Bound Evil

Emily ducked up a low-hanging branch her lungs on fire as she chased after Alex. She could hear the sound of something moving through the trees behind them as its uneven gait tore through the undergrowth. Emily could swear she could smell the sour breath of the panting beast behind her.

Risking a glance back she could just make out a set of glinting eyes reflecting in the first of the evening light.

It held no malice, just a cold, keen intelligence as it stalked them. Even with its handicap, it kept up with them.

“Alex! I only see one, we should turn on it!”

Alex glanced back shaking his head.

“No don’t be fooled, they hardly ever run alone.”

“Then how are we supposed to deal with them!?”

“We just need to find the right spot, I know I saw one here earlier”

Emily pressed her lips together and couldn’t help glancing back again.

Was the wolf closer now? It looked like it.

Alex kept them moving for five more minutes at full pace. Their stalker seemed only too happy to let them tire themselves out. It never got too close but snapped its jaws if Emily even so much as slowed down. At the same time, Emily searched the surroundings but never saw any sign that this one had friends.

Alex suddenly dove off the side of the path sliding down a steep hill. Emily followed as she controlled her descent, only for it to stop at a sharp cliff face. They would have to scale it if they wanted to keep moving.

“Alex!”

“I know! When you hit the wall, turn on them. Make sure to keep it at your back or they will surround us.”

The moment Emily arrived, she turned back the way they’d come, her eyes scanning the stretching shadows. Dried and rotting leaves carpeted the floor of the ditch, crunching underfoot as she widened her stance.

That same set of eyes glared at them from the shadows until a large, older she-wolf stepped into a beam of sunlight. Beside her, two larger Rime wolves slowly edged out of the shadows.

The creatures were even more breathtaking up close, displaying a savage beauty that was hard to match. The she-wolf's muzzle was littered with scars as was the rest of her pelt. Emily noticed once more her hind leg looked maimed as she rested only the bearest amount of weight on it.

The beast held Emily's gaze as though fascinated by what she saw and that was when Alex shouted.

“Emily, sides!”

The spell broken, Emily's gaze whipped to her left when she caught sight of the wolves already running at them.

Alex turned to the one on their right as she realized they were attacking from both sides, Only the she-wolf seemed to remain back, watching, but Emily didn’t have the time to worry about that.

The wolf approaching her had almost closed the distance and Emily's go-to strategy kicked in Life force churned up from her chest and down both her palms, releasing two large bolts of blood that struck home.

The wolf abandoned its charge as it shook itself, one of the hits having cracked into the side of its snout and the other its chest with only abrasions to show for it.

Alex suddenly grunted from beside Emily as the wolf tackled him into the wall.

Unfortunately, she could not help because the beast nearest to her had already recovered and was charging her again. Dancing back, the first thing to reach her was not the Rime wolf’s fangs but instead its whip-like appendages.

The ground exploded with a cracking sound as they collided with the spot Eily had been seconds ago.

The sound of boots and paws trailing through the dirt was all Emily could hear over Alex's pants. Without losing sight of her opponent Emily brought the sword down in a warding gesture causing the wolf to step back.

Following it up with another bolt, Emily directed it towards the same spot near the beast's snout.

This time the Rime wolf let out a yelp of pain as its whips swiped horizontally.

Emily ducked under the swipe and drew her hand as close to the thing's throat as she dared and fired.

At this range, even the beast's thick hide could not protect it and the bolt tore through its trachea.

The thing backed off unaware it was even dead, its form so large that it took a couple of seconds for its legs to buckle out from underneath it. A large wave of vitality hit Emily in the gut, easily worth three times an elf. Another followed just seconds later.

Emily’s ragged breath came out in harsh pants as she realized there was silence in their little ditch.

Glancing back she saw Alex with his back pressed into the wall. Equally exhausted with his dagger lodged to the hilt in the side of the wolf's head, piercing its brain directly.

Emily's head snapped round as she looked for the incoming she-wolf but when her eyes got front and center she saw the beast still in the same spot she had appeared from.

Its large brown eyes were staring down at Emily with so much hatred in them. Her howl tore through the trees.

Then as quickly as she had appeared the she-wolf turned and ran towards the shadows at a monstrous rate.

Alex pushed the large corpse off himself and threw his dagger with incredible speed but it was too late she had already slipped into the shadows and a blade thunked into a nearby tree.

“Dammit all”

Emily was still searching for threats in case there were more waiting out there, but Alex began climbing the hit at a decent rate.

Emily frowned.

“What was that all about, why’d she run.”

Alex glanced back.

“Because she’s smart. She’s either going to get more of her pack or notify the nearest one. My bet would be the latter. She’s an older generation, that was probably last of her pack”

“What do you mean, she was hunting with those others? Arent they a pack?”

Alex grunted as he got to the top of the hill looking around.

“Every generation stickers together under a leader, when a new generation is born they pick a new leader but the older ones remain. This means that though they are one group they have about three packs at any one time. Those ones were probably the last of the older litter”

Emily glanced down at the dead Rime wolves and noticed their bodies did look on the older side with many wounds hidden under the fur.

“What the fuck, why the heck do you know so much about these creatures.”

Alex grunted glancing back down at Emily.

“It pays to know your enemy, now look. She escaped and the likelihood of more coming back is high so we need to move and cover our scent.”

Emily climbed to the hill in short order and glanced back into the ditch with the corpses lay.

The two of them moved hurriedly back the way they’d come while Alex seemed to be scouring the nearby bushes. At first, Emily thought he was looking for more wolves but he began picking a tiny blackberry, gathering them by the handful.

Emily was certain he wasn’t just peckish and was proved right when he spoke up.

“Help me gather these it was stupid of me to not prepare more before coming here but we’re not even on the outskirts of their territory yet. At least that’s what the map says, their territory must have grown.”

Emily looked around and began grabbing similar-looking berries, letting Explorer guide her on their exact shape and color.

At the same time, Alex had dropped down into the snow with a small bundle of kindling and started a fire. He threw the small traveling pot they’d bought recently atop it and shoved some snow inside, followed closely by the berries.

Emily frowned as she searched their surroundings, keeping an eye on the treeline for any movement. The very fact that she hadn't spotted those other two wolves meant they could be closing in right now and neither of them would be any the wiser.

The water and berries were boiling in no time, leaching a light purple into the water and causing Emily to frown down at the man.

“What are you even doing right now? This is not the time to be making Jam.”

Alex took the bubbling pot off the dying fire and threw another handful of snow into it.

“Making a way for us to move quietly through this area.”

Alex then dunked his gloved hand into the watery mixture and flicked it at Emily.

The tiny droplets of liquid left cooling trails through the air before hitting her in the face.

Emily spluttered, wiping her face off and shooting Alex a glare that would have killed lesser men. The sour tang of cranberries rapidly filled Emily’s nostrils

“Relax, this scent will mask our own to blend in with the background tones. We’ll have to reapply it again later.”

Emily frowned unclenching her fist as Alex similarly covered himself and then poured the remainder into an empty water skin.

Emily still wore an annoyed expression but then a thought occurred to her.

“If we’re invisible now we should go back. We’ll be able to follow them back to wherever they're holing up.”

Alex pressed his lips together and glanced in her direction, nodding silently at her.

“I agree, but keep in mind we are not invisible. If they see us we’re still done for.”

Emily began moving back toward the place where the Tameracs were gathered. Doing her best to let her title guide her. When they arrived back in the area, poking out from a completely different area, they could see the Rime wolves had already killed their prey and were defending it from the other Tameras.

The two large beasts looked like fallen pincushions, with large sections of meat already gone from them. Many members of the pack swarmed around the bodies, feasting on the carcass.

The Tameracs seemed nervous, though that didn’t stop a few of them from letting out warning bleats as a defiance to the pack. This only caused more conflict as the two groups continued their stare-off. Yips and howls answering that challenge.

If Emily were a betting woman she would have put money on the Tameracs as their sheer numbers and size outclassed the Rime wolves in every aspect but one.

Their intelligence.

The wolves seemed to sense when their presence would no longer be tolerated by the herd and ripping off pieces from their spoils of war the wolves began to retreat into the treeline one by one.

Emily had the feeling they’d be back to finish the rest later, as it was they had already consumed more than half of the mammoth-sized husks.

Emily couldn’t see the older she-wolf anywhere and she couldn’t tell if that was a good sign or a bad one.

Looping around with the cover of the treeline Emily began to move in the direction she had seen the wolves moving in.

Alex moved behind her keeping his senses tuned into the forest.

As they moved Emily tried to keep her eyes peeled for their tracks and luckily she could just make out some of their most recent trails. Now and then Alex would silently tap her to change course if he saw them shifting too much off the main path.

Emily was just starting to get the hang of tracking when the tail end of the group came into view. Freezing Emily lowered herself into the nearby bushes

Following them after that became both harder and easier. It was far easier to get spotted, but Emily didn’t lose track of them.

The Rime wolves were apex predators in this area and as such they moved at a leisurely pace. However, for Emily and Alex, that meant a brisk walk was the slowest they could go before the pack would start to pull ahead.

Finally, the beasts seem to have arrived somewhere as what looked like a series of cave systems came into view. The mound stood alone, resembling an anthill with several large holes littering the sides. Nearby a clear pond was buttressed against the hill, fed by a small steam of fresh water.

This place was a natural paradise and Emily could see why they had settled here as they had almost everything they needed.

Emily was about to ask Alex how they would find the pups when one of the front wolves howled.

From inside the shady caves, forms churned into the light as dozens of pups came pouring out of the caves followed by what looked like their parents.

Several of the Rime wolves with chunks of Tamerac meat in their mouths moved to the pups. Dropping their spoils down for the younglings to feast upon. Emily could see they weren't sharing it out evenly, in fact, they were picking out the strongest-looking pups to shower with their favor. It took her some time but she finally spotted the older she-wolf limping her way toward a younger pack of males. By the looks of things, there weren't many other beasts as scarred and wise as her.

The she-wolf was met with growls and hunched shoulders for the younger ones but seemed to try and communicate something to them. She turned back toward the treeline as though wanting them to follow her, but this only seemed to antagonize them more.

One of the large males stepped out and snarled at her, nipping at her weakened leg as a warning. Causing her to snarl back at him. A fight ensued and while the she-wolf was clearly more experienced the other beast was far stronger, ending with backing away with her ear pressed to her skull. They didn’t seem to want to follow her, and it was a good thing too, because as the large she-wolf backed away she scented to air, cocking her head in Alex and Emily’s direction.

Emily let out a sigh, they'd found what they were looking for, but they were going to have on hell of a time getting in there.