Sam was hopeful that the exhaustion from the day before would keep him from his nightmares, but his hopes were soured when he awoke covered in sweat. He chose not to go for an extra run today knowing what the team had in store for him. He did get dressed and go for a walk through the city to warm up his body. He returned to the house to find Alannah and Lucas awake. They talked while waiting for the other two teammates to wake up. He learned that they must have died on Earth at the same time because they were brought to this world together. Their memories of each other returned as soon as they saw each other but they still can’t remember other personal details of their previous lives.

            That day and the next several followed a similar pattern as the first. They would wake and start with a run through the town. Next, they would spend time with strength training and running the obstacle and parkour course. Sparring and weapons training would follow and then lunch. More sparring and archery would take place in the afternoon. After the first two days, he was able to complete the training each day but lagged behind the rest of the team. They said that as his soul absorbed more energy, his endurance, strength, and overall skill would increase in kind. Training was great to get him back into shape as well as get him used to using his weapons, but it did not contribute to strengthening his soul. On the fourth day, the afternoon training session was swapped with a mission.

            A pack of saber wolves had been spotted west of the town. The wolves didn’t pose a huge threat to the town itself, but it would be good practice for the team and more specifically Sam to put some of his new skills to work. They left the town shortly after lunch and started moving east climbing slightly higher in elevation as they went. As they moved further into the hills, the trees became thicker turning into an actual forest. The trees were still of the same odd variety he had seen previously but grew taller the higher the terrain. After travelling for two hours, they came upon a small glade with the trees opening onto a nice field of grass. A small stream ran through the glade moving from north to south almost splitting the area in half. Four elk-like animals were standing near the river drinking and eating the surrounding grass. One of the animals was laying down on this side of the river while another stood several feet upstream. The other two were on the far side of the river. The elks were large beasts with antlers that towered another three feet above their heads. The team stealthily approached the edge of the glade keeping the trees between themselves and the animals. The beast closest to them glanced in their direction twice forcing the team to freeze until he returned to eating. Lucas employed the hand signals they had been using at night to direct the team’s attack. Lucas would take the northern beast on the far side of the river while Alannah took the other distant beast. They wanted Sam to take the closer animal followed by the elk that was still laying down. Each archer moved into position and Sam pulled three arrows out of his pouch. He held two in his left hand with one nocked on his bow. They would all fire on his mark. He positioned himself close to a large tree and rose to his full height. He pulled back on the bow string lining up the first shot. His heart was beating hard, and he smiled slightly as the standing elk turned to give him a perfect broadside shot. He released his breath and let the arrow fly. It struck true just behind the foreleg and he saw the animal jump straight in the air and start to run toward the north end of the glade. He heard his two companions release their arrows moments after his. He focused his attention away from the other animals and turned it toward the elk that had been laying down. It was already up and moving toward the south end of the glade. He had used his practiced technique and had already notched his next arrow by the time the first one had hit its mark. He tracked the beast for only a moment as it thundered away. He let the arrow fly, giving a little bit of lead to the shot. He heard another thud as the arrow made contact before the beast could make it to the safety of the trees. He turned his attention back to the center of the glade. His first shot was true, and the animal had only made it a few yards before collapsing into the ground. Lucas and Alannah had also delivered on their kills. As he started to move toward the fallen beasts, he felt the first surge of energy rush into him. He moved to his kill, placing a hand on its side. The animal dissolved leaving behind meat, a hide, and his arrow. As he finished collecting the items, he felt a second surge of energy and started moving toward the south end of the glade. This elk had made it fifty yards before collapsing against a tree with its feet sticking into the river. His shot had been slightly off the mark landing just behind the heart but still catching both lungs. He received the same items from this kill. He stowed the items and moved back to the glade with the group.

            It felt like he had gained a good amount of energy. He smiled to himself as each new burst of energy seemed to invigorate his body almost immediately. They passed a couple more loan elk which he was told were called ceryneians. Sam took these down alone trying to advance enough to be even with the rest of the group. They also came upon a group of birds that he would equate to turkeys and spent a few minutes hunting these down. After another hour of traveling, they neared the area where the wolves had been spotted. The team chose stealth over speed as they moved through the thicker forest with Lucas and Alannah acting as scouts slightly ahead of the group. They moved through the area for another fifteen minutes until Alannah signaled for the group to stop and alerted them to the presence of enemies. There were six by her count. The group crept up to the tree she had positioned herself near while surveying the area.

            Jutting into the side of the hill was an indent in the rock about six feet deep. The rock framing the entrance had also jutted out slightly from the rest of the hill. There were mossy patches along the rock with a large tree on either side of the opening. The area just in front was also a rocky patch about five yards in diameter. They could see one wolf laying on top of the rocky outcropping overlying the cave. Two more were in the small cave while another three were fighting over the remains of a carcass just in front of the cave. The wolves were the size of large dogs with black fur peppered with grey. In addition to the usual razor-sharp fangs of wolves, they had two large teeth coming from their upper jaw that would be more at home on a saber tooth tiger. These two teeth had a faint ebony sheen to them. Sam understood now why they were called saber wolves.

Lucas divided up the beasts among the archers with Bard and Sanders standing guard just in front of the three archers. They lined up their shots and let loose. The first three hits were successful, but these wolves reacted faster to the attack than the ceryneians. The three wolves that had been struck by the arrows had let out shrill howls before collapsing to the ground around the carcass that had previously been their dinner. Lucas and Alannah were still able to get off their second shots, but they were not able to fell the beasts alone. Sanders moved to intercept the wolf aimed at Lucas while Bard moved in front of Alannah. The sixth beast was the one that had been laying on top of the rock opening. It leapt down from the ten-foot height and was bounding toward Sam. He dropped the bow knowing he didn’t have time to line up another shot before the beast was upon him. He planned the same strategy he had used on the razorbeast a few days ago. He summoned his axe from his pouch and prepared to leap to the side as the beast neared him. He feinted left again and then jumped right. The beast had fallen for the feint but was much more agile than the clumsy razorbeast. It was able to swipe with its left front claw as Sam jumped away catching him on the thigh. The move had still worked well enough that Sam was able to bring the axe down on the side of the wolf just behind the same arm that had raked him with its claws. The strike wasn’t lethal since Sam had been put off balance by the beast’s attack, but it did knock the animal to the ground and sever enough of the front left leg to keep it from getting up quickly. Sam felt the pain in his thigh from the claws but forced his attention back onto the beast. He lunged forward using mostly his left leg and brought the axe down again aiming for the beast’s neck. It tried to get back onto its three working legs and turn on Sam but was too wounded. It was only able to turn enough for the axe to catch it across the skull killing it. The energy surges from the kills helped decrease the burning in his thigh but he knew he would have to address the wound quickly. While the team looted the other carcasses, Sam focused his energy into his leg repairing the wound. Then, he looted the wolf next to him and was pleased to find that in addition to the pelt and the meat, he had gained the two ebony fangs. Sanders moved over to him and helped him back to his feet.

The group surveyed the rest of the area and then turned back toward home. They figured they could make it back to town in two hours if they pushed it and didn’t stop to hunt any animals. They had only made it about fifteen minutes before the forest around them erupted in several howls followed by an ear rattling howl from further away.

            “What was that?” Sam asked looking to the group for an explanation for the monstrous noise.

            “Dire wolf.” Lucas responded. “Move to that group of trees there to put something at our backs. We’re running out of daylight so make your shots count. Take out the other wolves before the dire wolf arrives.” The group moved as one toward the trees Lucas had indicated. It was a set of five trees that were staggered, leaving little room between them for a wolf to squeeze between and flank the group. Both Lucas and Alannah had shot at the wolves manifesting out of the woods around them. Sam also lined up a shot as they reached the trees and fired at a wolf circling fifteen yards away. They had taken down three wolves in only a few seconds, but he could see at least ten more moving within the trees. Lucas loosed another arrow felling another one. Sam had aimed his second shot but was interrupted by another howl closer than before. The three archers continued sending arrows toward the circling wolves slowly decreasing their number, but they weren’t attacking. They seemed content to circle their prey awaiting the arrival of the dire wolf. Darkness had started to settle across the woods as well putting the group at an even bigger disadvantage. Sam activated his night vision ring bringing things back into clarity. The rest of the group pulled out a few energy stones and tossed them at their feet. Sam updated the group as he counted the wolves. Six more wolves remained but stayed far enough away from the group that it became difficult for the other two archers to hit them. Sam had better luck and was able to take two more down. He was nocking an arrow to try and take a third when the dire wolf came into view. It was a towering beast that stood as tall as him. It had jet black hair without the grey sprouts that adorned the other wolves. The beast slowly moved closer, joining the others that had been patiently waiting. It looked at its fallen family, turned its yellow slit eyes toward the group responsible, and let out another howl that shook the very trees behind them.

This howl acted like a battle horn for the wolves as they turned and started dashing toward the group, closing the twenty to thirty yards quickly. Sam called out a warning as the team prepared for the oncoming wave. Sam sent his arrow at the dire wolf before putting his bow away and pulling out his axe. The arrow hit the shoulder of the beast but only elicited an enraged roar. The rest of the team had their weapons at the ready and Lucas held his sword out in front of him with one hand at the base of the blade just above the hilt. A sudden flash filled Sam’s eyes making him turn away from Lucas as he deactivated the night vision ring. When he looked back, Lucas’ sword was aglow with a burning white flame that lit up the area around the battlefield. This was one of Lucas’ abilities since he had upgraded to an apprentice soul. Lucas followed this action with his second ability. A bright light spread out around Lucas covering a radius of six yards. This provided enough light for the team to engage the smaller wolves that had reached them. Each party member was able to dispatch one of the wolves without taking much damage, but the dire wolf was upon them before they could turn their attention from the initial attack. It had leapt the last ten yards landing between Sanders and Bard knocking them to the side. It was aiming for Sam since he had been the source of the creature’s pain. Sam had been aware enough to move toward the attack allowing him to avoid the six-inch claws poised at the end of the paw. This helped keep him from getting skewered but also put him directly in front of the swipe. A paw the size of Sam’s head caught him across his torso sending him several feet back into one of the trees. He felt a couple of his ribs break on impact. Before the beast could finish Sam off, Lucas had leapt into the beast’s path with a slicing arc from his burning sword. He caught the beast along its maw slicing through the right side of its bottom jaw. This elicited another angry growl as it tried to sink its teeth into Lucas’s shoulder. It managed to get one fang into his upper arm but was stopped from biting the entire arm off by a series of attacks from the rest of the team. Alannah had lunged forward stabbing her sword into the beast’s side aiming for the heart just behind the front paws. Sanders and Bard had also recovered their footing and were launching attacks of their own at the beast’s flanks. The dire wolf became even more enraged with these new wounds and shook its body like it was a dog shaking off water. This move sent the three attackers stumbling backwards and ripped a large hole in Lucas’s arm. Sam had recovered from his flight into the tree and saw the beast move over the fallen Lucas preparing to clamp down on his face. He moved his axe to his left hand and summoned the basic spear he had gotten earlier. He heaved the spear at the beast catching it just behind the jaw. He followed this with a leaping attack now wielding the axe in both hands. The spear throw had done just enough damage to distract the dire wolf from finishing Lucas off. It didn’t have time to react to Sam’s incoming attack, and the axe came down over the beast’s left eye. The skull was too thick to be splintered by the attack, but the eye was pierced by the sharp edge of the blade, and it almost exploded like a squished orange. This sent the animal reeling to the side swinging it’s claws wildly. One claw caught Sam across the chest, but it was just a glancing wound. The beast fell to the side still clawing wildly. Sam avoided the flailing front legs and came in again with another strike at the level of his spear just behind the jaw. Bard had also recovered and was plunging his blade into the belly of the large beast. Each strike led to a small convulsion within the beast followed by slower and slower movements. Eventually the beast succumbed to the attacks and its movements stopped. A huge white cloud floated out of the dire wolf’s body and entered each of the team members. Sam felt the large surge of energy restore him slightly. Bard surveyed the area for any more attackers but could see none. Alannah had moved to her brother and was holding pressure over the wound on his arm. Blood had started to pool underneath him, and his radiant aura was fading. He had a pale complexion in the light of the energy stones.

“Sam! He needs you.” She said with a pleading tone in her voice. Sam moved closer and examined the wound. The beast had torn open a large gash when it shook while its fang was still in Lucas’ arm. This had ruptured the brachial artery leading to a profuse amount of bleeding. Sam calmed his mind and channeled his energy into his hands. He focused on the artery first repairing the walls of the artery to limit any further blood loss. Once complete, he turned his attention to the bone and muscle around it and slowly reformed these. He repaired the nerves that had been injured and finally closed up the soft tissue and skin. He could not replenish Lucas’ blood levels, but his healing ability had pulled Lucas away from any immediate danger. Next, he examined his own injuries. He repaired two broken ribs followed by the more superficial wound on his chest. He checked in with the others in the group, but none had any serious injuries requiring healing.

Night had fully set now, and they were still close to two hours from town, maybe longer now that they were exhausted and injured. The team decided to return to the rocky cave and camp the night. Alannah stayed with her brother as the others looted the bodies of the dead wolves. Sam reached out and touched the enormous dire wolf. It dissolved, leaving behind the usual pelt and several slabs of meat. There was also a cloak and a set of bracers. He announced the items he had collected and stored them in his sack. The team had explained that items were occasionally left behind by larger animals, so Sam wasn’t completely surprised to find these two items mixed in with the pelt and meat of the dire wolf. It was still odd to see items appear out of thin air, but he had become accustomed to many odd things recently. The items were a creation from some of the beast’s energy and usually shared traits with the animal or monster. The team had a system for distributing the items obtained while on missions. If the item specifically benefited one of their skill sets, then it would go to that team member. If the item benefited all of them, it went to the next team member in rotation.

Lucas was too drained from blood loss to walk on his own but was able to make it back to the cave with the assistance of Bard. They set up a few bed rolls just inside the cave. A fire was started with the assistance of Lucas’ cleansing flame. The ability was quite useful in multiple ways. It could be used on any weapon and only required a small amount of energy to initiate it and a smaller amount of energy to keep it active. It provided light and warmth but more than that it increased the damage dealt significantly. Lucas quickly fell asleep in the cave while the others roasted some of the wolf meet on the recently made fire. Bard took first watch making sure there were no other surprises.

“I am truly grateful for what you did today,” Alannah said turning to Sam.

Sam smiled at her, “I’m just glad we were able to make it out of such a dire situation.” This made Sanders snort with some laughter.

“You’re an idiot,” Alannah said as a smile spread across her face. Watching Alannah smile at him awakened something in him that he had lost long ago. He had known her for less than a week but something about her lightened his spirit. It was a welcome sensation and he smiled wider.

“Are you kidding me right now? That was his stupidest pun yet and here you are laughing at it.” Bard said with some incredulity.

“Come on Bard. Take a break and come wolf down some food.” Sanders joked. This led to a full-on laugh from Alannah.

“Now you’re talking Sanders.” Sam said laughing. Bard just shook his head and walked away from the fire to resume his watch. They sat and talked for a while longer, letting the lighthearted banter calm their frayed nerves. The rest of the group soon turned in with Sanders taking the second watch. The fire had started to simmer down into embers with an occasional pop of ash and sparks coming from the pile. Sam laid down on his mat just inside the rocky cave with his feet toward the fire. A few feet from him lay Alannah, already fast asleep. He watched her breath in and out as a self-deprecating debate raged in his head. He was starting to have feelings for her.

But how could that be? What kind of husband am I? I have feelings for a woman I met less than a week ago. My wife died less than a year ago and here I am getting excited about feelings toward another woman. Sam paused and caught himself looking at Alannah again. She is beautiful. There’s no doubt about that. She had an athletically toned body that complimented her beauty. She also had a personality that complemented his. But did this internal debate even matter. What makes me think she would reciprocate any feelings? His mind sunk fully into the tumultuous debate for another hour before sleep took him.

***

Anarak listened to the reports of his spies with interest. It seems the team that likely killed his brother were stationed at this camp. They had returned just a day ahead of Anarak and spent the next few days within or near the town. He learned the group had been on the outskirts of the battle and suspected they may have been meeting with the elusive spy. The more interesting news was that one of the team members appeared to be a living anomaly. He wasn’t sure what that meant in the grand scheme of things, but he did feel the need to relay this information back to his superiors. He sent one of the men to inform the demon council about this development. The news didn’t change his overall plan, however. He would find a way to punish the wretches that killed his brother. He would have to strike at the team while they were outside the walls. If the opportunity presented itself to capture this living anomaly, then he would bring it back to the council himself. If the human happened to die in his attack, he wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.