Eight wolves charge towards your group — the distant figure cloaked in wolf furs behind them raising its arms as if to cast a spell.

“Arrows to the left! Shields up front!” Eomer bellows as he charges to the right-most wolves to get them in range of his javelins.

The hunters react with practiced efficiency borne from years of fighting alongside each other.

Arrows start to rain on one of the wolves as Dune and Thomas concentrate their attacks on a single target.

Trent charges forward, seeking to draw the wolves’ attention and you follow close behind him with Skybreaker already in your hand.

Bruce stays behind Trent and you. A little cautious but ready to strike with Horizon once an opportunity presents itself.

Korodsh!

One wolf finally goes down after taking hits from several arrows. It crashes into the snow-covered ground sending a plume of snow into the air.

Seven more wolves continue their charge — closing the distance by a hundred yards.

These wolves may not be as large as the wolves from the day before — but now the fight is in the cold and that mysterious figure beside the obelisk gives you a feeling of dread.

Eomer lets one of his javelins fly. He pulls another javelin from the ground and readies another throw.

Thasak!

A javelin hits its mark, pinning a wolf to the forest floor — but the second javelin flies past its target.

The wolves close in.

The leading wolf lunges at Trent — crashing into his shield.

Trent is forced back a couple of steps but he manages to stab the wolf in its flank before it regains its footing.

The wounded wolf readies another attack, but a charging Bruce skewers its lungs with a thrust of his greatsword.

You move past the two, readying yourself to meet the charge of another wolf.

The rain of arrows seems to falter as the archers switch from sustained arcing shots into more linear aimed shots.

Nharak!

Eomer brings another wolf down with a mighty throw of his javelin — piercing the wolf from its chest to its hindquarters before the spear breaks.

An ominous feeling grips your mind as you see massive fluctuations of energy amassing from the vortex atop the obsidian obelisk.

“Spellcaster!” you shout a warning to the others — just as a blast of ice and cold explodes from the vortex.

A mass of ice shards shoots from the vortex heading towards Eomer.

He leaps towards a nearby tree, using it as cover avoiding most of the flying shards.

The numerous ice shards smash into the forest floor sending fragments everywhere and blanketing the ground with ice.

A charging frost wolf stops a few yards away from you and unleashes a breath of cold.

If this was one of the wolves Elm spotted from yesterday — then that one single night made them rival the strength of the wolves that attacked the caravan.

You raise your shield to meet the blast of cold air — all the while, dashing towards the wolf.

The breath attack isn’t as piercing or cold compared to the two wolves from before.

Karthas!

You smash the wolf with Skybreaker, breaking its shoulders and sending it crashing to the side. The blow probably wasn’t enough to kill the wolf, but the others would finish it off.

You note the positions of the three remaining wolves before charging towards the obelisk — confident that Trent and the others will be following close behind you.

Another wolf charges towards you.

You meet its charge and then turn to the right the moment the wolf leaps.

You dash past the flying wolf — striking the wolf with the side of your shield and then paying it no mind as you continue your charge towards the cloaked figure.

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A flash of black stops the wolf’s forward momentum, causing it to crash into the ground in an awkward position.

You hear a whimper — and then a second one.

The two wolves you passed meeting their end through either River or Horizon.

Two more wolves move to block your path — one of them spewing a blast of frost from its mouth, the other launching itself towards you.

You dive into a roll, avoiding the leaping wolf and taking most of the frost on your shield and armor.

You dash towards the obelisk, seeing the figure of the spellcaster clearly for the first time.

It wasn’t wearing a hood or a cloak. This was a humanoid with the features of a wolf.

The wolf-creature turns a hand towards you and the vortex above the obelisk explodes with power.

Shards of ice come hurling towards you — too fast, too numerous, and too spread out to avoid.

You hear warning shouts from your companions behind you as you brace yourself for the rain of spear-like ice.

Cold. You hate cold.

Flashes of black halt the icicles the moment they touch your shield but the flash of black does nothing for the cold.

The shield grows heavy with frost and the cold begins to permeate the shield – causing slight burns to parts of your arm.

Bhargad!

A wolf crashes into you, its teeth almost reaching the back of your neck.

You land heavily on the ground, sustaining wounds as you land on a few shards of ice sticking from the frozen forest floor.

You quickly turn to protect your exposed back — just as the wolf lands on top of you.

The weight of the wolf presses on your armor — its claws digging in and releasing a seeping chill into your body.

“Aaaargh!” you shout both in frustration and to activate your blindsight to track the second wolf.

You “see” the figure of Trent blocking the other wolf and the figures of Bruce and Eomer rushing towards you.

The familiar twangs of bows announce the arrival of the two archers and you see their arrows flying over your head towards the wolfian spellcaster.

The wolf bears down at your prone figure, lunging at your face. Its open maw reveals fangs made even longer by shards of ice.

You let go of your shield and you grab the wolf’s open jaws — stopping its descent and holding it away from your neck.

You push the wolf away from your body as you feel its jaws clamping on your hand.

Karthag!

Skybreaker strikes the side of the wolf’s head — scattering a few bits of bone, fur, and brain on your face.

Eomer rushes past you, heading towards the spellcaster.

He seems to be favoring his right leg and you can see blood leaking in several parts of his armor.

Trent and Bruce soon follow — both of them sporting a few cuts and burns.

You rush to your feet and see Eomer already assailing the wolf-like creature with his spear.

The creature manages to ward off most of Eomer’s spear strikes — suffering only a few superficial cuts.

“What manner of creature is that?!?” Trent bellows as he moves to corner the enemy.

The trailing Bruce disregards the creature, as he rushes towards the obsidian obelisk.

He picks up speed and you see dense fluctuations of energy surround his body as he smashes into the obelisk.

Gagak!

A large crack forms across the obelisk, but the impact throws Bruce to the ground.

The wolfian creature roars and wisps of energy from the vortex flow into its body.

It grows larger —almost doubling in size, all the while visibly regenerating from the wounds it took from Eomer’s attacks. Jagged shards of glass-like ice now extend out of its claws and hoarfrost forms in the air with its every breath.

Eomer distances himself from the creature — allowing the archers to riddle it with arrows.

Thock! Thunk! Thnik!

The arrows hit the wolven figure but a layer of ice prevents the arrows from dealing significant damage.

The creature charges towards Eomer but Trent meets it head-on with his shield.

Thgak!

Trent is battered to the side with a swing of the enormous wolfman’s arm — but Eomer’s spear appears from behind Trent’s flying figure, stabbing into the creature’s belly and piercing through its back.

Trent crashes a few feet away but quickly gets up — as if expecting the outcome of the exchange.

Eomer tries to pull Silence away, but the creature opens its mouth — unleashing a massive blast of cold.

You knock the exposed Eomer to the side and face the brunt of the frost attack with your shield.

Kzak!

Your shield cracks from the steady stream of cold — exposing you to a blast of freezing chill.

You dive into a roll, spreading the chill amongst your armor — but you still sustain a few heavy ice burns.

Arrows fly towards the wolfman — one of them lodging in its throat before freezing and shattering.

From the corner of your eye, you see the figure of Bruce rising from the ground. He smashes into the obelisk once again — this time dislodging several large pieces from the structure.

“Hraaargh!” the creature roars.

The damage to the obelisk seems to diminish the power of the vortex of eldritch cold. It seems to lose some of its mass and it begins to turn a little bit slower.

The creature yanks out Silence before bounding toward Bruce, disregarding you and Eomer.

More arrows hit the creature as it rushes towards the obelisk — some of them penetrating deep before shattering.

Rage fills its eyes and more wisps of energy from the vortex enters into its body.

This time the creature’s charge is met by Thomas and Silver.

He points the baselard at the creature — unleashing a blinding flash of light.

A rushing Trent catches up to the blinded wolfman. He aims River at one of the monster’s legs — trying to hamstring the monster to limit its movement.

The blinded creature seems to sense the approaching enemy.

It flails its arms wildly — catching Trent on the shoulder.

The blow sends him sprawling to the ground and leaves a gash that penetrates through his armor.

You check on Eomer before rushing back to battle the beast — holding Skybreaker in a two-handed grip.

The creature regains its eyesight.

It crashes into the nearby Thomas, sending the younger hunter crashing into the ground with frost forming on his body.

A weakened Trent manages to block a few claw strikes with his shield — allowing you to close in from behind.

Karghak!

You smash Skybreaker into the creature’s back — nearly breaking its spine and sending it crashing into the waiting Bruce.

He thrusts Horizon into the creature.

Lasak!

The greatsword pierces the wolfman’s torso extending a few feet from its back.

“Watch Ou…” screams Trent

The creature suddenly lunges forward — impaling itself deeper into the sword.

With the last bits of its strength, it plunges its claw into Bruce’s chest.