One less for us to deal with…
Chaos breaks loose. Humans shouting at orcs. Orcs roaring back.
“You killed him!”
“Nobody fucking runs!”
In the midst of their squabbling, I sense a presence behind me. The mind is simple yet curious and respectful.
A wild wolf—not a shifter—lurks in the shadow of the trees. He lowers his snout in deference then lifts his gaze to meet mine.
Behind him, more shapes gather.
“We have garnered help,”I say through the pack bond.
“Aye, I sense them,”Beric replies.
I lift my head and howl once more. The wild wolves take up the call.
Together we charge.
The fight is fast and vicious. The orcs and humans have been too busy arguing among themselves and are not prepared.
I slam into an orc, jaws closing around his wrist. Beric leaps from behind, teeth sinking into the back of his thick neck. The orc swings his club, but two of the wild wolves are ready, and leap in tandem.
The humans scatter and run as the first orc falls. Alden takes down the second, with the help of two wild wolves. I take the third. Beric lunges for the fourth.
We flash between werebeast and wolf. Fast. Brutal. Bloody.
I’m struck by a club, punched, then slashed by a human blade. But my wolf is strong. I rip, tear, and savage until there is nothing left but dead flesh and silence.
Where once there were eight orcs and five men, now there are only their remains.
The wild wolves gather at the edge of the clearing. I tip my chin, and their leader pads forward and nuzzles my side, tail wagging in submission. I lap up the side of his muzzle in gratitude, and his tail beats faster, excited to have fought beside us.
He reveres us, the way humans revere their gods.
His pack brothers and sisters crowd close, nudging us, jostling against us for attention and with joy in shared triumph, for they likewise hate orcs and humans in their lands.
“That was fortuitous,”Alden says as the wild wolves turn and take off into the forest.
“It was,”I agree.
I lift my head and howl. Beric and Alden join in. The sound carries on the wind, fierce and exultant, carrying south, all the way to Merrywood.
Come,I command.
Come,Beric echoes.
Come to us, mate,Alden adds.
A shiver runs through me.
She is coming.
We share a look. We are bloodied, bruised, and exhausted. None of that matters.
It is done. We have paid our price, completed our challenge, and now we will claim our prize.
