Chapter 13: Escape
It did not take a lot of time for the other pack to join the first. It was a group of three as well.
The predators changed their strategy accordingly. Instead of all focusing on their prey's current shelter, they separated to ascend several trees simultaneously. Even in this configuration, Moss and Lauren could switch their position fast enough to avoid being reached, but it significantly reduced the amount of rest they could take between each jump.
The wolfs intended to tire them out, but they also had to make efforts in the process. The instant they slowed their tempo, Moss and Lauren also slowed theirs. The disciples were still aiming to reach the buildings so they did not let themselves wander too far away from the road. They also kept advancing towards the structure. Their pursuers soon noticed that and changed their encirclement strategy to a barrage. That coerced the humans to increase their pace again and to make detours.
This deadlock lasted for a long time. Experience progressively made the disciples better at changing trees and at choosing their route. On the flip side, the sunlight grew scarce and eventually vanished.
Fortunately, the moon was bright and kept them out of complete darkness. Moss did not felt impacted by this change. He even wondered if he had ever seen as clearly in the dark as he did that night. His main concerns were fatigue and balance. Both were starting to lack.
Lauren was the opposite. She was in a stable physical condition but the darkness disabled her. She regularly bumped against something or missed a hold. Her moral was impacted by that as well.
At the beginning the wolfs had tried to haste them with barks but they were now as silent as death. The black ones were especially hard to spot in the darkness. Still, Moss could see them and signalled their presence to the sister whenever it was needed.
After two hours of intense chase, Moss glimpsed the end of the woods.
-'We are getting near !' He puffed.
-'What? I cannot see anything.'
-'There is no mistake. The forest stops in twenty trees or so.'
That thought renewed the old man's energy. He took the lead.
-'Follow me.'
-'What will we do when we reach it?' Lauren asked.
-'If there is an opportunity to reach a safe spot, we take it. If not, we keep going in the trees.'
As he jumped to the next tree, a wolf suddenly took a prodigious leap. Its jaw snapped at less than a meter from Moss's foot.
-'They are getting desperate !' He shouted.
Too optimistic, Lauren thought. But she changed her mind when seeing that their pursuers now attempted an interception each time one of them took a jump.
-'Grandpa you were right! They want to stop us now at all cost !'
-'Take care not to get grabbed!'
Moss greeted his teeth. His body was a cluster of pain precariously held together by adrenaline. He was susceptible to collapse at any time.
Not now. Not this close. While focusing on himself, he also described the path to take to ease the sister's progression.
-'Close. We are getting close. Only five left.'
Beneath the wolfs were panting noisily. Those jumps were taking a great toll on them. Suddenly, two individuals went ahead and began to climb on the last trees. Seeing that, Moss did not understand.
'Do they want to bar our path? But we would just need to make a small detour...'
Then he noticed. There was a big wall ahead. The wolfs meant to get on it and block them from this advantageous position. They were not great tree climbers, however. If they hurried, Moss could see a possibility for them to reach the wall before these two could. But that was a bad idea. In this scenario, even if they managed to get inside of the fortification the two predators would be right after them. They would likely not get to safety in time. He needed a better plan.
The old commoner inwardly made the inventory of everything they had. His body was a mess but his mind was clear.
After a short time of reflection, he stuffed the two moon spiritual plants he had picked this morning in his mouth and swallowed them.
-'Sister, take out your bow when we reach the last tree. There will be a wall...'
Moss grunted and jumped to a new tree.
-'... and two wolfs will be on it. When I get on the wall, wait until I get rid of one. Then fire an arrow on the second's face. Then cross the wall.'
-'Wait. Have you lost it ?'
-'Just trust me.'
When they arrived on the last tree, the situation matched with Moss's description. Two wolfs welcomed them with snarls from the parapet of a high rampart.
The peasant stopped for a moment. The moonlight had a refreshing effect on his mind and his body. He felt exactly like he did the last time he meditated.
Then he took out his bow and shot at the closest foe's head. It happened to be the black wolf leader. Like last time, the huge beast protected itself by looking away. In a fraction of second, Moss jumped on the wall and flanked the two. The black wolf almost instantly turned its head back, but by the time it realized that Moss had changed location, the peasant had secured his foothold. He delivered a full weight shoulder strike to his assailant. Feeling this blow, the beast immediately tried to bite back. The commoner had foreseen that as well. He slammed his bow in the deadly jaw, steadied his arms and let himself bounce against the attack.
His previous strike had blighted the wolf's balance. The huge beast struggled to regain a stable posture but its claw found no hold on the hard stone. Eventually, it completely fell off the rampart, on the tree side, wrenching his bow out of Moss's hands.
At the same time, the remaining wolf whimpered as Lauren's arrow struck him on the face. Up till now, he had only been able to watch his brother fight. That attack did it no real arm. The beast immediately recovered and leapt upon Moss like lightning.
To the commoner, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He dodged the wolf by a hair and watched it turn around. Now the plan was no plan. He just had to hold this fellow back and let the princess reach safety.
-'Moss, catch!'
A bow came from the voice's direction. He caught it.
-'Block like last time.' The girl said
-'Fine.'
Moss could not allow himself to lose in initiative. He dashed forward at the same time as the beast and struck it with his bow. That attack was accurate. The wooden piece lodged itself right between the teeth of the beast. They violently rammed each other, but the wolf was stronger by a league. It topped Moss over the parapet and would have killed him, had he not kicked its left paw to skew its balance. Lauren did not wait and imitated his previous elbow strike. As it lost balance, the beast released its pressure and tried to bite back, but Moss prevented that by grabbing its head. It fell off the rampart in a bitter bark.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone