Before entering the forest, Eomer orders everyone to line their armor with wolf pelts. He cuts up a pelt with a dagger — then he starts wrapping it around his vambrace.

“You did well in preparing for this trip Caleb,” he praises you as he works. “Who would expect the new recruit would be the one most prepared for these wolves?”

You smile, although your preparations had little to do with the wolves — it was just a lucky coincidence.

The others start tearing into a pelt of their own.

“Take off your armor first if you want to start with your cuirass,” Trent barks at Bruce. “It’s a lot easier and you wouldn’t be standing like an idiot.”

“Hehe,” Bruce forces a laugh as Trent helps him out of his armor.

After half an hour, the hunters finish lining their armor with the pelts — including the helms, for good measure.

They used up eight pieces of pelt — cutting into the profits and leaving only 13. But it was a worthwhile investment in safety.

Just as you are about to depart, Eomer approaches you with a serious look.

“Leave the bow for the meantime,” he advises. “If the hawk says the wolves are bigger, we’ll need more men up front.”

You nod and leave your bow in the cart as you grab your shield.

After a short debate, your group decides to leave the carts by the edge of the forest.

Trent stores the cores, 12 of them, as proof of the previous kills — just in case the carts get lost.

The hunters start filling their waterskins with water from the wagons.

You do the same while also taking your bow and hanging it in one of the low-hanging branches near the edge of the forest.

Done with preparations, your party enters the forest.

Eomer stays at the head of the party, a quiver of four javelins in one hand and another strapped to his back with Silence.

You walk a couple of steps behind Eomer, shield at the ready and Skybreaker within easy reach at your waist.

The three younger hunters follow closely.

Bruce cradles his greatsword in one arm while carrying a shield in the other. One of Trent’s axes is slung in his belt — giving him the option to drop the shield and use Horizon or drop the greatsword and go into battle with axe and shield.

Thomas and Dune walk with their bows in hand and a few extra quivers strapped to their backs.

Trent brings up the rear armed with the usual sword and shield.

The trek to the heart of the forest is a silent one — broken only by the occasional scurrying animal or the sounds of birds.

“Something’s changed,” Dune suddenly speaks, forcing the party to a halt. “Elm refuses to go further, he’s confused about… the weather?”

What seemed like the trivial musings of a bird, suddenly became understandable once you got deeper into the forest.

The air gradually turns colder and you start to spot occasional snowflakes drifting in the air.

“Snow at this time?” asks Thomas, clearly disturbed by the cold and signs of snow.

“Stay alert,” cautions Dune, “There must be something up ahead — some sort of portal or gate”

As you go further into the forest, the natural sounds of the forest eventually die down — replaced by a chilling silence.

After close to an hour of walking, you hear a familiar screech and see the approaching figure of a hawk.

Elm glides down from a nearby tree, setting down on Dune’s outstretched arm.

He gives the hawk a strip of dried meat and watches as the hawk eagerly devours it.

“There are no other creatures within a mile,” Dune reports, “but the snow gets heavier half a mile in.”

The other hunters nod at Dune, thankful for the hawk’s eyes.

Eomer calls for a short rest, telling everyone to eat while they still can.

After a short break, your group continues its journey to the source of the disturbance in the heart of the forest.

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Like the hawk told Dune, the amount of drifting snowflakes increases as you get deeper into the forest — covering most of the forest floor once you walked for around half a mile.

Steady gusts of cold wind emanate from the heart of the forest — together with snow that accumulates on the ground.

“Something’s coming,” you warn the others. You can hear the sound of bounding steps and you see signs of movement further up ahead. “Two wolves — big ones.”

The first wolf emerges from the trees — as large as a horse and most likely heavier.

Its eyes are aglow with bluish light and ice forms on the ground with each step it takes.

The second wolf is smaller but nimbler, and you can see sparks of unnatural intelligence in its eyes.

The larger wolf charges, trailed by the smaller one.

Eomer signals to you and Trent, directing the two of you to block the lead wolf — while he and Bruce block the other one.

Arrows rain on the wolves as Dune and Thomas continually shoot their bows.

The wolves’ larger bodies, tougher pelts, and ice-like armor prove impenetrable to the arrows — sticking to their bodies for a moment before getting frozen and shattering.

Eomer’s javelin flies through the air — striking the trailing wolf in the shoulder.

Thakls!

The smaller wolf loses its footing for a moment, losing most of its momentum. It immediately stands up and bats the jutting spear with its claws — instantly shattering it.

As the leading wolf draws near, Trent meets its charge with his shield — with River ready to strike if an opening presents itself.

The large wolf barrels into Trent’s shield — flinging him into the air for a few yards until he crashes into a tree.

Trent is momentarily stunned and his shield and shield arm is covered in frost. It is a marvel how he could have held on to his sword.

The wolf continuous charging towards you.

You meet it with a well-timed hammer strike to the side of its head.

Karthas!

Skybreaker connects and the enormous wolf’s head is turned to the side and making it lose its footing.

You use the momentum of the blow and the accompanying rebound to turn your body and move out of the wolf’s path.

The wolf crashes into the forest floor — spreading a layer of rime where it landed.

It gets up with a growl and faces you, its eyes flaring white in rage.

A javelin hits the wolf in the flank, plunging deep into the wolf’s hide.

You see Bruce moving forward — ignoring the wolf and passing you to guard your back against the second wolf.

Trent joins the fray, a little shaken from his short flight.

He moves to flank the larger wolf — and almost loses his step because of the frozen ground.

Eomer abandons his javelins for Silence. He rushes to Trent’s side to further limit the wolf’s movements.

The cornered wolf tries to escape the encirclement bounding towards you with a forceful leap.

You move to strike with Skybreaker but you notice a pulse of energy from the wolf coming from its mouth.

“Frost breath,” your instincts scream a warning. It seems these wolves can use their breath attack even when moving.

You raise your shield to catch the wolf’s breath as well as its pounce.

The breath of cold smashes into your shield, shards of ice exploding off the sides.

The wolf’s hulking figure smashes into your frozen shield — but a flash of black prevents it from bringing you down.

The weight of the wolf pushes you a couple of steps back — but you lunge forward and bring Skybreaker to meet the skull of the confused wolf.

Kharas!

You hear the sound of bone breaking but the wolf’s eyes still flare with anger.

Trent rushes past you to aid Bruce, just as Eomer strikes with Silence — pinning the wolf’s head to the ground with his spear.

You turn towards Bruce and Trent and see them struggling against the smaller wolf.

The wolf constantly uses its breath attack to assail the two and you can see that Bruce’s shield is already thick with frost.

Eomer gives you a nod as he plunges his spear into the fallen wolf a second time to make sure it was dead.

You smash your spear into an outcrop of rock, dislodging most of the ice from the wolf’s breath attack.

You rush towards your beleaguered companion but feel a sharp pain in your left leg.

A shard of ice is lodged in your armor, piercing your leg a couple of inches deep.

“Damned wolves!” your grit your teeth in frustration as you pull out the frozen shard with your shield hand and continue your charge to the others.

The wolf breathes out another blast of frost and ice.

Bruce and Trent are forced back just as you arrive at the scene.

A fresh wave of arrows starts flying towards the wolf. Most of them bounce off its ice-armored hide — but one arrow finds its eye.

Bruce closes in and hits the wolf’s flank with his axe as Trent positions himself to flank the wolf.

The axe lodges deeply into the wolf’s side but frost quickly forms from the wound encompassing the axe head and crawling towards the shaft.

Bruce lets go of the axe with a curse and moves back to draw a short dagger.

Before you can move to flank the wolf, it strikes a vicious slash at Trent — dislodging his shield and covering his left side with frost.

The wolf immediately pounces to the side — avoiding your hammer by a few inches.

Eomer joins the fray, cutting the wolf’s escape and piercing one of its hind legs with his spear.

The wolf turns to Eomer and it blasts him with a wave of frost.

Eomer avoids most of the damage by leaping to the side — but he lands with a thud, his boots encased with a thin layer of frost.

You rush the beast, drawing its attention from Eomer and Trent.

You see frost forming in its mouth as it aims a breath attack at your charging body.

Frost and ice slam into you as you hold your shield in an angle to deflect most of the cold.

Kharas!

Skybreaker slams into the side of the wolf’s head, sending the wolf flying for a split second.

It crashes to the ground with a growl and quickly raises its head — only to be met by the descending blade of Horizon.

Strak!

The wolf’s head falls from its body.

Bruce drops his sword and collapses to the ground from exhaustion.

Eomer and Trent support each other as they limp towards Bruce.

“Don’t let him sleep,” Trent cries. “The frost will seep into his body if he stops moving.”

You strap Skybreaker into your belt. You drop your shield for the time being as you help Bruce get up to his feet and move away from the frost-covered ground.

Thomas and Dune are already searching their packs for potions — bringing out four flasks as you arrive.

Eomer shakes his head refusing, but Trent gladly takes two.

He drinks one of the flasks and hands you the other one — motioning you to give it to Bruce.

Exhausted but somewhat conscious, Bruce manages to down the flask — putting color back into his face.

His armor is wet with melted ice and rime from the time he faced the smaller wolf on his own.

Trent, tired as he was, starts skinning the enormous wolves and digging for their cores.

The archers soon follow him to help and they were soon done after a few minutes.

Aside from the two archers, all of you are exhausted and injured. You’ll need a day of rest to recover — but a walk back to the cart and a night there would leave you exposed.

The party decides to call it a day, but you recall a perfect place to spend the night.

“I know a place.”