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"It's snowing."

The hand insistently shaking at his shoulder had woken him. It was those two words that actually made him sit up, suddenly alert. Fran looked over at the skunk kneeling just next to him. "How much?"

"Not loads. Pascal said that it was more than enough, though."

Kit ducked back out of the tent, and Fran started getting out of his bedroll. Now that he was up, he could feel the uncharacteristically strong chill in the mid-October night. Outside, the others were talking over the crackling of the campfire.

"It isn't a lot of snow. Are you sure we need to worry?" Kit was speaking. He was keeping his voice low, like he was trying to keep anybody from hearing him.

"Yes. You aren't supposed to set foot anywhere near this forest at night after the first snowfall." The second voice was a bit rougher, though the discomfort was clear in it.

"Any chance that it's just folklore?" The third voice that spoke was softer, though it still trembled a bit with nervousness. "Something they tell the kids to keep them from wandering into the forest?"

"The day after the first snow, you avoid the fields outside the forest because of all the animals escaping from it." Fran could recognize it as Pascal's voice now."Then, later in winter, when the snow actually gets deep, you start hearing the howling at night."

There were a few seconds of silence in response to the porcupine's words. The third voice, now identifiable as Tavi's, eventually asked, "You mean... like howling wind? You get that near the coast sometimes."

"Like wind and wolves howling together. At the same time."

Fran finally finished pulling his gear and clothing on, and stepped out of the tent. His feet crunched through the thin layer of snow that had already fallen.The other three were gathered close around the fire, staring out warily into the night. All three of them had their weapons drawn, though only Pascal was holding his up. The porcupine definitely looked the most uncomfortable out of all of them; his eyes were darting around the camp, and his spear was twitching in his hands. Tavi stood next to Pascal, his unstrung bow in his hand. The red panda looked calm, but his eyes were flicking around almost as much as Pascal's.

"So what do you think we should do?" Kit asked, glancing over at the porcupine. Kit had his rapier out, but it was pointed to the ground in a loose grip."You know the most about these things."

"I think we should pack up camp and get out of the forest as soon as possible."

His words were greeted with silence for a few long seconds. Fran didn't relish the thought of packing up camp in the middle of the night and heading out, especially if it was snowing. It would probably take them the better part of the night just to get out of the woods, especially if they were going on little sleep.

Fran opened his mouth to disagree. As though predicting the tanuki's argument, a long, mournful cry rose high above the trees. At first it sounded like the howl of a wolf, but after a few seconds it took on a slightly hollow but deep tone. Fran felt his fur starting to rise on end as a deep, terrible chill settled upon him.

As the howl petered out, there was silence. The only sound was the crackling of the fire. Even the wind seemed to be holding its breath.

Tavi's soft voice was deafening in the silence. "That wasn't just a wolf."

Nobody had to speak to know that a decision had been reached. Pascal muttered, "Leave the fire. It'll attract them, but it'll keep any from spawning nearby."

With that, they quickly set about breaking camp, packing up their belongings as fast as possible. They stiffened occasionally whenever the wind whistled through the trees, but otherwise they moved as quickly as they could.

Soon, there was nothing left in the camp but the campfire and their footsteps in the snow. Without speaking, Pascal set out into the night, and the others followed him.They moved at a fast walk, not pausing. They were using their normal marching order; Pascal at the front, with Fran and Kit just behind, and Tavi taking up the rear with his bow.

Occasionally, a howl would puncture the otherwise silent night. The noises were odd and terrifying. They sounded just like a normal wolf, but they always carried that odd hollow quality of wind. Each one gave Fran chills, and the more of them he heard, the more clear it became to the tanuki that the chills weren't just from fear. The howls somehow robbed him of a bit of his warmth.

"Uh... the campfire's gone out," Tavi said abruptly.

They all stopped at that, then turned behind to look. All they could see was the darkness of the woods, and the few nearby trees that the stars gave enough light to see.

"Up until just now, I could still see it," Tavi said, his voice very soft. "It's gone."

Before the others could speak, another howl sounded. All four of them stiffened; this one sounded much louder than the others. It was answered a moment later by several much quieter howls from further away.

"Let's move," Pascal ordered. None of the others disagreed. They set off, almost running now.

There was no doubting it. The howls were closer now, and they were coming much more frequently. The four of them picked up speed, and soon their heavy breath was forming puffs of mist in the cool air around them. Fran heard Tavi pausing frequently behind him, checking their rear more often.

Each time there was a howl, Fran felt that same, awful chill settle on his spine as his pulse quickened. He could almost feel the long, mournful bellows in his bones.For the first time in his life, Fran understood how it felt to be hunted. He wasn't enjoying it.

Then, all at once, the howling stopped. Fran and Kit both hesitated for a moment, but Pascal kept up his heavy, almost-running pace, and Tavi pushed the other two forward. As they got moving again, the tanuki asked through his panting, "Why did they stop?"

"They don't want to give away their position," Tavi said from behind him. The red panda's voice was lower than usual. Fran could barely hear it through their footsteps in the light snow.

"But why all of a sudden?" Kit glanced briefly over his shoulder at the two of them."They've already made it plenty clear that they're chasing us."

"Because before they were communicating while trying to find us," Tavi replied. "If they're quiet, it means they've found us. They're just deciding when to strike, and they don't want to give us warning."

The silence suddenly felt much more tense and oppressive. Fran found his eyes flicking out to look into the woods, searching for any movement that would betray that the wolves were coming. Ahead of him, Kit spoke very quietly.

"So what are we doing?"

"Looking for a defendable position," Pascal said. "If they're going to attack us, then it damn well better be on our terms."

"What about over there?"

Tavi's voice drew the other three up short. They all turned in the direction that the red panda was pointing, and their eyes fell on a small clearing in the woods. With the perfect layer of snow, it looked bizarre; just a blank sea of white amidst all the trees. It was broken up in only one spot, by a single, tall birch tree. Without the shelter of other trees to protect it from the wind, the birch had long since lost its leaves. It now looked like a misshapen skeleton, reaching into the air.

Pascal's voice suddenly sounded quiet again in the presence of the empty space. The porcupine was looking over at Tavi, an eyebrow raised. "The tree?"

"The tree."

The two of them stepped into the clearing, heading towards the tree. Fran and Kit followed, both a bit confused about their companions' intentions. The red panda and the porcupine had already removed their packs and set them down in the snow a little ways from the tree. As Tavi started stringing his longbow, Pascal looked over to Kit.

"When they come, Tavi and I will hold them off. Fran will back us up. You light up the tree."

Kit blinked, and Fran suddenly understood why they were in the middle of a clearing. Burning a single tree wouldn't start a forest fire. Still...

"I thought you said that fire would attract them?" Fran said.

"It will," Tavi answered for the porcupine. The red panda carefully drew back the string on his bow, checking the tension. Nodding, he grabbed an arrow and notched it. "They've already found us, though. No need to worry about drawing them to us now."

Kit nodded, then stepped over towards the tree. Fran moved with him, and Pascal and Tavi spread out on either side of the tree, carrying their weapons.They were quiet for a while after that, all four of them waiting for things to start. Fran was going over spells in his head, trying to think of what might be useful. He had no idea what they were even fighting. Nobody had given him a straight answer whenever he'd asked.

"Any more info on what we're actually facing here, Pascal?"

The porcupine shook his head, not turning away from the woods to look at the tanuki. "All that's known about them comes from people that managed to escape them by running out of the woods. They just talk about seeing shapes like wolves in the trees."

"That's it? No details about how the--"

"Guys!"

Tavi's voice was accompanied by a soft whistling noise. Fran whipped his head around just in time to see one of the red panda's arrows disappearing into the ring of trees around them. A moment later, there was a loud, pained yelp that sounded almost like groaning ice. Pale blue light flashed from somewhere deep in the trees.

Tavi was already drawing another arrow and putting it to his string. Fran couldn't even see into the trees, but the red panda fired without hesitation. The arrow drew another yelp and another flash.

"Kit, now!" Pascal yelled this, and then his feet were crunching through the snow.Fran turned back to the porcupine, and he could only stare.

Sliding out of the trees, silent like falling snow, were four wolves. They were all rushing out from different points, and converging on Pascal. Calling them wolves didn't really do them justice, though. At first, Fran wasn't even sure what to call them. They looked almost like rough, skeletal outlines of wolves, drawn in pale blue light. As they moved, soft, whitish-blue mist trailed behind them. Their mouths were hanging open, and their glowing, featureless eyes were fixed forward.

Fran took all of this in over the course of a breath. The next moment, one of them had pulled ahead of the others, and was leaping at Pascal. The porcupine moved with practiced ease, sidestepping the lunge. The spear came around in his hands, cutting a smooth arc through the snow in the air. The head of the spear slammed into the wolf's side, throwing the creature to the ground. The wolf whimpered like the ones Tavi had shot, and it scrabbled in the snow for an instant, trying to get up.

Pascal lunged in, and before the wolf could regain its footing, the porcupine drove his spear into the meshwork of light. The creature roared, and pale blue light flashed out around the spear's head. Fran felt the air chilling around him for just a breath, and then the light was gone. Where the wolf had been, there was now just a small patch of snow broken with upside down icicles rising up from the ground.

Both Fran and Pascal were a bit stunned by the wolf's sudden disappearance. The momentary distraction was more than enough time for one of the other wolves to close the distance between itself and the porcupine. Moving on noiseless feet, it launched itself at Pascal. The porcupine turned at the last moment, then called out, raising his spear across his chest. The wolf hit him full on, and Pascal stumbled back with the creature leaning against him. It pushed the porcupine back, snapping its jaws at his face.

Fran turned his attention over to the other two wolves. They were pacing forward, waiting for an opening to jump in at the porcupine as well. Fran immediately pointed out towards them, and started envisioning complicated symbols in his mind. A soft white light gathered in his hands, and the tanuki forced it out and forward. One of the two wolves tensed and looked over at the tanuki, and Fran sped up his casting.

The wolf that had noticed him threw itself out to the side just as a circle of white light appeared on the snow. The other wolf let out a low growl, and started lunging forward to get out of the circle as well. Before it could, the tanuki sealed off his spell, and let it go. There was a small flash of light that rose up from the snow and seeped into the remaining wolf. As the light hit, the wolf abruptly stopped moving quite as fast. It was still in mid leap, and its path through the air was unnaturally slow, almost making it look like it was floating.

The wolf that Fran had missed kept moving, though, closing with Pascal and the other wolf. The porcupine was still staggering on his feet, fighting to keep his balance while holding the wolf at bay. Fran was confused as he watched; he couldn't see an entrance for the second wolf to attack the porcupine. The quills along Pascal's back ought to make it impossible for the wolf to get at him withou-

That's when the second wolf threw itself at the ground, just shy of Pascal's feet. As it collided with the snow, its body came apart, splitting off into a small cascade of pale blue light. The light spread across the snow beneath Pascal's feet, and suddenly there was a thick coating of ice overtop of the snow.

Pascal stumbled another step back under the weight of the wolf, and his foot slid off of the ice. He yelped out in confusion, and then he fell, landing hard on his back with the wolf on top of him. Even as he hit the ground, the patch of ice slid out from under him, and formed back into that skeletal wolf.

Fran was halfway through lunging forward to try and help the porcupine when there was a dull roar from behind him, followed an instant later by orange light and intense heat. The tanuki turned, and had to shelter his eyes as he saw Kit.The skunk was holding his hands outwards, and his red cloak was billowing out behind him as twin jets of flame lanced out from his palms. They cut a burning arc through the air before slamming against the birch tree in the centre of the clearing. The flames caught almost immediately against the tree's papery bark. Within moments, the flames were spreading, and warmth was spilling into the clearing.

Fran turned his attention back to Pascal. The two wolves near to the porcupine had turned to look fixedly at the burning tree. Though their eyes didn't change, there was something off about their stances as they stared at the flames.

Pascal took advantage of the distraction. His fist came up and slammed up under the muzzle of the wolf on top of him. The wolf let out a pained yelp as Pascal rolled, forcing it underneath him. The porcupine managed to get his spear up, and slipped the shaft under the wolf's muzzle and against its throat.

Abruptly, Kit was beside Fran. The skunk stepped past him, and pointed at the wolf just next to Pascal. It was jumping from side to side anxiously, looking for an entrance around the porcupine's quills. Kit glanced over to Fran.

"Cover Tavi. I've got Pascal."

With that, the skunk muttered a command word, and a belch of flames launched from his hand, slamming into the wolf's side. It let out a furious yowl, but Fran didn't stay to watch what happened next. The tanuki had turned, and was stepping around the burning tree towards Tavi.

The red panda still stood straight, his bow drawn back. Spread out across the snow in front of him, there were four patches of upside-down icicles, each one with an arrow sticking out of the middle of the patch. Tavi's shadow stretched out into the orange light cast by the fire, making the small red panda look somehow bigger.

Everything seemed oddly calm on that side of the tree. Behind the red panda and the tanuki, the tree crackled and the fire roared deafeningly, and there was still the occasional yowl of pain from the wolves or the sound of Pascal or Kit cursing.

Fran strained his eyes looking out into the darkness, and finally said, "Kit said you needed me."

Tavi nodded, never looking away from the woods. "Uh, yeah, I will very shortly."

"What's going on?"

"I think the few wolves they just sent at us were to test us. I'm afraid there are a lot more out there."

"So what's the plan?"

"Do you think you could get a haste spell ready?"

Fran's eyes flicked over to the red panda, but he did as the panda had asked. The symbols used to cast the spell came easily to his mind. He held them there, even feeding them a little bit of energy as he waited, his eyes going back to watch the woods.

The two of them waited in tense silence, having only the sound of the fight behind them to gauge how it was going. Eventually, the yelps of the wolves died out, and all was silent but for the burning tree behind them.After a few more moments, Kit's voice called over.

"Still think they're out there?"

"Positive," Tavi called back. "How're you two?"

"Bit tired," the skunk replied. "Still got enough juice in me for a few more spells, though."

"I could be better." Pascal's voice was a bit strained. "If you can help it, don't touch them. Pretty sure I've got some frostbite over here."

"Will you be alright?" Fran glanced back, leaning to peer around the burning tree."I could probably heal you up if you need it."

"No," Tavi answered sharply before the porcupine could speak. Fran looked back at him, and the red panda shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. That's when they'll attack."

There were a few seconds of awkward silence after that. Fran turned his attention back towards the woods, trying to see beyond the orange light cast by the burning tree. The heat was almost getting uncomfortable at his back by this point, but he knew it was better than the night's cold. The snow at their feet had started melting, making a ring of cool slush.

Then they came. Pale blue light flowed out from between the trees, making not a sound. For the first half of a second, Fran wasn't sure if he was actually seeing it or not. Then, Tavi lifted his bow, and with a flit, an arrow flew.

With that small sound, chaos erupted. Wolves rolled out of the trees, at least half a dozen in the first few seconds. One of them took Tavi's arrow through its head, and with a shriek of howling wind, it came apart into a patch of icicles on the ground.

The others surged forward, undaunted. Fran finally managed to snap himself out of his surprised daze, and turned towards Tavi. The red panda was already drawing back his bowstring again, his eyes narrowed on the charging pack.

Without a word, Fran reached out and laid a hand against Tavi's back. The tanuki closed his eyes, and fed more energy into those symbols in his mind. He felt light flood out of him, and breathed out a command word.

The muscles in Tavi's back tensed under Fran's fingers. The tanuki pulled back and opened his eyes, and the red panda exploded with movement. His right hand was a blur, reaching for arrow after arrow. He barely stopped to aim, sending his missiles off into the charging throng of wolves.

Fran looked to the pack charging at them for a breath. He made a few guesses in his head, and figured that Tavi could keep the situation under control for at least a few seconds. Without a word, the tanuki turned and dashed around the burning tree to where Kit and Pascal were. Another group of wolves was charging towards them, pouring out of the trees without a sound. Pascal had already stepped forward, brandishing his spear, and behind him Kit was taking deep breaths. Fran could feel the energy gathering around the skunk, and knew that he was preparing a spell.

Not pausing to think much about it, the tanuki pointed at Pascal's back, and started feeding energy into a spell. It was a simple spell; one that would ward off magical attacks. From what he'd seen, Fran was guessing that the wolves were more magical than physical. He hoped he was right.

The magic flared out from Fran's pointing hand, and a soft, pinkish glow flared up on the porcupine for a second. Fran turned away, and headed back around the tree, jogging through the slush. Tavi was still under the effect of the haste spell, and the wolves had yet to reach him. There were patches of icicles breaking up the snow all over the place now, showing just how many of the creatures the red panda had taken down.

More were coming, though. They were flooding out of the trees, their ghostly forms sending off enough light at this point to light up the first layer of trees surrounding the clearing. Though Tavi was keeping them effectively at bay, they were moving inevitably closer.

Fran reached over to Tavi, preparing to refresh the haste spell on the panda. As he started feeding energy into the symbols in his mind, though, the tanuki heard Tavi curse. Fran looked over sharply just in time to see one of Tavi's arrows flying over an odd patch of pale blue ice in the snow. As the missile passed by, the ice rose up into the form of a wolf in mid-stride.

Tavi was already reaching for another arrow, but the wolf reached them first. Fran had just enough time to turn and face it full-on before the wolf lunged directly at him.

It hit him with a hard thud, and the tanuki immediately lost his balance in the slush. He collapsed back, his back squelching into the slush as the wolf's full weight came down on top of him. An instant after the pain of the impact hit him, cold burst across Fran's body. He yelled out, and reached up, holding his arm out in front of his face. He felt the wolf's weight shifting on top of him as it lunged down, its glowing teeth going for Fran's arm.

The wolf froze in place, and then it simply came apart. Its light cascaded down over Fran, and he bit back a swear as his entire torso was covered in intense cold.He didn't let it distract him for long. He moved as quickly as he could through the chill, teeth chattering, and started getting up to his feet. Just next to him, Tavi was already putting away a knife, its surface covered with frost after plunging into the winter wolf. Fran could see that the red panda wasn't moving nearly as fast as before. The spell had worn off. He needed to recast it before the rest of the wolves were upon them.

As Fran finally got back up, though, Tavi let out a bit of a yell. He moved quickly, raising his bow up as a wolf lunged in at him. The red panda turned, and sent the wolf stumbling by him and against the burning trunk of the birch tree. There was an incredible hissing, and the wolf squealed.

Neither Fran or Tavi had the time to watch. Tavi had his knife out, and the two of them were backing up towards the tree. The wolves were almost on top of them, now. As the tanuki and the red panda stepped close enough to the tree for the warmth to become uncomfortable, though, something odd happened. The wolves at the front of the pack started glancing around, the outlines of their ears going back. The entire mass of wolves ground to a halt, waiting.

Fran and Tavi glanced over to each other, both of them too surprised to react for a moment. Then, as one, they both turned and ran around the tree, keeping as close to the burning thing as possible.

"Back up to the tree!" Fran yelled. He covered his face with his sleeve for a moment as some smoke blew into it, and then kept going. "They're afraid of the fire!"

It was difficult to see much beyond the smoke coming off of the tree. Within a few moments, though, Fran made out Kit's red cloak backing up to the tree. Pascal followed a few seconds later, the porcupine limping heavily and cursing.

The four of them just stood there, each one sheltering their face with an arm or cloak. The heat of the fire was only more intense after the chill, and the smoke made it difficult to see or breathe. All of them could easily see the pale blue glow of the wolves just ahead of them, though, staring straight ahead.

"So what's the plan?" Kit's voice was rough, and it broke up occasionally with coughs. "I don't think we can fight our way out of this."

"I don't think we're going to be able to outrun them," Tavi said, nodding out at the wolves.

Fran glanced back at the tree, wincing a bit at the brightness. "Hey, Pascal.You said that those things hate heat, right?"

"That's what I've been told."

Fran nodded slowly. "So if we manage to get away, do you think they'll try to put out this tree before coming after us?"

There were a few moments of silence after that suggestion. When Pascal spoke, his voice was hesitant. "That's a... _very_good idea, actually."

"So blow a hole through the wolves, start running, and hope that they attack the tree instead of us." Fran looked over to Kit. "You think you've got enough juice in you to make an opening?"

The skunk was already shaking his head before Fran finished. "Not a chance.I'm dead right now."

The tanuki nodded slowly, thinking. "Alright. I can probably do it."

The other three nodded, and waited. Fran carefully circled the burning tree, looking out with some difficulty towards the wolves. There were more of them than he'd guessed. Even after all of the wolves that his group had taken down, there were still dozens standing out there. The wolves watched and waited, their eyes all following him as he moved.

The tanuki shuddered, and finally picked out where the thickest concentration of the wolves was. He called over to the other three, "You guys ready?"

The others came over to stand closer to him, and he took that as a sign that they were prepared. Nodding to himself, the tanuki closed his eyes, and started working magic. At first, as usual, it was just a thin trickle, slipping through that space in his mind that he reserved for casting. Once he managed to get that small stream into the proper shape, though, he focused. Immediately, the energy flowing into the spell became much greater. It gathered force, quickly building from a trickle to a torrent. The tanuki blocked out as much of the sound and sensation coming to him from outside as he could. He shut out the crackling of the tree, the heat from the flames, the smell of smoke, and the intense cold that persisted in his fur.

Soon, white light started leaking in past his eyelids. That was Fran's signal to speed up; once the light started appearing, the wolves would know he was doing something. The tanuki opened his eyes fully, and wasn't at all surprised to find white flames dancing across his arms and hands. Beyond the ring of the burning tree's heat, the wolves were looking more nervous, starting to back up. A few of them even had their tails down between their legs.

Fran narrowed his eyes, then pointed right into the middle of the throng directly in front of him. He took a deep breath, and then his fingers flexed as he spoke a command word.

As soon as the word left his lips, he closed his eyes, knowing his companions would be doing the same. There was an awful moment of silence as the white flames disappeared from Fran's body. Then, an instant later, white light flashed, intense enough for it to be uncomfortable for Fran to look at through his eyelids. It radiated for a few seconds, oddly silent. The wolves immediately let out a deafening cacophony of yelps and howls that shook with all the force of a blizzard's wind.

Then, the light died. Fran immediately opened his eyes, and started running forward.He heard his companions moving behind him, giving chase. The path in front of them... well. It was odd. The snow was all still there, perfectly unmarked. All of the winter wolves that had been in that patch were gone, though. There weren't even any of the normal patches of icicles sticking up from the snow. There was nothing to show that the wolves had ever existed.

The tanuki cast a glance over to the side as he ran, and just caught sight of the other wolves. They were all glancing about, and some were even stumbling.So it was possible to daze them. That was good.

A moment later, he was into the treeline, and he lost sight of the wolves. He kept running, knowing that his companions were just behind him.There was no way of even telling if the wolves were giving chase. From all he'd seen, the wolves were perfectly silent over the snow, and none of his group had the time to turn and look.

The four of them kept running, almost blind in the darkness.