DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WEREWORLD OR ANY CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY

Chapter 2

Thor awoke to the smell of smoke and cooking meat. They had been on the Dymling Road headed south all day, having stopped to camp for the night in a small grove away from prying eyes. As soon as they had set camp, Thor happily let sleep take him. The young Bearlord had not traveled like this since the end of the war a few months ago.

He sat up from his bedroll and turned towards the small campfire, spying a cooking rabbit, as well as a few small birds laying off to one side, ready to be placed on the spit after the rabbit.

"Well, since you're finally awake, come join us," said Drew, looking up from the map he was holding after seeing the young Bear's movements from the corner of his eye.

Thor gladly obliged, rising from his bedroll and slipping his cloak back onto his shoulders, and walked to the empty log beside the fire and seated himself. "Thank you," he said as Trent passed him a leg from the rabbit before taking the other for himself.

He quickly sunk his teeth into it, the juices flowing down his chin. Thor did the same, for he was starving, as he had not eaten since that morning before leaving Brackenholme. They had covered quite a bit of ground that day, alternating between a canter and a walk for the horses, which were tied to a large tree stump nearby, on the edges of the small camp.

"Where's Mikotaj?" asked the young Bear.

Trent wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before answering, "He chose to scout ahead, see if he could find any tracks for us to follow in the morning. He should be returning shortly." As if on cue, Thor heard hoofbeats as Mikotaj emerged from the trees, leading his horse, Thunder, from the trees by its reins.

"Anything?" asked Drew as he rose to greet the White Wolf.

"Nothing," came the reply, almost sounding relieved.

"Not surprising. We're still a long way off from where the Wyld Wolf was sighted five days ago," said Drew.

The Wyld Wolf, being one of the perverted excuses for werewolves that the dark shaman, Blackheart, had turned himself and the other tribe leaders into, using Drew's own severed hand no less. They were ordered under no circumstance to engage the enemy, rather learn the location of the lair and ride back to Brackenholme and inform Duke Bergan and General Harker, which would send five branches back with them to finish off the Wyld Wolves for good. But Thor had his doubts about whether or not that would actually happen, given Drew's reckless reputation, and personal hate for the Wolves. They were, after all, directly involved in the death of Lady Whitley, his beloved, who had died in his arms.

"Alright, everyone get some shut eye, we have a long ride ahead of us. Thor, you have first watch. Wake me when the moon gets to be about a third of the way," said Drew as he made for his bedroll, with Mikotaj falling into his as well.

Trent stayed by the fire, not yet done with his rabbit. When Trent had sucked the last of the marrow from the leg bone, he threw it into the fire and turned towards the young Bearlord.

"So, Thor, strapping young therian as you are, how come you haven't caught the attention of some young Werelady?" he asked, a smug grin on his face.

Thor was a little taken aback by the question out of nowhere, replying, "Icegarden is a remote place, not many Werelords or ladies come to visit, and my father never liked to travel out of Sturmland. What of you? Shouldn't you be in Hedgemoor with Lady Gretchen?"

The relationship between the Wolf Knight and the striking Werefox was no secret, even though the couple wished it was. Trent looked up at the stars, seeming to think about the question. "My brother needs me, Thor," he said as he looked back down at the Bear.

Thor paused for a second before stating, "Yes, but there must be something more than that. You could've rode down from Hedgemoor to go on this mission with us, but you chose to ride straight to Brackenholme with Drew, rather than stay with her."

Trent looked back up to the stars. "They always seem so peaceful…," he said, appearing to be lost in thought. Then abruptly, he stood up and looked down at the young Bearlord. "Its getting late, I'm going to get some shut eye." And with that, he walked to his bedroll and lay on his side, facing away from Thor.

There must be something more to their relationship, but I won't pry at him, Thor thought as he rose and moved to the edge of camp, wedging himself between two enormous roots and wrapped his cloak around him, as to keep watch without being seen. Nothing happened during his watch, so when the moon was in the appropriate spot, he rose and moved to Drew, kneeling and shaking the young Wolf awake for his turn. Thor then retired back to his own bedroll and let sleep overtake him.

Thor woke to a shaking sensation, opening his eyes and finding Trent above him. "Wake up, time to move." with that, he moved to wake the others.

They all quickly disassembled their camp site and loaded their things back into the saddlebags on their horses. The sun had not yet risen, the sky just now showing the first signs of pink from what they could see through the thick foliage of the Dyrewood's enormous trees. They mounted their horses and set off south down the Dymling road once again, riding in silence for the first few miles, each of the four men still groggy. They rode single file, at a canter, with drew in the lead, followed by Trent, Mikotaj, and lastly, Thor. They kept this pace for several hours before stopping at a small stream next to the road to refill their water rations.

When Thor looked up, for a moment, it appeared that everyone had disappeared, but upon closer inspection, he could see all three of his companions. This was mostly due to the long, flowing, dark green cloaks of the Woodland Watch, as well as the brown, studded leather breastplates that they wore, blending perfectly with the surrounding trunks. All seemed quiet, and the four were about to remount their horses and continue on their way, when Drew sniffed at the air, eyes going wide, holding up a fist, the universal signal for halt.

Drew moved his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, indicating that he smelled something approaching. He motioned for the four to take cover, and they quickly moved for the treeline. Thor noticed that he was by far the loudest of the group, due to his large size, snapping twigs and underbrush, while the other three moved with expert silence, Trent and Drew having grown up hunting on the Cold Coast, and Mikotaj being an expert tracker.

Suddenly, the thought occurred to Thor that he might not have been the best candidate for a stealth mission, as he knelt behind a large trunk next to Trent. He breathed a sigh of relief as they had taken the horses down to the bank of the stream to water them, so at least they were hidden from the eyes of those on the road. Drew kept his eyes intently focuses on the road to their left, as if waiting for someone to appear.

While Thor was a Bearlord, a bear's sense of smell not being as good as the wolf's, he still let some of the bear in, then sniffed at the air. Sure enough, he could smell something approaching. It wasn't human, but a beast. He let a little more of the bear in and sniffed harder this time. What he smelled alarmed him.

It smelled like wolf. Not a therian Wolf, like Drew, or even a Dire Wolf, which were native to these woods, no, it smelled dark, and more dangerous. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Drew and Mikotaj stiffen, and looked where they were looking, and that's when he saw them. Two Wyld Wolves.

One had blue warpaint across his fur in the pattern of a spiderweb, the other with a white skull painted on its chest. The two approaching Wolves stopped and sniffed at the air. Thor thanked Brenn that they were downwind from the two, otherwise they would be found in seconds.

No, they may smell the horses, though, he thought to himself. After a few seconds, which seemed like hours, the two Wolves continued on their way, heading north, the way that Thor and company had come from. When Drew was certain that they no longer needed to hide, he motioned to break cover. Thor and Trent walked over to Drew and Mikotaj.

"Well, captain, that is our quarry, is it not?" asked Mikotaj.

"Indeed, though I hadn't expected them to travel more than one at a time," said Drew in response.

"So what do we do?" asked Trent, eager to get revenge on those who had bitten him and nearly turned him into one of those monstrosities.

Drew stopped and pretended to think for a moment before saying, "We follow them, of course."

"Isn't it a little quiet?" asked Thor. Drew looked at him gravely and said, "I think we are no longer the hunters, but the hunted." Thor blanched at the statement and Drew signaled to form a square, riding two across, and two deep. All the sounds of nature has disappeared from the air as every muscle in Thor's body tensed, preparing him what was to come.

Suddenly, an arrow shot out from the foliage and embedded itself into Thor's left shoulder, the force of the impact throwing from his saddle, and rolled into the ditch off the right side of the road. He lay there dazed from the impact and the fall, and was vaguely aware of shouting back up on the road, when realization dawned on him: they were under attack!

Thor quickly shook his head and reached over to snap off the arrow shaft protruding from his shoulder. When that was done, he then began to change. He felt almost every bone in his body crack as he grew to accommodate the Bear. His ribs expanded, spine elongated, nose and face turning into a short, broad muzzle. All the while, his skin sprouting the beautiful white hair of the Sturmish White Bears.

When the change was complete, he moved his hand to the loop on his belt, and pulled up his double-bladed Sturmish steel battleaxe that Duke Bergan had commissioned the smiths to forge for Thor. Then, the massive White Bear in all his glory, scrambled back up the side of the ditch and emerged back on the road.

What he beheld was utter chaos. Drew and Mikotaj, both changed, White and Grey Wolves, stood back to back, surrounded by a crowd of at least twenty Wyldermen. Thor looked off to the side and saw Trent, still astride Storm, riding this way and that, sword flashing, but he was surrounded by at least the same number as Drew and Mikotaj. Thor made his decision, he took off towards Trent, bowling over and trampling the few Wyldermen that stood in his way.

When he reached the crowd, he tore into them, teeth and claws and axe flying, tearing apart all that stood before him, as the Wyldermen were shirtless savages, they did not wear the armor of traditional Lyssians. During a lull, he glanced over his shoulder, back towards Drew and Mikotaj and saw Moonbrand and the White Fist flying. The violent grace of Drew in Werewolf form was undeniable, with Mikotaj throwing mighty sweeps and jabs at his opponents with his massive spear.

Thor turned his attention back to the men in front of him, as it was dangerous to become distracted in the heat of battle. He bared his teeth and roared, expecting the men to flee, but they returned the action and he saw that all of them had teeth filed down into sharp points. Then they charged in unison, trying to surround the young Bear. One of them even climbed onto his back while he was occupied with the crowd in front of him and began stabbing around his mighty, muscled shoulders with a knife. Thor reached up and grabbed the man with his free hand and threw him into his comrades, knocking a few down.

Thor then went back on the offensive, his pristine white fur turning red with the stains of the blood of the Wyldermen. When he had finally defeated the last of them, nearly cutting the man in half with his great double-bladed battleaxe, he turned towards Trent, the Wolf Knight wiping his sword on his cloak. The knight nodded to Thor, recognizing that he did well, and Thor nodded back.

He was still not as experienced as any of his companions, but he was still powerful. Thor let the Bear go, it having served his purpose, and his body began to shrink, the hair receding. When he was human again, he turned towards Drew and Mikotaj, who were also in human form.

"Thank Brenn for these shifting leather straps, eh?" said the White Wolf, referring to the special straps in Werelords' armor that allowed their armow to shift as they shifted, so they could keep it on instead of it bursting as they grew. Mikotaj lifted his left arm and presented a long furrow in the studded leather of his breastplate. "It's not silver, but it would still hurt like hell."

Drew regarded Thor before saying, "You did well."

This was high praise coming from the Wolflord, considering this was only the young Bearlord's second battle in his life, and probably Drew's hundredth.

"Thank you. Now, we need to figure out how they knew we would be here," said Thor.

"I'm betting that those Wyld Wolves actually did catch our scent, and staged this ambush to allow time for them to escape us," said Trent. He turned to Mikotaj, "Can you find the trail?"

After almost an hour of searching for the tracks of the Wolves, Mikotaj called it and said, "The trail has gone cold."

Drew cursed, then said, "Well, let's wash up and set up camp." His tired companions completely agreed, picking their way down to the stream to wash the gore of battle off of their clothing, skin, and weapons. Thor had forgotten how much changing could tax your body, for as soon as his head hit his bedroll after a quick meal of roasted pheasant, he fell asleep.