Okay, fulfilling my promise earlier, here is another chapter. It gets kind of confusing from this point onward, but hopefully I'll be able to answer your questions, should you have any, about the logics of this story. As usual, please note any errors on this story like punctuation or spelling or even plot holes. I really want to get better as a writter.

Chapter 6: Chanced Familiarity

They headed towards the abandon fortress just like the girl said. It was your run of the mill fortress: old, dark, dank, looked as though it wasn't used in years. The odd thing was that Lyn could sense no concealment of their opponents. In fact, she saw that they could make their way to the leader without having to fight all of the underlings. She knew that they could see them approach and alert the others at anytime, but from the way they were positioned, it would have given them plenty of time to reorganize into a formation.

After relaying this to Hector and Eliwood, the three decided to enter with a small group and end this quickly with a routing of the boss. It was nightfall before they got close and were wary that their opponents had the upper advantage. They had the full moon to guide them, but Lyn saw that they were composed entirely of beast-types, of hell-fangs mostly. Their leader was a large wolf but that was all she could tell.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the castle, they were greeted with warmth. A couple of nearby beasts had taken torches and lit their way. It was almost as if they wanted the group to proceed further. Paying close mind to these strange actions, they cautiously moved forward being silent as possible as not to accidentally give away their plan of attack.

Matthew had separated from the group and went splurging himself on the chests scattered around the landscape. He was filled with glee as he searched and looted. He also found that the enemy won't attack unless he actually walks up to one and attacks. He didn't actually test out his hypothesis but saw that he moved awfully close to them and escaped unscathed.

As the leading group neared the final corner of the dungeon, Nils and Ninian gasped.

"A danger is coming fast!" Cried Nils. He was cut off as they rounded the final bend to see a large hell-fang barreling down on them at high speed. In its direct line of fire was Ninian and Nils. The others raised their weapons to aid their companions, but before they could act, a brown blur shot forward knocking the opponent off his feet. Glaring down at the attacking hell-fang was the leader wolf. It just tackled its own ally to save the two children.

The hell-fang got up and growled at its leader. The leader just looked at him and the lesser dog limped to his original position with whatever dignity he had left. The wolf then turned to the lords and growled a warning sign. It clearly meant, "If you are the lords Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn, then I am here to face you." It also added the titles to the individual lords' name: Eliwood of Pherae, Hector of Ostia, and Lyn of the Plains. This was a little harder to decipher and was written like this because it made the most sense this way. For all anyone could have known, he could have said, "Belly-wool of Fay's hay, Collector of Bossing All, and Lyn the Insane."

The wolf was significantly smaller than the others and looked like a wolf this time instead of being partially draconic or having multiple heads. It looked like a wolf with its fur around its neck being ruffled up forming a small mane around his head. If someone were to have planned this out, it would have been this wolf. But that can't be right, hell-fangs, much less wolves, shouldn't be able to make complicated plans. Plus they would always welcome a meal. Some thing was up and it was up to them to figure it out before they get too mutilated.

The wolf took a stance before rushing forward to attack. The lords easily stepped aside to avoid and turned around just in time to see the beast rebounding back on them. It was a couple minutes before they saw something else weird. The beast had misjudged his jump and was heading straight for Serra when he quickly tilted to the side and avoided a collision. He, however, had sustained and injury to his side when, if he had smashed into the cleric, would have taken less damage.

After a while they saw that he timed his movements more accurately. He avoided everyone completely save the lords. They easily outflank, outnumber, and out powered him but he would not give up. His golden eyes burned with a determination that was lost on many and only a few retained. They haven't met anyone with this determination since…

"LYN!" Hector and Eliwood and everybody else screamed.

She was knocked to the side by a tackle from the wolf. Not wanting to risk Lyn's health any longer than necessary, Hector rushed forward with his ax swung horizontally. The wolf just jumped on the ax and rode it to the other side before jumping off. Serra was already at work healing Lyn.

This went on for a while with the opposition only and always looking. Humiliating was the word Hector was looking for in the later years. They had three fighters versus one lone wolf and they were losing. The wolf suddenly jumped back and lowered his head. Behind him, the first rays of light shone through and fell on his pelt.

What happened next startled any who saw it so much that they still had difficulties accepting it afterwards. The fangs shrunk back and became smaller. Fur retreated back into the skin revealing clothing underneath. His paws turned back to gloved hands and booted feet. His ears returned to normal though his eyes remained that same disturbing gold color. His mouth shrunk to a normal human's mouth and the fur around his neck disappeared to reveal a rolled up cloak. As soon as the fur was gone, the cloak unfurled and reached the ground. No one believed what they saw next.

Standing in front of them, dressed in his usual green cloak… was Mark?!?!?!

Mark has come back from wherever he was at for the last three months. He has a problem and it has to do with blood. He is not invincible and he cannot do impossible things like reviving the dead. He is just... unique. It will all be explained in the later chapters.

My apology for misuse of the Lupinian language. Any who feel insulted, I ask of you to forgive me. It was my sad attempt at a joke before Mark start attacking. I'm not really that fluent in the language either. It's harder than English, which does not even have a set verb conjugation.

So if you find anything disagreeable, please tell me and I'll take it into consideration. Thank you.