Chapter 10 - Golden Wolf

Its golden fur shines in the moonlight while its slanted amber eyes observe its prey. Each step is cautious and calculating as it walks left and right looking at us. I hold the shovel pointing towards the wolf while Howard stands his ground next to me ax in hand. Luke creeps around to my side with his knife and the 2 new people nervously stand behind us holding onto a knife as well.

"What are your names? Tell me quickly."

I ask for their names under my breath without taking my eyes off the wolf.

"My name is Owen and the boy next to me is my son, Oscar."

"Okay, Owen and Oscar we need to fight this battle or else the wolf will most likely kill all of us without a second thought. I want the both of you to stand a bit far back and to the side. Me and Howard, the guy next to me, will be the main fighters while you two and Luke will only attack once the wolf's attention is on us. Be swift and be careful, attack and then immediately create distance. Okay?"

"Okay." Luke, Owen and Oscar all reply and slowly move back. Oscar took the left side closer to Howard while Luke and Oscar were arm's length apart to the right.

I step forward slightly hoping to gauge the movement of the wolf but then out of nowhere it dashed towards me. It got me by surprise and I barely dodge the first initial attack by jumping out of the way and rolling on the ground. Luckily, Howard swings his ax towards the wolf causing it to stop his attack and retreat momentarily. I get back up as quickly as I can and breathe a sigh of relief. The wolf goes back to walking left and right looking at us waiting for our move.

This time instead of me moving Howard makes the first move. He starts to run at the wolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. The wolf seemed to stagger for second flinching at the yell, while Howard swings his ax at its body. It awkwardly jumps backward but fails to dodge the attack completely. Howard's ax cuts one of its hind legs making a deep gash. Seeing Howard attack successfully I move forward as well, lifting the shovel above my head and smashing it down towards the wolf. The wolf recovered from the stagger dodge the attack but its speed was affected by Howard's attack.

Angered by Howard, the wolf howls towards the moon and the golden fur shines brighter. The damage created by Howard's ax was fixed in a blink of an eye and the wolf looks angrier than before. It leaps aggressively towards Howard, opening its mouth revealing the sharp rows of teeth. Its canines were twice as long as a normal wolf's canines at the same time it was covered in its slimy saliva. Howard rolls to the side and I swing my shovel towards the back of the wolf. As if it had eyes on the back of its head it dodges my strike while at the same time leaping again towards Howard. Caught by surprise, Howard lays on his back. The wolf tries to bite Howard but he fends off the beast by holding the ax horizontally blocking the wolf from biting. I see Owen standing there frozen and shout at him.

"OWEN ATTACK!"

Owen looks at me and then looks at the wolf on top of Howard. He clenches his teeth and then yells out a battle cry rushing forward towards the wolf with the knife. At the same time, I rush towards the wolf as well preparing to swing the shovel at the wolf's head. The wolf notices both me and Owen rushing towards it and realizes the danger. It tries to move away from Howard and escape when Howard grabs its neck from below. Surprised, it tries to shove Howard off and with a hard shake, Howard is forced to release his grip. It was enough though since both me and Owen have arrived next to the wolf. Owen stabs the wolf on its back while I was able to get a full swing on its face.

With how hard I swung the shovel broke into pieces as it lands on the wolf's face and Owen ends up retreating after lodging the knife in the wolf's back as deep as he could. I couldn't continue to attack the beast without any weapons so I retreated and went to help Howard stand up.

The beast snarls at us and howls towards the moon again but is interrupted by Luke and Oscar. Luke slowly moved towards the beast when it was on top of Howard and finally he attacked the wolf when it was least expecting it. Luke jumps into the air and stabs downwards as the wolf raises its head towards the moon while Oscar stabs the wolf in the back. Luke's knife enters the wolf's eye and stabs through instantly killing the wolf. Its blood splashes on Luke and the golden fur loses its shine. The wolf falls to its side signaling the end of the battle.

Unlike before where the goblin corpse burst into purple smoke once the sun rose, the wolf burst into smoke the moment it landed on its side. Replacing the corpse was 5 of the wolf's teeth strung together as a necklace.

[ Soul of the Golden Wolf

Summon the golden wolf to do your bidding.

30-minute duration. 2-hour cooldown.

5/5 uses left. ]

I couldn't believe my eyes. I got an item that summons the wolf we just defeated. While it wolf was not that strong, it had a healing ability as well as being fast and agile. It will become a trump card in any situation however, I was not going to keep it.

"Luke, come here. Wear this necklace. Whenever you are in danger or whenever someone close to you is in danger and you are not able to help them think of the golden wolf while holding onto the necklace. It will summon a golden wolf to help you."

Luke looks at me bewildered by my choice.

"Are you sure? Once I take this I'm not giving it back to you."

"Hahaha! Take it you deserve it for finishing the kill."

Howard comes over laughing loudly and pats Luke's back heavily. Luke blushes slightly and hesitantly takes the necklace from my hands.

"There is a 30-minute duration and a 2 hour cooldown period at the same time it only has 5 uses so be mindful and don't waste it ok?"

Luke nods his head and slips his head through the necklace confidently.

"Now then, I haven't properly introduced ourselves to you, Owen and Oscar. My name is Ian and this is Howard and Luke. Next to your other two friends are Lucina and old man Hus. Will you join us?"

Owen and Oscar both look at each other. They had just experienced running for their lives, meeting new people, and then fighting the very monster that forced them to run. It was a lot to take in and in a small amount of time, however, with a smile, they both nodded at each other and looked back at me.

"If you are willing to take us in, we would gladly join you."

[ Loyalty Points (Owen) + 50 ]

[ Loyalty Points (Oscar) + 50 ]

[ Loyalty Points (Owen) 50/100 ]

[ Loyalty Points (Oscar) 50/100]