Chapter 32: Running with the Pack

Soon, dozens of warriors were gathering in the open space between the huge home trees. More and more elves were streaming from the trees, and others were coming back in response to the summons of horns and drums. There was elvish shouting all around.

Ricky and Channia were hurrying groundward, away from the great meeting chamber.

“If those are your companions,” she said urgently, “then we should hurry to warn them before the tribal archers get there.”

“Yes,” he replied, panting as he ran, “and even if they are not, we should hurry on, for the protection of the tribe. But wait a moment...”

Map!

The map that he had seen in the meeting chamber now revealed itself to him, and Ricky felt a a sudden wave of vertigo from looking at it while simultaneously navigating the spiral walkway that led around the enormous trunk and down . He put one hand on the vine-like handrail, paused, and took a moment to figure out what he was looking at.

“There are two Tooth and Claw Guild members approaching,” he said, having recognized the dark circles on the moving figures he had seen. “I can’t tell if it is Xarok or not, but they are allied to me. I should go.”

> *Quest 052 (level 2): Find the members of the Tooth and Claw Guild that are in the forest.

“How do you know this, Ricky?”

“I have a skill with maps. It’s a kind of magic.”

“If you say so.”

Dismissing the map, Ricky followed Channia as she reached the foot of the spiral and raced out onto the open area. Despite Lady Milla’s concerns, it looked very much like the elven army was well on its way to being assembled. The arrival of werewolves had focused minds, it appeared. Still more elves were streaming out for all directions, some still fastening their armor and helmets.

“Shapeshifter scum,” he heard a tall and blonde-haired elven woman say as they hurried past. “Gather up. Bows at the ready!”

“I don’t think this is going to work...” said Ricky, looking ahead at the ever increasing number of elves, all potentially hostile to his guild.

> *Quest 053 (level 1): Find a safe route out of the Berrysprout Tribe’s village.

“This way,” hissed Channia, grabbing his hand and leading him to a path in the opposite direction to the way they had come the previous night.

“But... doesn't this go into the heart of the forest?”

“Right. That way we can leave unobserved,” she replied.

He followed, and seen they were walking down a dark, damp path. “Good thinking, Chan,” he said, “but my fellow guild members are in the opposite direction, too.”

“Then we'll need to be quick in order to circle around and warn them.”

> *Quest 053 complete: Find a safe route out of the Berrysprout Tribe’s village. +10XP

They proceeded at a run, Channia just in the lead. Before long, Ricky was flagging behind, and he realized what he needed to do.

“Chan, I'm going to have to transform.”

She looked over her shoulder. “I know.”

“I'm just saying – after I do, you should run!”

“I'll lead you as far as I can,” she replied, slowing and pointing towards an area of dense green forest. “And then I will return to center of the village, to the home trees.”

“Then take this.” Ricky reached inside his satchel and pulled out the one remaining venison steak."

“Yesterday’s dinner?”

“You'll need it.”

Ricky tensed, recalling the visceral pain of his previous transformations, and then remembered the tiny stoneware vials that Xarok had given him. Clearly he would have to drink the potion to get its benefits, but how much should he take? Just a sip, or the whole thing? The spellcaster had not provided instructions.

“Well, here’s hoping this doesn’t kill me...”

Pulling one of the little bottles from his satchel, Ricky removed the stopper and gulped it down, consuming all of the liquid inside the small container. It tasted of something familiar. Vodka? Schnapps? There was no achievement notification this time, but he felt it beginning to flow warmly though his body. It was having an effect.

And then:

Guide – I want to transform to a wolf.

“You wish to use the gift of lycanthropy and take on a wolf’s form – please confirm,” she said.

Yes.

He looked at Channia and sniffed, but she was already fleeing along the path, as he fell to all fours, and his perspective on the world shifted.

But this time, just as Xarok had suggested, there was no pain at all. He felt good, strong, and ready to run.

> *World event: You have transformed into the form of a timber wolf.

>

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It was the scent of medium-rare venison steak that Ricky-as-wolf had in his mind, now.

So rich, so delicious-smelling, that it was very hard to think of anything else at all.

Who was the fleeing figure ahead of him? Why was he running along this path at all?

Come on, man. Think. You are not a wolf. You are a human being.

But ahh... the scent of venison. Like a carcass, freshly ripped asunder by the pack.

The figure dashed off to one side, but threw something onto the path ahead of Ricky and he dived after it, leaping forward and sinking his teeth into the yielding flesh, gulping it down even though a part of him knew that it would have been better to chew, to savor...

Licking his chops, Ricky looked around. Where was he, exactly? What had he been trying to do?

He began to lope along the path.

The path.

Yes, there was something about this particular path. Something important. What was it? He stopped to sniff the air. He could hear and smell a great many animals now. So much potential prey. Deer. Rabbits. Elves. Lizards.

The thought of lizards put him in mind of a previous visit to the forest.

A huge lizard had devoured the human. Unpleasant human, but no meat for Ricky.

Wasted.

But there was no killing the lizard that day. Too large. If only his pack had been there.

His pack...

Ricky looked down the path again, listening, his head cocked. A great many elves were travelling, not far away. He would need to be fast to avoid their arrows.

But he could also hear softer feet still.

With an expectant ‘wuff’, he began to run along the path.

And soon, the scent of two familiar wolves was filling his nostrils.

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The three wolves circled each other, greeting each other cautiously.

Both wolves were very familiar. Xarok – a broad, brown wolf who smelled of earth. And Gabriella, a huge and powerful grey wolf. She smelled like water mixed with moss.

> *Quest 052 complete: Find the members of the Tooth and Claw Guild that are in the forest. +20XP

The thought came to Ricky that he should transform. Speak to the pair. How did that work again?

But now, Xarok and Gabriella were running, and Ricky began to move too. And as he did so, he heard the elves behind, and sensed the first arrow fly through the branches nearby.

He flexed his muscles and sprinted, and soon was running full speed, his tongue hanging out against the heat that he now felt coursing through his body.

There was no way any pursuers would catch him, he knew. Not even fleet-footed elves. No. Flee, and return another time, when one or two of the creatures could be separated from their trees and their huge pack, and feasted on in peace.

As Ricky ran on, outpacing the archers, one of the last elven arrows did find its mark, a glancing blow on his haunch.

> *Damage report: You have lost 3 hit points (77 remain).

As the pain subsided, something stirred at the back of his mind. Damage reports. Yes. Hit points. He was no wolf, but a human. A player, who had somehow forgotten how he came to be there.

And had mistaken life as a wolf for reality.

How strange. This wasn’t supposed to happen...

But still. He could think about that another time. For now, there was a hunt to be joined.

He ran, and ran.

Xarok and Gabriella were not far ahead, and they began to slow and communicate as they went. They could smell the same things that he could. And one of those was a large creature – plenty to feast on.

They slowed, and began to follow a stream in single file, each briefly stopping to lap at the water before they continued. Ricky sniffed the air. Cow? Horse? There was something familiar about the scent, that was for sure.

And as they began to run on, he could sense it as well as smell it. Large. Hairy. Like a deer, but with two huge horns on its head. Moose, that was the word.

They slowed, spreading out and each wolf beginning to stalk towards the clearing with the moose. Slowly, moving so close to the earth that his hungry belly was almost on the ground, Ricky moved one step forward, and then another.

As they reached the clearing, the nostrils of the great best flared as it realised its danger.

And then it began to move.

Before Ricky could react, the grey wolf had flung itself at the moose, biting at the neck of their prey. Then Xarok – the brown wolf – leaped up towards its hind legs, biting at it at tendons but receiving a kick that sent him flying.

> *Combat event! An ally has been stunned.

The moose was now shaking itself to get Gabriella free, and Ricky knew that he had to act.

But how?

Something told him to trust what Xarok had tried, even though it had been unsuccessful.

He dashed around the flailing moose, mindful of the great hooves, and then leaped upwards towards its hamstrings, fastening his jaws in the same bloodied patch where Xarok had done so.

Another kick, and he raised his body to squirm out of the way just in time, but more kicks kept coming.

> *Achievement: Tricky dodge! You have moved in new ways to avoid melee attacks. +20XP.

Sooner or later, he realised, he was going to get hit, and it was going to hurt bad. But how much strength did the great moose have left, with Gabriella’s jaws still fastened at its throat?

But now, as the moose shook its great body again, the grey wolf was flung clear. The mighty animal, bleeding in two places, reared up.

Ricky saw his moment.

As it came down again and began to trot away, limping, he jumped down from its back, and then immediately leaped back up towards its neck, taking Gabriella’s place. He sank his teeth into the moose’s snout, and hung on. He sensed, somehow, that it was weak.

Sympathy didn’t cross his mind; or at least, any such feeling was no match for the roaring hunger in his stomach.

He hung on like that for another minute, two... perhaps more. He was conscious that Gabriella was now biting at the beast’s rump, and that Xarok was on his feet again.

The pack had the upper hand now.

At last, with a whimper, the moose fell to the ground, and Ricky was able to execute the killing blow, his powerful jaws slashing into the animal’s neck.

> *Combat event: You have slain a moose (shared kill). +80XP

But just as the three companions gathered around to feast on their victim, four other creatures burst into the clearing. Each was small, with blotchy beige-colored skin. They were carrying sticks. Sharp sticks. No – spears.

Four goblins.

A small pack of the evil creatures, all of them howling and yelling to drive off the wolves.

To drive him off.

They were prey stealers.

Ricky reared up, snarling, only to take a spear to his chest which thrust in painfully, twisting in the goblin’s agile hands.

> *Damage report: You have lost 8 hit points (69 remain).

He howled in pain, but as he shook and tried to free himself, Gabriella charged in and knocked the goblin to the ground. Her muzzle was already streaked with blood, and now her teeth sank into the creature’s neck and then rose, ripping its throat clear from its body with one smooth movement.

As he saw this, Ricky felt a howl of triumph leave him.

Looking around, Xarok had downed another goblin, but a third was ready to throw a spear at their comrade. Copying Gabriella’s move, Ricky charged the little humanoid, knocking it from its feet. He wasn’t as heavy as his fellow wolves, he knew, but he was heavier than a goblin, and although it struggled, soon his teeth were gripping his foe, missing its throat but latching hard onto its shoulder.

The goblin pulled out a flashing blade, however, and he felt a knife stick into his side.

> *Damage report: You have lost 4 hit points (65 remain).

It was with considerable pleasure that Ricky then bit down on the goblin’s upper arm, crunching its bone. He then bit into its neck, then its face, then it abdomen...

> *Combat event! You have slain a goblin. +5XP.

He stepped away; goblins tasted bad, that much was clear. They had better things to feast upon.

Gabriella had already slain the fourth goblin, and Xarok was circling the area, alert and uninjured. Ricky stopped to lick his wounds; they were bad, but he knew that the bleeding would stop soon.

He felt it.

And the meat would do him good, he realized, returning to the moose carcass.

And so the small pack fed, and then they rested for a period of time, hidden in the bushes, though Ricky could not say how long. He was only vaguely aware of the sound of elves in the distance, their armor clanking, coming closer, speaking their melodic language... and then moving on, moving past, to war.

Accumulated XP: 2240 (unspent: 240)