The pack howled madly around it, their frenzy ignited by its presence.
The wolf locked with Renn suddenly went wild, strength flooding back into its body. With a savage lunge, it clamped down on Renn's leg and dragged him to the ground. Renn cried out, stabbing with his spear again and again, but the beast twisted, jaws grinding deeper into his flesh.
The Bronze II alphas howled and pressed harder. One slammed Grok with such force that his shield arm cracked, leaving him staggering and exposed. The other smashed straight into Drael, but he dug his boots into the dirt, raising his massive shield. The Dire Wolf joined the assault, ramming into him like a battering ram. Drael slid back several steps, the ground tearing under his feet, his shield shuddering with the impact.
For the first time, Karl felt the balance of the fight tilting against them.
Karl's eyes snapped to Renn, pinned beneath the wolf's jaws, blood soaking his leg. He sprinted without hesitation, spear flashing. With a sharp thrust, he drove the blade into the wolf's flank, forcing it to release Renn with a pained snarl. Karl planted his boot against the beast and shoved it back, standing over Renn protectively.
"Liora! Renn, first—stop the bleeding, now!" he shouted, never taking his eyes off the wolf.
The healer rushed forward, her hands already glowing with warm light, pressing them against Renn's mangled leg. The glow began to knit torn flesh, though Renn's face stayed pale with pain.
Karl didn't waste a second. His voice cut through the chaos like steel.
"Thorn, Ember—support Drael! Hold that Dire Wolf in place!"
Thorn's vines lashed toward the massive wolf, wrapping around it to slow its movements. Ember wheeled above, feathers slicing the air, gusts of wind battering the beast and forcing it to hesitate.
On the flank, Grok's shield sagged, cracked nearly in half. Tarran's thrusts grew frantic, barely deflecting claws, and Dren's mace strokes were slowing under the beast's relentless fury. They were buckling.
"Veyra support Dren on the second Bronze II. Keep it busy—don't let it break free! She moved without hesitation, her arrows driving into the wolf's ribs and haunches, just enough to stagger its rhythm.
The battlefield shifted. It wasn't stable, but it was balanced—barely. The Dire Wolf still pressed like a storm against Drael, Thorn, and Ember. The two Bronze II alphas tore and clawed at Grok, Tarran, and Dren. And Karl himself held the line over Renn, ready to strike the wolf that had nearly crippled him.
But in his gut, he felt it. This wasn't control. It was a thread stretched too thin, fraying under the weight of teeth and claws. One slip, one scream, one heartbeat of weakness—and the whole fragile shape would collapse.
Every move was survival. Every command was a gamble. One slip, and the whole formation would collapse.
His grip tightened on the spear until his knuckles burned. Not here. Not now. I won't let it break.
Karl drove his spear straight through the last Bronze I wolf's throat, feeling its weight collapse at his feet. No time to breathe. He spun; spotting Dren locked in a brutal struggle with one of the Bronze II wolves.
"Hold on!" Karl roared, charging in. Together, his spear and Dren's mace struck in perfect rhythm—stab, smash, stab. The wolf faltered, then crumpled under their combined blows.
A ripple of panic spread through the battlefield. The Dire Wolf's blazing eyes flickered as it saw one of its alphas fall. With a furious snarl, it tried to break away into the shadows of the forest.
"Don't let it escape!" Karl shouted.
Veyra's arrows streaked like lightning, pinning its legs with sharp cracks of impact. Ember swooped from above, her claws slicing across its back in a burst of wind. The Dire Wolf stumbled, forced back into the fight.
"Dren—support Drael! Take the Dire Wolf's flank!" Karl shouted, already moving. Dren obeyed, hammering in beside Drael's shield wall. Under Drael's steady command, the four of them—Drael, Thorn, Ember and Dren—managed to hold the monstrous Dire Wolf from escaping.
Karl dashed across the field, joining Grok and Tarran where their broken line bent under the second Bronze II wolf's assault. He planted his spear, drove forward with raw strength, and cut deep. With a final coordinated push, Karl's spear pierced its chest—ending the beast in a spray of blood.
Karl turned, breath heaving, and rallied the group.
"Now! Everyone—together!"
One by one, they converged. Ember dove with a piercing screech, her claws raking across the Dire Wolf's flank, forcing it to turn. Veyra's arrows rained in from the treeline, thudding into its shoulders and slowing its leaps.
Grok and Tarran pressed from the side, shields locking as they drove the beast back step by step. Dren swung his hammer down with bone-cracking force, while Thorn's vines lashed up from the earth, tangling the monster's legs just long enough for Karl to close in, spear flashing like lightning.
The Dire Wolf howled, thrashing with all its fury, but the circle closed tighter and tighter. It fought like a storm—but storms, too, could be weathered.
At last, Karl's spear struck true through its heart. The massive beast staggered, eyes dimming, then crashed to the earth with a thunder that silenced the battlefield.
Breathless, bloodied, but alive—the party stood victorious.
Behind them, Renn leaned against Liora, pale but safe, while Lysa kept watch at their side. Ember let out a sharp chirp from above, circling once before landing on Karl's shoulder.
The forest grew quiet once more. The wolves were dead.
But Karl's chest tightened as he looked down at the Dire Wolf's corpse. It was over—but the fight had been hard, much harder than he expected.
He knew the Wilderness would only get tougher from here. This was just the beginning.
"Alright," Karl said, his voice low but steady. "Collect the crystals. Take what's useful from bodies of wolves, hides, fangs, claws, meat from dire wolf.
One by one, they moved among the fallen wolves. The faint shimmer of essence flickered over each body as crystals loosened from flesh and bone, glowing faintly in the morning light. Veyra and Lysa worked quickly, prying them free with practiced hands. Thorn's vines dragged the carcasses into a pile, their weight heavy but manageable.
As the others gathered the loot, Karl moved silently among the fallen wolves, collecting the essence crystals himself. Five Bronze I crystals, two Bronze II, and one Bronze III—the true prize, more than he had dared hope for.