Chapter 73: Summer of the Wolf: Pack of Beasts
Danil opened his eyes with difficulty, his body was numb after twelve hours without movement, and his soul ached after the merger. But it was easier to breathe, as if he was taking more air into his lungs. But the main problem was his awakened instincts, as if someone was whispering in his ears about the approaching danger.
"Danil! Finally, we need to leave, the moon will come out soon!" Remus helped him to his feet. The teenager noticed that there was something wrong with his sense of balance, as if it had shifted a little higher than it was before. "You can sort out yourself later, let's leave!"
But Danil didn't hear him. "Where's Silver?" He croaked. "Where are the explosions coming from?"
The answer was another explosion that came from the direction of the village. Danil straightened up and walked towards the sounds of battle.
"Stop! This is not our battle; don't you dare go there!"
"The Beast has merged with me." Danil continued to mutter. "I need to be there, the free one must set them free."
"Danil!"
Danil's mind was like scrambled eggs. Something primal pulled him into battle, he knew that if he left now, he would not be able to forgive himself. The threads of his soul stretched like the string of a bow, they demanded to release the arrow.
Remus ran after Danil, ready to grab him and apparate him away. But the boy was faster. He disappeared in a cloud of purple sparks, leaving the evil werewolf behind him.
The moon creeped out from behind the clouds.
-=-=-=-=-=-
The Iron Haven did not look the most pleasant. Two dozen werewolves fought against overwhelming odds. The ground was dotted with craters where the werewolves threw the corpses of zombies and acromantulas.
The few wizards who lived in the Haven fought in the back rows, picking out skeletons and creepers from the crowd of monsters. But the number of enemies didn't decrease.
"Push them back! Wizards, blast the bastards, no matter if any allies are nearby! We must deal as much damage as possible while the moon is still behind the clouds!"
Werewolves had a strange feature. Until the first ray of moonlight touches their body, they will not transform. Now time was not working against them.
Silver fought in the thick of things, his sword crushing skulls and cutting flesh with every swing. Arrows and spells flew past him, killing the spiders that had sneaked up from his back. But that wasn't what he was here for, he was biding his time.
The sheaf of purple sparks didn't take him by surprise; he immediately pierced the enemy who had appeared right through, in the area of the heart. The creature howled and tried to disappear, but the sword held it in place.
"So, this is what feral ones look like." Silver pulled out his sword, sprinkling black blood on the ground. The Enderman fell down like a puppet with its strings cut off.
Outwardly, this enderman was almost a complete copy of Danil, but there were still differences. The lack of clothing and genitals was the first and most obvious difference. The enderman's eyes burned like lamps, full of madness and rage, but it quickly faded. The creature's teeth were yellow and dirty, not white, as Danil's were.
There was no time to look at the corpse in more detail; the creatures continued to climb as if from underground. There were already three Endermen, they were pushing back the werewolves and teleporting out of the path of the spells. The Bitch and Kendrick tore one of them apart.
And then help arrived.
Danil appeared on the outskirts of the forest in a sheaf of bright purple sparks. It took him a moment to understand the situation, but when it finally dawned on him what was happening, he pulled his staff from his back and teleported forward.
Zombies and skeletons were easy prey; one blow to the head was enough to break the skulls of living corpses. It was more difficult with acromantulas; the tenacious bastards could withstand blows from the staff, so Danil pierced them with ice spikes. Creepers exploded at the mere hint of fire, causing havoc in the enemy ranks.
And then the moon appeared from behind the clouds. For a moment, the werewolves froze and began to transform, the stream of attacks holding back the crowd of monsters stopped and the creatures rushed forward. And they would have crushed all resistance if a wall of stone had not grown in front of them.
Danil closed his bag and began to shoot the creatures that were within the village. The wall of stone blocks will not delay the enemies for long, but it will be enough time to give the werewolves a chance to regroup.
"Take a defensive position! Tear them apart!" Silver shouted and a long howl sounded in response.
"You're still human." Danil noticed, helping the werewolf climb the wall to throw away the spiders that were climbing up.
"And you have become wider in the shoulders. It doesn't matter – what is this?"
A second wave of howling sounded, but this time from the side of the forest, behind the backs of the creatures. The enemy was taken into a vice.
"What are they doing here? Why are the children here?!" Silver jumped behind the wall, tearing two spiders at once with a blow of his sword.
"Corners and rats... corners and rats... something about rats."
A fireball began to glow in Danil's hands, quickly changing its color. Yellow, orange and then white. The fire burst from his fingers and hit the ground, exploding into a sea of death and taking a dozen creatures. The already converted werewolves rushed at those who were thrown back by the shock wave. There was no mercy.
The smaller wolves attacked from ambush, dragging their victims into the forest. The counterattack worked; the enemy was simply not ready for it.
Silver and Danil fought side by side, flashes of sword and spells mixing in a dance of death as they searched for their next victim.
"Where, where are you... Where are you, bastard?"
"He is here." Danil said, turning to the figure that came out of the forest.
It was a man dressed in a dark blue robe. His gray skin made him look like a vampire, but his huge square nose swept that theory aside. In his hands was a red book, from which purple smoke oozed, trailing behind his feet like a cloak.
"A Summoner. Ranged attacks and the ability to summon monsters to help. Possibly strengthening his summons." Danil immediately said, bending his legs and gathering another fireball in his hands.
"You know a lot for a lost one, wanderer of the land." The Summoner spoke, the pages in his book began to turn over as if they were being moved by the wind. "Kill him."
The spiders around him began to grind, seeing the danger to their leader and ran towards Danil.
Silver stood ready and didn't even blink when a blue ball of fire flew at the summoner. He knew that the leader's confidence had to come from somewhere and rushed after him.
The fireball was broken on the armor of a large zombie that had risen from the ground. Full armor did not save him from having his head cut off, or even from a huge icicle in his heart. Throwing the corpse aside, Silver stepped towards the Summoner, but even then, he was intercepted, this time by three small pixie-sized creatures. The swords in their hands were as small as themselves, but they cut through leather armor and flesh with ease. But Silver didn't seem to notice them, his target was someone else.
"Ragh!" The wind blade cut one of the Vex and he crumbled into dust. Danil finally made his way to them through the horde of acromantulas. "I'll take on the Summoner."
The pages in the book rustled even faster, but nothing new appeared. This was a bad sign; the Summoner was preparing something big. Danil teleported behind the villain and struck the back of his head with his staff, but his attack was interrupted by a gray translucent shield and the staff went to the side.
"An artifact of protection." Danil immediately determined. "Feeds off the energy of souls." He added.
"Where does such knowledge come from? Maybe you somehow managed to escape?" The Summoner took the book aside. "Although it's not that important, you're all about to die abruptly. Redstone Golem, destroy my enemies!"
The ground next to the Summoner heated up red and cracked, a huge colossus, twice as tall as Danil and ten times as wide. Made of stone, metal and red veins, the golem looked menacing, but neither Danil nor Silver flinched. Fear had long since left their bodies.
"Redstone Golem. Attacks with waves of fire and in an area. Strong, but slow."
Knowledge from Danil's past world helped him in the battle, but it was only a picture on the screen. The monsters' attacks and movements were different from those in the game. Real enemies behaved differently, moved differently. But the gaps in his knowledge were filled by his instincts. They told him what his opponents were capable of and what to expect.
The golem's body began to creak, its slow arms rose into the air and crushed the earth into pieces. A wave of fire spread across the floor, not distinguishing between friends and enemies, burning both creatures and werewolves. Three wolves did not survive the explosion.
"Hit the red plexuses." Teleporting onto the golem's back, Danil hit the redstone line with his staff. The tree hit the stone and left a neat round hole in it.
Silver distracted the Summoner, his sword cut monsters left and right, but they did not remain in debt.
The golem sprayed fire, throwing Danil off of him, but he rolled on the ground and immediately got to his feet. Four cubes of iron fell out of his bag – as if completely by accident – and grew to their normal size. They were followed by a pumpkin with a face carved on it.
"Golem versus golem." Danil muttered, watching the pumpkin fall onto the central cube of iron.
The steel began to spread and form a body; within three seconds, his personal Iron Golem stood next to Danil. He didn't need commands; he followed the will of his creator. The Iron Golem walked forward on stiff legs, ready to give his life without a single thought. But Danil understood that this would not be enough.
"We'll have to climb into the mine." He muttered to himself and reached into his bag. "Need to create backup."
-=-=-=-=-=-
Mooney ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The werewolf's consciousness remembered the man's last thoughts – to protect his student. The branches whipped the wolf across his body and face, but he felt no pain. The sounds of battle were getting closer.
Running out of the forest, Mooney grabbed the neck of the first zombie he came across, tearing the rotten flesh into pieces. Only then did he decide to look around and shamer. A thought flashed through the werewolf's head: am I even needed here?
Thirty werewolves of different ages fought side by side with tall iron machines. Silver, Danil, Kendrick and Bitch were circling around a huge Red Golem and some gray-skinned guy. Blue ice covered the Golem's body, cooling the Redstone compounds and preventing it from moving. Lupin, hidden in Moony's mind, recognized this as Danil's handywork.
After thinking for a second, Mooney rushed towards the grey-skinned man. His shield had been under attack from Kendrick and Suki for ten minutes. Mooney leaned with his whole body on the magical barrier, it immediately burst into gray light, but resisted.
"One more! When will you be finished?!" The Summoner said wearily, turning the pages of the book with his free hand. The pack of creatures gradually ended, the rare endermen in the crowd tried to protect the Redstone Golem, but the werewolves quickly put them to waste. It's hard to survive if your heart replacement organ has been ripped out.
"It's still a long way until dawn." Danil muttered; his fingers covered in the soft blue light of the spell. "Light. Need sunlight."
The spell began to change color and glow even brighter. "Lumos Solem!" His loud voice rang out and the spell ball flew up, stopping fifteen meters above the ground.
Bright sunlight flooded the Iron Haven, causing the wights to burst into flames, cries of pain rang out from their rotten throats. The werewolves pressed their advantage, killing wounded creatures and confused spiders.
"Burn in the flames of the Nether, you bastard!" The Summoner shouted. "Oh Lord, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, accept my body as your vessel!"
The shield broke under the blows of three werewolves, but it was too late. The spell was completed and the wolves were thrown back.
As soon as the crack of the shield sounded, Danil immediately teleported to the Summoner and pierced his chest with his staff. The tree pierced flesh and bone with a terrible crack, crushing the greyskin's heart and left lung. The villain's eyes became clouded with black and he grabbed the monster teenager by the wrist, holding the staff in his body.
"Free." The Summoner's voice did not sound human. Their eyes met and Danil felt a sharp pain in his temples, but his mental defense held out. Whoever occupied the Summoner's body was a shitty mind mage, or simply couldn't use all of their power.
"Not a runaway, but a free one." Someone spoke through the Summoner's mouth in the language of the Endermen, tearing vocal cords not accustomed to such feats. "I don't recognize you. You are not one of the failed ones. Who are you, warrior?"
Danil did not answer. He took a deep breath and doused the Summoner with purple smoke. A cry of pain cut through the chaotic sounds of the battlefield. Gray skin and flesh melted right on the Summoner's body, and then the smoke reached his bones.
Three seconds and the body hanging on the staff went limp. Danil casually threw it aside and winced with displeasure as he watched it turn to dust. And the rest of his monsters followed the Summoner, crumbling into nothingness, as if they didn't exist.
The werewolves howled in victory, feeling the victory over their enemy. The Iron Golems were destroying the remains of the Redstone Golem, which was still trying to move and refused to die. But it was already over.
Silver was breathing heavily, looking around. Even with the Moon giving him the strength to fight for hours without rest, his wounds were dragging him down.
"Twenty-six... four killed, twelve seriously wounded. Thank Merlin they had no silver." The man exhaled heavily, holding his wounded side. "Where are children?"
In response, a loud bark was heard from the forest and a small she-wolf with white fur ran up to Silver. And after her, all the other children appeared, from young to old.
"Sarah." He sighed with relief. "You're all right." The girl cheerfully licked her face instead of answering. "That's great, grandpa is fine too. Go check on Danil, the Brightest one deserves it."
Sarah didn't need to be told twice, she barked cheerfully and ran to the village, where Danil looked with interest at the loot that had fallen to him. When Sarah was far enough away, Silver sighed once again and fell to the ground. He's lost too much blood.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone