FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 1

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Xavier

The weather was almost depressingly cold, a strong Northerly wind had punished us all day long, as we patrolled theses isolated mountain trails. In an hour it would be dark, in two weeks time the final full moon would be upon us, but tonight the moon would be fully eclipsed. I had decided to set up camp a little earlier than normal after finding a suitable location that was sheltered from the wind that had frozen both myself and the drakes under my command. The warriors had built up a decent fire, and already the scent of a nice broth was filling the camp. It was the last of our fresh supplies, but a good hot meal and a nights rest would lift moral considerably. After today we would have to rely on dried and salted foods to sustain us.

Only two drakes were not in camp right now, I had sent them to scout the trail ahead, to check for signs of anything that may endanger our camp or relative to our mission, not that there were any predators this far up the mountains. Except for the rumoured packs of wolves that were supposedly roaming these isolated trails. Those rumours were the reason we were here. Both drakes out scouting were ordered to return before dark. These mountain trails were dangerous at the best of times, let alone trying to traverse them in the dark.

The sleeping furs were laid out, all of them huddled round the two small fires that warmed the camp. The cave we were in would offer shelter from the elements, while the fire and furs would offer us warmth.

From this point on the squad would being to suffer from fatigue and loss of moral, and the effects would only get worse the longer it went on. We had enough provisions to last nearly two weeks, but anything longer than nine nights out in the elements like this was going to affect even the hardiest of warriors.

It was this very reason I was convinced that the wolves would have to have at least one base of operations. Somewhere from which they could send numerous squads out to scout and explore the mountains. Most of the other Warlords had agreed with my reasoning. I suspect that the most likely location was here in the North West. It was on the border of the wolven controlled lands and was littered with numerous small routes which snaked their way up to the main road. We did not patrol this far north normally, it was impossible for us to patrol those routes without nearly ten times the number of warriors we have currently and even then...

It presented the best way for the wolves to set up a camp and a supply line to keep themselves fed. There was practically no flora or fauna up this high in the mountains. However, while my thoughts were acknowledged, they were not completely agreed upon. A few thought that the wolves could use the labyrinth to supply themselves, in which case they could be anywhere. But I find it hard to believe that the wolves could have found a route through that immense maze of underground tunnels. Not since the last Lord of the Killik house passed away. Before he lost the last of his strength he sealed off the Labyrinth. The only other drakes that may even have a chance of opening and navigating that maze had left Zangar after it had been sacked nearly two decades ago.

At this point I fear that the labyrinth will forever be lost to us. Its secrets lost to the winds of time. It was too dangerous to even attempt to navigate it without some sort of understanding of the network. Secrets which, if they still exist in Zangar, will be hidden somewhere where only a Master ranked earth bender may be able to uncover.

"WARLORD!!"

The yell came from the camp entrance, I turned to see Micq'al, one of the warriors that was out on patrol who had just ran into camp. He was breathing heavily, he had returned in a hurry. But despite his apparent exhaustion he stood to attention, holding his spear in his left paw as he pressed his right paw to his chest as a sign of respect to me.

"What is it?"

"We have found some wolves sir!"

There was a sudden restlessness which rumbled through the group of warriors in the camp at the mention of the wolves. This was our third patrol, and we were three days into a week long trek around these isolated and dangerous trails. After several attacks on our trade caravans, within the borders of the outposts, we knew that the wolves were not using the main trails to move about the mountains.

It was impossible to guard every trail, the Zangar Mountain range was just too vast. So groups like mine were formed to search the trails for any signs of the wolves, our presence meant to deter them, and when possible eliminate the threat. But as of yet no squad had yet encountered any wolves.

"Where?!" I asked.

"About a half mile down the trail to the East Sir!" Micq'al responded. "Hiro is currently standing watch."

"Everyone to arms!" I ordered and immediately the rest of the warriors were grabbing their weapons.

Every warrior here was paw picked from the very best Zangar had to offer. Each of the three groups, who were now referred to as 'hunting parties' by the common folk, were led by a Master ranked bender like myself. Each group was also allocated three adepts and three warriors to maximise our combat potential.

"Sir!" Micq'al blurted.

"What is it?"

"There is one other thing you need to know Sir!"

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"They're all dead..." I muttered as I stood there and took in the scene, repeating the words Micq'al had spoken back at the camp.

I struggled to believe that he had discovered a pack of dead wolves. But here they were in front of me. Four dead wolves, their bodies scattered round the remains of an old camp site. They had set up camp in a small cave about one hundred yards from where we ourselves were currently camped.

"Bring the torch closer." I ordered to Micq'al who moved the torch over the dead wolf I was standing in front of.

Three of the other warriors also carried torches and were standing around the remains of the wolven camp allowing me to take in the scene.

Two Dakkatta wolves*, easily distinguished by their black pelts, and two grey pelted Mordian wolves*. I knelt down to examine one of the Dakkatta wolves. The body was frozen, so much so that when I moved their fingers their flesh felt brittle to the touch, far beyond any simple rigor mortis. Even now in the middle of summer the mountains were cold, falling below freezing each time the sun set. These bodies had been here long enough that they have been frozen, leaving their flesh crystallised and preserved. The wound across his throat had been the cause of his death, no other visible wound or mark on his body at all.

Whoever had done this had killed the wolf in an instant, he hadn't had time to even defend themselves.

"I would guess that these bodies have been here the best part of two weeks." I said aloud.

There was no way I could be completely sure of the time frame. The scent of blood and death were all but absent, only present once you got close to the bodies. The blood on the ground was dry and flaking, a single rainfall would likely wash it away entirely, rain which we haven't had in nearly three weeks. The driest summer Zangar has suffered in over a decade.

The bodies were hardly decomposed and they couldn't have been dead much longer than two weeks, even with the freezing cold, to still be this perfectly preserved. I don't remember hearing any reports of the other hunting parties killing any wolves in that time.

"Has anyone heard of any encounters with the wolves of late?"

"No Sir." Several of them answered.

That worried me. All of the hunting parties had been back in Zangar within the last week, staying out from seven to nine days at a time before returning to rest and restock. Word of slaying a pack of wolves would have spread through Zangar like wildfire, each warrior keen to spread word of their kills. But no one had reported this, which meant that either the wolves had turned on each other or that someone else other than us were in these mountains.

I moved on and examined the other bodies, each one had been killed quickly. A single fatal strike killed all of them, there was no overkill here. I'd expect a Zangarian warrior to strike a wolf numerous times in order to enact some level of revenge for the last attack. Whoever had killed them had used a bladed weapon, a sword by my reckoning.

There was no way that even a group of dragons would be able to sneak up and kill all four of these wolves without any signs of fighting. The four bodies were close enough that the moment the first wolf was killed the other three would have responded to their attacker, and from the way two of the wolves had their weapons still firmly held in the paws I would say they had as well.

The wounds on their bodies, they were clean and precise. Looking at these wounds it was obvious that despite the fatality of them, a couple of bloody trails indicated that two of the wolves had simply bled out while trying to escape whoever attacked them. Surprising, I would have expected their attacker to finish them off. But they had been left to bleed out. Their deaths would have been relatively painless beyond the initial wound. The sudden blood loss combined with the extreme cold meant that the wolves would have simply fallen into an eternal slumber. Relatively painless. But even the sharpest weapon could only cause wounds such as these in a practised paw, each wound had been fatal and intended as such. Whoever this was adept at killing, and experienced in combat.

"Whoever did this is good, taking on four wolves at once." I said thinking aloud.

"You mean there was only one attacker Sir?" Micq'al asked.

I glanced at Micq'al, an expression of curiosity mixed with worry. He was a dutiful warrior, but not the brightest. I chose him to join my squad because he is loyal almost to a fault. He would work himself to exhaustion should I order it. I know he would worry if I didn't give an explanation.

"These wounds were not caused by your average fighter. They hit hard and fast, most likely taking them by surprise. The wounds on all of the wolves are nearly identical, which suggests that they were caused by the same individual."

"They all could have been using the same weapon." He suggested

"Possibly." I nodded.

It certainly was possible, but I doubted it. I kept my thoughts to myself, the warriors seemed a little unnerved, no need to spread unsubstantiated rumours of a single warrior, capable of killing four wolves single pawed, roaming the mountains while we ourselves were out here day and night. I could only hope that whoever did this was on our side.

"Search for anything we can use and burn the rest." I ordered. There was no need to leave anything useful behind that other wolves could use in the future. "We will continue on as we planned. I will make a full report of this when we return."

But this gave weight to my suspicions of the wolves being camped here in the North-west. That made me smile, but I suppressed it for now. I could gloat to the others when I made my report. It didn't prove my theory but it certainly added weight to my thoughts.

We still had a three-day trek ahead of us if we followed the route I had planned to patrol this time out. We would be back in Zangar in four days' time. We could simply backtrack and be there in three, but this was the first sign of wolves we had found and I can't simply turn around and walk in the opposite direction. We would continue on my planned route. I could only hope that that extra day would not cost any Zangarians their lives before I had a chance to warn them.

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