Deep in a dark forest occasionally pierced by rays of silver moonlight, a single figure haphazardly crashed through the underbrush causing many of the forests diurnal inhabitants to wake and scatter in all directions.

Suddenly the figure stopped, placing an arm on the thick trunk of a tree to steady itself before hunching over and vomiting a bright reddy-blue liquid, slightly illuminating him.

Feeling slightly better, Mors sucked in the cold night air with burning lungs, as he struggled to remain upright. Gritting his teeth, he pushed off the trunk and started staggering deeper into the woods. -"How dare they turn on me, I should have killed them the moment we were out of Verz's sight."

He remembered Claire's words, just before she was knocked out. "At least she knows how to be grateful, if not completely useless."

A couple of hours of excruciating pain later, he came across an opening to a cave. Without even checking it for danger, Mors staggered in.

Multiple growls abruptly resonated outwards, as a pack of dire wolfs appeared out of the shadows, agitated by Mors' sudden appearance. However, he didn't even pause and continued to march forwards, unyielding resolve carved onto his face.

Dire wolfs, although relatively weak compared to the higher monsters, were considered B rank by adventurers due to their incredible intellect and pack behaviour, enabling them to bring down prey much stronger than themselves.

The wolfs crouched down, preparing to attack the intruder as an older, grey haired wolf with a large scar across its left eye, let out a deep howl, causing them to freeze.

Mors just continued walking, ignoring everything until he reached the back of the shallow cave, passing the watching wolfs before collapsing onto his side, laying Morrigan on the floor and snapping off a few of the remaining arrows protruding from his body. "Clever girl."

Closing his eyes, Mors began absorbing the mana in the air and circulating it through his tattered body before finally succumbing to unconsciousness.

Confused the wolfs looked at their elder who returned to her litter of pups before laying down, returning a 'be quiet and sleep' look.

==== Somewhere on the forest's road ====

"What do you mean draconic demon?" Spat Alice.

Alec was picking up a few salvageable arrows before stuffing them into his pack. "What fucking snake do you know that a) is immune to the cold and b) breaths fire and c) gives off a tyrannical I want to kill everybody in the world vibe? Oh and has claws that would better suit an imperial war beast. Last I checked, snakes didn't have claws. I knew you were thick, but this is a whole new level."

Alice was flabbergasted as she realised how stupid she had been, looking back at all the obvious signs about Mors' linage. -"Shit, if the council finds out, they will offer up our heads as a peace offering and do whatever they can to get hold of him."

With a smug look, Alec began walking off, followed by Aron. "Now let's move. We need to cross this mountain range and get mounts as soon as possible."

Bruce was sitting on the floor with a sad look. He knew that by threatening Claire's life, he had done something irredeemable, and things would never be the same between him and Alice, but that didn't stop him being glad he was alive. "Why bother? We should just run for it before he heals. I doubt we will get another chance like that. Not at the rate that freak grows."

"We are magically marked as Pathfinders, so if we run, we are deemed deserters of the Federation. Want to add a couple of million soldiers to the angry demon that will kill us on sight?" Snapped Alec as he continued to walk away. "There are three ways we make it through this shit storm, which by the way, is completely you and your bitches fault. Mors dies of his injuries, someone kills him before he gets to us or we get to a safe place he cant reach us, like the Federation's capital or the valley of hunters."

"I don't know about you, but I think the safest option is 3, so get a move on. Unless you want to wait here for him alone and buy us some more time."

Glaring at Bruce, Alice struggled as she lifted Claire onto her back and followed the elves. "Scum. Using my sister as a hostage. You're just as bad as that Demon... No. You're worse."

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"We're all alive aren't we." Said, Bruce, as he rose to his feet and followed before continuing in a whisper. "For now anyway."

They walked in silence for a couple of hours before a red hue began lighting up the horizon.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aron turned his head towards Alec. "I never thought I would see another sunrise. First that bandit group and then the foolish plan of attacking Mors. Why did we even listen to Bruce?"

"The demon was going to kill us sooner or later, especially with those two morons always taunting him. Until last night I didn't realise how close we were to getting ourselves killed." Replied Alec as he looked over his shoulder at Alice carrying the still unconscious Claire before lowering his voice so only the two could hear. "We were lucky things went the way they did, not only was he critically injured, we have the two people he hates as well as the person he values. If it comes to it, we will leave the idiots tied up with a healthy, happy Claire and make a run for it. We have stayed in the background, following the plan, this whole time, and I doubt he would bother with us."

Arons face contorted. "Abandon the Pathfinders? We are wanted fugitives everywhere but the federation!"

Aron flinched as Alec glared at him. "Keep your voice down! We won't abandon the Pathfinders. The plan hasn't changed, complete the mission and use the Pathfinders to hide from our enemies. We just need to do it a lot faster."

A few hours later the group was resting in the early morning sunlight as Claire woke up with a shout before looking around in confusion. "MORS!"

Alice raced towards Claire and looked into her eyes. "CLAIRE! are you alright? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"WHERES MORS!" Bellowed Claire as she pushed her sister away and struggled to her feet. "What did you do to him?"

"He is fine." Said, Bruce, as he ate some dried meat. "He ran away."

"He ran?" Claire's eyes turned murderous. "What. Did. You. Do?"

==== Dire Wolf's Cave ====

The pack of wolfs had an uneasy night sleeping next to the mysterious stranger that appeared to be on death's door. Now the sun had risen, and they could get a good look, a giant black wolf approached the scared, grey wolf as it suckled her pups. "Why did you stop us from killing the intruder... it could be a threat and at best, an easy meal."

"For the love of the great wolf, do you have one ounce of instinct in that thick head of yours? Forgetting the bloodlust and hatred that is oozing from every ounce of its body, it came here prepared to kill us all or die trying. Do you really think it's worth sacrificing our brethren for a tiny amount of poisoned meat? Look at the pools of blood that are steaming around it. "

The black wolf looked over at the battered body of the stranger. "Elder, He seems pretty harmless to me, even without all those injuries. The only thing that looks dangerous is that bladed stick he has."

The elder revealed a sneer revealing her sharp canines. "If you wake it, I guarantee you most, if not all, of our pack will die, and you will be the first. By it, or by me."

"Hmmph, you're getting senile in your old age. What's one injured monkey to us dire wolfs."

"A monkey? Does that look like a monkey's tail? or those a reptiles horns? or those the eyes of someone weak." Replied the elder as she nuzzled one of her cubs refusing to look at the back of the cave. "No. That is an alpha predator that has been backed into a corner. While we do nothing and are useful in keeping others away, we are safe.

It was only now that the black wolf realised he was being watched by a gaze that filled him with unrestrained terror, causing him to let out a whimper as if he was nothing more than a newly born pup.

Speaking in a language none of the wolfs understood, Mors rotated onto his stomach so not to push the arrows in any deeper. "One more bark, whimper or growl and you will be freezing as I sleep on a wonderfully soft, fur mattress..."

Coughing up more red and blue liquid, Mors' lips turned into a viciously twisted smile as he gazed into the distance, bloodlust causing the air to hum around him. "Run little pigs, run. I am going to tear your hearts out as slowly as I can while making you eat your own intestines, even you bloody elves. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth."