Lowen laughed bitterly and Bren reached down holding out his hand. Lowen grabbed it and Bren helped him to his feet. With shaky legs and blood all over, Lowen painfully managed to stand. As the two stared at the alpha wolf, the alpha wolf stared right back at them. Lowen asked Bren in a confused voiced."So what"s the plan?"
Bren, however, remained silent and continued to focus on the alpha. It was clear to see that there was no plan, so all they could do was hold up their weapons and face their opponent. Bren took up his fighting stance and Lowen picked up his hammer. The wolves body began to glow once more and then he vanished. As soon as he vanished, so too did Bren and Lowen. On the side, Clovis"s eyes darted back and forth, as he watched this intense battle, he could feel all the hair on the back of his neck standing.
Roland did his best to concentrate on regaining his energy but with the constant and metallic ringing, he soon lost focus and had to reconcentrate again and again. Every once in a while, the three would come to an abrupt stop before once again vanishing. The few soldiers that remained were left guessing as to what was happening. The ground constantly broke and fissured and the air tore apart making loud whooshing noises. Rocks that just started to cool instantly cracked and broke from the intense fighting. The landscape in this battlefield was quickly changing into a chaotic zone filled with powerful blows, quick speed, and terrifyingly close encounters with death. The alpha swiped at Bren and Bren in return swiped back, as a metallic covered hand intercepted a tyrannical sharp wolf claw, the two forced each other back. As the two separated, Lowen quickly rushed in and swung his heavy hammer with all of his strength. Once again Lowen aimed at the spot on the wolf"s chest where he had kneed him previously before. The wolf receiving this blow to his upper chest retreated in pain but only for a moment. The wolf"s body glowed once more and his body flashed. The alpha"s speed had once more increased but this time Lowen was prepared, he now kept the hammer close to his chest at all times.
The wolf snapped its jaws at Lowen and swiped at Bren. As the three exchanged blows, the battle seemed just about even but still, the alpha held a slight advantage. Bren and Lowen had to stick closely together, otherwise, the alpha would be able to deliver a decisive blow. Lowen still had no time to heal and as time moved on, he could tell that Bren, this old man was starting to get tired. Lowen had to think of something fast or their deaths were all but guaranteed. He needed something, anything to turn this fight around but what. Lowen"s eyes darted around the battlefield and there it was, once again he found what he was looking for. The only problem now was how was he going to get it. Looking at Bren, he wanted to tell him his plan but the problem with that was, that the wolf could understand. At this moment there wasn"t a lot they could do. Lowen"s mind raced with thought before he finally reached into his clothes, pulling out a regular looking stick, Lowen began channeling energy within it. Lowen yelled at Bren.
"I need a moment, by me sometime."
Bren yelled back.
"How much time?"
"As much as you can give me."
Bren clenched his jaw and fought hard. As Lowen channeled his earth energy, he had the incredibly difficult task of keeping his ki and his earth energy separated. He had to keep his ki flowing just in case the wolf got too close. The wolf had no clue what Lowen was about to do but seeing that energy was gathering and remembering what Roland just did, the wolf knew it couldn"t be anything good and again raced toward Lowen. Bren, however, jumped in between the two and as the wolves claws came down, Bren"s hands quickly came up.
*Bang Clank Bang*
With Bren"s hands covered in metal, the wolves claws could only leave a few marks upon them. Bren swiped at the wolf"s throat but the wolf was quick to react and bit down on Bren"s hand. Although Bren"s hand was protected by the metal glove he wore, the alpha"s mouth clamped down like a vice and held him tight. Bren could feel his hand was starting to get crushed and with his free hand, he quickly swung it at the wolf"s eyes in hopes to blind him. The wolf though saw through this and swung Bren through the air trying to pin him down. Bren now had to swing his body oddly in order to not fall to the ground.
Shouting behind him, he yelled out.
"Lowen, are you almost done? Any more and my hand will break."
Lowen, however, remained quiet. As Lowen continued to concentrate, he gathered more and more energy. With no answer, Bren could on grit his teeth and bear it. He continued to swipe at the wolf"s eyes and the Wolf continue to swing him about as though he were a rag doll. Each time this happened, Bren could only flip his body around as to avoid becoming crushed under the Alpha.
The sky darkened and a few of the remaining soldiers couldn"t help but look up. When they witnessed what was floating in the sky, they nearly all p.i.s.sed themselves in fright. Clovis as well could hardly comprehend what he was seeing. Bren only now noticed the object in the sky and his eyes widened in both shock and surprise. The shadow on the ground grew bigger and bigger until darkness covered most of the ground. It was only now that the wolf realized something was wrong. Looking up, the wolf immediately became terrified. Up in the sky, a huge object remained suspended, floating up above. A large ball of dirt the size of a hill sat hovering in the sky.
Lowen shouted at the wolf.
"This is your downfall, this ball of dirt weighs at least 500,000 lbs. When it crashes down on top of you, even your bones won"t remain.
The wolf looked at this hill size ball of dirt and every hair on its body raised up in fear. The alpha looked at Lowen as though he were crazy and roared out.
"You fool, you wouldn"t dare, you"d kill us all."
Lowen shook his head and said.
" It"s your own fault, you pushed us too far and this is the only option."
Right after Lowen said that this hill sized ball of dirt began to fall towards the ground. Everyone held the same thought.
(Is this boy insane, we"re all going to die)
Some of the remaining soldiers began to run around wildly trying to escape, while others collapsed to their knees and gave in to despair. Clovis looked over and laughed bitterly at himself, he felt this was his fault.
(If only I hadn"t come here. Uncle I"m sorry.)
The wolf immediately flung Bren away and stared in every direction trying to find an escape route. But no matter where he looked, the ball would soon hit and even with his incredible speed, the ball of dirt was simply too big and couldn"t be outrun. Staring up in the sky at his impending doom, the wolf refused to die. Gathering every ounce of magic he had left, he put it all into his mouth and throat. Pointing his head up high, he unleashed his most powerful and mightiest howl, with it, a storm of wind shook the surroundings.
*AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL*
Trees within a few hundred feet cracked and began falling to the ground, even Roland wasn"t lucky, as his tree broke and he was tossed to the ground. If the wolf didn"t aim his howl up at the sky, then every soldier here would"ve been thrown hundreds of feet away.
The surrounding rocks trembled and jumped several feet in the air and many boulders in the area began to crack. This howl could be heard for over 100 miles. The wolfs howl was completely concentrated up at the hill size ball of dirt and as this powerful howl finally reached the ball of dirt, something completely surprising happened. This huge ball of dirt, weighing over 500,000 pounds, suddenly shattered. The dirt began to swirl around like a raging storm. The entire battlefield suddenly became covered with a cloud of dirt and dust and now nothing could be seen, that"s when Lowen made his move. With a cloud of dust everywhere, no one could see anything including Lowen but with his powerful senses, he could still hear and smell where everyone was at as well as see with his earth energy. Using his earth sense and shadow steps, his body blurred and he grabbed his sword as well as Layfon"s partly bent spear. Rushing toward the wolf Lowen"s face twisted into a cruel smile. The alpha seeing the ball of dirt suddenly shatter in front of him and turn into a cloud of dust was both shocked, relieved and confused. Many thoughts raced within his mind.
(How can this be, was my howl that powerful? no, something"s not right.)
With his vision completely blocked, the wolf could only rely on his sense of hearing and sense of smell. With another but smaller howl, the wolf cleared the dust in the surroundings. That"s when he heard footsteps quickly approaching him but before he had time to turn around, Lowen was already there. With a quick leap, Lowen jumped high into the air, landing directly on top of the wolf"s neck. Gripping the spear, he put it around the wolf"s mouth. Using all of his strength, Lowen bent the spear, wrapping it completely around the wolf"s mouth as though it were a muzzle. The Alpha had no time to react and had the spear forced on him, tying his mouth shut completely. Thrashing around, the wolf was enraged and he immediately tried to throw Lowen from his back.
With the dust blown away, everyone suddenly witnessed this odd sight. Bren seeing this became fl.u.s.tered at first before he quickly rushed at the wolf. With its mouth now sealed, one of its biggest threats we"re now contained. Lowen took his family sword and thrust it into the back of the wolf, unfortunately though, the wolves hide was incredibly tough and Lowen"s sword only sunk in 3 or 4 inches. On a creature so big this small wound didn"t matter much. The wolf thrashed in anger and quickly threw Lowen to the ground. The wolf slammed his paw down, trying to crush Lowen"s head but Lowen quickly rolled out of the way. The wolf, however, was not giving up and madly rushed after him, again the wolf slammed down without mercy.
Just as his claws were about to carve out Lowen"s flesh, Bren had already grabbed the wolfs tail and pulled him backward. With the hooks on Bren"s metallic gloves, they quickly sunk into the alpha"s tail and with another pull, he tore fur from flesh and flesh from the bone. The Alpha with its mouth muzzled couldn"t release a scream, even though it was clearly intensely painful. Lowen quickly got back to his feet and with one mighty swing of his hammer, he crushed one of the wolves front paws. Again the agony that the wolf felt was too intense and he quickly retreated. But now that one of its paws was broken, its speed was greatly reduced. Now was the perfect time to attack, so Lowen and Bren went in.
*Boom Crack Snap*
Now using only its feet for defense, the Alpha was quickly becoming cornered, he tried to divert the force of Lowen"s blows but still, he took more and more damage. Bren was not slow either and he repeatedly tore flesh from the wolf"s body. The alpha was doing its best to defend but with Lowen delivering heavy blows and Bren delivering quick sharp cuts and tears, the alpha was growing more injured and grew increasingly weaker and weaker. With no other choice, the alpha could only flee but how could Lowen and Bren allow that. Lowen abandoned his heavy hammer and tackled the alphas back feet, holding on tight he yelled at Bren.
"Take him out, now!"
Bren didn"t hesitate and jumped on the Alpha"s back, he tried to swipe at the wolfs back but the alpha thrashed too hard. In the end, Bren could only wrap his arms around the alpha"s neck and squeezed like a demonic snake with prey in its grasp. The wolf continued to thrash around like a wild beast but Lowen only held him down with more strength, this Alpha was going nowhere. The inscription tattoos on Bren glowed like the shining sun and he squeezed the alpha"s neck harder and harder, the eyes of the wolf began to grow clouded and his strength began to fade but still he fought. 10 seconds, 20, 30, after nearly a minute the wolf collapsed to the ground, with no more air, the wolf eyes rolled back to the back of its head. There was no ultimate attack or some destructive final blow, like anything without air, this powerful wolf, it was dead.
As the wolf moved no more, Bren continued to choke the beast for another full minute before he finally released his grip. With heavy panting breaths, he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Lowen as well sat down and focused solely on healing and closing his wounds, the amount of blood he lost was completely unnatural. If it were a normal person who lost this much blood than they would have died 2 times over already. The men seeing this shouted out in pure euphoria and glee. Clovis signaled to his men and they helped bring him over to Lowen and Bren. Clovis looked the two up and down and a large smile appeared on his face.
"You two, you actually did it, you actually managed to slay an evolved Alpha wolf."
Clovis looked at the alpha and a realization of bitter sadness took hold of him. Looking at the devastation his army suffered and the loss of his little brother, Clovis"s mind was a wreck. Pointing at the spear wrapped around the wolf"s mouth, Clovis said.
"Uncle, Layfon"s Spear."
Bren already knew what he meant, reaching over, he slowly and cautiously took off the spear from the wolfs mouth. Handing it over to Clovis, Clovis bit his lip in both sadness and anger and a line of blood dripped from his chin. Shaking his head, he did his best to remain calm but any that looked at him could clearly see how devastated he truly felt. Bren however, was curious about what Lowen had just done.
"Lowen, I thought that huge ball of dirt was going to kill us but when the wolf howled at it, it fell apart so easily and turned into a huge cloud of dust, just what was that?"
Lowen shrugged his shoulders and said.
"It really wasn"t much of anything, I simply made that ball of dirt completely hollow.
Everyone hearing this couldn"t help but laugh. When they saw that hill sized ball of dirt, they all had the same thoughts of, we"re going to die. Even the wolf had thought it to be real. Some of the men threw their heads back in laughter while others mourned for their fallen comrades, this was truly a mix of emotions.
-------------------------------------------------
Roland had now limped over, after the tree he was on broke from the wolfs howl, he had fallen and sprained his ankle. Out of everyone here, he was clearly in the best shape. Coming over, he was filled with joy as he said.
"My circle, my fourth circle, it"s completely repaired, hehehe."
Many of the men stared at him in annoyance, although without him they would have definitely died but to hear him so joyous about his magic felt very aggravating, especially considering how many of their comrades died. Just as someone was going to tell him to shut up, Lowen suddenly heard something. The wind was howling and Lowen jumped in fright, staring behind him, he looked at the wolf but saw no movements. Focusing his ears, he noticed the sound was coming from above. Looking up, Lowen saw a hail of arrows flying towards them, with a loud shout he yelled.
"Arrows! Lookout!"