"Do you really think it was wise to leave them back in that village?"

Sword Saint and her friends traveled down the road as they prepared to enter into the town just ahead of them.

"Are you still on that? You heard what the Boss said." Hero smiled as she then deepened her voice to imitate him the best she could. "You three need to get moving before you become a pain in my ass. So I lost an arm, it takes more than that to bring this old "war horse" down. Now go save the world!"

"I think she meant more, was it truly wise to leave the village in the care of those mercenaries?" Sage with her own neutral face turned toward her friend in the center.

"That group won't do anything. They could have easily swooped in to take the resources after the Necromancer's forces attacked." Hero had a bright cheerful smile as they continued to walk down the road. "That group may claim to be mercenaries, but they're a family. They'll protect that town from harm."

"Ever the optimist I see. You've been this way from the very beginning now that I think about it." Sword Saint too had a bright smile on her face. "Even when fighting Hecatoncheires, our battle in Hell, or against that fiend that fell from the stars, you've always been positive in your attitude. The only time I saw you a bit worried was when we battled against the Lich Queen."

"It's hard to explain, but I knew we'd be able to complete out tasks with ease because we were being helped." Hero smiled faded as a puzzled look crossed her face. "Like there was someone else out there fighting alongside us, helping to lighten the burden for us. When facing the Lich Queen I was worried until Goblin Slayer joined in the fray, he distracted her on the battlefield and helped us reach her castle to destroy her horcruxes."

"She was originally our enemy, then an ally and now she's become his summons. That Goblin Slayer has a unique way of attracting others to him." Sword Saint smiled as she shook her head imaging the indifferent man. "Wouldn't it be ironic if "he" was the one giving us the aid we needed to be successful."

"I wonder…" Hero had a smile on her face as she looked up at the bright sunny sky wondering when she'd be able to meet Goblin Slayer again. "I wonder if he's also trying to stop the Necromancer. I'm sure he's out saving the villages as he always does, but it would be nice to think he'll be here to aid me again."

The trio of women entered the large town, thankful it appeared to be free from any signs of the Necromancer's influence. They were greeted by the townspeople with bright smiles and after a few questions discovered a large of warriors had come into the town and defeated some demon worshipers. The trio rushed towards the town center, determined to discover the identity of these people, again they were eager to know there were others fighting alongside them. There in the center, they spoke with the mayor, with them was a large caravan of knights and warrior priests.

"Your Majesty!"

The King and Sword Maiden turned to see the Hero and her party approaching them, happily waving as they rushed forward. The King and Sword Maiden bowed their heads and returned the smile surprised to see the trip of women here in the village with them.

"I am glad to find you three well, what brings you to this village this day, though I might be able to hazard a guess." The King though happy to meet another familiar face on the road had a frown as he wished to confirm what he suspected.

"The Necromancer, that is what I imagine has brought both you and your personal guard out here as well." Now it was Hero's turn to frown as she examined the large party with the King and Sword Maiden. "We were in Mountain Pass when we received your dispatch and have been fighting our way through villages and towns in our hunt for the Necromancer."

"Have you met the fiend? We have dealt with his minions and monsters but have yet to encounter him ourselves." Sword Maiden had a slight frown as she thought back to the lost lives caused by both the ignorance of people and the horrors of his creations.

"We did, though he did not allude to what his plans were, just that it seems that he is working his way towards the Capital." Hero growled in frustration at not defeating him there at that moment. "My lord, did you and the others see those strange pillars of light?"

"Seven pillars of light that reached the heavens, a signal of some kind." The Sword Maiden tightened her grip around her sword and scales. "Perhaps the Necromancer warning his subordinates in the Capital or him sending the signal directly."

"That is what concerns me too, I've been checking with the mayor and guild manager, for the past week, there has been no word from the Capital. Prior to that, the people coming and going would talk about something odd affecting the people, but those were sporadic incidents." The King rubbed his chin with his right index finger and thumb. "Why weren't my instructions followed? The Capital should have been prepared as if it were on the war-front."

"Perhaps the Necromancer's forces intercepted your message." Sage was quick to offer her own advice on the current situation. "Together we can finish our sweep of the villages before making our way towards the capital."

"That would be a wise course of actions indeed. I look forward to fighting alongside you all again." Sword Maiden smiled then could feel the blush cross her face. "Tell me, have you by chance come across Goblin Slayer and his party in you travels?"

"Not yet." Hero too could feel the blush cross her face as she looked toward the ground to avoid being seen by the others.

"I am quite sure we will see him if not soon then before we reach the Capital." The Sword Maiden smiled as she looked over the young women. "Where there are those monster goblins destroying villages, he will be there."

xxxx

Wolf drank from the nearby stream, for several days he had traveled and still he could not pick up the scent of his mate or his pack. He hunted the local wildlife while being cautious of humans who wandered the forest, they had the smell of adventurers and appeared to be tracking the monsters his packmates battled. With the scent too weak for him to follow, he instead followed the river back the way he came it was unclear how much time was lost when he was swept away with the river. By nightfall he slept, his ears every twitching as he listened for anyone approaching him but his nose soon picked up on a familiar scent, there were wolves nearby.

The next morning Wolf once again helped himself to the water at the river's edge when he heard the growls of several creatures behind him. Wolf turned with a low growl himself and tail raised high as he saw some ten grey wolves surrounding him. He had no intention of trying to fight an entire wolf pack on his own but would not run with his tail between his legs as he took a step towards them, once again letting out a low growl. At the front of the pack were two large wolves, the male and female alpha, though nowhere near the size of Wolf these two were much larger than the other wolves that followed. The pack of wolves approached as well, growling and snarling and they moved to encircle the massive black wolf before them. Further behind them were another six or seven wolves who were ready to assist the alphas in this hunt.

Suddenly there was a loud roar from off to the left as well as the sound of wolves howling, the pack mates who had stayed near the den were now calling for assistance. The pack of wolves quickly rushed up the hill to aid their kin who stayed behind with the young pups, what caused the roar was unknown, but their interest in this black wolf was now nonimportant. Wolf looked to see the pack take off in the direction of the roar, with the wolves gone he could easily take off and continue to track his own pack but what if this creature was one of those evil monsters he had been fighting. Wolf took off in the direction after the wolves to at least confirm what type of monster this pack was having to deal with. He kept his distance from the other wolves as he kept pace with them, the last thing needed was to get in a fight with them and waste any extra energy needed.

At the top of a hill near the small rocky den were three, smaller grey wolves growling and snarling as a large brown bear stalked toward them. Behind these three wolves were seven tiny pups who backed away towards the den entrance as the bear moved closer towards their mothers. The bear raised its claws to strike at the nearest wolf when the two alphas charged in, the male biting at the bear's raised paw while the female went for a hind leg. The bear roared as both wolves released their grips and moved as the bear turned its attention towards them and tried to swipe at them only to see the pack of wolves surrounding it.

The pack quickly surrounded the bear growling and snarling and moved closer to protect the rest of their packmates. The bear swiped its massive arms at the wolves looking around at the wolves determined to strike the closest one and satisfy its hunger with the winter season now gone. The bear continued to roar at the wolves swiping its paws left and right when something massive leapt over the wolves and rushed towards it. It was a black wolf that rushed in and got hold of the bear's throat, the bear tried to roar but with a quick and sudden jerk backwards, the black wolf brought the bear down and the rest of the pack were quick to pounce on the downed bear. They viciously tore at the bears hide, while other went for the limbs to keep it from attacking, the bear struggled the best it could but eventually fell under the assault of the pack.

With the bear dead Wolf released his grip on the bear's throat and slowly backed away as he looked over the other wolves. The alpha male stood near the bear's body, the other members of his pack nearby him as they looked towards Wolf. After a few tense moments the alpha male and female moved into a sitting position and the rest of the pack followed before the two alphas raised their heads high and let out a long howl, the rest of the pack followed and now the whole pack howled in chorus. Wolf heard the howl of the pack, then he too moved to sit and howled along with them, the triumphant cry of the pack and their temporary acceptance of him.

Wolf lay off to the side as the pack went about feasting on the bear, the alphas helped themselves first then the rest of the pack went to take their share of the meat, the mothers would regurgitate part of the meat for the young pups to feed on. Wolf would allow this pack to feed first as it was their territory, the last thing he needed was to get into a fight with a pack this large, even with his size it was not a certain victory for him. Wolf lay his head down upon his paws as he looked toward the small pups playing around, he immediately thought of his own mate and his litter. Were they okay without him? His pack was there to look out for them as they had for him, but his instinct told him he would need to continue tracking them.

He then heard the small barks and looked to find three of the small wolf cubs awkwardly walking towards him, the cubs were curious about this large beast that resembled a wolf. The wolf pack watched carefully as the cubs drew closer towards the black wolf, the young cubs barked as they bounced around attempting to play with the big creature. Wolf watched them as they drew closer, the tiniest one coming up towards him sniffing him carefully as it pressed its nose against his. Wolf's tail began to wag as he continued to lay there while the cubs pawed at his sides and playfully attempted to bite at his face. The rest of the pack relaxed at it seemed that the larger wolf would not be causing them any problems, for Wolf the sight of these young pups playing with him only added to his unease, he could not stay here for long if he wanted to catch up with his pack.

xxxx

"Look, the little cubs have their eyes open!"

Half-Dragon Daughter sat in the back of the wagon to watch over the small pups while Snow was walking around. She happily reached out with her hands, carefully petting them, a large smile crossing her face she could feel how soft and fluffy they were. She looked down to see the dull blue color in their eyes as they stumbled around while trying to find their mother. Cow Girl smiled as he walked over toward the side of the wagon and moved the tarp put of the way to examine the small pups within.

"Let's see." Cow Girl smiled as she looked down at the trio whining pups. "Doesn't look like they can quite see just yet. Their eyes will need some time to adjust before they can really identify anything."

"Will their eyes stay blue?"

"They'll take on the colors of their parents, so it's likely they might stay blue like Snow or red like Wolf." Cow Girl had a small smile, though she still felt terrible about not knowing what happened to Wolf.

"I miss him." Half-Dragon Daughter frowned as she looked back toward the small cubs and continued to pet them.

"I do too. He was a good companion to all of us." Cow Girl reached over to gently stroke her sister's head and soon smiled as a thought crossed her mind. "You know, once they get big enough, I think it would be a good idea for you to have one of your own."

Half-Dragon Daughter quickly turned toward Cow Girl with wide eyes before a large smile broke on her face, her tail lightly slapping the bottom of the wagon.

"You mean it? I can have one?"

"I don't see why not. I'll have to make sure it okay with your mother and father of course, but I think they'd be okay with it." Cow Girl smiled as she continued to stroke her sister's head. "You'll need to take very good care of him or her, and I know they in turn will protect you…just like Wolf did."

"I promise I will." Half-Dragon Daughter smiled and nodded her head as she turned back towards the wolf cubs and immediately eyed the one she would want. "This one!"

Half-Dragon Daughter gently went to pick up the small wolf cub with snow white fur just like Snow, she wondered if it would grow up to have blue eyes or red eyes. Cow Girl smiled as she closed the flap of the wagon to rejoin the others, Half-Dragon Mother and Lizard Priest smiled and nodded to her. Half-Dragon Mother mouthed the word "yes" as to her question of them allowing Half-Dragon daughter to have a wolf cub.

"A dragon with a pet wolf huh…well it's not the strangest thing I've seen." High Elf Archer smiled as she slowly ate her stew.

"I did once hear of a dwarf, and elf and a lizardman joining two humans in their crazy quests to slay goblins." Female Knight smiled as she too ate her food with a small helping of wine.

"Ha! Sure you have. Next you'll tell me that group fought against an army of the undead, traveled to Astral Plane to fight a wraith and are now trying to save the world from a madman." Dwarf Shaman chuckled as he drank his fire wine. "Would certainly make for a good story."

"Oh, how the High Elf put down the Necromancer with a single arrow?" High Elf Archer proudly stuck out her chest while boasting.

"What, this is no time to be spouting such lies Long-Ears. It will be how the mighty dwarf used his magic to bring down this foe."

"Now look who's spouting nonsense."

"Sir Mage! Lady Ranger!" Lizard Priest was stern in his tone as he looked toward them before smiling. "I believe the tale shall be about a lizardman who faced down the enemy with the courage of even the mightiest dragon!"

The group broke out into a bit of laughter, something that was much needed after a few long days of uncomfortable silence. Goblin Slayer stood off to the side constantly looking over the woods for any visible signs of trouble…and possibly spotting Wolf. Though he had seen the blood in the water, he could not confirm who was bleeding, but Wolf had been wearing his armor when he fell into the water.

"It is difficult to swim even in calm waters when wearing armor. My training with Master had been most troublesome, I believe he took pleasure in my suffering. Would Wolf be strong enough to…"

"Are you alright Goblin Slayer?"

Goblin Slayer turned to see Guild Girl approaching with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"The food's ready, I would recommend you eat something."

"In a moment. I'm checking to make sure there are no goblins present."

"And looking for a certain companion?" Guild Girl had a light smile on her face as she saw him nod.

"Yes…" Goblin Slayer was hesitant in his response as he continued to look woods.

"He's just like you. Whenever your friends thought you dead, I heard you would rise back up to keep fighting." Guild Girl frowned as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "If he did make it, I know he'll be making his way back toward us. No force can stop him…or you."

Goblin Slayer was silent as he thought carefully about what he heard; he nodded his head as he continued his watch. He was not normally one to leave these things to luck, but for the sake of Snow and her litter, he would hope that Wolf had survived.

xxxx

Wolf awoke from his slumber, his ears twitching as he heard the sounds of growling and fighting off in the distance. He raised his head up and began to look around, he had spent the night there among the other wolves, helping himself to a portion of the bear once the pack had finished. The other wolves too heard this and raised their heads up to inspect the area for any possible danger to their pack and cubs. The sounds were that of wolves, the Alpha male and female looked around but saw none of their pack missing. Wolf and the others quickly rose to their feet and rushed off in the direction of the sounds of fighting, for the pack there was worry that it was another pack attempting to take their territory.

There close to the road they saw them, a small pack of brown wolves was feasting upon the body of a man. The rest of the pack could recognize the scent of the wolves, they belonged to a pack that had invaded their territory, the human was different; there was a strange scent about him that made the pack apprehensive. Wolf on the other hand knew the smell and recognized the image, they had pounced upon a Faceless Man.

The pack of brown wolves greedily fed upon the remains of the human, they managed to find him alone while examining a nearby pond. The Faceless Man knew he was to return to the Capital to aid his master in the plan to spread the Miracle of Life, but upon seeing the local wildlife here felt he could serve the Necromancer by contaminating the pond where the animals would drink from. He would not get the chance as the pack of wolves pounced on him, before he could break the vial in his mask, they were upon him, he died cursing his foolishness as he was unable to serve his master.

The pack leader was too engrossed with his meal to notice the scent of the other wolves nearby as he continued to tear at the human's flesh, but there was an odd object in the way, covering its face. The wolf bit down on the object and tore it away, in the process breaking the glass vial within as the fluids spilled into its mouth. The wolf dropped the mask and began to couch and hack as it tried to remove the foul taste from its mouth as it backed away from the rest of its pack. Within moments, the wolf's body began to twitch violently before shrieking and yelping as it dropped to the ground. The other wolves stopped their eating and quickly backed away from the pack leader as it thrashed about, feverishly scratching at the ground. The wolf's body began to change, the fur being tore apart as red muscle could be seen, its skull began to change, the teeth becoming more jagged and now its ears hardened as they became thick black horns. The rest of his pack ran away from the sight while the wolf continued to transform, but once it's body had fully finished its change, the new Hellhound rose up roaring as it raised its head high.

The Hellhound growled as it looked around for prey to eat, the scent of the Faceless Man was nearby but now it could smell the other animals around it. It looked toward the top of the hill to see the pack of wolves looking down, it growled as it stalked forward eager to attack the pack before it. Wolf and the pack of wolves in turned growled before rushing down the hill to surround and attack the Hellhound. A single wolf rushed in to attack but was not fully prepared for the reach of the Hellhound. Its claws tore into the wolf's flesh and brought it crashing down upon the ground with a yelp, once down the Hellhound eagerly went in with its teeth and bit down into the throat. Wolf and the others rushed in to attack the monster which had now killed one of their packmates.

The pack tore at the Hellhound body, Wolf doing his best to use his weight and size to go for a back leg and pull the Hellhound back to the ground. The Hellhound was far larger and its tough hide easily helped it stave off the attack of the pack, with its fire breath its burned and injured several wolves, while its horns, claws and teeth helped it kill many more of the pack. The Hellhound got back its feet and snapped and snarled as the pack surrounded him while Wolf faced it head on. The two massive beasts snapped and snarled at one another until Wolf quickly moved in and sank its teeth into the Hellhound's throat, the Hellhound not to be outdone bit down on the dire wolf's side, breaking through the chainmail and drawing blood. Wolf would not surrender and continued to pull and tear at the monster's throat until the Hellhound finally collapsed to its side, dead from the blood loss.

Wolf continued to hold at the monster's throat for some time before finally releasing its grip as it stepped back to examine the dead beast. Though he was injured, the pack had brought down the Hellhound, though five of the packmates lay dead on the ground and several others had been injured. The male alpha had been injured as it struggled to get back to its feet, his mate right beside him carefully cleaning her mate's wound. Though saddened by the loss of their packmates, the pack would not get a very long reprieved before they heard multiple growls from nearby. The wolves quickly moved close towards one another as the remainder of the brown wolf pack regrouped and readied to attack. Though they had abandoned their pack leader who had been suffering with some unknown sickness, now that the monster was dead and some of the wolf pack had been injured, now would be the time to attack the pack and take over the territory.

The male alpha growled as it struggled to get back on its feet as his mate stood beside him snarling at the other wolf pack. The other wolves readied themselves for another fight but, now it was Wolf who rushed ahead growling and snapping at the pack of brown wolves. The smaller pack quickly recoiled as the massive black wolf snarled as it drew closer towards their pack, though they could see it too was injured from the fight with the monster, the sight of the black wolf growling at them caused many of the pack to cower with their tails between their legs. The pack of brown wolves quickly turned and ran away from the spot, not eager to tangle with this creature who stood between it and the injured pack.

Wolf stopped his snarling once the pack could no longer be seen, he turned his attention back toward the pack of grey wolves as they moved toward their injured, there were some who howled as they stood over the bodies of their dead. Wolf saw this and though back to the wolves in pack when he was a young wolf, he moved toward a nearby tree and took hold of the low hanging branches and tore them loose, he walked over toward the nearest body and lay the branches with leaved upon its body. It then moved towards another tree and repeated the same action, other wolves followed and did the same with leaves, dirt and branches on the ground. As the wolves moved to slightly cover their dead, the rest of the injured pack slowly made their way back up the hill, back to where the young cubs and those who were watching them had remained. Once back at their den, the injured wolves lay themselves down to rest while the other wolves went to lay down away from the others to rest, some let our long sorrowful howls as they looked back in the direction where their fallen packmates had been. Wolf sat off to the side still watching this pack of wolves and although knew his own pack was still waiting for him, he could not abandon this pack while it was injured. His new pack had stopped to aid him when he was injured in the cave, they stood by him several times until he was well, so now he could do the same for this pack. Wolf turned to look back towards the forest, he would stay with them for some time until most of the injured were back on their feet before he continued his quest, he would find his mate and his litter, it was only a matter of time.