章節 123: Chapter 122
Ash and Rit's sudden appearance was enough to slow down the hounds to let the wolves catch up to them. Most of the hounds in the back were in the range of the wolves, Ash and Rit would have to deal with the ones in front and stop them from running off. Rit had no weapon but it didn't seem like he would have used any even if he had because he seemed pretty content and efficient in using his rugged body to just push through the hounds. His horse seemed to have picked up on the same tactic because it was not missing any chance to stomp down on the hounds with its legs which were fitted with heavy metal horseshoes and their combined weight had enough force to break the hound's bones very easily. Ash on the other hand had to fight while making sure no hound ran past him, which was difficult since he was facing three of them and with a wolf cub in his one hand.
He sank his sword deep into the first hound he had attacked initially, their leader. The one on the left tried to run from behind them, but Ash in panic pulled his horse's reigns tight and it jumped and kicked back with tremendous force, one of its hooves landed straight into the ribs and the hound flew away howling in pain. His horse couldn't maintain the balance and they toppled over. Ash scattered in a hurry to not get stuck under the horse and keep the cub safe from the fall.
He felt a sudden sense of fear because now he was on the ground level and a very easy target for these big animals. The wolves were making sure that their cubs were safe so most of the hounds ran away leaving the cubs behind and straight towards him.
They could easily just bite his neck off on the way. Ash readied his sword keeping the cub covered by the other arm. His heart was racing fast as they reached him and he swirled in a spiral in the most advanced form he knew which was best for such kind of situations, whichever hound got close was slashed by his rotating sword and couldn't get past his blade. They ran past him and the cub remained on stage.
Ash stopped spinning, his brain was still bouncing around in his skull which took some time to settle and his eyes to focus.
He turned around and saw the hounds running away. Just then a big white figure ran past him, it was a big white wolf running after the hounds alone. Ash saw that one of the hounds in the back still had a cub in its mouth, it had somehow mixed in with the rest and escaped.
Ash only had one chance so he had to aim right. He threw the sword high in the air, he didn't have enough power without mana to through it straight at the wolf, the sword spun fast in the air and it followed an arc downward. Ash looked hopefully for it to hit true, the sword fell, it missed the hound but landed near its leg, which was enough to falter it and the wolf to sink it's teeth in its tail.
Two other wolves reached them to help the white wolf and they saved the cub and killed the hound on the spot within seconds. A sudden silence filled the surroundings as the hounds disappeared far into the forest. There were only the little struggling sounds Ash's horse was making to get up and the crying cubs. Ash went and helped his horse up. Rit came by him looking unsure of what to do now.
"We should get out of here, while they are tending to their cubs," Rit advised but Ash was too busy looking at the white wolf a few feet away from them. It was magnificent, the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It didn't look like the white wolf had a cub of its own. While Ash had been gawking at it, the other wolves from the back had finally decided to pay attention to the humans amongst them. They slowly got closer their sharp canines clearly visible. Rit again made to leave but Ash stopped him.
"It's fine, I don't think they will attack, they are intelligent as you said and we just helped them," said Ash.
"Don't be so sure, they must have incidents with the other dwarfs all the time, they will see me as a danger, you might be fine human," said Rit.
"In that case, I think you will be fine too," said Ash, again amazed at Rit's ability to think that he was a dwarf.
Ash looked into the eyes of the biggest grey wolf which had gotten the most close, this must be their leader and apparently female. Ash saw that in her eyes she was wary of them and wanted to know what their intentions were. Ash sheathed his sword stepped forward and bowed, exposing the back of his neck. It was something his mother had said to him once when he had first started going camping with his father in the forest. The wolf waited for a moment then bowed back and the tension seemed to vanish from the air. The wolves in the back even started going back. Then the three wolves that had chased ahead passed beside them to join their group. The white wolf moved very close to Ash, its crystal blue eyes on him. Ash couldn't help but put a hand out, the wolf stopped suddenly and turned. It was looking straight at him now, its big head was at his eye level and only inches away. The fire in its eyes told Ash that the wolf wasn't a pet and wouldn't like it if he scratched it on the forehead like a dog.
Rit got up on his horse, and Ash finally moved and got on the horse too. He nodded at the wolf and they left.
"What was that back there?" asked Ash.
"Nothing, it just felt like the wolf was trapped or something," said Ash.
"What are you talking about?" said Rit.
"Nothing, it's getting dark, we should make a camp," said Ash.
"Yeah, but let's move further away from here, even if the wolves might leave us, the hounds might come back to take revenge," said Rit. They tied back the horses to the carts and followed the path for another half hour until they found a nice spot and finally took the cart into the forest, the horses were pretty tired too from all the running and so were they.
Morris and the rest had also made camp. They had set up tents for the elders since they needed to meditate without disturbance. They were all sitting around a fire Cara's dad had started chatting.
"Let's go for a walk," Cara whispered to him after some time, sick of Jared's stories.
"We are going to fill up our water skins from that small river we saw behind," she announced to her parents.
"Don't go too far and be careful," her mother warned but didn't stop them.
Cara and Morris hurried off and when they were out of sight, Cara took a big sigh.
"Sometimes I just can't stand any of them," she said.
"Still, it's going to be a fun trip," he said.
"Not with Jared around, you have no idea what he is like, there's still the others around, wait for when we will reach the meeting place, and we'll be on our own," she said shaking her head. They reached the small river they had passed by earlier. Its water was cool to the touch.
"Let's stay here for a bit, I don't want to go back yet," said Cara and sat down on the river bank, taking off her boots and putting her feet in the water.
"I have to say, the change in the environment is making me feel different than ever before," said Cara.
"it must be the mana in the air, and all the kinds of flowers and herbs growing in the forest, they have a tendency to make you a bit wilder," said Morris.
"is there anything you don't know?" she said.
Morris took off his shoes and sat down right beside her too. He felt nervous sitting right beside her and all alone like this. She was the only girl he had dreamt of being with like this, but he had never thought it would ever be possible, she was the outgoing powerful hammer-wielding girl, and he was the quiet shield guy. Cara leaned closer and put her head on his shoulder. Morris breathed in her scent and couldn't stop his hand from falling right over hers. He waited for any reaction from her but she kept her eyes closed, he moved her hand and intertwined their fingers. His heart was beating loudly, he was imagining her suddenly jerking her hand out and slapping him or something. But she didn't, emboldened he spoke.
"Cara, I don't know if it's the right time, but I also don't know if I would ever get a chance like this again, I like you Cara, I want to court you formally," said Morris. Cara opened her eyes and looked at him suddenly, she didn't remove her hand from his.
"Aren't we too young for forming marriage pacts?" asked Cara.
"Families which are close, sometimes make pacts when the kids aren't even born yet, I know our families are from a different clans, and that's why I wanted to try my chance now because I am sure you would soon start getting a lot of offers from your hammer clan," said Morris.
Cara knew Morris was fully serious, she also knew very well how much he loved her, no one else had sacrificed their lives for her. She liked Morris more and more every day.
"I accept your offer, but I can't tell my parents about it yet, they won't let me do some things that I want to do otherwise, but I promise from my side it is official, I will reject all the offers that will come until the day I am ready to tell them," she said.
"That's more than good for me," said Morris.
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