. Lux and Ann jumped out the window while I slid down the ladder. We made a dash for the nearest alley as the wolves entered the tower. One of the wolves jumped out the window after us but landed poorly and yipped in pain.

A second one followed but Lux whirled around and shot as it hit the ground, killing it instantly. He threw down the bow and pulled out his sword while continuing to run. Ann and Lux were both faster than me and pulled ahead. Luckily, I was faster than the limping wolf.

The remaining two wolves sprinted back out of the tower entrance and straight after us. We all reached the alley ahead of the wolves. Lux and I took positions in front of Ann who cast her strengthening spell on us. I immediately felt more powerful and my labored breathing went back to normal.

The three jungle wolves reached the alley at about the same time but the alley was only wide enough for two of them. The injured wolf got pushed back and had to wait its turn. The two wolves wasted no time and lunged at us. I kept mine at bay with the spear, stabbing it when it tried to get closer.

Lux was only using a sword but didn’t seem to have a problem with his wolf and in no time separated its head from its body. I took longer but managed to pierce the wolf repeatedly until it slowed enough for me to stab it through the chest. The limping wolf tried attacking me while I was busy removing the spear from the corpse but Lux was ready for it. Soon the wolf pack was no more and we silently continued moving toward my mansion.