Julius stumbled out of the cottage. The frail old man dragged a familiar gladius further into the woods and away from his daughter. The wind blew his scent into Armani's nose and he inhaled greedily, like an addict would his smoke. As the glow from his gladius faded into the dark forest, the towering man shifted. In his place, was a wolf that towered over any man, its fur a ghastly red. A snarl escaped its lips as it moved through the bushes like any predator would. It stalked Julius, who hurried through the forest's bushes and vegetation without a care for the noise he caused.

Or the beasts that followed him.

Out of the shadows of the trees came more wolves, all smaller than Armani, but large enough to give any animal pause. They all fell behind their lead and followed in his footsteps; silently they maintained a steady pace. None brushed on the other; their heads were low, their snouts mere inches from the earth as they trotted far behind their leader and his scout. Focused on his objective, Julius did not see the monster that followed him, nor the others that followed behind him. The old man coughed between his steps the further he got into the forest. He would often collapse to the floor but never stayed there. He kept moving, and part of Armani idly recalled the soldier this man once was from this; a perfect warrior and soldier. A man who kept fighting, no matter the odds. A man that would have won the war, had he not fallen in lust.

An unnoticeable snort escaped his snout. The forest slowly began to die down; the distance between trees became longer, and grass was no longer scarce. Julius forged on, and so did the pack that followed. The scarcity of trees and large bushes slowly robbed them of their cover but they were not concerned; their prey never once turned around. He never once checked his surroundings. He forged on; unconcerned with what may be behind him. Uncaring of the monsters that followed. Armani felt a pang in his chest at the realization; that time had dulled this soldier's perception and instincts. Time had weakened and robbed this man of all his learned skills and strengths crucial to surviving the world of monsters. He was an old deer, a weakling that must be disposed of.

Armani was not sure he could kill him.

The wind blew to caress his cheek and the massive hound stiffened. In unison, the wolves tilted their massive heads upwards and sniffed. Their minds instantly filtered out the scents of the forest and focused on the scents of the demigods that raced through their nostrils. Their tongues darted out. Their mouths watered and one of the smallest wolves, resemblance Armani whined. Armani turned and bounded towards it. It buried itself into the earth submissively but Armani struck it three times. It bears the attack with no sound and makes no sudden moves as Armani watches it. Another wolf rubbed itself against Armani and he jerked his head, his forelegs above the ground for only a moment before he whirled and sniffed repeatedly. The dark hound shook its head and moved away from Armani. The pack split into two; some followed the dark wolf and the others followed Armani.

Armani trotted off, his pace filled with urgency as the trees slowly disappeared. The forest slowly tattered off, and the hounds moved slowly downwards to a cave. Their instincts screamed danger. With their keen eyes, they could see even through the darkest of tunnels; but not this cave. The entrance was pitch black; with their eyes for the first time they could not view the cave's contents. Hackles raised, they moved forward, the grass complaining beneath their paws. Armani neared the cave's entrance, and a familiar gladius swiped at him. He rapidly stepped back as frail and old Julius stumbled after the swipe. Armani's heart panged again as Julius finally found his footing by stabbing the sword into the earth. His veins popped from exertion, and he gasped for air.

His compatriot saw the opportunity and darted forward. Armani found himself moving, his body colliding with his pack mate and sending them sprawling and whining to the earth. Armani snarled sounding akin to a lion's roar as he turned to Julius, who knelt from exhaustion. His chest raised and lowered quickly. Armani watched him, one hand on his blade as he spoke. "I have a son," He started, and Armani stalked towards him, hackles raised. He is weak, he told himself. It will be a mercy. "I left him in this cave when he was a babe. He is dead by now. "Please," Julius whispered as Armani got close to him enough to bite his neck. "I will get your spear, just stay here," One of his hounds huffed impatiently. Armani snapped; the hounds trotted off.

Weak, the werewolf thought as Julius struggled to his feet. The air grew colder and his ears flickered. Old, he snarled and leaped.

Mercy killing.

The dark wolf trotted into a man-made clearing and shifted. In its place was a woman who wore tatters for clothing. She smiled, her sharp white canines bared towards the teenagers clad in gold armor and bearing gold weaponry. "Brutus," She greeted one of the teenagers who did not have a helmet, her voice holding a happy tilt. "Centurion now? And still forgetting your helmet,"

Brutus, nodded, his golden sword glowing as the sun rose. "Rosaline, still sleeping with the enemy," He responded. "I'll give you one chance to back away from this. You don't have to die,"

"My death will be temporary, but yours will be permanent. I give you the same terms," She responded. Brutus smiled. "You know I can't do that," Rosaline grinned as the wolves all circled the young demigods. "Neither can I," The demigods formed a circle, spears jutting between their shields as the wolves pounced.

Hey guys, it is me again! Happy New Year fourteen days in!

So the site has been giving issues for some(all) of my favorite writers on this platform and to pass the time ...this happened. Right, the basis of this story is supposed to be a revamped version of Gamer of the Camps and the other version of that version slammed together to make a new pile of...yeah. So Damien, Greaceus who is Michael and a new OC Elena pops in. Spoilers: Julius' fate remains the same and Damien is not the spiritual successor of Michael he's just a pup.

The next few chapters should be wrapping this little Arc up with a new character death! Particularly, Damien, I am looking forward to killing him. Farewell until the next time the site gives issues! I am going to read Claws of a Lion, I'm like five chappies behind.

ThatTerribleWriter78