Chapter 26 - Hunting trip (Part 4)

"Aiden, the barrier will not hold for much longer. Lily, ready yourself as well, be steady with your aim just like we practiced." Granny gave the instructions. There were no gentle and kind smile on her face, it was all seriousness at this time. She was genuinely worried. A big group of black wolves! Why these, out of all the possibilities?

She was hoping that Aiden could handle himself, and she knew that Lily's aim was impeccable. Her magic however is not suited for combat, the runic magic she is using is an ancient art, more suited for everyday life and keeping herself and others safe and healthy.

Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, she started drawing another runic symbol in the air casting another unknown spell. This time however Aiden could not watch the process, as he was already watching the 2 closest wolves crashing themselves into the barrier relentlessly. He was also keeping a close eye on the biggest one, with the torn ears and scarred eye. He was obviously the alpha of this group.

It was very interesting to see the big wolf looking around its subordinates and barking and growling at them while occasionally shaking his head. It might seem random to the untrained eye, but Aiden could tell that it was giving commands that only they could understand.

His hands were already covered in scales, his fingers now transformed into long, thick claws. He was also keeping his breathing in check and was prepared to enhance his vision as soon as he could see the barrier destroyed. Speed was the most important factor in any ambush, and if the prey was faster than the ambushers, that could turn the tables quickly.

Meanwhile Granny was just finished drawing the next rune in the air, that glowed in bright white light then dispersed all around Lily and herself, turning them transparent and at the end of the cast invisible to the enemies. They were visible to themselves, and she knew that Aiden can 'see' them without vision as well.

Lily was also focused, there was no trace of her childish glee and mischief this time around. She took her role, -protecting her brother, seriously. Bow in hand, with an arrow prepared, her eyes were darting back and forth looking for the first 'meanie' to cross the barrier Granny cast.

As time creeped slowly forward, the first cracks of the barrier could be seen all around them. Their focus, the tension was high in the air. They could see the leader wolf grinning evilly, as it charged to the barrier itself, and with a loud bang, crashed it to pieces.

At this moment, the first arrow was shot from Lily's bow, arching its way towards the closest wolf in front of them, while Aiden enhanced his senses and the muscles in his calf. The next moment, he vanished from their eyes, and appeared behind the 3 farthest wolves, with his hands ripping 2 of them apart, as both of his eyes closed on to the middle one without any obstruction from the other 2.

As the first arrow pierced the forehead of the wolf, the second arrow was already prepared, and in the next moment shot to the second one.

The wolves could not detect where the arrow came from, only that it appeared out of thin air.

In the span of a few seconds, almost half of the attacking party was killed off and mutilated. The leader, stopped and howled into the air, then gave another bark as a set of command, for which all the remaining ones stopped their approach and gathered around the leader, as they continued their pace towards the only visible target, Aiden.

The leader knew that 2 others were hiding somewhere in the area, but without any vision and smell coming from any direction it was unable to pinpoint their location. So without anything better, he committed to the only visible target. Its plan was, that if they could put pressure and maybe kill off the visible target, the 2 hiding ones would come for the rescue. The orders it gave was to protect him, and watch their flank, for the approaching enemy as they attack the boy.

Meanwhile the third arrow was shot, but this time it wasn't a fatal hit, as it only pierced the back of one of the wolves surrounding the leader.

Aiden was ready. Exhaling some used air, he regained his focused state, and directed some of his remaining energy to his calves and senses once again. He had to rely on his speed, and thin the herd. As he vanished from the sight of his enemies once again, flesh and fur was torn apart on the 2 of the wolves guarding the leader on its left side. Howls filled with pain and suffering resounded in the next moment as the 2 crashed to the ground dead in the next second.

The leader was frustrated. All of its plans were literally torn to shreds in a matter of seconds. It couldn't see or detect the 2 that was visible a few minutes ago, and this seemingly fragile human boy was death incarnate. The hunting party it prepared is now gone, and with only 2 of its subordinates remaining, their chances to survive were bleak. By now he understood that it has no chance of winning this, and the only chance for survival would be to retreat.. However, for that the last 2 of the wolves will need to be sacrificed.

Barking the next set of commands, the 2 wolves looked at their leader, as if asking for confirmation. An angry snarl came as a response, which scared the 2. With nothing to do, they ran towards the boy, one healthy and 1 with an arrow stuck out of its back.

Looking at its subordinates running towards the enemy, the leader turned tails and started running back towards the direction it came from. Today's hunt was a failure, but with it surviving, there was a chance for revenge later on.

However suddenly, an arrow appeared out of thin air, aimed towards it! Snarling angrily it jumped up and with incredible dexterity, it grabbed the arrow out of the air with it's jaws and snapped it. Howling in the air, it then quickly disappeared in the foliage.

Meanwhile Aiden was just finishing up his battle with the last remaining wolf. His reserves were spent, and he could not speed up anymore, so the last 2 proved more of a challenge to his spent body. As the last standing wolf was slowly gaining the upper hand in their little bout, and was about to bite into the boy's legs, another arrow whistled through the air, piercing the wolf in the eye, killing it off instantly.

Seeing the last wolf fall to the ground, Aiden quickly followed, and fell onto his back, breathing heavily. This encounter spent all of his reserves. Luckily, Granny was here, and he did not need to worry about their safety, but still.. Fighting against such a large group of coordinated predators, was a first.

His eyes closed he started laughing with the occasional coughs mixed into it. "I'm totally spent…" he exclaimed.

"You did great Aiden." the gentle sound of Granny sounded next to him. In the next moment, her translucent body followed by the little blonde approaching rocket named Lily slowly took shape.

As the girl crashed onto him, she giggled happily.

"Did you see that brother! I did good right? I protected you!" nuzzling her head into his chest, the last parts of her sentence could be only heard by Aiden.

Looking at the 2 youngsters laying on the ground, she did not want to disturb them, so instead, she made her way towards the slain wolves and started gathering their parts. Compared to their grey furred counterparts, the black wolves fur and fangs were also very valuable, and not just for alchemy, but the fur was a prime material for tailors and leather workers in the city, while the fangs were good for crafting arrowheads for Lily.

The remains of the carnage were all around them. The ground was painted dark red with the spilled blood and torn intestines lettered all over. She had to admit, she expected a harder battle against this many black wolves. While the leader that seemed to be highly intelligent escaped, that was a problem for another day. She just had to make sure to mask their scent, and they should be okay, at least until they return later.

"That last look it gave… We will have to be careful next time… Hmm." lamented Granny. With that thought in mind, she went back to the trio who was still lying on the ground muzzled against each other. With the returning gentle smile on her face, she had to ruin the mood.

"Okay you two, get up, we have to get ready and leave. Their leader did escape, and we have to make sure, it can't follow us back. Stand up and come next to me, while I cast the spell to hide our scent."

Granny slowly started drawing a new rune in the air, and Aiden was ready this time around. As he jumped up, his eyes were focused on the symbol slowly forming in the air, and as the colorless spell engulfed them, hiding their scent from the world, he looked at his system and happily nodded his head seeing the notification.

[Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information… 15%]