--------///----Eclina's POV----\\\--------

After i picked up the trail, we both started heading towards where i smelled the pack. I saw and smelled other beasts but we just avoided those so we had enough energy for the pack themselves, since i already knew that being outnumbered without being strong enough to handle them all was a pretty bad thing. While we were on the way, i decided to have my earth and fire tails on. Earth would help me with my defense, which i was going to need against a lot of beasts, and fire so i could weaken their fire.

Espiral naturally had fire so he would already be resistant to it and since he's used to taking to the sky, he would be able to stay out of the reach of their claws and fangs. We kept running while the sky kept getting darker and the smell of rain kept getting stronger but eventually we found two wolves that, given their appearance and what i knew, seemed like Spark Wolves. They seemed to be bringing back a pair of boar kind of beasts, and were dragging them back to what i was assuming the direction of their den. I looked up to Espiral and he nodded back, showing that we had the same idea.

We stayed out of their sight and made sure to stay far away enough so they wouldn't be able to pick up our scents. The wolves were too busy carrying back their food to notice us trailing behind them. We followed them for atleast ten minutes before they made it back to their den. It seemed to be between a few trees and had a tunnel leading underground for some reason. Looking at the area itself, the den and the trees it was nestled between seemed to be the only things of importance. The area wasn't a clearing, but there wouldn't be that many trees to get in our way if we attacked and had to move. But that wasn't what i was really focused on. Looking at the den i was worried about how i could get them all out without putting us in too much danger.

(Eclina) " Mr.Garris, we found them but their den's underground. What do we do? "

(Garris) ~ Hmmm? That answer may end up making the point of this excersise miss its mark... How about causing tremors at the opening to the den and lure them out. If that doesn't work then howl a challenge at them. ~

(Eclina) " Oh... That works. "

I whispered the plan to Espiral, and went over to the den. We made sure to keep him up above the den, in the branches and ready to strike when they came out, while i lured them out. As soon as i was out in front of the den, i charged up my earth tail and slammed my paws down onto the ground. I shook up the entrance and the den itself, which led to panic and a bunch of running steps. I backed off and went atleast ten meters away from the den and watched some of it collapse as the sound of running steps grew louder.

Soon the whole pack came out and started to circle around the entrance to their den. The children started to growl at me but the adults were a bit more aggressive then even them. There seemed to be as many as Mr.Garris told me about, and a even bigger wolf who was a good foot taller then the rest of them.

(Alpha) " What do you want from us?! "

(Eclina) " I don't want anything from you, but the kids are different. "

When i said that, a pair of wolves moved infront of the kids and made sure to not take their eyes off me. The alpha narrowed her eyes at me and started growling. 

(Alpha) " The children have done nothing wrong! They're innocent! " 

(Eclina) " Wrong. They couldn't manifest and they've already caused problems for the forest. They should be dead by now. " 

(Mother?) " They're children! We can still correct them! "

(Eclina) " Too late. They're going to die and so will all of you for defending them. "

(Alpha) " You'll just have to get through us all, as we won't allow those words to become a reality. EVERYONE, TEAR THE MONSTER APART! "

I don't know why, but something inside of me got... Annoyed, at being called a monster. It felt like i was being insulted more then they intended. Though i didn't have time to think on that since after all the talking, they were about to come at me but they were coming ONLY at me. Espiral was ready to strike when i told him too.

(Eclina) " Now! "

The wolves weren't ready or expecting for anyone else to come in, and they were all focused on me so they weren't prepared for Espiral to rain lightning onto them. They were shocked and paralyzed for a moment, which helped me to do what we came here for. I made earth shackles and chained all of them to the ground while me and Espiral made our moves against the kids, who were trying to bite the shackles off only to chip and crack their teeth. While i got closer, i tried to skewer the kids with earth spikes but something that i wasn't exactly expecting happened.

(Mother) " No! "

The mother from earlier saw what we were doing and through what i'm guessing was sheer motherly willpower, tore the skin from her legs and paws and forced herself out of the shackles and ran infront of the kids as she coated her body in bright orange flames. She shot bolts of fire out towards me and broke my concentration in trying to make my spikes. I couldn't help but click my tongue when i saw how ready was to intercept me while a myriad of fire balls were meant to hold off Espiral. I kept charging at her but Espiral had to slow down and avoid the flames. The other Spark Wolves tried to follow her example but it was taking them longer, and i was getting really close to the kids and their mom. But while they were chained down, they were still able to send waves of attacks after me.

I used my own fire to defend against whatever fire they sent at me but there were some fireballs and the more dangerous cluster of earth and air arrows that hit and started to burn and cut my flank. which forced me to back off and make some earth armor to protect me from the flames. I couldn't cover my whole body but i was able to cover my fore and hindlegs, the top of my head and my jaw, my claws and parts of my tails. Espiral had backed off and flew higher as he started to charge up for more lightning strikes but the Spark Wolves had started to help each other out of their shackles while the whole thing happened.

From what i saw, they were building on each others flames and heating them up enough to cut through my shackles. My earth was stronger then theirs so they couldn't overpower my shackles with more earth. Though looking at them, it looks like they're so used to fighting together that they don't have to say anything to start working together. They worked as fast as they could to get free and support the mother and they even managed to break the alpha out first. He joined her but kept his focus on Espiral while the mother kept her gaze on me.

(Eclina) " Fly over to me! "

(Espiral) " ...Ok! Coming big sis! "

Espiral flew over to me and stayed there while he kept charging his lightning. The Spark Wolves broke free of my shackles and gathered around each other as they all coated themselves in fire. The mother and, i'm assuming father, of the kids had made sure they were between their kids as they kept their gazes on me. For a few seconds it was a stalemate. Even though the sounds of the forest permeated the area, the only thing that would be heard in the area were the sounds of the kids growling, Espiral's wings and the crackling of thunder that came from above us. Everyone was waiting for the other side to make a move but after the rain started coming down, we all made our move.

There were two Spark Wolves that charged forward, including the alpha, while the other two adults took a kid each and split to the sides while the parents and the other kids stayed in the back. Me and Espiral charged forwards and while i met them head on, Espiral flew over them and shot out lightning at them. The wolves, despite being hit, kept charging at me without slowing down. The alpha met me first and slashed out at my head but i formed spikes on the side his paw was headed but he saw the spikes and made a small explosion with air and the flames under his paw, which changed its direction.

I never saw or thought about doing that so i had to remember that for later. But from what i saw, the alpha had to re-orientate himself before he could move. I tried to exploit that but before i could shoot a spike or chain him down, the other wolves attacked me. From my left, the adult Spark Wolf seemed to learn from its alpha as it stood on its hind legs and slashed flames down towards me while the other adult wolf and the kid on my right shot a fireball at me, but instead of hurting me with it, they blinded me when it blew up in a painfully bright light. I couldn't see but i knew the other kid that they had managed to slash at a part of my body that wasn't covered in armor, though i only felt a small cut while it must've lost a claw or two from that even though they were coated in fire.

Though because of them, i was blinded but not for the first time. I've gotten used to temporary blindness since me and Espiral have sparred a lot and this was somethiing he's often done. Thanks to that, i managed to come up with a imitation of what the drake did, but mine was better. I started slamming my tails against the ground one after the other, and "saw" my surroundings. The alpha had gotten himself orientated and seemed to be making some kind of fire beasts, which was confusing because i had no idea what that was since i've never seen it before. The other wolves seemed to be working together on something but since it wasn't touching the ground, i had no clue what it was. Thankfully i could use my fire to sense around and add whatever it got to my earth sense. With my fire sense and earth sense updating me every second, i could see all around me.

Apparently the other wolves were pooling their flames into a massive fireball whose heat i could feel despite the refreshing rain that was falling on us. The rain didn't even seem to disrupt their efforts as i could feel the fire beasts, which seemed to be half the alpha's size and psuedo Spark Wolves, and the fireball evaporated any rain that neared it. I couldn't sense Espiral, but i could sense that the parents were still shielding their children while Espiral attacked them. Another parent must've had earth since i could feel it being used but it wasn't aimed at me or coming from the wolf that tried to chain me down. Though i couldn't keep "looking" at them since the wolves around me made their move.

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The Spark Wolves on the side, shot out the massive fireball to where i was standing and even tried to use earth shackles against me to make it hit. Thanks to my own earth, I broke their shackles and dodged it, but they made it burst out and had the flames that weren't on the grass, follow me. There were a bunch of big and small flames, but i defended against the flames that were small enough to not hurt me while i weakned the bigger flames and took control over them. I had to weaken them to take control but they were still mine so i used them as quickly as i could and shot them back towards the wolves that sent them after me. They avoided them but i had more to problems to worry about. The alpha sent the psuedo wolves after me.

Since they were made of fire, i could sense them with my fire sense but i couldn't take control of them. The psuedo wolves struck out at me but before they managed to hit me, i jumped up and slammed my tails down to not only make me go higher, but also get a quick check at where the adults and kids were with my tails. Since i was in the air, i couldn't sense where they and the other wolves were, so to solve that, i rolled and used my momentum coming down to slam my tails and paws onto the ground where i landed and made earth spikes shoot out in a circle around me. I was about to use my earth and fire senses again but it felt like i could open my eyes again, so i did. 

I got to see that the spikes i shot out cut into a wolf that shot the fireball. But it was just a small cut so that wasn't really much to get excited about, especially since one of the parents had lightand closed the cut. I glanced over at Espiral, and saw that he was having a bit of trouble with the parents. He could shock and paralyze them, but the more he did, the more they'd build up a resistance to it. They were still trying to keep him away, but lightning could only do so much while he hadn't manifested, and  his fire would just get used against him.. But while that was going on, the younger kids that i wasn't paying much attention too decided to come after me. I didn't get why, since they wouldn't be any threat to me, but if they wanted to die then i was fine with fighting them first. They were coming from my sides, and the other wolves saw that, but it was too late for them.

I charged at one while i slammed my tails down so i could send a spike through the other. From the look on the face of the kid coming at me, i think i got the other. The kid wasn't ready to see its friend die so it lost any chance of hitting me while i got the chance of ripping the others throat. The adults on the side seemed to have lost been impacted more then i expected, maybe one or both of them were theirs. Oh well. They seemed to be on the verge of charging at me but the alpha gave them a look that stopped them... But the look in their eyes was still there... They were making sure to keep their distance to try to wear me down as safely as they could, but if i could get them to make a mistake then i could get the upper paw. 

~ I can use this... How should i... I WAS looking forward to wolf meat. ~

I picked up the the nearest corpse with my mouth and looked the wolves in the eye as i took a bite. Wolf meat was... bland? It didn't have much flavor while the texture was too soft for my liking. The blood didn't help its lack of flavor either. The whole experience was a let down, but my idea worked. At first they were horrified but the more i chewed, the more the kids blood dripped, the angrier they got. When i eventually dropped the corpse and spit out the bland food, they lost it. They screamed and ran at me blinded by their rage and played right into my paws. They were so angry that they seemed to have forgotten about my ability to use earth shackles. I binded their hind legs and used their momentum against them since the whiplash from suddenly running as fast as they could to being chained had dislocated and almost torn off their hind legs.

The alpha kept his cool and didn't try to come closer but he did keep making psuedo wolves to try to keep me from getting to the adults, too bad i just had to rain earth spikes on them and fill them full of holes. The psuedo wolves didn't have any fear or idea of staying alive, so they just ran into me only t oget skewerd by the spikes i grew out of my armor. Me and the alpha were at a stalemate, he knew close range would be harder since my size made it harder for him to hit me and easier for me to just avoid, while staying at range meant more chances to wear me down. If i was alone then i would have to figure out some way to make the alpha make a mistake, luckily i wasn't alone. I looked over to Espiral, who took a risk and dived down to the adlults and tore into the fathers back with his talons and flew back up.

From the looks of it, the kids were still alive but being guarded by the parents, who seemed to be injured by more then the gashes Espiral had just given the father. I smiled at the idea i had and decided to run over to them. 

~ If they can do it, so can we! ~

(Eclina) " Espiral! Bang! "

He looked over to me and understood what i meant. The adults were suprosed so they weren't ready for the massive flash Espiral made with his lightning. The adults, including the alpha fell for it which gave me the moment i needed to take him down. I jumped back and used my tails to help me get as close as i could, which ended up with me right above his back. As i started falling down i made spikes grow under my belly and on my tails as i turned myself into a deadly cactus and impaled him. He screamed out it pain and tried to shake me off, but i wasn't going to let that happen. I made my spikes grow longer and wrapped my tails on his flank and impaled him with them too. Now that he couldn't shake me off, i made sure to finish this as fast as i could and bit into his neck. His blood didn't taste that much better then the kids, but it was still better.

He struggled but i just kept biting and forced him down until he finally died. I broke down my spikes so i could get off and started to make my way to Espiral, who didn't seem like he needed that much help. When i looked up to him, he was charging up a big bolt that he made disperse into his body, charging up his feathers and making his body crackle like a natural lightning bolt.

(Espiral) " Sis! Chain them down! "

(Eclina) " Got it! "

I made shackles of earth pin down the parents and kids, and this time they wouldn't be able to break out of them. Then probably the coolest thing i've ever seen happened. Espiral flew up high and when he was ready, he started to dive down and SPIN! He turned into a living lightning bolt and when he came down and drilled through the parents by using his beak as the drill and having the lightning cauterize the wounds as he went through. After he drilled through the mother, he slowed himself by digging his talons into the ground and skidding along until his body stopped. He still crackled a bit but it was starting to die down... Though he wasn't moving much. 

(Eclina) " Umm... Espiral? Are you ok? "

He stuttered for a few seconds and even floopped to the ground but eventually he got some words out.

(Espiral) " S-s-sis, i ca-a-an't reall-l-lly mo-o-ove. "

(Eclina) " Eh? What... Is it from what you did with your lightning? "

He nodded and i just sighed. I went over to him and turned off my fire and used air instead. I made some air tendrils and carefully put him on my back and made sure he wouldn't fall. Then i walked over to the kids who were still trapped in my shackles and finished them off.

(Eclina) " Do you want some? "

(Espiral) " W-w-w-which-h is-s-s bet-t-ter? "

(Espiral) " Hmmm... The alpha's should be better. "

(Espiral) " Th-e-en i wan-t-t alp-ha-a mea-a-at. "

I nodded then walked over to the alpha's body and my air to cut passed the fur and hide to get to the juicy bits. I cut off some meat from his neck, his legs, his belly and his back. After i was done, i made a earth container and put all of it in there. After i was done with that, i grabbed some meat from the adults for myself to see if they had any taste or if they were just like the children. Then i devoured their bodies starting with the alpha just to see if it would do anything, which suprised me when it did. When i devoured it, i felt my fire getting stronger even if by a bit, it was getting stronger. Though i didn't feel my air getting any stronger, which was weird since that was the other element the alpha had. I moved onto the other wolves and discovered the same thing. Even if they had a second element, it was only my fire that i could feel improving. I decided to just shake my head and wait till we were back with Mr.Garris to bring it up.

I made sure to keep my container of goodies following me as i took off to the sky. I eventually ended up thinking about what happened with my fire. After i devoured the bodies, i felt my fire change by getting stronger, but aside from that i didn't know if anything else changed. When i got back to the tree, i saw Mr.Garris and the drayds focusing on a hole infront of the tree. The hole seemed to go on forever and was being covered by an air disk so the rain water didn't fall in. They didn't even notice me land since they were paying so much attention to the hole. I wanted to say something but tthen i felt it. I felt the connection to Mr.Fenrir.

(Espiral) " Um... Big Sis? What's happening? "

Mr.Garris must've heard that since he turned over to us.

(Garris) " Ah, you're back. Now this would be when we talked about what went wrong and right but right now we'll need to focus. "

(Eclina) " ... Is what i think down there, down there? "

(Garris) " Yes. Fenrir's skull responded to our search, which made it easier to find... It's just very far down and entwined with a root from the Silver Arbor. "

(Eclina) " Then how're we going to get it out? "

(Rosaline) " That will be our duty. "

(Livillia) " It will take time... And perhaps some help from a couple more sisters... But we will be able to coerce the Grand Silver Arbor into releasing Lord Fenrir's skull. "

(Eclina) " Coerce? Why do we need to do that? "

(Rosaline) " Hmm... The simplest way to explain it would be to start from the beginning. Like all trees, the Grand Silver Arbor had no sense of self and just lived and grew. However that all changed when the progenitors laid here for the last time. The progenitors contained not only all elements, they also contained life forces that are responsible for the entire forests growth and the Grand Silver Arbor's as well. On their dying breaths, the life forces of all the progenitors infused themselves into the forest directly from the Grand Silver Arbor. " 

(Livillia) " As their life force was assimilated into the Grand Silver Arbor, it became sentient and developed as any of us did. However being rooted in a single place and only being able to watch the cycle of life develop in the forest had eventually made the Grand Silver Arbor... Bored. So it came to the decision to slumber, however before it did so it made sure to keep the skeletons of the progenitors deep underground and protect them from any harm. Due to their life force, the Grand Silver Arbor knew that they were responsible for everything in the forest, including itself, for having life. It knew that and took the duty to keep them safe unto itself. "

(Eclina & Espiral) " Whoa. "

(Eclina) " How do you know so much about the tree? "

(Rosaline) " Just as beasts know of their proggenitor, dryads and ents know of the Grand Silver Arbor. Knowledge of it is ingrained in our very being. "

(Garris) " Now you see why coercing for the skull of Fenrir may be an issue. The Arbor may not be willing to put his skull in danger by releasing it. "

That made me think on the fact that the big tree could actually think like us... It was weird... I've always thought about it like a tree and not much else. But this is different. But before i could think more about it, Espiral said something i hadn't thought about yet.

(Espiral) " Can't Big sis just ask the tree to let it go? She's a progenitor right? So shouldn't the tree listen to her? "

(Garris) " ... "

(Rosaline) " ... "  

(Livillia) " ... "

(Eclina) " ... "

(Garris) " That just might work. "