Encountering Civilization

The next few days passed by in a blur. Wolves constantly stalked the camp. Only groups larger than ten people were allowed to go out. The plan to forage for more supplies stalled. No other animals could be found aside from the wolves.

They were all chased away according to the scouts. There shouldn't have been enough food to support the wolf population. The slain wolves seemed a bit thin with slightly dull fur, but otherwise decently fed. After those few days passed, the number of wolves climbed higher and higher.

Wolf meat became their primary source of food as their other supplies began to dwindled. They had everything from wolf meat sandwiches, fried wolf, grilled wolf, wolf chops and so on. Everyone was sick and tired of eating wolf all the time.

Many began to grumble and urge to break out of the deadlock by any means necessary just to find something else to eat. Unless they killed the wolf king, they wouldn't be able to travel far. The wolf king wouldn't let any prey escape so easily.

Even then, normally the wolf packs don't group up like this or stay in one place for so long. A small group of scouts would be left behind to follow any promising groups of prey. The main pack should have left by now. This sort of behavior unnerved the hunters and mercenaries in the camp.

Just as the wolves were plotting in the forest, so too were the mercenary leaders. They would frequently send out scouts and assassins to take out the high-ranking magic beasts. The time to leave was coming sooner rather than later.

The storms blowing in from the bay intensified by the day. Neither side could afford to stay in the area without proper shelter for much longer. Both sides tried to out wait the other. If the humans left first, their backs would be exposed. If the wolves left first, they would miss out on days' worth of food.

One morning, the twin moons had waned to faint slivers and an enormous storm appeared on the horizon. It would arrive in a day at most. The situation in the camp tensed as the leaders ordered them to pack up. Scouts reported the wolves were preparing another offensive.

Those who survived would leave immediately at dawn after the wolves returned to their temporary dens to lick their wounds. They could potentially put a lot more distance between them and the mountains now that they've had days to adjust to the low altitudes.

The entire day passed by in a flash. The walls were extended higher while traps were placed around the camp's outer edge. The houses inside were partially torn down and rebuilt to form a maze-like structure. Anything and everything was taken apart to create a barrier, trap or something useful for fleeing or fighting.

As predicted, the wolves began their attack just after dusk. Blood soaked the ground as the wolves stepped into the traps. They crawled over their fallen companions to continue their attack on the walls. The defenders repelled them with everything they had.

Though the civilians were a bit more useful since gaining more combat experience, wolves still jumped over the walls. Then they found themselves trapped in a maze with spears and traps around every corner. Every inch turned red as the hours continued.

The storm arrived in the early hours of the morning. Freezing rain muddied the battlefield and reduced visibility even further. When lighting began to flash above, the wolf king made his move. With a fierce howl, he personally entered the battlefield.

Surrounded by wolves as large as small cars, the wolf king towered over the combatants. He was built like a tank, and moved like one too. No matter what stood in his way, it was crushed or shredded into ribbons in seconds.

The leaders of the Crimson Bulls and the Brass Shields both entered the fray to hold off the wolf king. If he broke a hole in the wall, his minions could flood inside and tear the camp to shreds. The wolf king narrowed his eyes and seemed to scoff at the puny humans before him.

The battle between the leaders swept away all of the lesser combatants. The other sides of the camp felt the pressure as the wolf minions attacked other parts of the wall. As the rain intensified, so did the fighting. The battle became a three-way fight between humans, wolves and nature.

Nature slowly began to tilt the battle in its favor. Lighting started to strike the combatants as the freezing rain turned into hail. The clouds above began to swirl and rotate. Locked in battle, the mercenary leaders and the wolf king didn't seem to notice the increasingly angrier clouds above.

The night lit up with the explosions from their battle. The forest nearby was overturned and reduced to flaming ashes as the mercenary leaders forced the wolf king away. Hail beat the fires out. However, the intense magical battle further agitated the weather above.

As tornados threatened to strike the ground, the pack leaders began to get anxious. They had lost so many of their members without much gain. If the weather got much worse, their loses would outweigh the benefits. With their king seemingly too busy to care, the smaller packs slinked off one by one.

The tides of the battle slowly turned as the wolves' numbers decreased. Eventually, the battle of the leaders drifted farther away from the camp. Now that their king's attention and supervision was gone, the packs began to flee in mass.

The expedition had no time to celebrate. They were smack dab in the middle of a serious magical storm. Warriors began diggers and builders in an instant as they urgently reconstructed the broken shelters to hide from disaster unfolding above.

When dawn finally broke, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Sunshine gently streamed down onto the camp. Only the higher ups had sour looks on their faces. Their leaders were still missing along with the wolf king. If the wolf king survived but they didn't, then a catastrophe would befall the camp the next night.

Deciding to continue on with the plan, the expedition abandoned the camp shortly after breakfast. A small group was left behind to search for the missing leaders. The expedition travelled as fast as they could. The promise of something other than wolf meat was highly tempting.

The trails slowly turned into craggy roads then a well-maintained highway. Broken sign posts occasionally dotted the sides of the road. With no other carriages in sight, the expedition took up both sides. Late in the day they discovered a small village tucked off of the side of the highway.

Several expedition members cheerfully went to visit, hoping to get the latest news or trade the wolf meat for… well, anything else that was edible and not wolf related. They were met by a hastily formed militia that blocked the path inside the village.

The militia didn't even ask any questions before shooting arrows at them. The over eager trader quickly pulled back. The higher ups had to carefully negotiate with the suspicious militia for hours before they returned with promises of small trade.

With grim faces, the higher ups collected wolf meat and furs to trade for flour, grains, vegetables and other wonderful, delicious ingredients. As the traders and an expedition representative left to exchange the goods, the higher ups called for the wizards and Nafriton students.

"Thank you all for coming. We have some… bad news that you all should probably hear."

A depressing feeling coming from the higher ups slowly suffocated the atmosphere. The smiles on the faces of the wizards dreaming of decent food slowly collapsed.

"Several cities have fallen to the True Order. They've also declared a new government."

"What?! The True Order actually managed to gain some ground?"

"That's impossible! How? Why? Do we know which cities fell."

"Probably Dor, Nandel and Cuoq. Apparently, they also took down Sarrasak and Landrienne."

"Dor and Nandel I could understand, but the capital?... That must be pure rumors. Capturing the capital is just impossible. It's the most heavily defended city in the country."

The more devout wizards began to pray. Arguments began to break out amongst the wizards. The Brass Shield second in command held up their hand to silence the crowd.

"That's not all. They've issued bounties for officials and talented wizards. Our Nafriton students are mentioned by name. All of them plus many, many more that haven't travelled with us. Not only are they issue large rewards, but they've included detailed information about looks, abilities and last known locations."

A Brass Shield officer handed out a paper with a list of names and numbers on it.

"They've really outdone themselves with the bounties. Some of the expedition members might go crazy if they see the numbers. They bounties range from twenty thousand tiur to over one hundred million tiur. All of you need to be very careful, especially the students."

Aayla did the mental math and froze in shock. Twenty thousand tiur would be roughly one hundred and seventy-five thousand USD. One hundred million tiur was worth about eight hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars. She froze when she saw the bounty rewards.

Why was she worth fifty million tiur?! That's almost four hundred and fifty thousand dollars!