Left Behind

They left him behind.

After a whole day of useless venturing and killing beasts, they left Klein once they came across another group of elves. It wasn't that Klein wanted to stay with them. He couldn't even bear the sight of these pompous elves at times.

However, he and Elowen had come to an understanding between them—well, more than that, to be honest. Even though the language barrier remained, they could still understand each other to a degree. But now she had gone with them as well, not that she had a choice. That left him with five fresh faces. Four of them were Elven, while the remaining was a human girl.

She was young, probably in her late teens, and seemed to have adopted a permanent scowl on her face after the elves captured her. Her arms were bound in handcuffs. Although much of her mobility was free, the chains restricted her enough that they would be able to capture her if she tried to escape.

Thankfully, they did not cuff him—probably his familiarity with Elowen helped in his case. Or perhaps they simply didn't see him as a threat. Whatever it was, Klein wasn't complaining.

But that brought the question to his mind: should he escape from the elves? They didn't seem to bother him all that much, other than hurrying him to go wherever they were taking him. Klein didn't even know many words to ask any questions, but their destination seemed to be the opposite of the other group of elves that left him.

The bound girl tried to talk to him a couple of times, but her words eluded him much like the elves. He should only throw an apologetic look at her problem.

What irked him most was how they didn't give him time to meditate or exercise he had been doing the last couple of days. There was no breakthrough since that time. Hurrying to their destination seemed to precede over everything else. So Klein decided if he got a chance to escape from them, he'd take it. What about the young girl? He had no responsibility for it. She probably had done something to irk the elves, not his problem.

The opportunity arrived earlier than Klein imagined. And, of course, it was in the form of a pack of dire wolves, determined to feast on them. The pack was similar to the ones he and Elowen hunted before, though this time, they seemed to be led by a pack leader. It was huge and robust, almost half the size of that white tiger. And it was hungry.

Its howl seemed to instil a deep-rooted fear of the predator, as every one of them was arrested on their spot for a moment. Standing over five feet, the savage wolf lunged at the elves at first notice. The counterparts surrounding them instantly.

One of the Elven warriors stood guard to protect the girl and Klein. The archer backed up the other two warriors upfront. They charged their weapons and bodies with essence, strengthening themself to fend off the creatures. The oldest elf with blond hair restricted the path of the pack leader, while the elven girl made sure no other wolves attacked him in the meantime.

Their battle plan was well thought out and slowly and surely, they would diminish the number of the wolves. They weren't as efficient in battle as the other group of elves. Although the archer's aim was perfect, the arrows seemed to lack the threatening force to claim the life of the creatures with one shot.

Even Klein could do better with his [Essence Bolt]. That was exactly what he did when a couple of wolves came his way. He shot a swift bolt through the eye socket of the one that pounced at him, claiming its life in one shot, while its companion lunged towards the Elven protector.

The young Elven man or boy, whatever he was with his eternal lifespan, deflected its attack, preventing it from reaching the restrained girl. He was doing fine while dealing with one. Klein left him to his duty and turned his attention to the others.

He could make his escape at this moment, with everyone busy fending off the wolves. But he decided to play it more dramatically. Since the elves outnumbered him by a lot, it wouldn't hurt his case if he was a little careful.

His plan was simple. Klein actually came to help the Elven warriors. He didn't use his fire spell, as it burned quite a lot of energy. Instead, he used the regular [Essence Bolt] at the wolves. His aims, however, were off by some margin. He made sure of that.

Klein didn't kill any of the wolves. He injured a few and managed to draw their attention to him through the attacks. In no time, half a dozen wolves bolted at him.

"Help!" Klein screamed like a sissy, sounding desperate. "Help! Someone help me!"

Thankfully, none of them were free to listen to the crazy human's plea.

Without giving a second look at the others, Klein scurried desperately in the opposite direction. The wolves were already on him, chasing after him in their hunger and desperate need to eliminate the threat, while the elves were busy fending off the rest of the wolves.

If he could manage to run for a few minutes, Klein was pretty sure he would get out of their clutches.