Anise walked through the dark and frozen streets, her footsteps accompanied by the crunch of ice. She was twenty now, and instead of studying and sharing a room with Lo, she now taught some of the younger students and had her own quarters at the college. She'd also moved past the phase of moving from one boyfriend to the next, but was by no means willing to settle down, she was still young. She'd recently gotten out of a relationship for that reason, he'd proposed and when she tried to explain why he hadn't let her and walked off into the snow, she hadn't seen him since. She heard the sound of a pained groan as a man walked out from an alley way. He was stumbling, blood poured out a hole in his coat and he had a large gash on his head.

"Are you alright?' Of course he's not alright, nobody should be able to loose that much blood and be walking. She moved closer to the man as he collapsed on the floor. "Don't die." She pressed her hand to the man's wound and thanked Lo for teaching her healing all those years ago. She brushed the man's hair from his face and looked at his single closed eye and the strip of cloth that covered the hole where the other should be. She recognized the man quickly, Parcid.

Lo looked up at the stars, she would never get used to the sight. In Everlight the dense foliage had blocked most of the light. It felt strange, the stars, the roaring fire, the boy holding her in his arms. They'd been out hunting and had lost track of time,ending up making camp in a cave they had found. His name was Ule, they weren't in love, just he was the only that was willing to take her hunting, and it was the best way to keep warm. Ule was snoring softly, that and the warmth comforted her, made her feel safe despite the inky blackness that was pierced by the lights in the sky.

She was fourteen now, and she had started to notice things, where ever she went there was always someone with her or near by, usually an adult but other times it had been a pair of teenagers, at first she thought she was being paranoid, but over time that feeling had disappeared. She was right, and that meant there was someone out there. She looked around as the glow she developed let her see a few feet into the darkness. She saw nothing at first, but noticed the shadow of a gargantuan wolf, its huge maw filled with yellow teeth. Lo let a ball of fire fly from her hand, aiming for the wolfs paw, which it lifted and then used to stamp out the embers.

That was when she saw the man haunched beside the creature, his frame was huge and thick fur armour dotted with plates of metal scarcely covered his frame. He seemed to grow as he pulled himself to his full night, his back hunched over and in his large, taloned hands was a heavy, spiked mace that he dragged along the floor. Lo tried to shake Ule but he wouldn't wake. The man's heavy footfalls were slow but inevitable, moving closer with the spiked weapon leaving large gash marks in the earth. look shifted away from the boy, reaching for the bow she had in her pack. The creature swung its mace, crushing Ule's body with a sickening crunch. Lo let go of the bow string and watched as the creature didn't even flinch when the steel buried itself in it's chest, holy crap, how can he still be standing. Lo let another arrow fly, this time aiming for its knee, it slowed down slightly but the creature's carried on with it's advance. She started to run further into the cave, the ever present sound of the creatures footsteps following her was the only one apart from her sharp breathing.

The footsteps stopped and she glanced behind her. Nothing. She heard a growl and then the wolf leapt, it's massive jaws clamping down onto Lo's thigh. She bared here teeth to keep herself from screaming. Her tutors had told her it was dark magic but let the blue lightning dance from her hands before pressing them into the wolf's eye. It's jaws became loose and she forced them open before it ran away into the darkness. She pressed her hands to her leg as blood poured out and then stopped while the flesh knitted together. She heard the man give an almost feral growl before he leapt, time slowed down for Lo as the adrenaline kicked in, she could feel her every heartbeat, the air rushing in and out of her lungs. She let instinct take over and she rolled backwards. The surface she had ended up on was wooden and Lo glanced around to see pale wooden beams covered in vines. She had read about elven architecture but she didn't know it could be found in Nordberg.

She took a deep breath before letting another arrow fly, this time aiming straight for the brute's chest. It seemed to have slightly more effect and repeated the action, but this time glancing off one of the metal plates. He tool a step forward, the wood beneath him cracking and splintering under his weight. He brought the mace above his head and swung the mace slowly, putting as much power into it as possible. Lo shifted her weight again, rolling further towards the edge as splinters flew from the massive impact. The whole structure shook for a second before stabilizing. Lo took a deep breath as she finally had a plan.

She dived between the hulking brute's legs, landing on her stomach with splinters digging into her fur coat. She pulled herself up and shot an arrow into her attacker's shoulder, it didn't slow him down but she received the reaction he was hoping for, a furious roar. She dived to left as his clumsy swings came towards her until the floor was ripped apart. She repeated this but dived to the right now. The wood groaned as the remaining beams began to buckle under their own weight and Lo ran for the edge, diving as the floor gave way and the man fell with it. The drop wasn't enough to kill him but the remains of the platform crashed on top of him, shattering his bones.

Lo was holding on to the ledge with both hands. She tried to pull herself up but couldn't. There was a low growl coming from above her and she saw the wolf. It moved it's head down and sniffed her wrist, before gently taking the sleeve of her coat into her mouth and pulling up and dragging her from the edge. She gave out a relived sigh before running to Ule's body. She knew he was dead, just it felt like the right thing to do. The energy in her limbs began to slowly drain away and she felt tired and there was a pain in her chest. She looked down and then glared at the wooden steak that was in her stomach. She collapsed and starting cursing under her breath. Her hand moved down and pulled it out in a swift movement before placing her hand and forcing the flesh to repair before the fountain of blood could come out. How long had she been fighting for, it felt like days but Ule's corpse was still warm so it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. And with that thought, she collapsed.

Parcid found himself lying on a bed that wasn't his own. The room was made of stone and was relatively tidy, apart from the odd pieces of jewelry that were spread on a small dresser in the corner. He lifted the covers and glanced down. Still wearing trousers. That meant he hadn't slept with anyone although the room did defiantly belong to a woman.

"Nice to see your finally awake." Anise said, walking out from the bathroom. She was fully dressed and running a comb through her dark hair.

Parcid gave a frown, trying to remember where he knew her from. "Anise, you were Lo's room mate right?"

She gave a nod. "So why did I find you half beaten to death? Sleep with someone's daughter?"

Parcid gave a chuckle. "As much as I would like to say so, it's the whole thinking outsiders are scum."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, with your skin colour they must hate you more than me, where are you from anyway?"

"The Ruborian desert, most of family was born there, grand mother was the most jealous person I've ever known."

Parcid sat up and looked at his chest, checking the her handiwork. "How bad was it?"

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you hadn't made it. Anyway it's not to bad, some women find scars sexy."

Parcid stood up and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling closer. "Are you one of them?"

She traced one of them with a single finger. "At times."They moved their lips closer together but there was a knock on the door. "Would you mind getting that?"

Parcid let go and walked to the door. He opened it and Lo was stood outside. "Er, I'll just leave."

Parcid looked at here, her coat had deep red stains and pieces of wood coming out of it and she was caked in mud and snow. "Shit what happened to you?"

"It's a long story, and I brought a friend."

Parcid looked outside the door and saw the massive wolf sat next to the girl and the crowd staring at it. With a single whistle, it followed he in side.

Lo told what had happened, how she was attacked by the giant man, and how the wolf wouldn't leave her side.

Parcid let out a laugh. "The Overlord bred wolfs to be as large and smart as possible, from the size of this one, its an alpha."

"Alpha?" Anise asked.

"Wolfs live in packs, the biggest or smartest is the leader until someone takes his place, I'm guessing the man you beat had killed this wolf's pack and knocked this guy on his ass and now you've taken his place."

"Sounds like the nobles."

Morg sat opposite Lilith, he was annoyed, she'd acted without consulting the others. "You could have ruined the entire plan."

"He had strict instructions not to kill her."

"That has never stopped him before, you know how his anger get's to him, you could have ruined his return."

"Who do you think wanted her tested?"

Baleon flicked through the report his agent had sent, the girl was strong he'd give her that, the site of the battle was exactly as she described, but only the man's armour was left behind. But the wolf, that was a surprise, a creature that the Overlord had bred to fight and kill, had accepted a child as his master. He'd read the old stories about elven maidens riding unicorns or stags, but a wolf, that would be interesting. He shook his head, that didn't matter, the girl would need to be guarded more closely, the attack may have been random, but it may not have been...

A/N Ty for reading. If you played overlord one you may have picked up on Anise's comment. Please write a review or follow.