“We should prepare, I suppose,” Roan spoke before he removed a tiny veil from the pouch tied to his belt and uncorked it before drinking the dark green liquid contained within.

He gritted his teeth in agony and a small groan escaped his mouth as the liquid affected his body, making his veins pop out for a moment and glow the same dark green before receding back.

“Yeh, I suppose we should,” Rok spoke, before moving towards the wolf he had disabled by his blades and finished it off with a decapitation. Then he retrieved all his blades lodged within the beast’s body before sheathing them back into their rightful places.

“Prepare for what? What do you mean, Roan? Help a brother out here,” Helik asked as he followed behind Roan as he retrieved the sword he had dropped after slaying the wolf. He felt like he was being kept in the dark.

By far the youngest member of the team, Helik lacked the battle experience possessed by the two veterans alongside him. Although he had faced the wolves before in training, it was only in a controlled capacity and they were nowhere near the size or ferocity of the beasts which roamed Milanka.

“The wolves aren’t done with us, yet. More than likely what we just killed was nothing but a rogue contingent trying its luck by braving a fight. A true pack led by an Alpha it was certainly not.” Rok answered instead of Roan as he wiped the gore off one of his blades before sheathing it, he was walking towards the unconscious wagoner by the firelight.

Helik went silent. The dull expression on his face conveying the deep exhaustion coursing through his body, the prospect of fighting another wave of these oversized monsters wasn’t a particularly pleasing one.

He followed behind Roan as they gathered around the firelight. “What should we do about him?” he asked pointing at the unconscious wagoner lying on the ground. “It’s clear the wolves are drawn by the smell of his blood.”

“I say we grab the lady and make a run for it, using this useless lump of meat as a distraction. Maybe it’ll buy us just enough time to..” Rok was suggesting before being cut off by Roan.

“Nah… He may be a coward and a weakling but the man isn’t without his talents. Apparently, he can decipher ancient carvings. Lady said the man use to teach at one those fancy imperial universities. So, like it or not the man’s life is more precious than any of ours on this little quest.”

“Really?! I had assumed he was one of the lady’s slaves or something since he was doing all the minor chores.” Rok sounded surprised.

“She must have charmed him into helping out. I saw the two interact with each other and it was clear that the lady values the man’s company, and she would be heartbroken if something happened to him,” Helik chimed in, concerned about the lady’s happiness.

“That makes sense.” Rod nodded satisfied by Helik’s answer before sighing in defeat. “Fine, then. Battle to the death it is.”

“We should try to clean and dress those wounds of yours, the potion won’t be enough,” Helik said, looking at Roan’s horrible shoulder wounds, wondering how the man was still standing let alone about to fight again.

“No time. I can sense them. They are coming,” Roan announced and drew his long blade and a moment later several howls rang out from the dark forest. They were surrounded and about to be drowned in monsters.

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“No matter how ferocious these creatures become, they remain as predictable as ever,” Rok stated before unsheathing a couple of his sharp blades.

“By the devourer, that thing is huge,” Helik remarked in astonishment at the sight of a massive wolf that was approaching steadily from the darkness, followed by a dozen smaller ones as more waited in the shadows.

The wolf who was definitely an alpha of the pack studied his opponents carefully, not rushing in blind even with a massive advantage in numbers but his careful demeanor quickly came undone after noticing the bodies of his dead comrades, and it growled in utter fury before charging at the men without any regard for tact.

“This is it. May the Great Mother guide my soul.” Rok prayed as he watched the massive wolf charging towards them with countless of others coming out of the shadows from seemingly all sides numbering in the hundreds, but before they entered the circle of light cast by the small fire, something burst out of the wagon creating a loud cracking sound, wooden splinters and pieces of torn cloth flying in every direction from the top of the wagon.

The damage caused to the wagon by the tear in its ceiling quickly multiplied as the panicked horses utilized every strength available within their bodies to break free of their bindings, eventually succeeding and tearing the wagon into pieces.

A ball of miasma in the color of black with shades of green mixed within had flown from top of the wagon with blinding speed and landed just in front of the men, right in the path of the incoming horde of beasts, and in a matter of a heartbeat a torrent of miasma burst forth out of the ball in an forward moving arc and spread deep into the forest engulfing most of the wolves.

Every wolf entrapped within the miasma had its movement slowed to a crawl, almost appearing to be frozen in time, the fleeing horses getting caught as well.

As the miasma was spreading through the forest, the spherical point of its origin kept contracting until every ounce of the dark energy that had been housed within the ball dissipated; leaving behind a petite human figure covered in a cloak and dressed in common traveler’s cotton attire. The person was on all fours and breathing heavily, appearing to be quite exhausted from the task it had just performed.

“My lady, are you alright?” Roan asked in panic, concern evident in his voice. He was the first to rush to his lady’s side but stopped short of aiding her further as he deemed it inappropriate in his condition with all the unwashed blood and guts still clinging to his armor and skin, and he also did not want the lady to notice his injuries. Reluctantly he allowed Helik to gently guide the woman to her feet, who was all too enthusiastic about it.

“We need to move… This won’t be able to hold them off for long,” the woman spoke in between her heavy breathing. Her dark green eyes shone brightly from the shadows of the cloak which obscured her face.

“We should head in the direction of the artifact. I observed the wolves seem to be avoiding that direction. I believe the way should be clear,” Rok advised, pointing in the said direction.

“Yes… I can sense its presence. It must be close.” The lady turned around and stared at apparent direction of the artifact. Then she spun her head around seemingly searching for someone who appeared to be missing and soon her gaze locked on the wagoner lying unconscious near the fire, half his severed arm lying nearby in a pool of his own blood, and she could deduct what had transpired as she noticed the wolf corpses lying nearby. “Get him and follow my lead,” she ordered pointing at the man passed out on the ground.

“Yes my lady,” Roan replied with a short bow. He looked at Helik, “Get the man.” Soon they were off, Roan and Helik with the unconscious man on his back following behind the lady as they moved with inhuman speed.

Rok was supposed to be the rear guard but before leaving he quickly unsheathed one of his blades and threw it at one of the horses striking a major artery just below the creature’s neck. “That’ll distract the mutts,” Rok muttered, a grin lining his face as he watched blood gush out of the wound, the creature unable to react as it was still within the miasma’s insidious hold.

He resumed his movement and even with the delay he was swiftly able to catch up with the rest, having the advantage of being the only person who wasn’t encumbered or direly exhausted.