The flying wolf, impaled by the great sword, abided by the laws of gravity and fell towards the ground. It landed with a loud thud, and the effects of Dagon's actions were immediate.
The monsters stopped operating like a trained military unit and went back to being just monsters.
Their previously coordinated movements were replaced by mere feline instincts. Their commander was dead and he had taken their chances of victory with him.
In under a minute, the crew eliminated the remaining wolves. A few tried to escape, but their attempts were futile: Thorin hit them one by one, not missing a shot.
Gilmore, who only had a single axe at this point, was about to kill the last of them. But before the head of his axe came down, he was stopped.
"Don't kill it," Aphena said. "Let it go, it would lead us to its abode."
He didn't protest and placed his axe back in its strap. The whimpering wolf, seeing it wasn't dead yet, immediately tried to run away, and no one stopped it.
Alto, who had been absent during the battle, suddenly appeared beside Aphena and a black shadow instantly attached itself to him.
"Where have you been?"
"We found the Wyvern nest up north. Dishon is currently taking a look at it; I came back to inform you."
"Ohh," Aphena exclaimed.
"Although I advise you rest up and leave it be until you're fully recovered."
"I'm perfectly fine, Alto." She rolled her eyes.
"Even if you are, I doubt we could do anything without a solid plan. The wolves originated from there, and they number more than you can imagine. It's not something we can handle right off the bat."
She smirked. "The shadow general is scared of a few wolves?"
"I'm but a mere old man whose bones have grown tired." He chuckled.
"I doubt it," she said. "I previously wanted to use the wolves' abode as a resting ground but it seemed that wouldn't be possible."
Raising her gaze, she stared into the sky stained by the red twilight.
"Night will soon come and we need to find somewhere to rest. Rufus, can you search—"
"That won't be necessary," Alto cut her off. "The mountains are but a few hundred meters away. They do not lack caves. It is also within these mountains that we were drawn to the aura of the Wyvern."
"That's a relief," she said, before falling on her back as her tired bones could no longer keep her upright.
"You shouldn't stress yourself this much," Alto sighed.
He picked her up, and carried her, while leading the rest of the crew into the mountain range
____
The pleasant smell of roasted meat permeated the air as Dishon stood beside the cackling flame. He skillfully turned the scaled wolf's limbs over the flame.
The entire group was posted around, except for Aphena and Alto, waiting for the sizzling barbecue to get off the flame. Its aroma was already making the strongest of hearts impatient.
The sun was slowly falling into the horizon, so with Alto's help, they had found a small cave to spend the night in.
Rufus was up and about, placing charms on each corner of the cage. He then said a prayer, and Kody watched in awe as the charms glowed and then shattered. Rufus nodded then headed back to the campfire.
"You did good, kid," Dagon said, patting Kody on the back.
He took a large sip from a mug of beer. In an instant it was empty. He tossed it to Dishon and said in his usual grumpy voice.
"Fill it up. And one for the kid too."
Dishon retrieved a bottle from the inner part of his robe. He then filled the mug and handed it back before getting a smaller cup, filled it, and then gave it to Kody.
Kody, tentatively, accepted it and took a sip.
He had drunk alcohol one other time. It was one of the few drinks that humans of Earth had been able to reproduce underground. He never liked it, it was always so bitter.
This one, too, was bitter, so bitter that he almost grimaced. Still, he kept a smile on his face and concealed his dislike—this wasn't the first time he ate something he didn't like.
"How's it boy?" Dagon asked, as if expecting him to be experiencing euphoria.
"It's good, really good," Kody replied, taking another sip.
"That's it kid, that's the lifestyle." Dagon laughed merrily.
The meat was soon taken off the fire and everyone got a piece of it. Kody picked up the sizzling piece of art and took a bite. Instantly the bitter taste of beer was gone.
He moaned in delight, taking another bite and letting the juicy meat melt onto his taste buds.
Now this is what euphoria feels like.
Everyone was merry, and even the pale lady who had a gloomy aura joined in on the celebration. Though she wasn't pale anymore and her fingers were back to normal.
Her name was Rein and Kody had recently found out that the pale figure was just a transformation.
Hopefully, he wouldn't get a transformation like that when he evolved; he was already skinny enough. Although with how good he was being fed, he would soon fatten, like a cow being prepared for the slaughterhouse.
Everyone soon finished their meals, and it was time to start setting up tents.
Aphena had given him one and with some help from the others, he was able to set it up quite well.
"The lady wishes to see you."
Kody jerked in fright as he hadn't heard anyone walking up to him. He held his chest and let out a sigh of relief when he noticed it was just the old dude.
"You scared me."
"Get yourself together and follow me."
"Aphena called for me?"
"What insolence, calling the lady by her name. If not for her benevolence you'll be dead by now."
We are the same age.
Kody's eyes twitched, but he wasn't planning on getting on this old dude's bad side.
"Follow me, we do not want to keep her waiting." He walked away and Kody quickly followed behind him.
They arrived at an unimpressive tent, and Alto stepped to the side, motioning for him to go in, which he did.
The interior of the tent was much bigger than he expected and was filled with more than a blanket and a pillow like his own—mainly weapons and a study table with books on it. Kody was dumbfounded by the size of the place, but he wasn't really surprised; just a few minutes ago he had seen a bottle that had infinite alcohol. This wasn't any more shocking.
Aphena wasn't wearing her usual armour, but rather a thin, flowing garment that, in Kody's opinion, did no justice to her beauty.
But still, she was stunning, and he knew it. Her white hair, which was usually tied in a ponytail, was let loose. She was sitting on a sleeping blanket with a pillow on her lap.
"You're here, good." She patted her side, motioning for him to sit beside her.
Kody suddenly felt his heart start racing. He could hardly compose himself as he walked towards her with shaky steps.
Aphena noticed this and chuckled, this just made Kody more nervous as his face burned red.
He sat beside her, taking in the sweet, fiery smell she had.
Fiery?
He couldn't have gotten it wrong; the more he smelled, the more he was sure about it: she smelled like fire. He didn't know how that worked but okay.
"Take off your shirt," she said to him.
He immediately began removing his clothes with his sole arm—
Wait, what? Did she just ask me to take off my shirt?
"What are you waiting for, take it off."
"W—why am I supposed to take my shirt off?" He asked, a bit uncertain about her orders.
"I wanna restore your arm, but your shirt is in the way," she explained.
It was a plausible reason, so Kody didn't mind—
Wait a minute, did she just say 'restore your arm?'