AN: Real quick for those who like animals, like me and to those who absolutely love animals just a heads up that this chapter is going to have some harsh instances involving them.


Chapter 25

Wolves Lurking in the Shadows

The afternoon day brought a dull and cloudy sheet across the sky. The frost shielded pines lay still and laid to rest in the chambers of winter. The great clearing that had swallowed up our duo remained unfettered. The split chunks of ice dabbed about but cared no heed to the threats of life they presented. Such are the cruelties of mother nature.

Kaytaff pranced nervously about the banks while barking and yelping impulsively at the frozen lake, which in this moment he perceived to be a gluttonous monster whose bowels could never be filled and whose hunger could never be slaked. The agony of this creature was observed by no living thing who wailed and hoped in desperation for his master to emerge.

Unbeknownst to the shepherd dog was a small series of thumps tapping underneath the sheet of ice at the furthest end of the shore. Suddenly the entire blade of Ranger's sword shot out of then retracted followed by a loud gasp for air from the hole whence it came.

The sword was then seen piercing through multiple times, each insert blocked to the next. Finally a weak spot was exploited and a generous portion, the size of a man hole, gave way. The water then erupted followed by two figures, one nearly roaring for air while the other was slumped and limp.

Ranger began to haul Holo back but each time he attempted to vault over the ledge, the ice simply broke causing them to plummet again and again. Eventually he laid Holo's arms over the frozen surface so that the cloth of her garb would freeze rapidly and anchor her in place. Her arms were stuck to the ice and Ranger did the same and pulled himself over by sliding across.

He quickly turned and faced her on his stomach and began dragging her back so that their weights could be distributed evenly among this hazardous platform. He was successful in pulling her out but not without cost, for his bare, wet skin had sealed itself to the ice and when he pulled himself up it ripped superficial layers of flesh away. The most vexing of all was the immodest fact that his manhood was among these bodily areas frozen to the ice which when he lifted up it peeled the privy member off with a bite and left it bleeding.

Kaytaff bolted towards them as Ranger was shuffling back and dragging Holo along to the shore. The hound was upon his master whose skin was gnarled and a burning red. Ranger quickly grabbed the dog and began drying himself off with his fur.

The motive for Ranger to go in nude was that he now had a dry set of clothes waiting for him in which he rapidly put on his britches and boots then quickly considered Holo. He rushed to her and began stripping her of her wet clothing. Once down to her skin he noticed something that, even if a bolt of lightening were to strike near him, would not instill greater terror.

Holo was not breathing.

He quickly assumed she had inhaled water and put his ear to her chest.

Thump….Thump….

Her heartbeat was present but weak and though her blood was circulating she was barely perfusing. And should her life continue, would need to restore oxygen to her blood and fast for she would only have minutes before the death of vital tissue would commence.

He turned her lifeless body on its side and began compress her shoulders in attempts to work the water out like a billow. Then rested her chest over his bended knee and began striking his palm between her shoulder blades. Nothing was inspiring to her aspirate causing the man to become more desperate when he saw her lips tuning blue and her skin becoming oh so pale.

She was placed on her back with him slapping her cheeks causing her to wince and responded to the painful stimuli. With a grunt he rose his fist and slammed it hard between the inferior section of her breasts, impassioning her diaphragm. Her eyes bolted open and gargling began to resonate from her esophagus. He brought her up and leaned her over as she sputtered out a combination of water and emesis.

All that Holo could recall in the moment was being held in someone's arms. She tenderly unsheathed her eyes and could only see a blurry delineation of a man's face looking down at her. She could hear speaking but was disoriented and could make no sense of it, until it was becoming more and more clear with the passing of time.

"Holo?"

The only thing she found necessary as an appropriate response to her name was by saying delicately, "…C-cold…."

Ranger rushed to his shirt and vest and began dressing her with them. Both their bodies shuddered and quavered as Ranger put on his mask and hood had Holo lay down while having her hug Kaytaff. He rushed to find a small log and a fine stick that he quickly whittled into a fire plow then took her book and tore out the dry pages.

The rubbing of the sticks was much more difficult considering the chills that forced his body to betray their pristine movements and in place quivered with sporadic jolts. After much effort and friction, smoke was rising from the plow, when a flame was birthed he ignited one of the pages to use as kindling.

At last warmth was being generated in this harsh climate as Ranger found more logs to incinerate. As he went on his eyelids grew heavy and rest seemed so inviting. He scooted Holo closer to the fire then laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her and hugged tightly enough to transfer body heat.

He could feel her breathing, but unfortunately that was all he remembered before drifting off.

At the space of many hours Ranger was found prostrated on his side when the whips and pops of the nearby fire caused his eyelids to flutter about before opening to witness the blaze. He was however, presented with certain anomalies that would scarcely escape the observation of the most incoherent individuals.

The Fire was much grander and larger than what he initially struck while being surrounded by five logs that were aligned like a hut, with two on each side supporting the fifth above the blaze lengthwise. And dangling above it was a cooking elk carcass along with Holo's clothes and his blankets.

His eyes wondered and fell on his sled that was resting not too far off. He shifted to have a better look when his senses betrayed what was anticipated by his mind. He originally perceived himself to be resting on a snow bank, but what he was leaned against was soft, warm and massive.

It was Holo's fur.

The man leaned up to have a better look and found himself in the company of the giant wolf, curled up and nurturing his near frozen frame. The great and noble beast assented her head from its earthly resting spot when detecting the stirring of the one whom she guarded. Ranger then noticed that they had been removed to an entirely different location from what his memory recollected. Instead of the great white clearing, there were the towering boughs of pines while there was a bluff that expanded the view of the breathtaking Ketchiwa mountain that was closer than ever before that overlooked a wide rapid of wild waters.

He slumped to his knees and looked down to see his shirt was replaced over his body, though unbuttoned, while his vest was kept on the sled.

Holo turned her head towards him with generously soft, hot air pulsing from her powerful nostrils, "How are you feeling?"

He groaned and grumbled with a crotchety voice that so well depicted his beaten down persona. The last few days had been well against his favor to say the least and his body was beginning to show for it.

Holo arose and walked over to the logs and unhitched the elk before taking her clothes up in the hook of her teeth. Ranger stared, motionless and resolute as Holo began speaking, "I was able to go back down and retrieve the sled, most of what was on it is in tact."

He set his eyes to the sled and found his sword, bow, arrows and most of what he remembered hauling swelling upon it. The great wolf laid the blanket down then prostrated her clothes over it. The masked man sluggishly walked to the sled and stood before it without saying a word, his eyes communicated nothing to hint his gratitude or indifference to her actions.

"Keep your back turned please." said Holo who, though never having any reservation appearing nude to Lawrence, was discouraged to let her be seen as such in front of Ranger who was more or less familiarized with her anatomy to date.

As she was dressing she called to his backside, "I hope the elk is not overcooked, meat when it is dried out looses its luster does it not?"

He said nothing, only picking his sword up off the sled with a burning sensation in his bosom. His silence agitated Holo, for his temperament was so reserved at times that it would lead to greater apprehension when anticipating his answer.

Holo, once fully garbed, cut a slice of venison from the hind of the carcass and asked delicately, "Are you hungry?"

His voice, a voice that had lost its spring and precision and was worn and raspy from the effects of his efforts, said only one word, "…Why…?"

Holo was taken aback by his oblique and nebulous inquiry that she failed to grasp his meaning.

He turned around slowly with unsettling purpose, "Why did you use your wolf form? After concluding that a risk in doing so was fore sought, the risk that our pursuers may have a means to use it to track you, why did you linger in your wolf form?" He sounded so deranged yet eerily definitive in his sentiment that Holo knew not how to answer.

She stepped closer to him with the meat presented as an offering, "Because you had grown so cold and still, and we could not afford to loose our resources. And the weather was so bitter and merciless, I had to save you."

The tenderloin was relived of her grip with hands of incalculable emotion who only gazed upon it then back at her, "You could have survived without doing this." he weakly scolded.

"I was not concerned with myself,' replied Holo, 'I chose to act, I balanced the risks and chose to spare you."

Ranger nearly shook his head, "Is my life then, according to you, worth the risk?"

Now all things became clear, Ranger was suggesting that perhaps it would have been better for him to perish than be discovered by their enemies. It was an odd way of thinking he kept about him, one that Holo would hear none of as she took charge head on.

"Yes! Absolutely! I will not suffer for you to pass through this world, because…because…!"

"Because!" repeated the annoyed man.

"Because you do not have my permission to die!"

Of all justifications Ranger had ever been present to hear when disputing whether or not a life was to be justly placed in the hands of another, this one wrangled his brain to such a degree that it bound his tongue and wrested the words in his throat.

Fortunately for his stupor, Holo was not done talking, in fact she had many words to say, "You made me a promise!' she yelled with such convicted emotion that it compelled the man to be silent and listen, 'You promised me that no matter what we must endure to end this journey that you would see it to the end with me. We are not at the end of this journey therefore you are not exonerated from your word neither are you free to depart from this life as of yet. Until you fulfill your promise, you do not have my permission to die!"

At any normal occurrence such as this, he would have expected her to condescend to the typical mannerisms of a child or by allowing the tears that expressed her emotions to well up and trickle down her face, but there was none. Instead, her driving conviction to see her way through brought upon her to say, "If I must travel to the world beyond the grave to grab your soul and drag it back into your body, so help me I will do it. No one breaks their promise to the wise wolf Holo and not even death will provide an escape from their bounds to me!"

He put a hand on his hip while examining the slab of meat in his hands, he let out a depressed sigh that took Holo by the soul and said, "Well then, what choice have I?"

The fair heroin redoubled her efforts to lay claim to her desires, "What choice have we? We choose to run the risk together, we choose to ward off aggression as a union, we should choose to live!"

Ranger cocked his head with an equal indifference to her proclamation and replied, "You have quite the fascination with bravado."

Holo smiled irresistibly while running her hand through her silky hair, "What better way to win a man over than with talks of heroics while being pretty?"

He wished so dearly for a rebuttal to her remark but with each phrase he could consider to respond with he found only a way in which she could counter it. Alas his brain scanned for too long in which Holo took his silence as a victory and strode to the fire with pride and began eating.

Ranger consumed his portion in private then re armed himself. To his astonishment, what portions appeased his appetite was three fold less than what Holo was eating. By his calculation she had nearly devoured half the carcass on her own.

She took note of his observation and conducted her response to fit her annoyance, "Do you find amusement in watching me eat?"

"I find astonishment in the threshold you can consume,' said he, 'you had the hare earlier today and now half on animal fills your stomach. How can you sustain it all as you are?"

Picking a morsel from her fang with her tongue she replied, "I am Holo the wise wolf."

"Is that the answer you always conjure?" he rejoined.

"What else can I say to justify these talents with other than that I am who I am?"

A soft growl escaped his lips as he adjusted his posture and warmed himself by the fire.

Holo licked her hands clean and enjoyed this brief scene of tranquility while letting her stomach digest. She looked over to him and said ever so warmly, "Thank you."

He cast his glance over to her with with a gaze that inquired for her meaning.

"Thank you for breaking me out of the ice."

His glance softened as he asked with natural concern for her welfare, "What is the last thing you remember?"

Resting her chin in her hand she reflected, "I remember falling in and overcome with shock and cold. I remember trying to take the wheat and break out myself but all went black shortly after."

"I believe you may have inhaled the water when you attempted to partake of it." said he.

She leaned forward but whimpered and held her sides in pain, "My chest, it feels so tender!" she moaned.

"That was my doing,' replied Ranger, 'I smote you until the water cleared."

Her eyes then widened, "Ah now I remember! I saw you holding me, and though I could not make out your face, dear me, I could make out everything else! Let me tell you that was not a sight one is accustomed to when being revived. Atop of this I was naked too! Tell me how that had happened? You will have much to answer for when we find Lawrence, and also the Wise Wolf Holo for your actions upon a married woman!"
He was not one to take accusation to heart and replied with that dispelling demeanor he always maintained, "Clothing is not like fur, we both would have been frozen had I not. For one who declares her desire to live so earnestly, you seem to set specific limitations on how it is to be done."

She laid back with a dissatisfied groan with a hand upon her brow, "I was only trying to embarrass you."

"Sporting." he said with a dulling tease.

She looked over to him and said with such seriousness that it nearly altered the mood, "In the end, I will always prefer Lawrence, for compared to you, let us just say that his virility exceeds yours."

He nearly choked on his own air, "Before you pass judgment,' he growled, 'need I remind you that the conditions are below freezing?"

A smile that she had been withholding for sometime broke through her persona and made manifest on her facade, "Ha victory!" she declared in expression of her goal to humiliate him.

He got to his feet with a sour aura and dusted the snow from his knees. She prostrated herself upward on her thigh and said in good humor, "Oh come now, you know I jest, did you not find it entertaining?"

He folded his arms and scowled at her, then replied with chagrin emotion, "The feeling is mutual for compared to you, Abish was more endowed with her figure."

Holo sat straight up and snapped her arms to a fold, "Harumph! Of course that must be the first two things a man looks for in a woman, or should I say on her!"

"It appears your victory was presumptuous." replied Ranger as he sat back down.

Holo nibbled upon her lower lip as she laid down on her side to face him with a face refined in curiosity and those innocent eyes that so well prevailed her charm. Ranger's indifference to her charm however, always created an antithesis to her usual means as he looked back in a tone that was equally opposite to her design.

"I wish to know more about your home." said she.

His eyes rolled up and around his skull with discontent and disinterest to her inclination and responded with a tone that in no way betrayed that expression, "Are you sure you would not rather sleep first?"

"Well aren't you the clever one." came her pshaw.

"Ask away,' said he, 'there is no way from it I suppose."

Her expression so rapidly altered that it nearly breached his heart, "How did Abish die?" she asked so softly.

He was taken aback and conveyed in his mannerism the trespass she had just committed, yet being a man of few words, reverted to that to satisfy her inquiry without the expense of his own terms.

"Not well." came the coldness of his voice that implied such a heavy darkness that it seemed it could dampen the mood of the most heavenly beings.

"Fivel as well?"

He looked to the fire and stiffly nodded with such harrowing reverence that it nearly caused Holo to groan.

"Was it Cyrus?"

Smoothly yet quickly did his head shift back to meet her, "At times I cannot but wonder what causes you to burst out with such claims." he said.

"Because I am not a fool." returned the she wolf to defend her honor, "I could only wonder what or who would cause you to torture a man's fiancé unless it was something much more personal."

The silent stare of intensity Ranger gave off nearly caused Holo's heart to retreat from her bosom. Then by some miraculous impulse she asked daringly, "Cyrus is the one who gave you that near fatal scar is he not?"

He lightly fidgeted his fingers about his knees with eerie reservedness while the shadow had smudged the details from his eyes. Holo then raised herself and pressed, "That man is the one who ripped Lawrence from my side. I can barely even fathom the extent of terror he has inflicted upon others. But I know you do, in fact I am willing to say that no one knows him better than you. So I no longer ask you to tell me who this monster is who snatched my husband away, I demand it."

The silence was long and profound between the two. The wind whistled softly while the cracking whips of the nearby blaze accompanied it. Yet soon after all fell quiet.

Ranger took a deep breath and began speaking, "I knew him before he called himself Cyrus. Back in the days of our youth, I knew him as Akaran; indefinitely we share the same ancestry and inheritance in our blood, and at one point, there was nothing we would not do for another."

"You were comrades?" gasped Holo.

"More than comrades, blood brothers, he was practically family."

"How so?"

"When I was but a fledgling in training, word spread of a terrible attack that happened to our neighboring state, many children found themselves as orphans in one of the bloodiest ordeals of the era. It had long been marked as the day of infamy for us."

"Who would do such a thing and why?" trembled Holo.

"Our role was to maintain peace amongst all nations, naturally we developed bitter enemies. As a safeguard, some clans developed villages that were concealed deep within the canyons and high upon the mountains were the women and children could be safe."

"What of the men?"

Ranger brushed the white powder that collected on his shoulders away, "As I had said before, the duties of our nation called for the warriors to be engaged in other matters constantly, it was rare to see more than a handful of men in these villages at a time. We knew that our enemies knew that our warriors were too proficient to make any assault against them that could deal a significant blow to our nation, but the vulnerability of the rising generations was an entirely different affair."

"You mean people actually sought the life of your young ones to cripple you?" said Holo becoming agitated with horror.

"And our women as well. For who were the vessels in which new blood could be spawned? Unfortunately our enemies did discover one of our hidden villages and the work of slaughter was great among them. Alas not all had perished there were a few women who fled in time with their sucklings and sought refuge among the other clans."

"Cyrus, I mean, Akaran was among them, yes?" sincerely asked Holo.

"Indeed, while Alden and I were undergoing training my mother chose to take the babe in seeing how he had not a mother. This was against my father's wishes."

"How could he be so cold?" protested Holo with a tone that depicted her misunderstanding through ignorance.

"Because,' returned Ranger's intimate voice, 'though many clans made up our nation, we did not all see eye to eye on certain things, therefore we chose to live separate and mingle less due to our cultural and ideological differences. Taking in refuges from the other clans brought about unwanted scrutinies from our own brethren. They wanted the children to be raised with a set of beliefs that differed from ours causing conflicts of interest that could lead to great divides. My father was aware of this and did not want to raise a child he would be forced to teach strange doctrines within his own home. It had nothing to do with him being cold and un-wanting to a child."

Holo digressed when sensing his defensiveness, "I am sure Akaran, as growing up sensed this within the walls he was raised in."

"He was raised no better and no worse than me and my brother, yet he always did consider himself an outsider. However he grew fond of us, considering me and Alden the only real family he ever had."

"What caused this great rift between the two of you?" asked Holo very timidly.

Ranger maintained his meditative posture, "As Akaran grew older he and the others of his clan began to feel that they had not been properly avenged for losing their homes. This enmity created exactly what my father feared, a divide. My clan was becoming split between those who sympathized and those who demanded order. They began to call upon the elders and judges to wage war against those who created their situation. These requests were unheeded and scolded, in which this faction began to grow bitter and resentful towards my clan. Eventually after years of dispute over similar situations spread throughout my nation, causing a civil war to erupt, Akaran betrayed and turned his blade against us."

Holo nodded softly, "Being denied revenge can cause one to abandon many loyalties."

"I was sympathetic to Akaran's plight however, their idea of vengeance was to completely eradicate the enemy that brought doom to their clan, to leave not a man, woman or child standing."

"Genocide?" said Holo whose mouth dropped with dread.

"Yes, I could see that hunger which drove them, a hunger that would never be appeased. You will destroy one nation, and what then? Go after their allies? Usurp total control over all life? If we simply let this faction go down that path then our entire nation would have abandon their core principles and would have become the greatest destructive force on earth."

"You would rather fight each other than commit such acts would you not?" replied Holo.

"Indeed and that is what it ultimately came to, and unfortunately the catastrophe that ensued left us a scattered and smitten people."

Holo nodded with petrified reverence, "You then are the last remnant of what remained of the Zhan-Shen?"

"I cannot imagine anyone of our blood line to be walking the earth in even the next fifty to one hundred years. Those who are, are most likely half breeds whose heritage will eventually fade out with the passing generations."

Holo again nodded then looked upon Ranger with curious eyes and a desirous face that yearned more treasures of knowledge, "You say that you knew Cyrus as Akaran, true?"

"That is what I have spoken."

"And what name did he know you by?"

Ranger let out an amused huff, "Not tonight."

As he arose Holo called out, "Perhaps another night?"

He looked back as he was girding up his wares, "Perhaps."

She presented herself with an alluring smile that complimented her beauty in ways beyond compare, it was however brought to an abrupt end as she let out a gasp and stood to her feet with fists clenched in a ball.

Alarmed, Ranger took up his bow and had an arrow seated and drawn back with pristine speed. The tip panned over the thickets while he said to her, "What do you sense?"

"Wolves!" she proclaimed while gritting and gnashing her teeth with spite.

Ranger drew closer to the fire in hopes it would serve as a deterrent to the invaders and supported his arm with his knee while Holo began searching around the pit while cursing, "Confound it! Where is that wheat pouch!?"

Ignoring her dilemma he whispered, "Pray tell, how many can you sense?"

Her sharp eyes creased hard with the aggression of survival as she growled, "Perhaps a couple, but that is not what concerns me. Wolves normally howl when they are closing in on their prey, these ones are silent like the ones…' she then came to an astonishing epiphany, '…like the ones Lawrence and I encountered out near Ruvenhaigen."

"Is that to bear some significance at this hour?" returned Ranger with unusual agitation as he continued to strafe his line of sight about the terrain.

"Indeed, for those wolves took superior orders from-"

Before she could finish a roaring snarl came up from behind and lunged at them. Holo, on the natural instinct of her canine half, ducked and withdrew while Ranger was seized upon by a creature of malice.

As he was pounced into the ground he let out a yell of anguish as the meat of his back was being torn into and pulled apart by the fangs of an animal. With a thrust, he rolled himself over to find a large wolf lashing for his throat. He threw up his bow and barred its teeth while struggling to erect himself.

Holo scrambled on all fours to assist, but as she drew close, turned when detecting two others of the same caliber approaching with an attempt to ambush from the rear. They stopped when she turned to face them who began to further their divide to perform a flanking maneuver. Holo responded by grabbing a large branch and igniting the top and began swinging at them in which they withdrew.

Ranger was still wrestling with the savage beast and began smiting it across the face. The wolf proved its jaws were quicker than any human hand as the next time one came in for a blow, it dug its teeth into its flesh. Again a cry of agony could be heard resonating from the man's throat but he used the latch as a means to keep the wolf close as he rolled it over and landed it into the fire.

The wolf yelped and shrieked horribly as it jumped out and ran away, but one of its comrades was seen making its advance and nearly overtook Ranger while his throat was exposed.

At that time a flash of black and gold belted the wolf from the side and a mighty duel ensued after. It was Kaytaff who, when going out to explore, detected the conflict and rushed back in the nick of time to aid his master.

The shepherd dog and the wolf fought ferociously as they barked and snarled and lashed their fangs towards one another. Though the hound had much fight within him and was contending admirably, these wolves were unusually large and strong in which Kaytaff was quickly found with his shoulder latched and drug into the ground.

He rolled on his back while snapping his teeth while his paws pushed up to keep his enemy at bay. The wolf obtained an effective grip around the dog's throat and soon the sounds of barks and snarls became agonized grunts through strong efforts to breathe while his body flailed to free itself from this death lock.

This was not to be the undoing of Kaytaff as an arrow flew and hit itself between the wolf's neck. The animal leapt off with a yelp, stumbled while drooping its head before landing on its side and was to be left with the fate of being overpowered by its injury as its chest was rising and falling forcefully before falling still and silent.

The remaining two rejoined their efforts, combining their strength against the masked man. Another arrow was launched dropping one, shortly after his sword was unsheathed as the final wolf made its jump only to become impaled through the chest.

Ranger went to Holo who was still vainly searching for her wheat pouch when a terrible ballad of war cries filled the air. They set their gaze upon a sight of at least a dozen tribesmen on foot swinging their tomahawks and spears while three others on horseback were following up the rear.

"Take up your dagger now!" instructed the masked warrior who then tucked and rolled to retrieve his bow, seated an arrow and fired as quickly as the maneuver was finished.

Trembling, Holo yielded her blade in attempts to face the savagery. Ranger was forced to move and evade as one of the horsemen began launching missiles of his own back at him. Soon after, he was rushed upon by the charging mob and the physical battle was underway.

The first few came in wildly as Ranger rushed in quickly to meet them with such precision that he slashed the gut of the one on the left, spilling his innards, then came around full circle and cut through side of the savage on the right. They both recoiled and fell, mortally injured, causing some of their howling brothers to stop and shudder at the sight.

A high pitched war scream alerted Ranger to another threat who stepped and faded away from a series of deadly swings from a war club then readjusted and belted a kick to an inuit rushing to his flank. With vigorous haste, he approached the war clubber and met his downward swing with an upward arc of his sword, chopping both arms clean at the wrists, then stepped through, flipped the hilt upside down, and swung it across his enemies neck, cutting through its radial point.

The Sawati brave fell in attempts to scream but all that could be heard were sickening gargles that spewed forth blood.

His eye caught a charging horse, who narrowly missed the arrow sent for him, that plowed into Ranger with its breast and began to trample him underfoot. The masked man rolled and protected his head as the hooves hit and kicked him up at every angle before overpassing him.

Recovering the best his might would allow, Ranger then saw a faint dark mark mingled with the snow, it was Holo's wheat pouch. He took it up and saw her about to be overtaken and heralded to her, "Holo, take hold!"

He then slung it by the draw band to maximize the distance, which just overshot its intended target. Holo marked where it landed and began dashing towards it while being pursued by a merciless brave. She was about to seize it but turned in terror as the ungodly war cry of her pursuer drew much too close.

She faced the Sawatii warrior and nearly screamed as she dove off to one side to avoid a bludgeoning to the head. Facing the threat, she took that stance previously taught to her while her mind raced in a frenzy to recover any and all information passed down to her from that point. She withdrew clumsily then saw an opening in his guard which a cross slash from her blade ensued. It made contact, however the skins and furs the brave wore as clothing blunted the attack and left him more startled than harmed.

The brave once more made his bloodletting cry which was interrupted by an odd pelt as he fell to his hands and knees. The fletchings of an arrow could be seen over the horizon of his shoulders, placing an arrow roughly at his kidney. Ranger, though at a far distance, was aware of her plight and intervened from afar before returning to the hoarding thicket of warriors. Holo took this time to retrieve the wheat pouch when to her alarm, the brave arose and continued his rampage despite his injury.

She chose to gain distance and cover by fleeing into the nearby forrest. She scarcely entered through the trees when she felt herself being taken and thrown into the ground. The brave had her mounted who then hoisted up his weapon for a fatal blow. Holo quickly saw the breach in his defense, closed her eyes and with a gasp of adrenaline thrust her blade towards it.

She felt her hands jolt in accompaniment with a terrible yell followed by a series of warm drops that smelled of copper dotting her cheeks. Opening an eye with as much fear to know the truth as there was desire to not, found her dagger sunken into the man's throat all the way to the hilt.

In agony and confusion the man let off allowing the blade to slide out, then with a bloody gargle rose his weapon once more.

"NO!" Holo cried in rage and fear as she hurled the tip of her blade sideways, burying it into the side of her enemy's neck. He rolled over in which she followed, then when he was laying supine with her over, rose her dagger and with all her might thrust it into his torso numerous times. Each stab invoking an involuntary shriek from the she wolf.

Overcome by trauma, the Sawatii warrior let loose his limbs and fell back as the slits in his chest made a wet sucking sounds each time he inhaled. His dimming eyes caught the glimpse of Holo bringing her face up to his with a horrendous growl coming from her throat. With trembling jaws she let out a roar and latched her mouth over the laceration of the neck and began drawing out his fleeting essence.

Ranger was still near the fire and contending fiercely with the remaining warriors and three horsemen. He moved viscously rapid amongst the footmen, parrying, striking and maneuvering with such fury that it caught the attackers nearly off guard.

Another horsemen was making an assault and charged in at full speed while swinging his axe in circles. In a split second, Ranger cut the leg of a nearby brave, vaulted around him and kicked him over in front of the horse's path. The front hooves hit the body sending all of its forward momentum up and over as the horse tripped and flipped forward sending its rider into the ground and getting crushed by the great stallion. The equine beast landed awkwardly on its head at it drug through the snow, it came to rest on its back with its legs straight in the air while its entire body was trembling. It had snapped its neck.

The second of the three horsemen came in and swooped so mightily that it bellowed the sword from Ranger's grip. Before the man could recover the wrangler had gotten his steed turned around then backed its rear against Ranger's body. The frightened creature, when blindly feeling its hind brush up against an unknown object, resorted to its instinct by raising both hind legs and letting out a kick before scrambling forward.

The hooves struck high and hit Ranger in the mid ribs taking hit feet right off the ground. Coming up to his knees and grasping his side he saw a spearman making his charge. Then seeing his bow encrusted in the snow just a short league off, rolled from there, withdrew an arrow and used his foot to hold the bow when he drew back and fired. The projectile hit the man just below the solar plexus causing him to stumble back.

Just as Ranger took up his sword, the most intense war cry of all was heard to his left as the third horsemen threw a lasso that wrapped over Ranger's chest as the steed past by. The slack snapped out of the line and Ranger was whipped into motion and being drug along the ground.

It was Korihan who performed this stunt who kept spurring the horse's ribs to force it to run faster. As the masked warrior was trawled about, he attempted to slash the line when noticing the horse taking a hard right at a large boulder near the bluff. It was Korihan's intent to swing Ranger straight into it. He got to his back and chambered both knees, then as he drew close enough to the stony fixture, launched both feet forward with a hard thump and came to a dead stop.

Korihan kept the rope wrapped around his shoulder who, when the line caught, was whipped back and flipped right out of the saddle. Ranger attempted to undo the lasso from his waste but Korihan was upon him with his stone club and tomahawk. Ranger side stepped the first downward swing but was struck in the side by the club that caused him to stagger to a knee.

The Sawatii leader made a means to finish the man once and for all, but Ranger took the rope tied to him and wrapped up the arm then the leg of his enemy. Once tied down he finally synched it around his neck when he got behind him. Korihian was brought down and getting strangled while being without the use of the left side of his body. With a free hand he blindly threw his club backwards and cracked it straight into Ranger's eye socket. His head shot back and landed on his rump. Korihan regained his tomahawk and lunged for the warrior but got his foot pulled back by Kaytaff's jaws.

Groaning with terrible wrath, the Sawatii war chief came back around with a mighty swing of the club that belted the hound around his shoulders. He yelped as he rolled over and was about to have it crash upon his head, but Ranger tackled Korihan in which the collision caused both men to roll and get flipped over to their feet.

The club swung for Ranger's head who ducked underneath it and drove a rising knee up into the man's gut. Korihan grunted, then reached around locked Ranger down around the neck in the guillotine hold then fell back driving him face first into the ground. The sound of his skull hitting the terrain was apparent, but he managed to break free by throwing his fist into Korihan's diaphragm causing him to loosen his grip.

Ranger rolled out, found the tomahawk in the snow, snatched it up and drove it into the war chief's clavicle. Korihan roared, grabbed Ranger's wrist by the hilt, arose and delivered a powerful head butt to the nose.

As Ranger staggered back, the final horsemen was closing in upon the combating duo followed by the rest of the party. But as he was closing in, the massive wolf form of Holo plowed in from the flank, calling the attention off of the dueling war chief. Nearly half of the remaining warriors were taken out of the fight by Holo's charge, only a handful of spears remained, who began thrusting up at her to keep her at bay.

This only antagonized the great beast when the tips gored her shoulders. She took hold of one spear and launched its owner up in the air, then as he came down, leapt up and snatched him in her jaws followed by a painful crunch, loud screams and red spray as she shook and snarled violently.

One launched and arrow that stuck in her ribs causing her to turn on him with a savage roar and pounce. While she had pressed down with her paws she clamped down over his top half and pulled up with her jaws, ripping the segment free from the rest of the body.

The remainder of the attack group yelled with terror and fled for their lives. The only one who remained was the final horsemen who made circles and attempted to slash her tendons to bring her down. Holo quickly turned and plucked up both horse and rider and flung them towards the bluff towards Ranger and Korihan who continued their fight.

Ranger saw the incoming bodies and dove out of the way while Korihan was knocked over the ledge by the flying horse. Ranger suddenly found himself getting leveled and dragged back, Korihan had grabbed the roped tethered to him and was now seeking to pull him with him. Holo saw it and lept over to them to save her ally.

As Ranger was sliding, he past his sword, grabbed it, then as he was heading over the lip, drove it into the earth and was left hanging by the hilt with Korihan providing dead weight. The Sawatii brute pulled a knife from his belt and threw it up towards Ranger, without so much a care to how problematic this would be to his own situation.

The knife sunk into Ranger's shoulder causing the strength in his hands to fleet and lose his hold of the hilt. They fell five feet when Ranger grabbed hold of the rock wall in which Korihan hit the side then planted his feet against it and began pulling. Ranger looked down; past Korihan was a raging rapid roughly sixty feat from where they hung.

As Holo got to the ledge Korihan gave one last heave in which Ranger's hands slipped from their grip right was Holo's snout was about to catch him. Before her very eyes, she saw the one man she dared proclaimed to live at all times, plummet with a savage murderer down into the untamed waters below.

She let out a whimper and felt her heart skip as both men made a loud splash and were swept away in the current while being pulled under. Kaytaff bolted to the ledge and began to prance in a nervous frenzy while barking and dancing about. She took note of the sword erect in the earth and sniffed it for his scent.

Holo then snorted and made her rapid onset down the steep hills to obtain the ground at the river's level. Kaytaff, was not equipped with the size and grace of the wise wolf and had no choice but to stay behind.

Once there, the great wolf sniffed the ground and beheld the slight must of the masked man's odor still lingering in the air. Her legs snapped their bends in the direction of the scent on pure instinct alone. The balm of the warrior was fleeting from her nostrils the further she went along and doubled her efforts to match the speed of the rapids. Her heart grew weary as she passed by massive rocks and crashing tempests, fearing the advantage they would have over Ranger's mortality should he have collided.

Her paws then dug up trenches as she came to a skidding halt. The rapids branched in two and the scent had far eluded her. She stood and sniffed and sniffed then sniffed some more. All was in vain. She had lost her companion to the deadly tides of nature. Whichever way the fork went, lead away from the Ketchiwa mountain.

After balancing the options Holo finally considered Ranger's words at the beginning, with which a heavy heart and a guilty feeling of ultimate betrayal, gave up the search, turned her back and made her way back to camp.

When her massive body arose over the horizon from whence she came, Kaytaff approached her and a small communication took place.

"I could not find him." said Holo, to the dejected hound who huffed in defiance and returned to his station that overlooked the bluff.

Holo retrieved her clothes and laid them by the fire when her ears perked and she darted her eyes to the forrest nearby. That same presence, the one that caused alarm the first time, had returned. Something was being drawn to her, something she could not perceive in its entirety. She reverted back to her humanoid mantle, right as an unkindly wind chill blew over her bare skin with impeccable timing.

She dressed herself quickly then chose to arm herself. She approached her companion's sword, which stood there as if its desire was to either be yielded by its master, or never to yielded again. With a grunt and a pull the edges pulled free with a vibrating whistle that sung a tune of hostile beauty.

She held it with both hands and stared intently upon it. A spirit of deadly reverence passed over her. As if the sorrows of war and bloodshed, of which this weapon had actively been involved, transferred their despair upon her soul.

Holo returned and sat by the fire overcome with remorse for having failed her partner. Kaytaff then approached and looked upon her with glossy eyes of sadness who stood in need of comfort. Then in his desperation to ameliorate his crestfallen spirit, did something even Ranger would have never predicted. He approached Holo, laid down and rested his head in her lap.

Her hand fell between his ears and began scratching his head with affection as they both shared and mourned this sense of loss.

"I miss him as well…" said she to the hound, who only let out a deep sigh.

Perhaps it was the great depression they both felt, perhaps it was Holo's fear of loneliness combined with Kaytaff having lost his sense of purpose without his master, perhaps it was the overbearing sense of hopelessness that plagued their senses that blocked out their ability to detect an advancing stranger from behind.

It was not until the crunches of boots in the snow were only six feet from where Holo and Kaytaff rested that Holo's ears twitched and caught them and Kaytaff snapped his head and growled at the oncoming personage. Holo gasped and turned to meet it with the sword pointed in its direction.

In the shadow was a person heavily garbed and looking upon Holo and Kaytaff curiously.

Then to Holo's astonishment she heard a gruff yet youthful feminine voice speak in a peculiar accent say, "Ahoy there fair lass, now what be this commotion?"


AN: Really quick I just wanted to point out, because I took my EMT and am getting ready to get nationally registered, I don't want people to think that the way certain treatments and remedies provided in this story are official and correct. Mind you this is written with the knowledge of the medieval era in mind.

In other words, the way Ranger revived Holo was not entirely correct. Though getting her wet clothes off and into something dry while putting her near a warm environment while sharing body heat are real survival techniques i've learned in the scouting program, the way he instilled breathing was dead freaking wrong!

Slamming your fist into a drowning victim's chest is not what you supposed to do (and can create further injury and trauma, even stop the heart in some cases), in fact a lot of things he did to get her to breath were wrong and simply for the story and not to instruct anyone on proper resuscitation of unconscious victims.

I don't want some people to read this, not knowing any better (trust me there are) and possibly come across similar circumstances and perform what i've written based on the fact that I'm in the medical field and would consider this proper treatment.

If you are curious about how to render emergency first aid, seek instruction from qualified professionals not a work of fiction.

Anyway stay tuned to learn the fates of our duo!