Einherjar

19

The long, mournful sound sent chills down Blader's spine. The wolves had come. He would know their howls anywhere. He had spent many a night as a child listening to them in the distance, drawing the covers up over his face as if to hide from them. The recent attack on the Thrym farm, his first up close experience with the beasts, had just made the sound of the howls that much more chilling now.

Skalfi sprang up from where she was crouched beside the stream, eyes wide. She spun to face Blader, still holding her makeshift spear. "Wolves?" she guessed in a hushed voice.

Blader nodded. "Wolves." He snatched up his weapons, sliding his shield onto his arm and unsheathing his sword. "There's a cave not far away. Come on, let's go."

Skalfi grabbed her own weapons as well as their packs, tossing Blader his, and the two recruits began to move quickly and quietly in the direction of the cave. The howls grew closer to their position but the wolves had not yet come into sight. Blader kept checking over his shoulder and all around them, waiting for the beasts to show themselves.

The cave was only about a hundred feet away now. Blader gestured to it with his sword. "Come on, Skalfi!" he said, keeping his voice low. "We're almost there."

Just before the recruits could put on an extra burst of speed, Blader heard the slightest of sounds and skidded to a halt in time to avoid the wolf leaping down from a rock promontory in between them and the cave. The animal landed in front of the two recruits, eyeing them maliciously.

This wolf was even bigger than the one which had attacked the Thrym farm, if that was at all possible. Other than its size, the wolf resembled the ones Blader had seen, thick dark fur over tough skin, large claws, sharp fangs, intelligent eyes. As Blader and Skalfi stared at it in alarm, more wolves leapt down from the mountain side above them and circled the two recruits, preventing them from escaping.

After their first initial moment of shock, Skalfi and Blader dropped their packs and went back to back, shields up, swords ready. The wolves prowled around their trapped prey, staying in a circle.

"There are five," Skalfi said quietly.

"Let them make the first move," Blader said back. "Our best strategy is to play defense, protect each other until we have an opportunity to strike." Or until they kill us. "Go for their eyes, their nose, their mouth. Those are the most vulnerable places on them, besides the belly."

"Got it."

The wolves continued to circle, eyeing up Skalfi and Blader. The two recruits just stayed still, their muscles tense, all of their senses on high alert. Their eyes constantly watched the beasts, flicking from side to side.

When the first wolf broke the circle, jumping straight for Blader, he raised his shield up. The wolf's head slammed into it and a violent shock shuddered down his arm as he lashed out with his sword. He only got in a glancing blow to the creature's neck and the wolf recoiled.

That lunge proved to be the signal for all the other wolves to jump in. Blader felt Skalfi's back firm against his own as she bashed her shield into a wolf and jabbed out with her sword. He slashed at the closest wolf, cutting across its face and earning a yelp of pain from the animal as another one snapped its fangs down on his forearm. With a hiss of pain, Blader smashed his shield into the wolf's eyes hard enough to get it to release.

The sun was continuing to set, the sky growing ever darker as the battle raged on. It was growing harder and harder to see and Blader knew that once the sky was completely dark, any chance he and Skalfi had for survival would be gone. She seemed to know that, too, for the fury in their attacks increased, their desperation heightening their reflexes.