Plan C

Mairwen ran to her husband's side. She tilted his furry head to one side to confirm that he was breathing and then began immediately tending to his wounds. Pulling all sorts of salves from the cloak, she tended her hero's multiple injuries.

Eira slowly approached, unsure if she should intervene. "Be careful. His blood could--"

"I know!" Mairwen snapped. More gently, she added, "I won't let him infect me."

The princess continued to work, the training she had learned from the war and from time with the palace doctor guiding her movements.

Renat was wounded, but not nearly as much as if he had been in his human form. The wolf had taken a lot of damage, but his injuries were not fatal.

'Small mercies.' Mairwen comforted herself as she wrapped a bandage around Renat's chest.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mairwen caught sight of something coming her way. "Eira!"

The soldier spun around, ready to fight, but almost immediately lowered her sword when she saw a silver fairy reattaching itself to the neck of a cloaked figure.

"It's me!" Alaron called. He was blocking the view of a figure behind him, shielding her from the carnage.

The woman clearly did not appreciate his gallant effort and slipped below his arm. "Trust me I have probably seen worse," she told the Guardian.

"Dania?" Mairwen's pinched face flooded with relief. Her friend looked healthy and unharmed.

"Mairwen!" Although the scientist was overjoyed to see her friend, the bloody scene around them was hard to ignore.

"Reunion later," Alaron cut things short. "What happened?!"

"We were in the hideaway when a hunting party came through. They were complaining about how much farther they were having to go just to find decent game. They seemed like they were going to pass us by, when something suddenly changed. I don't know what tipped them off, but they began clawing at the roots of the tree trying to get in." Mairwen swallowed, still shaken by how things had changed in an instant.

"When they had nearly gotten inside, we knew that we had to make a run for it." Eira sheathed her sword and dropped to the ground. "I barely had time to give the direction we were heading before those monsters spotted us."

"The creatures clearly weren't expecting female humans to be their prey, for they were too stunned to move for a moment. We used that time to put some distance between ourselves and them knowing full well we would need to come up with a plan. Otherwise we would be doomed." Mairwen looked around at the fallen abominations. She had come very close to joining them.

"This tree had a good line of sight for an archer to shoot from, and so when we were finally surrounded, Princess Mairwen shimmied up the tree, and we prepared to defend ourselves to the end." Eira wiped her brow. Her heart was still racing, and she did not think it would stop any time soon.

"You did a lot of damage." Alaron observed the many arrows and sword wounds in the creatures surrounding them.

"But not enough. There were just too many. If Renat hadn't shown up when he did, we would have been finished." Mairwen cradled her husband's head as he stirred at the mention of his name. "He ripped apart some of them and pummeled others. I have never seen him display such raw power. He did it… to save me."

"He went feral…" Eira filled in the missing piece. "And when he was done, he nearly attacked us as well."

"But he didn't!" Mairwen came to his defense. "Renat broke free of the curse and passed out."

"I should have been here to help!" Alaron felt responsible for how things had happened.

The Guardian had stayed with Dania to protect her. How he wished he could have been in two places at once! He had nearly lost his sister, and as much as he would never admit it, he was rather fond of Eira as well.

"You made the right call." Mairwen assured him. "We are fine."

Alaron pushed aside his guilt. There would be time for regrets later. Or there wouldn't. They were not in the clear yet. "Did Renat kill them all?"

The princess and guard exchanged a glance. "Some of them fled," Mairwen answered, tilting her head in the direction the abominations ran.

"Then we don't have long." Dania ran her hand nervously through her hair. "For either they will get riled up again and return, or they will find help and send others after you."

"Then we best get a move on. Time to wake up Sleeping Ugly right there." Alaron prepared to shake the wolf awake, but the female scientist stopped his hand.

"You have no guarantee that he will be back in his right mind when he awakes. The struggle made him pass out. We do not know which side won." The way Dania spoke was matter of fact, but the concern behind her words could not be ignored.

"I'm not leaving him behind," the princess gasped.

Holding up her hands, Dania shook her head with wide eyes. "I'm not asking you to. Merely stating we need to be cautious. Now back up, all of you! Then the Guardian can douse him with some water that I hope he has in his cloak. Even better if it is still cold."

Without questioning her judgment, the others did as she said. Alaron pulled a water skin from his cloak and unstopped it. His eyes flashed from beneath his hood.

"Don't you dare enjoy this!" Mairwen scolded.

"Too late!" The Guardian squeezed the pouch and aimed the water directly at his brother-in-law's face. Even with such an unconventional weapon, his aim was true. The water doused Renat's shortened muzzle and ran down his cheeks.

Renat choked on the liquid and sputtered to life with a jolt. Rolling to one side, he spat before releasing a low growl.

Alaron flexed. The situation felt all too familiar. 'Please don't be feral…'

"What is wrong with you?!" Renat glared at the Guardian. "Don't you know how I feel about drowning?"

"Dania told me to do it!" Alaron pointed at the lovely woman as if he had no free will of his own.

The scientist put her hands on her hips, making the young man shrug.

"Renat!" Mairwen hurried to her husband's side and helped him to sit.

"My love! You are alright. I was so worried that I…Oh my!" The brown wolf looked at the carnage and then down at his own bandaged body. "I lost control. I didn't mean to…"

The princess shushed him gently. "You did what you had to do. You saved us."

"You saved me too." Renat embraced her, wincing from the pain radiating in his chest. "The memory of our wedding brought me back." The two exchanged a loving glance.

"There will be time for all that later if we aren't dead by then. Our luck is going to run out." Alaron draped Renat's muscular arm across his shoulder. "Up you go, big guy."

The action proved harder than the Guardian anticipated. "When did you get so heavy?!"

"He likely hadn't given in fully to the elixir before. I was wondering why he looked so thin in relation to everyone else who transformed." Dania explained quickly.

"Well, then he better be able to get moving because I cannot carry him." The Guardian scoffed.

"I'm right here, you know." Renat grumbled as he stood and tried to work the pain out of his aching muscles. He jumped up and down experimentally. "I can make it on my own. You worry about the ladies."

Alaron grunted and picked up some of the wet mud made by the watery wake-up call. He slathered the mixture onto Dania's face.

"What are you doing?" The woman pushed his hands away and stepped back.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alaron asked impatiently. "Masking your scent."

Dania looked to the personal guard. The woman, who had a similarly dirty face, nodded. It seemed that Alaron wasn't just trying to make a fool of her. "Fine," she decided to comply, "but don't enjoy it too much."

"Too late." Alaron smirked as he made quick work of the brown 'make-up', pressing some mud onto her hands as well.

The deed completed, the group moved as quickly as they could away from the carnage that had once been a hunting party. Jogging through the forest, they put as much distance as they could between themselves and Taran's camp.

After ordering Eira to stay with Dania, Mairwen sidled up beside her brother for a quiet chat.

"What are we going to do? Plan A was to find somewhere to hide until father arrives and plan B was to head back toward him so we could meet up more quickly. But if the monsters are already on our heels, I don't think either of those will work." The princess paused, unsure of how to continue.

"Well then, it is time to move to plan C." Alaron gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"There is no plan C…" Mairwen argued.

The Guardian sighed. "Unfortunately, there is…"