The pack leader circled Lydis angrily, drool escaping from his bared fangs."Human, if you value your life, now"s the time to back off…" He snapped at Lydis"s direction, the hairs on his face rising with his snarl.
"Pathetic, who would run from a feast?" Lydis lowered her body lower to the floor.
"I gave you your chance." In the next moment the pack leader disappeared. Lydis was stunned for a moment before she jumped to the side. Right where she used to be was the pack leader, his large claws digging deeply into the ground. Lydis continued to jump backwards as the pack leader chased after her. Just as he leaped over her Lydis changed from running to sliding on the floor, pa.s.sing by underneath the pack leader. Her blade extended towards one of his legs. The pack leader, upon landing lifted his hind legs as he saw Lydis slide under him. Seeing that her attack missed Lydis continued to move away from the pack leader, nearing the edge of the forest.
"Are you running now human? Know your place as you"ve angered the great me, Valfafer! Escape is futile!" Valfafer chased after Lydis, her back entering the forest.
Right before the fight Lydis already had a plan. Fighting in the open was too advantageous to the pack leader. With no places to hide or as cover the open clearing wasn"t the best place for Lydis. The heavily dense and thick forest surrounding the clearing suited Lydis much more. With plenty of places to hide, trees for cover, and small s.p.a.ces making it hard for the larger pack leader to move. At first she was skeptical as to how she would get the pack leader into the forest but it seems that once an animal, always an animal. She sighed a bit for her opponents stupidity. Didn"t the voice say that they were a bit smarter than the rest? Didn"t it talk with her, so why was it so stupid? Feeling a bit uneasy Lydis discarded her thoughts and focused on the pack leader following her since it could all be a plan to make her lower her guard.
Lydis jumped into the trees, shedding her fake skin and the wolf head. She spread them out to confuse the pack leader but it seems that his nose was too good. Behind her Valfafer was pushing through the thick trees like they were floppy bricks. Even one that was thicker than her arms spread wide.
Valfafer chased after Lydis, he was keeping pace with her easily. Trees pa.s.sed by between them. Soon it became harder and harder for Valfafer to move through gaps and openings, his large body often hitting the sides and roots of trees. Lydis was still ahead of him and always chose the hardest path for Valfafer to move in.
She slid under a tree with ma.s.sive roots and continued to crawl through to the other side. Valfafer struggled with the roots as they were stronger than the trees from before. Lydis smirked at Valfafer.
"Hey, is that all you got?" Lydis beckoned him to come at her.
"Puny human! You dare insult this great one, Valfafer?!" Valfafer was biting the roots now. They broke easily against his powerful jaws.
"You"ve gotta catch me first "oh great one"." Lydis slipped through the remaining roots and headed further and further into the forest. Valfafer struggled but soon found something odd. The roots looked like they were moving, slowly but surely, they began to wrap around any part of Valfafer. He thrashed and bit at the roots but there were too many. Suddenly a vine covered in thorns wrapped around his left foot. It pierced his skin a little but his fur padded most of the thorns.
As Valfafer was struggling with the unusual roots Lydis had already arrived at the cliff where she scouted the wolf camp beforehand. Looking at the cliff from the bottom it was pretty huge. Sharp jagged rocks hung out from the middle while on the sides roots of trees pokes through into the air. Lydis peeled off the remaining skin and flung them into the forest.
"Need to get this smell off me." Lydis sniffed her arm and pulled back quickly. "Yeah, talking to myself again…" She let her arm rest at her side and began to search for a stream or anything. Around the side of the cliff was a hidden pond that she hadn"t noticed before. The tall trees had blocked the small opening, making it look like there were trees in this area.
Half covered by trees and half open the pond glistened like crystals. The bottom shone like pearls under the moonlight. The whole pond glowed and moved with an invisible wind, the surface rumbling slightly. The voice clicked inside Lydis"s head.
Moon"s Water Pond. A rare occurrence, these ponds only appear during a full moon at random times. They capture the moons energy and disappear the next day. Said to be very helpful in slyphir concentration and strengthening of the body.
"Thanks for the pointless info again." Lydis did like the sound of the pond but what she needed now wasn"t some magical pond but to be clean. She jumped into the pond fully clothed and began to rub off the hardened blood from her face and clothes. She threw off her jacket and found that underneath it was clean. She dipped her head under and found that the blood seemed to flake off from her face and clothes, dissolving into the pond.
"Weird." She continued to wash out her hair and eventually got out of the pond, feeling cleaner than when she went in. Her clothes were spotless and the smell was completely gone. She looked down and found that her clothes weren"t wet at all. She looked back at the pond and found that the few wisps of blood drifting through it were slowly dissipating.
The Valfafer"s howl sounded closer now, the whip like cracks of broken branches echoed in the forest. Lydis wanted to observe the pond more but decided to take care of the pack leader first. Nearby she found some damp moss and dirt. Just like with the Blood Wolf she smeared the dirt over her completely, even putting moss inside her boots and shirt. Lydis returned to the cliff and dug out a medium size hole in the side, just big enough for her to slide into. Below the cliff she dug out a few more holes using her blade. After finishing her preparations she could hear the pack leader"s footsteps now. She hopped into one of the nearby trees, making sure that she could see the clearing without being exposed.
Panting Valfafer burst into the small clearing surrounding the bottom of the cliff. He sniffed and walked in circles. He had clearly followed the human child here but now her smell was everywhere.
"Human child! Is this all you"ve got? Running and hiding will do you no good!" Valfafer"s roar-talk caused the leaves in the trees to rustle. For all his talk he couldn"t quite pinpoint her location exactly. He knew that she had come here and that the human had not left this clearing but not much else. Noticing a blotch of red hidden underneath a nearby bush Valfafer lashed out at it, the whole bush fitting in his mouth easily. After ripping the bush out of the ground he quickly spit it out as the clump of wolf skin hung on one of his fangs. He thrashed his head and flung the wolf skin away, angered at having been wrong. Valfafer began to paw at the ground, following the smallest scent around and around the clearing. Lydis stifled a laugh as she watched Valfafer circle around and around the same area, looking like a dog slowly chasing it"s tail.
Having reached the limit to his patience Valfafer began to dig furiously at the holes on the ground, positive that the human child was hiding in one of them. Wave after wave of dirt flew into the air behind him. Lydis eyed him carefully, waiting for her chance to strike. Soon Valfafer was directly under the tree she was in, immersed in digging. Lydis clenched her blade with her mouth and began to make her way down the tree slowly, waiting for Valfafer to turn his back.
Valfafer finished his current hole and moved onto another one, his back to the tree. Lydis took this chance to jump down and land on his back, her hand tangling itself in his long fur. Valfafer jolted and instantly began to thrash wildly, jumping and bending his body. Lydis hung on and with a kick of her foot she hit the joint of Valfafer"s back leg, causing him to stumble for a moment. Using this chance Lydis climbed further up his back, getting closer to his head. After recovering Valfafer began to twist his neck towards Lydis, snapping at the air. She made her way closer to his neck, wrapping her legs around his neck. Holding her blade in her hand she tried to cut off his ear but in that moment Valfafer jumped into the air, reaching further up than the ma.s.sive trees.
Caught off guard Lydis stopped her attack and clung onto his fur as they fell. Valfafer flipped in the air and aimed to pin Lydis who was behind him against the ground. Lydis gave up her hold and pushed off from Valfafer, heading towards the trees. With a loud thud Valfafer hit the ground, cracking the earth around him. Lydis tried to land in the trees but her foot slipped on the bark causing her knee to collide with the tree. A sharp pain rose in her knee cap. Still in motion Lydis stabbed her blade into the tree, slowing her descent to the floor. Hanging there she looked down and saw that her knee had it"s skin torn off, bleed bleeding down it. Even the smallest wind caused it to burn.
Valfafer rolled over and grunted in displeasure at the empty s.p.a.ce below him. He scanned the surrounding area and saw Lydis hanging in the tree, her knee b.l.o.o.d.y.
"Give it up now human, it"s your loss." Valfafer walked towards Lydis. Slowly the surrounding area began to brighten, sunrise was coming. The sky filled with colors of purple, orange, red, and blue. Lydis could clearly see the ma.s.sive size of Valfafer. Bigger than a school bus he stood about as tall as two men on top of each other. His eyes glowed yellow in the light while his fangs could easily tear her in two like she was mush.
Lydis smiled.
"You missed f***ing dog." Lydis smirked at Valfafer. He, who was a Wolf Lord, was called a dog by a human?! Even the outsiders of the pack still had some respect for him and yet this puny human had called him a dog?! Valfafer snarled in rage. He leapt towards Lydis. She swung herself forward and using her momentum, slid over Valfafer"s head, grabbing a chunk of hair as she slid on him. Thinking that Lydis would try to cling onto him again Valfafer began to thrash as soon as he landed when out of the corner of his eye he saw Lydis land softly on the floor. Her face full of mockery.
*pfft* "What now you dog? Got lice?" Valfafer charged after Lydis but not before she had slipped under him again. Lydis was running at full speed, her knee burning with each heavy step. Valfafer was close behind her, his head low in case she slipped under him again. Lydis gripped her blade in one hand and ran towards the cliff. Seeing this Valfafer slowed down a bit. He wanted this human to suffer, to beg for mercy, and to feel despair as they get cornered by him. Valfafer howled and let some distance grow between them. Lydis was pleased. Not only was the dog stupid, he was also over egotistic. Now she wouldn"t have to worry about him not following her.
"Time for part two."