Ethan remained on his knees for several long minutes. Blood from dozens of wounds had soaked through his clothing. Although individually none of the injuries were very serious together they would be an issue if not treated.
Victor pushed himself up against the chamber wall with a grimace, one hand pressed against the gash along his ribs. The claw marks across his face had already stopped bleeding, but they would leave scars as reminders of the brutal fight.
AJ shrunk down to his smaller form and slide out from underneath the wolf corpse. His translucent mass trembled, even though the deep gouges were no longer visible he still felt the effects.
"Well," Ethan said finally, his voice hoarse, "that was much more challenging than expected."
"The crystal was able to adapt to the situation," Victor thought out loud.
AJ managed to stabilise his form. "It must've been created and given a goal or purpose, which I assume would be to stay 'alive' and produce wolves."
He produced several containers of the healing salve they'd become familiar with during their travels, along with clean bandages.
"Remember what Sam told us back at the Spire?" AJ continued, distributing the supplies. "About the Progenitor, the wish granter?"
Ethan applied salve to the bite marks on his shoulder, sighing as the familiar tingling sensation appeared. "Someone wished for monsters... and the artifact was the way to grant the wish?"
"There's going to more if that's true," Victor spoke, wrapping bandages around his forearm. "We should call them nests in that case, they won't all spawn wolves."
AJ shifted to the right. "We'll need to scout the whole region to track down all of nests. Otherwise they could produce a potentially infinite number of creatures."
There was a brief silence that hung in the air as they thought about the headache inducing situation.
"How's your cultivation been progressing lately?" Victor asked, changing the subject. "We haven't had time to focus on it these past weeks."
"Slow but steady," Ethan replied, flexing his fingers. "The pathways are solid now, and my capacity has continued to grow since the Spire. But the next breakthrough..." He shrugged. "Could be months away at this rate."
AJ's form rippled thoughtfully. "I'm not really sure how my cultivation works, but I can sense any significant changes will need a lot of time and effort."
"The quick progress from the early days has already sort of plateaued," Victor sighed. "Our bodies have adapted to our current level. Any further progress will need focused cultivation rather than passive accumulation."
"At least we know we can handle what these nests produce," Ethan said. "20+ creatures were manageable, even with the enhanced ones at the end."
"Don't get overconfident," Victor warned. "Different nests might spawn larger, stronger, or more numerous creatures. We can't assume they'll all be at this level of difficulty."
"The question is whether we're looking at a local phenomenon or something much larger." AJ said softly.
"Considering the scale of the wish event," Ethan said as he slowly stood up, "I'd say much larger. These nests could be scattered across the entire world."
"But that's not our immediate concern," Victor replied, also rising. "Our responsibility is to protect the settlement and the surrounding area."
They spent another few minutes ensuring their wounds were okay. The healing salve worked its magic, accelerating their recovery enough to make moving around bearable.
"Ready to get out of here?" AJ asked, looking around the chamber one last time.
"More than ready," Ethan replied, shouldering his pack. "This place gives me the creeps even with the crystal destroyed and the wolves dead."
---
The journey back through the cave system felt different with the nest destroyed. The uncomfortable energy that had marked their descent was gone, replaced by the silence of empty stone chambers.
They paused at each level where they'd fought wolves on the way down, but the passages remained quiet.
"Strange how empty it feels now," Victor observed as they climbed towards the surface.
Emerging into daylight was a relief after the underground battle. The midday sun felt warm against their faces, and the fresh air helped clear the last traces of the cave's oppressive atmosphere.
"Let's search the area before heading back," Ethan suggested. "See if we can find signs of other nests or different creatures."
They spent the next hour slowly exploring the terrain around the destroyed nest. The landscape was a sparse forest with scattered clearings, making it easy to spot disturbances or unusual formations at a distance.
"More wolf tracks heading southeast," Ethan reported after they met up again. "Multiple of them moving together."
"Recent?" Victor asked.
"Hours old, maybe less. There are definitely more wolves, likely from other, similar, nests in the region."
They continued their search, covering ground in widening circles around the destroyed cave. Most of what they found confirmed their expectations—evidence of wolf activity, game trails from normal animals, and the usual signs of a healthy ecosystem.
Victor ventured south while AJ searched further east and Ethan travelled north. Near a rocky outcropping about half a kilometre from the nest, he discovered something that made him pause.
The tracks were different—much larger than wolf prints and with deep claw marks. The stride pattern suggested a heavy, powerful creature.
"Bear-like, but not quite," he murmured to himself, studying the impressions. There were claw marks on nearby rocks too.
"The tracks head southwest," Victor observed, following the trail for several metres. "Avoiding our settlement, for now anyway."
"But if there's a nest..." Victor's expression soured, "it's only a matter of time before they make contact in one way or another."
Victor told the other 2 when they met up again and they all made mental notes to check it out in the near future.
"We've learned what we can from this area." AJ said as he looked up at the sun that was now slowly sinking. "Time to head back."
---
The return journey to the settlement was uneventful, though they maintained careful watch for signs of danger.
As they approached the palisade, Lily signalled from the watchtower that she'd spotted their return. By the time they reached the northeastern gate, a small group had gathered—Maria, Walter, and Sam, along with a few other settlement members who'd noticed the commotion.
"Successful mission?" Maria asked, noting their bandaged wounds and generally battered appearance.
"Quite successful," Ethan replied with a smile. "The nest is destroyed, and we understand much better what we're dealing with."
"Nest?" Walter repeated, raising an eyebrow at the terminology.
AJ nodded. "That's what we're calling them. There was a strange artifact inside the cave that was spawning wolves."
They gathered in Maria's quarters to discuss their discoveries more in-depth.
"The artifact was a crystalline sphere about the size of a basketball," Victor described. "It was floating in mid-air, and pulsing with a dark energy. There were also wolf-like shadows that moved around inside it."
"And it spawned more wolves as we killed the existing ones," Ethan added. "Even creating larger and stronger versions when we started damaging it directly."
Sam had his notebook ready, documenting every detail. "How did you finally destroy it?"
"It took three full-strength strikes with my axe," Ethan replied. "The thing was tough, but not indestructible. When it finally shattered, the leftover wolves seemed to loose their mind, attacking with no regard for themselves."
Walter's expression grew thoughtful. "An artifact that creates creatures from nothing. The connection to wishes and therefore the Progenitor seems obvious."
"That's exactly what we concluded," AJ confirmed. "Someone wished for monsters to fight, or creatures to hunt, and this is how the wish was fulfilled."
Maria leaned forwards with sudden understanding. "The safe zones were probably someone else's wish, meant to be a form of protection from the dangerous creatures being created. But they had time limits built in from the start."
"Which means the nests appearing right when the safe zones failed probably isn't a coincidence," Sam realised, looking up from his notes. "It's all part of the plan so to speak."
"So the safe zones aren't coming back," Lily concluded, "and the nests will keep producing creatures until we find and destroy them."
Victor nodded grimly. "We found evidence of more wolves in the area, plus tracks from what seems to be some kind of bear."
"Which means we'll need to continue searching," Maria spoke. "We need to expand our scouting operations."
"We can handle nest destruction," Ethan suggested. "But, yeah, we'll need more eyes looking for them."
Walter gently tapped his cane against the ground. "This represents a fundamental shift in our situation. We're no longer just defending against threats—we need to actively track down and destroy the sources of those threats."
The discovery of the nest had provided answers, but those answers revealed a much larger challenge ahead.
---
After the briefing, AJ, Ethan, and Victor made their way to the medical centre to check on Kate's recovery. They found Carl and David already there, sitting beside her bed with relieved expressions.
Kate was awake and alert, her colour much improved from when they'd last seen her. The wounds were healing well, and she seemed restless rather than weak.
"About time you three got back," she said with a small smile. "Carl and David have been telling me about your adventure without me."
"Just a routine nest-clearing operation," Victor said casually. "20+ wolves and a magical spawning crystal. Nothing too exciting."
"20+ wolves?" Kate's eyes widened. "Nests? magical spawning crystal??"
AJ quickly explained the situation to her before her head exploded from all the questions she was formulating.
"How long until you're back on your feet?" Ethan asked.
Doctor Hayes, who'd been checking on other patients, overheard the question. "3 more days of bed rest, minimum. The wounds are healing well, but she needs the rest."
"3 days," Kate said firmly. "Not 4, not a week. 3 days and I'll be back to full duty."
"Don't push it," Carl cautioned. "We nearly lost you once already."
David nodded in agreement. "The settlement managed fine while you were unconscious. It can handle a few more days while you recover."
"You should rest properly, no point getting out early only to injure yourself again," Ethan added.
Kate sighed but accepted. "Fine. 3 days. But then I want to be part of whatever you're planning next."
"You don't have to worry," AJ replied. "Your spot on my team won't be going anywhere."
As they prepared to leave, Kate called after them. "Next time you find one of these nest things, save some excitement for the rest of us."
"We'll see what we can do," AJ replied with chuckle.
---
The successful destruction of the wolf nest had lifted spirits throughout the community, though the knowledge of other nests tempered the celebration.
Work crews continued their various projects—expanding the agricultural areas, improving the fortifications, and crafting tools and equipment for the slowly growing population.
But conversations now included discussions of the search operations that would soon expand into every corner of the surrounding territory.
Later that evening, AJ found himself standing near the memorial grove where 7 fruit trees marked their fallen comrades.
Tom, Ben, Jennifer, Michael, Rachel, Stephen, and Peter—7 people who'd died at the hands of the wolves. 7 lives lost to creatures spawned by an artifact they could have destroyed if they'd known it existed.
Victor approached quietly, his face still bearing fresh bandages from the day's battle. "Thinking about them?"
"Thinking about what we could have prevented," AJ replied. "If we'd found that nest earlier..."
"They died protecting what we've built," Victor said firmly. "Their sacrifice wasn't meaningless."
AJ's form rippled with conflicted emotions.
"And we'll save others thanks to what we've learned, that's how we can honour them."