The guys in front of us dropped their bows and tried to cover their ears, Sam and I being used to plenty of supernatural inspired piercing sounds moved. Sure the eagle was loud, but not as loud as an angel's true voice or the constant screams in Hell. I dove for my gun, rolled up and into a crouch and started firing. There were five guys left from the original group that attacked us, six with Leaping Deer and the two enemy wolves. I counted four guys from the first group laying on the ground that Sam or Cougar had already killed or knocked out. The immediate threat was the guy over Roy who I was about to shoot when Roy brought one of his knees up into the guy's face, knocking him sideways. Roy did that cool move you see where the guy laying on the ground throws his legs out and somehow jumps right up into a standing position. As soon as he was vertical he brought his fists together on top of the guy's head, knocking him out and yanked the knife out of the guy's hands as he fell. Then he grabbed his bow and bolted, clearing space for us to take some shots.

The eagle was coming fast for Leaping Deer who started doing her own shuffle dance and singing and a huge frigging bear jumped out of the chest of one of the guys standing near her. It stood up on it's hind legs and took a swipe at the eagle who spun away. Since the eagle had stopped screeching the guys were able to start bringing their bows back up, this wasn't going to go well. I started firing and running, "Coyote! Move!" I dropped two guys with shots to their stomachs, I saw two more go down thanks to Sam, then I had to start dodging arrows. Sam screamed, so did Cougar and suddenly I was on the ground feeling like all my ribs had just been broken. Sam's wolf had a huge gash in it's side and I noticed there was only one enemy wolf left. The other enemy wolf started running away so Sam's wolf decided to snarl at the bear. Cougar's cougar's face was mangled, and the bear had four huge claw marks running down one side. My wolf was laying several feet away getting back on it's feet. All of them were focused on the bear. The eagle screeched again, Leaping Deer's men didn't react as strongly this time. I brought my gun up but Cougar moved into my line of fire and Coyote wasn't far behind.

Cougar had a huge knife in one hand and the tomahawk in the other. I have no idea how he was moving as fast as he was but he seemed to be glowing, maybe he was pulling on his Spirit. Coyote was glowing too and was being followed by that large coyote that had popped up at the beginning of the fight. They moved through the remaining guys like knife wielding tornadoes, leaving a trail of blood and screaming men behind them. My wolf jumped on the back of the bear. It reached a huge paw up and clawed at my wolf's flank leaving several claw marks down it's side, all of which I felt and just about blacked out. The cougar lunged at the bear's face, causing it to spin right and Sam's wolf went for one of the bear's back legs, it's teeth connected and tore out a chunk. The bear roared in pain, got a good hold on my wolf and I felt my claws and teeth dig in as the bear tried to throw it off.

The last of Leaping Deer's men bailed, apparently they weren't as loyal as she'd thought. Coyote and Cougar were finishing up the last of their battles. The shadowy coyote that hadn't seemed to be doing much lifted it's head, howled then lunged at Leaping Deer, the eagle pivoted on it's wing and dove straight down at the same time. Our two wolves and the cougar simultaneously went for the bear. Just before the coyote and eagle hit Leaping Deer she screamed something and I saw her throw a handful of herbs on the ground. A rattlesnake the size of a damn python appeared in front of Coyote and struck, it's fangs sank right into her face. She didn't even scream, just stiffened and dropped.

"No!" I started to run towards her but my wolf was faster and closer. It's head had jerked around in response to my shout. It changed direction mid stride, got it's teeth around the back of the snake's head, which tasted horrible, violently shook the snake a few times and flung it about ten feet away. Sam's wolf and the cougar collided with the bear just as an arrow took the guy who the bear had come from straight through the head. The bear's final roar shook the ground as it broke apart into fragments and exploded.

Leaping Deer looked at Coyote's motionless body, a triumphant grin broke out on her face and she started laughing. "Take that bi -" She didn't get to finish because the shadowy coyote ripped her throat out just as the eagle's talons slammed into her back. There wasn't any blood as her eyes rolled back and she started convulsing. The blood didn't start flowing until Cougar's tomahawk separated her head from her body.

I got to Coyote's side, her eyes were closed but underneath the lids I could see her eyes rolling from side to side in an erratic, panicky pattern. Her arms and legs jerked in response to something and she was whimpering. "Cougar! Help!"

Cougar started running to us but froze as my wolf started growling at him. "Dean?"

My wolf was still standing over Coyote, guarding her. It'd let me get next to her but as soon as Cougar had gotten within ten feet it's ears went back and it bared it's teeth.

"Uh, Cougar? Not sure what to do here."

Cougar backed up, the growls stopped but my wolf was still eyeing him. "He is your Spirit. He is acting on your feelings and true nature. You protect those you care for, so does he."

"That's great and all but how do I get him to stop?"

Cougar's cougar slunk several steps closer and got in between Cougar and my wolf. That couldn't be good. Cougar immediately started speaking in Lakota and his cougar sat down but didn't move from his spot. I figured a sitting cat was better than a cat ready to pounce.

"I don't know Lakota."

"You don't have to, he is you. Speak to him."

"Why haven't they gone back inside us?" Sam asked.

"She called them, they don't just jump back in on their own." Cougar answered, "I can put them back but what I need to do that is in the pouches around her neck. Dean, you need to calm him down."

You know, when I was growing up if you'd told me I would be having a conversation with my Warrior Spirit who was in the shape of a wolf and guarding a woman I had some pretty intense feelings for, I would have told you you were nuts. Sure, vamps and werewolves were real, so were ghosts, but wolfy Warrior Spirits that you talk to? Yeah right. So add this to the list of things I never thought I'd do, or see. It's pretty scary how long that list has grown over the years.

"Okay." I put my hand on it's or rather my head. I half expected my hand to just go straight through but it didn't, maybe because it was my Warrior Spirit it felt solid. "Hey there, um wolf me. Cougar's a good guy, not sure why you got your back up about him but you need to let him help out here."

It's growl softened and it's right ear pivoted towards me. I just hoped it wasn't as stubborn as I am, which was probably a stupid hope. "Yeah, I know we care about her, I know she's hurt and you're just trying to do your job but he won't hurt her. C'mon, his Spirit was helping you fight the bad guys. Remember?"

I ran my hand over it's neck, felt all the wounds and scars and each one I touched set in motion a chain of memories and emotions that I'd tried damn hard to block out over the years. Talk about getting in touch with your past, I was physically touching my emotional scars. There ain't no way to ignore them at that point. They were so intense that I couldn't control what I was feeling, the last thing I wanted to do was break down in front of Cougar or Roy but I didn't really have a choice.

The wolf's other ear went up, it started to shake and whimper and it's massive head turned towards me. It's red tinted yellow eyes looked so lost, so done in and that exhaustion resonated deep within my bones. I knew exactly what it was feeling, I'd been feeling it for months. "Hey, take it easy, we've got this. How about you go lay down next to her? You'll be right there if something goes wrong. All right?"

Believe it or not it actually nodded at me before moving to the side and lying down, but not before it shot another half hearted snarl at Cougar.

"I think we're good."

Cougar slowly walked forward but my wolf just set it's head on it's paws and kept an eye on him. Cougar finally got up close, then knelt down and took a closer look at Coyote. "It's a spirit sickness. Wait." He started rummaging around in the pouches that she had hanging around her neck.

"The bitch is dead, that should stop the spell right?"

"This isn't a spell, it's more like a curse. If she survives until sunrise the curse will fade."

"If? What do you mean if?" I didn't like the sound of that and neither did my wolf or Sam's for that matter. They both growled.

Cougar was rapidly pulling various herbs and stones from her pouches, "Leaping Deer was rather in skilled in the use of spirit harming magic. I can make something that will help sustain her and possibly leach out the sickness but she has to fight what it is she's seeing and feeling."

"So this spirit sickness is making her hallucinate?" Roy asked.

"In a way yes. It's hard to explain and I need to get to work on this."

"What can we do to help?" I wasn't going to let her do this alone.

Cougar paused in his prep work, he looked at my wolf, then back at me and there was an immense amount of sympathy on his face. "You? Nothing. Sam and Roy can help."

"What? Why?"

"Dean, I am not saying this to hurt you or insult you but your presence will only make the sickness stronger. Your darkness will feed it. Look at your Spirit, see that small white patch on it's chest?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And at one point you're wolf would have looked a lot more like Sam's. I'm sorry Dean but the best way for you to help is to stay away."

I had no idea how to respond to that. I stared at my wolf, who stared right back then looked at Coyote and made this sad, soft whine.