Luka and Mika were both asleep when their carriage swerved to the left violently. As soon as the carriage swerved again both Zhang and Alo felt the hairs on their bodies stand on end, causing them to look at one another suspiciously. Mika was still in Alo’s arms, sound asleep and Zhang checked outside; his vision only took a few seconds to adjust to the dark of the night, and in the distance behind the trees he saw large feline-like animals sprinting towards them. Without hesitation, Zhang ripped the curtain away from the window while saying in a cold voice.

 

“Get Luka and Mika on the floor.”

 

Alo instantly pulled the blanket from Luka and threw it to the floor before laying both sleeping siblings down, covering them with the blanket; he then laid himself over top of them as a barrier. In front of them, Zhang kicked the door open just as a large snow tiger lunged at their carriage. Once one tiger was kicked away another jumped towards them, but instead of kicking the beast away, he lunged his body out of the carriage to attack the large animal head on. Zhang’s body landed on the giant sized head of the snow tiger, and he quickly shoved his fingers through their black eyes. With the absence of Zhang and the door, the carriage was left in the open and another large tiger jumped towards them. The snow tiger succeeded in ramming the carriage, causing the carriage to roll against the snow violently before being thrown into a thick tree. Before the two wolves pulling the carriage could be dragged with the carriage, they clawed at their harnesses and escaped just in time.

Thankfully Alo had been able to push his arms and legs against the bench seats in the carriage, allowing him to hold Mika and Luka in place while the carriage rolled then collided into the tree. Because of the violent spinning motion, both Mika and Luka woke up with scared eyes. Alo didn’t waste any time and covered their bodies with the fur blankets while speaking in a quick but serious voice.

 

“We’re being attacked, stay quiet and don’t move.”

 

As soon as Alo spoke, the loud howls from the wolves could be heard. Mika and Luka both felt it would be safer in their beast form and they quickly changed. Alo was bleeding on his wrist and he used his blood to cover their scent by dripping it all over the blankets and their clothes. Once he couldn’t smell any mink scent, Alo stepped out of the carriage. He was on high alert and punched a tiger on the nose before kicking the beast into the ground with a dull thud. Alo could see no other tigers coming to attack him yet, and he took the opportunity to take in their surroundings.

 

Zhang was busy fighting tigers left and right while Nakai was a few ten metres ahead of Alo; he had already triggered his armour cuff while he shot any tiger that tried to get close to their carriage. Wang Bao was lying unconscious inside their own carriage since he had been thrown against the wall when the tigers hit their carriage. Nakai had already triggered Wang Bao’s armour as well but he wasn’t about to move away from the carriage and leave him unprotected. Scattered around the fight area, the five wolves didn’t stand idle either as they tore chunks of flesh from the tigers. Unlike Zhang and Alo, the wolves could sense something was wrong with these Werebeasts, but there was no way to help them since they were completely blinded by rage. As Alo watched the scene in front of him carefully, he found a group of tigers running in from behind Nakai and he quickly ran forward; Nakai had also noticed them and he shot one last tiger before reaching towards his thigh. Nakai quickly threw his thick bladed knife towards Alo, who sliced the neck of a tiger that dived towards him. Alo didn’t stop there as he spun on his heel and threw the heavy knife at another tiger trying to attack from behind.

 

While Alo protected Nakai’s back and Zhang continued to attack from the middle, the five wolves spread out to cover their perimeter. They wanted to lessen the amount of tigers the others would need to fight, but the tigers seemed to keep coming from every angle. All five  of the wolves' grey fur was now a dark shade of red from all of the blood while a pungent metallic scent clung to the air; they could also smell a slight floral smell in the air but it was the wrong season for flowers on the mountain. With the wolves struggling to deal with the constant onslaught of tigers, the result of the attack seemed dire. Just when things started to go downhill for them, the wolves caught the scent of another pack. 

 

From the top of the hill, through the dark shadows of the trees, a pack of six chocolate brown wolves sprinted through the forest towards Alo’s group. Their loud growls echoed through the forest before they all lunged forward to attack. Zhang was still in the centre of the fight, countless tigers surrounding him, both dead and alive. His arms had grown heavy from the constant fighting but he didn’t back down. While Zhang kicked another tiger away from his body, a tiger jumped him from behind, pushing him to the ground. Zhang let out a loud shout of pain when he felt sharp teeth sink into his forearm, but before any more damage could be done, a brown wolf jumped forward and bit into the beast’s neck, killing it instantly. Despite the new pack of wolves being smaller than Kang’s wolves and the tigers by a full head, they were nimble and quick. Alo was also tiring because of the constant tigers coming for him and Nakai, and he slashed across the air with his knife but missed his target, earning him three deep cuts across his side. Switching hands, Alo was able to fend off the large tiger by switching the knife to his other hand, slicing across the white tiger's nose before a brown wolf jumped in and finished the job.

 

It didn’t take long before the numbers of the tigers finally dwindled before none were left, only corpses. Blood covered every inch of white snow around them, leaving the area to hold a strong stench of metallic blood. Alo’s side was bleeding heavily and he clutched his side with a grimace, limping back to his carriage. Zhang limped after Alo while taking his shirt off to hold against the bite wound on his arm. While Alo and Zhang went to check on the two minks, Nakai dropped his guns into his bag before pulling Wang Bao out of the carriage. Nakai used Wang Bao’s finger to swipe over his armour cuff before looking over Wang Bao’s injuries. His body was fine, but there was a deep gash on the side of his forehead leaking out a constant stream of blood. Nakai searched around for a clean section of snow, but the entire ground that wasn’t covered in dead tigers was red. If Wang Bao hadn't been bleeding so profusely, Nakai would have waited to treat his wound, but Wang Bao was still unconscious with no signs of waking up. After Nakai scooped up some of the reddish pink snow, he pressed it against Wang Bao’s head; the cold helped congeal the blood and it wasn’t long before Wang Bao finally opened his eyes.

 

In the distance, the brown wolves changed into their human form in order to talk with Kang’s wolf who had already changed. While everyone wrapped a wide cloth around their waists, a tall olive skinned woman with long flowing hair led her pack. Once they were close enough to converse, the leader of the grey wolves bowed deeply before saying seriously.

 

“Thank you for responding. We noticed the tigers a few kilometres back but we thought they would stop their chase once we came onto your territory.”

 

The woman had a stern look in her eyes while she responded.

 

“We noticed them a few days ago but before we could attack, they ran off. We thought they would have left for good, but we didn’t expect them to actually attack on our land.”

 

The woman looked around with a sharp gaze once she finished talking, and she quickly saw Zhang and Alo were tending to their wounds by their carriage while Nakai was carrying Wang Bao over to them. She peered at the odd group with dark eyes before turning back to the grey wolf she had been talking to, speaking in a darker voice than earlier.

 

“It is rare for the head tribe to escort outsiders, what is the meaning behind this?”

 

The man looked straight ahead at the woman without altering his expression, but inside he was torn on whether or not he should say. With a stern look from the woman in front of him, he gritted his teeth while saying.

 

“They helped our tribe find Lani...Kang has given them permission to travel this area and we are to make sure they get to where they need to safely.”

 

He watched as the woman’s face darkened more before she stormed over to Nakai and Alo.  Nakai had already sat Wang Bao inside the carriage with Luka and Mika who were busy dressing themselves under the blanket; Wang Bao’s head was throbbing from the cut and he felt kind of woozy, but he tried his best to fight it off. Outside the carriage, Alo and Zhang were standing with Nakai, both of them shirtless as they had their wounds treated. Nakai slathered on cream without much care for tenderness and the two men groaned in pain; as Nakai’s hands moved mercilessly, he could hear somebody stomping through the stained snow. Because of the loud aggressive way the person was walking, Nakai knew they weren’t part of Kang’s group, and he spoke in a dull voice without turning around.

 

“Thanks for your help, what do you want?”

 

Alo widened his eyes once he recognised who Nakai had just offended, he tried to step forward but his side burned with pain, earning him a shove from Nakai to stay still. The woman laughed out of shock at Nakai’s words before pulling his shoulder in the hopes of making him turn around, but his body was too heavy and this only pissed him off. She didn’t care though as she spoke confidently at Nakai’s back.

 

“My name is Mana, you ignorant bastard and you are on my land so you will treat me with respect! Now, tell me where Lani is before I lose more of my patience.”

 

Nakai looked over his shoulder before turning back to Zhang, slathering more cream on the wound before it could start bleeding again. Nakai’s voice sounded bored while he replied to Mana, his hands moving quickly to wrap Zhang’s wound with a clean bandage at the same time.

 

“I already told Kang and Rana about Lani. I don’t like repeating myself so you can go visit them if you really want to know. I should let you know that Rana is out of town though.”

 

Mana was almost speechless at Nakai’s constant rude treatment and she turned towards Alo who was slumped against the carriage in pain. He had a loud ringing in his ears and he struggled to hear Mana’s loud voice that was directed at him.

 

“You! Tell me where Lani is.”

 

Alo was also sweating from the pain in his side that seemed to be spreading, and he looked at Mana tiredly before shrugging his shoulders. When he was finally able to speak, his voice was breathy.

 

“I don’t know….He’ll be returning though….go see...Kang if you need him so….urgently..but after….last time don’t….be surprised if you…”

 

Before Alo could finish his long sentence, he was cut off by Mana.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Mana narrowed her dark brown eyes at Alo before looking into the carriage. Mika and Luka were sitting on either side of Wang Bao who was slumped in his seat; the pounding in his head was getting worse while the pain from his wound felt like it was spreading to the back of his head and neck. Mana instantly narrowed her eyes at Wang Bao and commented aloud, her voice still harsh.

 

“He’s far away from home. It’s rare for humans to travel so far. Tell me where your group is  going.”

 

It was Alo’s turn to receive more treatment from Nakai, and he winced loudly because of the heavy weight from Nakai’s hand. Nakai could see Alo’s wound continued to bleed despite being coated in a clotting cream, and he quickly started bandaging the wound while replying to Mana, his tone never changing from sounding bored.

 

“Down the mountain.”

 

Mana was waiting for more words to come out of Nakai’s mouth but there was nothing else to be said. All she could do was stomp her way back to her pack, her blood boiling with frustration. When she finally reached her pack as well as Kang’s group, a member from her own pack asked quietly.

 

“Princess, what will happen now?”

 

Instead of answering, Mana looked at the Nakai’s group of mixed people with a dark gaze before looking over the countless dead white tigers. From the carriage, a dull thud was heard before both Luka and Mika cried out from shock. Nakai reacted quickly and stopped bandaging Alo’s side in order to pull Wang Bao out of the carriage. Wang Bao was unresponsive and Nakai tapped against his pale cheek lightly; once Wang Bao showed no signs of waking up, Nakai checked Wang Bao’s breathing and found it was rather shallow. Nakai held Wang Bao closer to him while saying his name quietly, but Wang Bao could only respond in a pained whine. Before Nakai could think of a way to help Wang Bao, Mana returned to stand behind Nakai and said in a serious voice.

 

“We’ll take him back to our den. It will be faster if one of my wolves takes him directly.”

 

Nakai looked over his shoulder at Mana, she was no longer heated about Lani and had retreated back to her authoritative figure. Even though he could see the change in her demeanour, Nakai was still cautious. Nakai didn’t trust easily and he didn’t want to hand Wang Bao over, but when he saw how pale Wang Bao had gotten, he reluctantly agreed. A chocolate brown wolf was already waiting behind Mana, and Nakai draped Wang Bao over the wolf’s back. Despite the brown wolves being smaller than Kang’s, they were much bigger than a regular wolf, and Wang Bao’s fragile body looked even smaller once he was lying on the back of one. As soon as Nakia stepped back, the wolf sprinted back up the hill with two wolves following behind. Nakai watched the wolves until it was too dark to see them. Behind him, Mana and the other wolves were helping get the carriages back in working order; luckily the wood was thick and sturdy enough to not encounter any structural damage and they would be able to ride in the carriages back to Mana’s den.

 

From behind, Nakai felt someone pull on his shirt lightly and he turned around to see Mika looking up at him with bloodshot eyes. Nakai quickly knelt down when Mika motioned for him to come closer, and he heard Mika whisper in his ear.

 

“Before Bao collapsed, he started muttering about a flower and how somebody was hunting him.”

 

Nakai looked at Mika seriously before asking in the same whisper.

 

“Did he say a name?”

 

Mika shook his head and Nakai told him to get back to the carriage since he was turning purple. Zhang started walking over as Mika turned around, and Nakai looked back towards the hill where Wang Bao had been taken. He knew the attack didn’t make sense, and he heard Zhang  whisper to him quietly once he was close enough to hear.

 

“I feel something is off about this situation, Nakai. The first lot of tigers came from that same hill. I saw them with my own eyes; it wasn’t until we started attacking that they came from all around us. The tigers also didn’t react to the howling, and did you notice how they didn’t attack any of the brown wolves? Do you think it’s safe for Wang Bao to go with these wolves alone?”

 

Nakai clenched his fist after hearing his own thoughts being said aloud by Zhang, and he sighed tiredly before saying in a quiet voice.

 

“We have no way of treating him here. I don’t trust Mana either, but we don’t have many choices. Let's just get on the road again and stay alert.”

 

Just as they finished talking, Alo collapsed to the ground behind them. His wound was bleeding through the bandages at an alarming rate,and both Nakai and Zhang ran over to him to pick him up from the ground. They could hear he was mumbling something, but nothing he was saying made sense. Both Nakai and Zhang grunted as they struggled to lift Alo up then into the carriage. With Alo on the floor of the carriage, Zhang ran to the grey wolves to tell them what had happened while Nakai tried to get Alo to wake up. Every few seconds Alo would open his eyes to look around, but his gaze was unfocused. All of a sudden Alo started waving his arms around while shouting incoherently until Mika grabbed ahold of one of his arms, holding it to his chest with all of his strength. Once Alo felt someone grab his arm, he looked towards the person but his gaze was still unfocused. With Mika holding his arm, Alo slowly calmed down and would only mumble to himself quietly with his eyes closed; Mika soothed Alo the best he could while Nakai left for the other carriage. Thanks to Alo having to be on the ground, there was no space for anyone else aside from Luka and Mika.

 

Mana’s wolves had already started returning to the den, while the grey wolves waited for Nakai and Zhang to get seated. As soon as Nakai shut the carriage door, the wolves took off in a quick sprint up the hill towards Mana’s den. Inside the carriage, Nakai and Zhang discussed their situation further with Zhang saying in a hushed voice.

 

“Why do you think Wang Bao and Alo have been affected like this? Wang Bao wasn’t even part of the fight but his symptoms are even worse than Alo’s.”

 

Nakai peaked out of the window and saw the first hints of sunlight coming from over the mountain. After leaning back in his seat, he replied to Zhang seriously.

 

“I don’t know what’s going on here but hopefully we’ll find out once we get to Mana’s den. However, as soon as Wang Bao and Alo are healed enough to travel, we’re leaving these mountain ranges.”

 

. . . . . . .

 

Just like Kang’s den, they were led to a large wooden door that opened into a large hall inside the mountain. The carriages were dragged directly into the hall and men rushed to where Alo was inside the second carriage; he had lost consciousness again and was carried away by three men, leaving Luka and Mika scared and alone. Nakai and Zhang stepped out swiftly and motioned for the two brothers to come by them quickly. Unlike Kang’s den, Nakai noticed Mana’s den had electricity with large lights coming down from the dome ceiling. Before Nakai could take a good look around, Mana walked towards them in her human form and told them to follow her. They walked down a dimly lit tunnel until they reached the medical area. Mana pushed open the heavy metal swing doors leading into a large patient room, inside the room Wang Bao was laying in a hospital bed with Alo in the section beside him.

 

Zhang was directed to the third bed because his wound had started bleeding again and he needed stitches. Luka quickly sat beside Zhang on the hospital bed while Mika gravitated towards Alo’s side. An old dark skinned woman was busy walking around the room, gathering supplies on a steel trolley in order to work on Alo while a pale intern walked towards Zhang. Once the doctor had everything she needed, she walked to Alo’s side and slowly cut away his bandages. As soon as the doctor started peeling away the blood soaked bandages, a light sickly sweet floral scent could be smelt coming from Alo’s wound. The doctor cocked her grey haired head to the side out of confusion but she kept peeling the bandages slowly. Once Alo’s wounds were revealed, the doctor cleaned the wound with generous amounts of water while speaking in a serious voice.

 

“Those beasts clearly weren’t there for a meal. There is poison inside his wound; luckily he bled most of it out but what is left inside has started burning his nerves.”

 

Mika widened his eyes and looked down at Alo’s pale complexion with wide eyes. Nakai stood at the end of the bed and kept his eyes on Alo’s bloodsoaked body. He had promised Ala he would take care of Alo but it had only been twenty four hours, and he was already in a bad state. In a dark voice, Nakai asked the doctor.

 

“Can you identify the poison? What about him, was he poisoned?”

 

Nakai motioned to Wang Bao who was beside him and the doctor shook her head. She quickly picked up a pair of tweezers and a scalpel. While she moved carefully towards Alo’s open wound, she said to Nakai..

 

“I will take a small piece of his infected area to try and find the type of poison, but from the scent alone I can’t fully say what it is. As for the man behind you he had a bad concussion paired with fatigue. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had inhaled some of the poison though since he seems a little out of it.”

 

While Nakai spoke with the doctor, Zhang was left to the hands of the intern. He stared at the thin syringe needle, along with the thicker needle and thread that would be used for his stitches. It was obvious Zhang was scared of the needles and the intern couldn’t help but laugh with glee at the sight of Zhang’s pale face. Unlike his expression, the intern spoke in a gentle voice while moving towards Zhang’s bleeding arm.

 

“Don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing.”

 

The intern moved quickly as he pinched the tender skin around the bite wound on Zhang’s forearm, and he injected the clear liquid at various sections. Zhang instantly turned a deathly pale colour and he felt Luka pat the top of his head roughly. When Zhang turned to Luka, he heard the younger man say in a light voice.

 

“Such a big strong man is scared of a small thing?”

 

Zhang couldn’t help but scoff at Luka’s light jab at his ego, quickly replying with a smirk.

 

“Am I not allowed to have one flaw?”

 

Before Luka could start teasing Zhang more, the intern stepped away and clapped his hands quietly. Zhang quickly looked down at his arm and saw the small knots of the stitches. It was true that he hadn’t felt anything and he happily let the intern bandage his arm. Behind the intern, the older doctor was beginning to slice away small pieces of Alo’s burnt flesh. She hadn’t bothered to numb the area since Alo was out of it, but as soon as the first chunk of muscles and fat was removed, Alo started moving around by flinging his arms wildly. Nakia was quick enough to catch Alo’s flying limbs before he could hit Mika or the doctor, and one more sample was taken before the doctor picked up a small silver can. She sprayed over Alo’s side generously until a sheer black paste formed over the wound. Alo’s eyes widened as he felt the sting from whatever was being sprayed onto his open wound, but once the entire wound was covered his body relaxed and he fell asleep. 

 

Nakai looked at the black paste that now covered Alo’s wound before the doctor pushed her trolley away. Once Nakai had put Alo into a more comfortable position on his back to sleep, the doctor came back and handed Mika a large flannel, while behind her was another trolley with a large bowl of hot soapy water. The doctor moved around Alo’s bed, wanting to check on Wang Bao while she said in a stern voice.

 

“Since you two seem so close, you can wipe his body down. I need to check over this man again.”

 

Mika’s hands trembled slightly as he held the flannel in his hands awkwardly. Before Mika could decline, Nakia patted him on the head while saying softly.

 

“Just focus on his top half, Mika. Alo can wash himself properly once he’s awake.”

 

Mika thanked him quietly before Nakai walked to the free side of Wang Bao. He quickly pulled Wang Bao’s hair away from his bandages since he noticed the doctor was heavy handed, and she responded by cutting the bandage on either side of Wang Bao’s wound. While the doctor slowly pulled away the thick layers of bandages, Wang Bao started mumbling again. Nakai knelt down on the ground, trying to make out the words coming out of Wang Bao’s mouth but nothing he was saying made any sense. As soon as Wang Bao’s gash on his head was uncovered, the doctor’s face stiffened and her hands froze.