They heard the beasts before they saw them. A shrill blood-curdling howl sounded as the three traversed the road wearily; each of their worst fears realised in an instant. They had been found. They didn't have to say a word; Torben, Ulric and Elias darted to the side of the path, off the beaten path and into the vast forest, with the only light coming from the partially obscured moon. Elias stumbled a few times, his balance never faltering as he gripped tightly onto the harness. He could not lose this. Torben glanced behind him and with a rough hand guided Elias to a partial clearing they had found. Ulric already had an arrow notched, using his honed senses to identify what was following them.

"Did you see what that was?" Elias asked, his breathing hitched.

"Dire Wolves, led by a Beastmaster" Ulric said impassively. "We need to keep moving there are too many" he added, never turning his back from where the sound came from. Torben and Elias exchanged glances before picking their pace up.

It felt like an eternity battling the forest for purchase, all the while the sound of the wolves got closer and closer. Each of their hearts rattled against their chests, knowing the raw and deadly capabilities of these creatures. In their conscripted service they had seen a single dire wolf tear through a formation. A typical wolf stood at the chest height of a typical man, with thick fur and razor-sharp claws and teeth, each as deadly as a dagger. But what frightened Torben was their Darkvision, the ability to see in the dark. As if sensing his fear Elias put something in Torben's hand. He looked down to see his dagger.

Ulric could sense them; they were almost upon them, but up ahead he could also see dim lights, possibly from a torch or lantern. He knew they would not reach that destination without a fight. He first stumbled into another smaller clearing, spinning around as he could hear the hounds breathing.

Torben was the last of the trio to make it to the clearing, practically feeling the beast's breath as he pushed himself more. His ribs ached and his bruised body felt every impact with the hard ground below. Slowing down now meant certain death for any of them. He saw Ulric stumble into the clearing, spinning around with astonishing speed, aiming his bow straight towards him. Elias was next into the clearing, and on instinct, Torben looked behind him as Elias tossed a stone into the darkness imbued with a magical light. With his back turned to the object he saw the dire wolf lung towards where he last was, disorientated by the light. It crashed into the tree with a yelp.

"Get down Torben!" Ulric screamed, loosing an arrow just in time. Torben did as he was told, falling onto the floor as another wolf narrowly missed him from the side and landed close to him. Without thinking he slashed the dagger on its hind legs, the sharpened blade cutting deep and immobilising its leg. Despite this and the arrow which found its mark in its stomach , it lunged for Torben.

Elias watched as the beast barred down on Torben, and four more wolves encircled them including the one that had been disorientated, shaking its head as if to dispel the impact with the tree. He grasped his wrist with his left hand, focusing his willpower on targeting the beasts. Anger and hatred rose in him, knowing that Torben was likely dead by now. But he was still alive, and too much was at stake to be stopped now. He felt the limits of his magic pushed as he envisaged three targets, hurling a Scorching Ray at each of them. From the palm of his hand emerged four bolts of molten flame. He would avenge the fallen and fight for the living.

Torben felt the beast's claws dig into his sides, as his knees halted the wolves progress to get to his face, the teeth narrowly missing him. But inch by bloody inch it got closer, its feral strength no match for him. He desperately continued to stab with the dagger, seemingly making no progress. The creature leaned back and then threw its weight into a bite that would have engulfed his head, but before it could his dagger slammed into the roof of its mouth. Even with the leverage, he felt the razor teeth bite into his arm, the leather armor doing little to protect. He screamed in agony, using adrenaline and training to kick the beast off him. It fell back into the forest, its claws ripping out from the sides of his leg. Trying to muster some control, he rolled into the clearing, seeing four molten bolts fire overhead.

Ulric sent arrow after arrow into the forest, desperately trying to halt the wolves advance. He tried aiding Torben as the beast moved closer for the killing blow, but he narrowly missed another wolf which jumped into the clearing. This one was different from the others. Its black fur was mottled grey, matching one of its eyes which had misted over. Scars covered its body, and it stood at the height of a man. There was no surviving a creature like this on strength alone. The dire wolf alpha blocked Ulric from the rest of his party, curling its lips back to expose a deadly array of teeth. A metal pronged collar pressed tightly against it, each movement it made further sending it into a bloodlust frenzy.

Ulric smiled.

Elias watched as four wolves screamed in agony, as their fur was singed, and they bolted through the forest in a frenzied panic. He sent a Firebolt towards the wolf he saw Torben kick off him, the impact melting the beast's face before it could limp any closer. With his eyes still trying to pick out wolves he lifted Torben up, his hands coming back slick with blood.

"Still alive?" Elias joked grimly, his heart not feeling the levity he was trying to bring. They were likely to die in these woods.

"Just about" Torben rasped, placing his hands on his bloody legs, his hands slightly illuminated as he cast Healing Word. He felt the sinew of his muscle reattaching and his body healing the damage the beast had wrought, then channeling his Ki on his defense. He couldn't be caught out like that again.

"Good we need..." Elias began, cut off short as Torben knocked him prone with one hand. On the floor, he saw the scene in slow motion. The bolt that would have hit his heart was stopped short by Torben's hand. Torben used the momentum from stopping the arrow, spinning as he then released the arrow, towards a wolf that bounded into the clearing, younger and smaller than the others. The bolt almost passed through its skull, and it crumbled to the floor dead instantly.

The first arrow Ulric sent was only meant to antagonize the beast, hitting it squarely in its chest. It did its job, and the creature bounded for him. He cursed as it jumped in the air to pounce on him. He rolled to the side, another arrow finding purchase on the Alpha's torso. With all the speed he could muster he ran, straight past the Snare he had magically set, sliding on the slick wet undergrowth and spun around; not realizing how close those teeth were to finding their mark. As they opened for an attack the snare worked, clasping tightly around one of its legs, dragging it upwards towards the canopy. It yelped in fear, and the other wolves halted in their tracks. His final arrow hit the Alpha in its working eye.

"We need to go now!" Ulric shouted.

Elias and Torben carefully sidestepped the blinded beast and continued to follow Ulric, aware that the Beastmaster was still on their trail. They finally reached the light that Ulric had seen, a single solitary lamp, which was hung outside the entrance to a mine. The forest seemed to halt a distance away from the mine, and as they stood at the mouth, they saw their attacker. The Beastmaster was a portly bearded man, a whip in one hand and what looked like a woodcutter's axe in the other, a crossbow slung on his back. Five more wolves emerged from the forest, never making eye contact with their master for fear of that whip. With the back of his hand, he whipped sweat that had formed on his brow,

"Yer gonna pay for killing me pets" he said, his words partially slurred due to the frequent gaps in his mouth. As if on queue, he looked behind him, the trio's hearts sinking as the large knight emerged from the forest, his armor still charred from Elias's attack on him.

"You are all meant to die in these woods" the knight said calmly, not betraying the rage and contempt he felt for the people in front of him. "It has been prophesied". The three looked at each other, their suspicions of who sent these cleared in that one remark. Elias gestured for the other two back deep deeper into the mine as he stayed where he was.

"You are trying to kill us on the whim of a prophecy!?" Elias spat out, getting a chuckle from the knight. The Beastmaster shot his companion a venomous glare.

"Our boss is paying us handsomely for your heads, but I want a worthy foe" the knight replied, aiming his great sword at the sorcerer. "You won't catch me off guard again with a cheap trick wizard"

"I've done what I needed to do. You will not stop me" Elias said, slowly and methodically focusing his willpower on his hands.

"Enough of this Idwal!" Levius spat. "He clearly buys for time; I will end this"

"You're right, I have done just that. Both your desires to gloat and posture have cost you your mark. We'll give our regards to your boss before we separate his head from his body"

Both Levius and Idwal glanced at each other, markedly confused at the statement. Then they saw the purple glow emanating from Elias's hands. Levius whistled, and the wolves recognizing the command bounded forward. Idwal adjusted his grip, holding his longsword like a spear; launching it where Elias was. But each of these actions was too slow, as Elias aimed his hands above him, releasing all that energy into a Thunderwave. The purple shockwave impacted the roof and the support beams, crumbling them swiftly. The longsword lodged itself into a mound of dirt and stone, and the wolves yelped as they retreated, a few caught in the falling rock and stone. Elias managed to launch himself backward and narrowly missed being crushed. He fell awkwardly to where Torben and Ulric were, his backpack dislodging from him, the latch on the opening to the container and the shawl opening and unfolding simultaneously, all Ulric and Toben could do was look in horror at what had been exposed.