travelers' earlier eagerness and anticipation was melting as the day wore on. They led their horses to the edge of the river for a refreshing drink of cool water and for a brief dip. After the horses had quenched their thirst and cooled off a bit, they grazed lazily a short distance from where the men had gathered for their lunch. The men had taken up refuge under the eaves of the Black Forest to escape the scorching-hot midday sun. They took out their daily rations and began to eat a nice, cold lunch. They could not bear the thought of eating a warm meal on such a blistering hot day. Chilled ale was passed around freely to quench the soldiers' parched mouths.
The sound of the running water and the humming of small insects had a hypnotic effect on the men. Some of them began to doze off under the cool shade of the trees as a result. The horses edged closer to the tree line so that they could stay cool until they resumed their march. It was early in the afternoon, and the temperature was still on the rise. The men were hoping that the general would allow them to stay where they were until the heat of the day had passed. They stole furtive glances at their imperious leader to see if they could determine what he was thinking or what kind of mood he was in. Yukio looked around at the landscape and resigned himself to the fact that the weather was not going to change any time soon, so he decided not to subject his soldiers or their steeds to such excruciating heat.
'Men, we will stay here for the remainder of the day. We can still patrol the waters and monitor traffic on either side of the river from our current locale,' the general declared with a grin. 'Captain, take fifteen of your men to the other side of the river. You will be in charge of that side of the bank until the heat of the day begins to cool. When the heat becomes tolerable for man and beast, we will set up camp for the night in the safety of the woods.'
'Yes, sir!' the captain replied as he snapped to attention. He gathered up the men that were to go with him, along with their horses. Once they had mounted, they took off toward the Elgore Bridge, which was big enough for war machines to cross over. It was only one mile north from their current location, and they would be able to ride in the shade for most of that distance. This was going to be a peaceful afternoon judging by the weather, and the captain could not see how anything could possibly go wrong.
The men who remained behind with the general were thinking the same thing as their captain. This was such a beautiful day that no one noticed shadows moving in the eaves of the forest. There had heard no reports of possible orc or goblin raids in this area, so they kicked back and enjoyed the day from within the shade of the trees. As the men were daydreaming, the sounds of life abruptly stopped; however, none of the soldiers noticed the change. The only sound left was the rushing water. The men were so caught up in the beauty of their surroundings that they missed these signs of eminent danger.
The general looked out over the water to see where the men were that he had sent to the west bank. They should be there by now. Maybe they stopped to talk with some travelers or are giving some directions. The general knew that he was merely placating himself. In that instant, he realized that there were no other sounds aside from the bustling river.
One of the general's soldiers gave a sharp cry of warning as two massive blood-red wolves detached from the shadows of the forest. The beasts caught sight of the men and made directly for them. The two gargantuan creatures converged on one of the men. Before anyone could do anything to stop it, they ripped the unaware soldier in two. They tossed the torn man to the side and inched closer to the group of men who were now standing in front of them.
'Get them!' shouted General Yukio. Two men were dead within seconds after Yukio ordered the attack. Roaring in rage, the general jumped in front of the rest of his men and cut off the two beasts' heads with two fluid swings. As he stood there panting, a sixth sense warned him that there were more of the massive brutes within the vicinity.
'Ambush!' the general yelled. As he shouted his warning, a pack of enormous wolves that had sent the two scouts to their location detached from the eaves of the forest right behind them. They had blood-red fur that was standing on end as they growled menacingly. As the predators slowly approached the men hemming them in, all escape routes vanished as they closed in on their prey. As the general looked closer at these foul creatures, he noticed blood dripping from their massive maws. He knew that the detachment he had sent to the west bank never made it to the other side of the river.
'Everyone stand back to back and form a circle! We do not want to give them an easy target!' General Yukio bellowed. There was no point in whispering now that they were surrounded. They would have to fight for their lives. They were going to show these brutes how much they had underestimated their prey. They had never lost a fight with their general in command, and he was not going to let the men down when they were fighting such an indomitable enemy.
The red wolves crouched one by one into their attack position. The general's men shook slightly as they waited for the inevitable. A look of fierce determination came across Yukio's face as he stared back at the enormous beasts. He was probing the minds of his enemies, which required eye contact in the case of non-sentient beings. He was trying to force doubt and trepidation into their cruel and uncouth minds. If he was able to get these foul creatures to lower their guard for an instant, he and his men would stand a chance of surviving this deadly encounter.
General Yukio reared back and flung his sword with both hands at the wolf nearest him after his failed attempts at mind control. The red-bladed sword buried itself to the hilt right between the beast's fierce eyes. His men sprang into action just as the wolves began their attack. Both sides were fighting with a fury that filled the air with fur, blood, and the piercing sounds of death. The general retrieved his bloodied blade and began such a furious assault on the wolves that they began to back away. The Nairian soldiers formed a circle again with their backs to one another as their leader went ballistic. Ten of the gigantic beasts lay dead or dying at their feet as the remaining predators continued to creep away.
There were about twenty of the blood-red beasts left, so now there was one man for every wolf. The general looked over his shoulder at his stalwart men and gave them a devilish grin. It all happened in a blink of an eye. One minute the wolves were preparing to pounce again, and the next they were sniffing the air as though they had lost sight of their quarry. It was as though the Nairians had vanished into thin air. Their heads snapped back in the direction of where the men had been standing in a circle. They were looking in the general direction where their meal should have been.
Move toward the water, slowly. General Yukio projected this mental command into the minds of his troops. The general could not understand what was happening. He was planning to do something much different than this. The soldiers were so focused on self-preservation that they began to move toward the water under the belief that their general had actually spoken the command audibly. As they edged away, there was an explosion of fire that incinerated three of the wolves instantly. Fire and debris began flying in every direction. The wolves were howling in pain and shock. Yukio took advantage of this unexpected opportunity.
'Kill them all!' bellowed Yukio out loud this time. He and his men charged the confused beasts and tore them to pieces. Fire continued to come from the north, which provided the Nairians the edge they needed to finish off their enemy quickly. The smell of burnt flesh and fur permeated the now still air. The smoke swirled high up into the clear afternoon sky.
As the smoke thinned and the flames died out, the men could see a tall, slender figure walking toward them. Dead wolves lay all around the bewildered soldiers. The general ignored the stranger and quickly sought out his troops to make sure everyone was still there and in one piece. No one had been harmed. Yukio was proud of his men and their success. They had taken on a breed of gigantic wolves and had won decisively. The big question now was who the person was that had interfered.
As the mysterious figure continued to glide toward the exhausted group, it became clear that it was a woman, a female elf to be exact. She had a brilliant gold and silver crown on her head that glinted and shimmered as she moved into the sunlight. She seemed to float toward them because of her exceeding grace and fluid movements. She seemed to be glowing white as she approached the men, who were still huddled together in a small circle back to back. The men held their collective breath as they realized that it was this delicate being that had provided them with the perfect distraction during their battle.
'I am glad that you are all safe,' the angelic elf said softly. Her eyes were fixed on General Yukio. She swayed gently side to side as she floated to a halt right in front of them. 'It was lucky for you that I was walking along the edge of the forest on this fine day.' She was smiling as she said this, which had a soothing effect upon the men. It was a reassuring smile that made them forget their recent deadly battle. They did not want her to stop talking; it was like drinking water after traversing a scorching-hot desert.
