34 Emily and Gray meet Part 2 of 3

As the four wolves paced alongside me, I picked up a nearby stick and some stones. Now that I was their target, all I could do was try to scare them off. "Get away! Go!" I started to yell and threw one of the rocks at the nearest wolf.My aim was bad and the rock was lost into the bushes near the wolf. Instead of scaring the wolves off, this seemed to give the pack more courage. It seemed like they could sense that I would not be able to put up a fight.

"Get out of here!" I yelled so loud that it felt like my throat was tearing. I threw another rock I found at the wolf. This one hit its mark but the wolf just growled at me. I was not able to deliver enough pain to make the wolves give up. The four of them were roughly surrounding me now.

Giving up on the rocks, I held the stick up between myself and the wolf in front of me. A rustling noise behind me let me know that another wolf was approaching. I moved to the side and swung my stick back. I managed to deliver a nice whack to the side of the animal. But it also landed a ragged scratch with its claws on my leg that would slow me down if I tried to run. Luckily, I had managed to dodge its open mouth that had been aiming for me. Before I could regain my stance, another wolf jumped at me from the side. I do not know how I managed to mostly avoid this one but I felt a pain streak across the back of my other leg as the wolf managed toscore anotherscratch.

The wolf formation was broken now and I did my best to run through the gap. I knew I would not be able to get away, but I needed to get something behind me. There was a large oak tree twice as wide as I was no more than twenty paces away. I ran as fast as I could, trying to not give the wolves time to react. The cuts burned. My legs did not like me trying to use them so hard while they were injured. The wolves started to give me chase when I made it to the oak and turned around to face them. I saw that the wolves had already caught up and were on the three open sides. They were about to lunge at me but halted when I turned to face them.

"Help! Can anyone hear me!" I called as loud as I could. I knew I would not be able to speak for a few days after this. But that was only if I got through this day. I had droppedthe stick at some point in my stumbling dodges and my mad dash to the tree. I pressed my back of against the tree to try and shrink away from the wolves. As I did so I noticed I still had my bag on my back. I quickly reached in and grabbed out my trowel. I placed in front of me and waved as the wolves slowly closed in. The trowel was small. It seemed like a pitiful protection. I knew it would do little to help me defend myself. I was so scared. My body was starting to shut down with panic.

I could tell that the stress I was feeling was causing my powers to escape my control. The plants around me were starting to grow faster. Even with my naked eye, I could see the grasses and vines noticeably stretching towards me by several inches within a few heartbeats. I had never been able to make plants grow that much. In other circumstances, I might have been excited. But the wolves did not seem to care about the changes in the undergrowth.

They were now only a few yards away from me. I knew I would not be able to defend myself if they all attacked at once. I saw them lowering into their haunches, closing the circle, preparing for the final leap. I kept my eyes wide open, hoping I could determine which to defend against, and wishing my trowel was a sword.

One of the wolves turned to the side and started to growl.

It did not take me long to notice what caused their alarm. Something large was rushing through the underbrush in our direction. A large stick came spinning through the air and landed squarely on the pack leader, causing it to collapse. Following the stick came a man running out of the brush while yelling. The remaining three wolves quickly turned to face the man. He was obviously a much bigger threat than I was.

The man drew a small dagger from his waist as he rushed at the wolves. When he got close, he slashed his dagger through the air just a few inches in front the the wolves' faces. The wolves had to scramble backward a few steps to avoid the blade. Keeping his eyes on the wolves and keeping the blade in front of him, the man then squatted down and picked up his stick from near the fallen alpha. Looking closer I could see it was a throwing club. The wolf that was hit by the club did not seem to be dead. But it was making no effort to get up, and its shoulder was twisted at an unnatural angle that would lead to only one conclusion. Its shoulder had been completely broken.

Instead of finishing off the first wolf, he turned to the other three. He swung the club a few times in front of their faces. But this time the wolves did not seem to be scared. Instead they gathered their formation to attack. They began to growl at the man and formed a semi-circle around him, with one wolf in the front and another on either side. The wolf in front took a snapping bite toward the man and he swung his club, leaving his right side open to the wolves. I watched in horror as one of the wolves lunged into the new opening behind his swing, trying to attack his flank.

"Look out," I screamed. But the man seemed prepared for this. The dagger that had been sitting still in his other hand quickly blocked the wolf's path and left a large gash across its chest. Somehow, the man had managed to feign an opening, causing the wolf to attack exactly where he wanted it to. Through the fear, I found myself feeling amazed at his strength.

Before the wolves could recover from the surprise of the failed attack and correct their encirclement, the man swung his club hitting the center wolf squarely in the shoulder.It let out a sickening yelp as its front knee buckled. The man took a step back with the dagger and club held between him and the animals.

The two wolves that were hit staggered back up and retreated a few more steps. The man again brandished his club in front of the wolves and let out a savage roar causing them to retreat further. He lunged forward and yelled again. The wolves scramble out of the man's reach, but he did not pursue the retreating wolves.

The wolves seemed to have lost their courage after sustaining serious injuries. Keeping their eyes on their tormentor, they started to back up further. He roared again, and the wolves tucked tails and hurried into the nearby undergrowth. Once they were well out of sight, he turned and looked at me. "Are you alright?"

The relief of escaping from staring death in the eyes finally overcame me. I dropped the trowel and slumped to the ground. Seeing me collapse the man ran over to my side dropping his club and dagger to kneel next to me.

"Where are you hurt?" he said full of concern, looking over me trying to find the injury.