Chapter 12:
Days passed with the wolves remaining in their human forms. They had grown a little more accustomed to controlling their bodies.
Ethan lay on the ground alongside the others, gazing up at the endless sky. "It's hard to believe I was sent here as a weak infant," he muttered, raising his right hand to block the sun, studying his palm in the light.
"With your arrival, things truly changed," Solvian added, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Their peace didn't last long. A thunderous explosion erupted from the northern side of the forest. Nukebuki chuckled, shaking his head. "Another day, another clash of ranks."
The others nodded in silent agreement, closing their eyes to reclaim a sliver of calm only to be interrupted by the frantic shouting of the former skeleton.
"Master! Master!" Lucien's voice rang out as he sprinted toward them.
Ethan lazily lifted his right hand in his direction. "Wind Magic." With a flick of his fingers, a storm-like gust howled forward, whipping Lucien off his feet and hurling him deep into the trees.
A collective sigh of relief passed through the wolves. Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose for balance, ready to return to their moment of peace.
"Master!!" Lucas's voice echoed again, this time through the voice link.
The group groaned in unison, sitting up.
"Speak, and if it's something dumb, you're dead, Lucien…" Ethan growled through clenched teeth.
"Humans!" Lucas voice quivered with urgency. "North from here."
Ethan sighed and dropped back onto the grass. "Yeah, definitely dead."
"There are kids with them," Lucas added quickly, "two of them… and one elderly woman, and one man. They're struggling against low-tier orange slimes."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "So what? Let them die. And those aren't just low-tier slimes."
These orange slimes were infamous monsters that could absorb any attack, no matter how powerful, and then reverse it.
"But they could be of use to us," Nukebuki interjected.
"Oh?" Ethan tilted his head lazily. "And how so?"
"They know the outside world," Nukebuki explained. "Its power scales, its lifestyles, its systems… things we don't."
The wolves including Ethan stared at him in disbelief. The dimmest of their pack had just said something undeniably sharp.
"You're right," Ethan admitted with a smirk. "Where are they?"
"North side, master," Lucien replied.
Ethan rose to his feet, energy flaring and wrapping around him as he began to levitate. A dangerous grin stretched across his lips. "Let's be heroes."
North Side of the Forest
"How long can we hold this…? I'm running out of magic," the crimson-haired woman whispered, bracing her staff. A shimmering barrier flickered around them. Her long white robe bore the fiery insignia of a phoenix near her chest. Gold-lined patterns streamed across her shoulders and curled elegantly around the hem. Despite her beauty and poise, her voice carried strain.
"We just have to endure," the armored man growled, slashing at one of the slimes. His armor gleamed silver with golden trims, the design echoing the woman's robe,formal, noble, yet battered by battle.
They were losing ground. The two children huddled together, trembling. One boy, pale-haired with piercing red eyes, stared at the creatures before him being Prince Lucien himself. The girl clutching his arm was his younger sister, Jessica, her blue eyes wide with tears.
"Prince! Take Jessica and run!" the woman shouted, desperation breaking through her calm.
Lucien froze, his body locked in fear. He had never felt so useless, so powerless.
"Lucien!" the armored man barked. "Go! Now!"
Lucien's legs finally moved. He dragged Jessica to her feet, preparing to flee.
But fate had other plans. The crimson-haired woman unleashed a blast of magic at one of the slimes. It absorbed the attack, then spat it back, redirecting the blast toward the children.
Too fast. Too sudden.
The woman's eyes widened. The man's sword arm twitched helplessly. Neither could move in time.
The fiery blast raced straight toward Lucien and Jessica.
This was the end
or so it seemed.
To be continued…