Chapter 8 (Part 2)

“Whatever happens, do not go outside the barrier,” I whispered to Rascielle who simply collapsed to her knees in fear. She didn’t even seem to comprehend what I just said but she nodded in cold sweat anyway.

Now there are two drawbacks of being an elegant lady that I hate the most – being a damsel in distress and relying on someone to save you. Elegant ladies, in my opinion, devote too much of their time studying being elegant that they forget that all of that training goes out the window when you’re in a situation just like this. But then again, that is the very same reason why I was hired. I may be inelegant and all that but at least I don’t sit there shaking like a wet dog in winter when in danger. I can save myself.

The wolves cautiously and strategically surrounded us. Our mission was to protect Rascielle and that left us no choice but to be on defensive and slightly disadvantaged. We could only wait for the wolves to attack first before we could begin a full melee. The two smaller wolves that once flanked their leader were now slowly surrounding us, forming a neat triangle with us in the middle. We were trapped.

I never thought I’d feel like a fish trapped in a net in my entire life.

Then they paused, waiting for their leader to give the command to attack. These wolves were obviously not ordinary. They were intelligent, orderly and deadly like soldiers under a proficient general.

And then all of them suddenly surged forward with incredible speed, as if a silent signal only they understood was given. None of us were caught by surprise though. The tension in the air was enough to tell us that the attack was going to be sudden and swift. And when they formed a triangle in the beginning, it pretty much assigned which wolf belonged to whom. Or which human belonged to whom, if you look at their point of view. Being the proud and powerful human being that I am, the leader wolf reciprocated my feelings.

He viciously clawed at me, unrelenting and ferocious. His large jaws that could easily snap a person in two like a dry twig lunged at me in every which way. He was incredibly fast and strong.

But I wasn’t the only one having trouble with the wolves. Noirxus grabbed his wolf by the mane and threw it to a tree with a loud thud. For someone with such flimsy, girly-looking arms, he sure threw that wolf like it was nothing but a pebble. Captain D wasn’t as strong as Noirxus though so the best he could come up with was to lamely kick it away.

I, on the other hand, refused to be upstaged by Noirxus and used one of my favorite moves – a jump-spin-kick attack and hit the wolf square on its drool covered lower jaw. Next I ran along the length of a nearby tree and used it as a springboard to launch myself towards the wolf with my sword at hand. But then he agilely avoided it and even pinned my sword to the ground with one of his huge paws. With my sword pinned, I sat crouching beneath him exactly where he wanted me. He moved his massive jaws towards me in a flurry of movement. It was so quick I hadn’t the presence of mind to let go of the sword and avoid it but I had the reflex to punch his teeth to the side with my free hand. We were both damaged. His tooth came out while I shook my hand in pain. That wolf must drink a lot of milk!

He reeled back in pain and set my sword free. I took that opportunity to kick him further away. The kick sent him flying to a rock where he hit his head. He was staggering a bit like how a drunken man teeters unsteadily. And then a sudden presence appeared from behind.

It was the Captain’s wolf. I don’t know how it happened but the captain was currently stuck under a log and let his wolf carelessly wander around a bit as if he was bored of his target, who was now struggling under the weight of the tree trunk, and went for the more interesting one – me.

I lithely performed a handstand and locked the wolf’s neck snugly between my thighs like a deadly scissor and tossed it back to the captain with a full body twist. At that moment, the captain managed to squirm his way out of the log and point his sword as if to attack. But since the wolf was conveniently flying towards him, all he had to do was aim the sword tip to the heart and skewer the animal. I practically did all the work so I’m taking credit for killing that one!

“Their weakness is the jewel behind their necks!” Noirxus shouted, distracting me from the set of teeth coming at me from behind. I couldn’t even stifle the cry that came out of my lips as my sword wielding shoulder got mauled by the wolf’s sharp fangs.

“Chryisle!” Noirxus panicked and slashed his wolf carelessly as he rushed to my side. But my pride couldn’t allow any interference.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said in a pained voice as I grabbed the wolf’s upper jaw and forcefully pried it open to release my shoulder from its grasp. And then quickly rode the wolf in one fluid movement. Using the bottom of the hilt of my sword, I smashed the red jewel glinting ominously, imbedded beneath the wolf’s fur. A jolt of pain coursed through me as I swung my wounded arm with all my might.

Everything became eerily calm after my wolf fell on the ground unconscious. I concentrated too much on breaking the weak point that I forgot to kill the wolf.

“Your wolf is still breathing. Do you want me to finish it?” Captain D offered. I narrowed my eyes. If I say yes, he’ll be taking the credit for killing my wolf. The competitive spirit in me just can’t allow that.

“No. I haven’t the heart to kill it just because it’s cursed,” I said silently.

“So you noticed it was cursed?” Noirxus asked.

‘No, I didn’t’ is what I wanted to say. I simply took a chance and uttered unintelligibly but now that I nailed that one, I’m going to act like I knew it all along. So I said, “Yes.”

“Who cursed them?” the Captain asked again. This time, I didn’t want to take my chances and embarrass myself so I just shook my head coolly.

“In any case, we need to heal that wound of yours,” Noirxus said, eyeing my shoulder.

“I can handle my wound, thank you. But I believe the Captain sustained a worse wound than me by getting himself buried under that tree and all,” I said in the most even voice I could muster. I chanted two small healing spells consecutively and threw the first one at the captain and next one to me. My wound healed really slowly which was weird but it was healing.

A small groan echoed from behind. It was Noirxus’ wounded wolf.