Steel Wolf

The Hunt

Under cover of night, eleven dark figures ran through the forest. The Blood Shadows were practicing tactics in wolven form. Tonight, they sought to flush and chase a deer. They weren't going to kill it, merely follow it, getting as close to it as they could, hopefully running it to exhaustion. At intervals, one would arch away from the rest of the pack, continuing in a line roughly a half mile from Tanaya, the acknowledged alpha.

The hardest part about this exercise was that deer were very good at hiding in the thick underbrush. Although their eyes were finely attuned for night hunting, they would need to rely on hearing, as well as their sense of smell.

A howl should do the trick. A single hunting howl from each wolf. Every animal within hearing distance would emit pheromones, the fear smell, as it did its best to hide and keep from being eaten. The pack would sniff the air, picking the fear scent of the closest deer to begin the hunt. They would then emit their own pheromones, letting the rest of the pack know where to join the pursuit.

The wolves were armored, as even those lower on the food chain fought back, not wanting to be eaten.

A single long steady howl as Tanaya signaled her readiness. On the other side of the small canyon, Nazaretta signaled her reply. The others added their voices to the night, then became silent. The game was on.

-o0o-

After several hours of stalking a likely candidate, Jarana Duncaster yipped. The sound carried through the trees, the rest of the pack keying on the sound, sprinting toward it. As soon as the battlemage made a sound, the doe bolted. It turned right, to run up the hill where Jarana knew Agrim Thunderhand and Gaspar Delgado to be. She raced after the deer as it bounded around trees and rocks; if they had been on flat land, she wouldn't have stood a chance, the deer would have quickly pulled away. However, in the forest, they were on equal terms as runners. Jarana had the advantage of ten others to chase the doe. Benton Nix and Ekko Siari arrowed in, loping along roughly fifty feet away. Tevya Rosso and Lakish Baknel blew in from the left front, forcing the deer to change directions and move to her right. Giselle Rivers caught up to Agrim and Gaspar.

Putting on a burst of speed, Jarana ran directly behind the frightened deer, getting closer by the second. Matching the deer turn for turn, she suddenly leapt, jaws open. No time for a snarl, her jaws snapped shut on a fringe of hair at the doe's tail.

She stopped, her armored compatriots moving next to her and stopping also. The deer sprinted into the darkness.

Jarana shifted into her human form, her articulated matte black armor changing as well. She lifted her faceplate, a huge grin on her face. Removing a glove, she carefully pulled deer fur from her teeth, and held it up for all to see.

"Well, done!" enthused Tanaya, shifting and raising her own faceplate. "Very well done! This squad is coming together nicely! Let's head back to discuss what areas need improvement."

Giselle's eyes were closed as she concentrated on staying human. Even though she had removed the moon shard necklace from near her heart, the energy was very prevalent.

"Commander," she asked, breathing deeply as she held the moon shard at arm's length, "it's getting harder to stay human. With the stone channeling energy, and as I become more accustomed to the Shift, it's becoming almost too easy to shift to a wolf, and more and more difficult to shift back. Please take the stone. I want to try an experiment."

"Now is definitely the time, Giselle. We move for Goxell-Galbria tomorrow." Tanaya took the necklace, closing her fist around it. "What do you wish me to do?"

"Go on into town," Giselle said. "I can feel the energy easing, the farther away the shard is from me. When I no longer feel its power, I'll try to Shift. I'll catch up to you as soon as I figure out what to do."