266 How Close?

-Let them sleep in a little.- Aether whispered to her. 

Although Vy did not know why Aether made them comment, she went along with it. But all the activity around the camp soon stirred the Alpha and Beta awake. 

After having breakfast together, they decided it was time for them to continue on the road towards the Triking Sea. Vy was surprised that they had slept so well the past two nights, having not encountered any spirits. 

But that is simply because she did not know of the fight Darric and Bertuf had gone through the night before. Vy did, however, notice the new bruises around Bertuf's arms as he walked. When she looked over to Darric, she seemed to have suffered some form of injury as well. 

Both werewolves did a really good job of hiding their injuries. As she continued to wonder what they might have been doing the night before, they continued on their journey in silence. The rest of the trip went smoothly, with only a few sightings of spirits but none were hostile. 

On the final night before they came up to Grey Coast, the werewolves realised they had been followed by a group of Grizz werebears. Two members of the Moon Ring Pack, sent by Alpha Darric to scout the surrounding area, noticed their campsite. 

"How close are they to us?" Darric asked as he crossed his arms. 

"Close. They could be watching our movements as we speak."

Darric gritted his teeth before cursing under his breath. Having overheard their conversation, Vy remained calm. 

"With all of us, we can take them," she proclaimed with confidence. 

"It's not about that," Bertuf rebutted, "Without the blessing of the Moon…"

The Beta did not want to admit their weakness to an outsider. He could not bring himself to say those words. 

-Werewolves are at their strongest under the light of a full moon.- Aether explained as he slithered up Vy's arm.

-Under the moonless night… their human form is left to fend for themselves.-he hissed. 

"You mean-"

"Werewolves can't take their wolf form under a moonless night?" Lycster asked. 

Bertuf begrudgingly nodded. 

Vy looked at all of them in front of her. Were these men empty in the brain? So what if they could not take the form of a wolf! They could still fight in their human form. 

"You don't understand, we're not strong enough in our human forms," Bertuf was perplexed, "Werebears are our mortal enemies. Without our wolf forms, we won't stand a chance."

Darric stood up from his seat and walked over to Vy. He placed his hand on her shoulder, she could feel the weight of his muscular hand gently pressing down. He had a reassuring look on his face. 

Vy could not help but laugh. 

"I'm not worried about them one bit. Don't worry. We ain't that weak, to begin with. Do these werebears have any weaknesses?"

Before anyone could reply to her question, Vy felt a reverberation in the surrounding area. Something was coming towards them, although they were not swift in their movements, they did not seem like something to be messed with. 

-It's the werebears.- Aether informed all of them. 

He could sense them coming towards their campsite. 

Lycster wanted to participate in the fight. But he knew that it was best for him to stay out of trouble. He had his animal forms to protect him. He was not afraid. After the much-needed rest in the last few days, Vy was more than ready to take on whatever was coming their way. 

She drew her energy dagger and positioned herself, ready for an attack. The werewolves did not lack behind either, they each drew their own weapons. No one was going down without a fight. Aether remained on Vy's arm as per her instructions. 

If all else fails, he would be their trump card. As they waited for their enemy to approach, Vy realised she had gravely miscalculated their incoming speed. As such, I decided to make a quick change. 

Under the moonless night, her Dark Kyu form was at its strongest. But she did not want to use it now. It would be an overkill. Instead, she opted for her regular Kyu powers instead. She chose to assume a hybrid form, with her fur covered ears at the top of her head and nine fur tails on her back. 

She still held onto the dagger in her hand. But instead of waiting for her enemies to arrive, she decided to go to them. Before Darric could even give her a word of warning, Vy zoomed straight into battle. 

With the element of surprise on her side, Vy descended upon her enemies. Being short sighted creatures, the werebears were caught off guard by her attack. She descended upon them from above. 

As she landed on the first werebear, all the others were stunned. The impact of her attack knocked the werebear out cold. Raising her dagger, she plunged it down into the werebear beneath her. 

It was like stabbing a block of room temperature butter. She severed the windpipe of the werebear and removed the dagger with one clean sweep. As soon as the dagger leaves the wound, blood spews forth like water out of the fountain.

In the next moment, Vy seemingly disappeared into thin air before their eyes, leaving the remaining werebears confused. 

"What was that?"

"Who was that?"

"Where did she go!"

Lycster had taken to his owl form. He was perched high up above them, observing with a bird's eye view. 

-How many?- his sister's voice rang in his mind. 

-Including the one you effectively killed, eight.- 

Lycster looked out into the distance. He noticed three figures standing in the cover of darkness. With minimal light, he couldn't quite make out who or what they were. But something told him that those three were puppet masters behind the werebears' attack. 

-Three more up ahead. Be careful.-

Wanting to find out who the other three were, Lycster flew over to take a closer look. Vy sensed it immediately and came up right in front of him and caught him in one arm before landing softly on a tree branch. 

"Where do you think you're going?" she whispered to him angrily. 

Down below, the werewolves have used Vy's attack to launch their own attack on the werebears. Each of them wielded a different weapon in their hands. Though their attacks were not as smooth as in their wolf forms, they were not lacking behind either. 

It soon became apparent that in their human form, they were not as strong. Darric wielded brass knuckles covered with spikes and moon dust. As one of the larger werebears came towards him, he ran forward and swung his hand backwards. 

Using the momentum, he shattered the left side of the werebear's face. A sickening crunch sound rang out upon impact. The werebear took a couple of steps back, the side of its face was sagging as the skull had been cracked. 

The werebear's eye was red, as blood and mucus oozed out of its mouth. But the werebear was not backing down without a vengeful counter-attack.