| Fantasy Fiction posted January 22, 2024 | Chapters: |
...5 6 -7- 8 
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Orin and Vortex learn more regarding the strange wolf pack
A chapter in the book Campfire Fantasy
Ambushed
by T.A. Walk
| Background A 1000 word or less flash fantasy fiction collection! Each chapter is meant to both stand alone and connect into the overall story. |
Prologue: A Chance Meeting Summary
Dwarven fighter Orin Shieldbearer and Elven ranger Vortex Varian meet unconventionally in a dark forest. One on a trek alone, the other alone and starving, the pair choose conversation over battle. While wary, the travelers find solace in company.
Chapter 1: The Necromancer
Ulric the Paladin, Serene the Ranger, Valerie the Mage, and Yagami the Ninja are hired to assist a town with a frightening problem. A necromancer has moved in and begun killing their lands. However, there’s a twist!
Chapter 2: Dwarves For Dinner
Ulric the Paladin, Serene the Ranger, Valerie the Mage, and Yagami the Ninja arrive at an inn and bar for a welcomed night of rest. Interrupted and once again rising to the need of others, they must face a gruesome foe to avenge the fallen.
Chapter 3: An Unsavory Encounter
Ulric the Paladin, Serene the Ranger, Valerie the Mage, and Yagami the Ninja hope to barter when they come across a wagon along a dirt road. Unfortunately, the thugs tending the wagon aren’t inclined to host guests.
Chapter 4: Rude Awakening
Dwarven fighter Orin Shieldbearer and Elven ranger Vortex Varian are awoken early in the morning to face off against a feral pack of wolves. They quickly realize they can work together better than either had thought.
Chapter 5: Advance And Retreat
Valerie the Mage and Yagami the Ninja split from their friends to attend a meeting. Before they can get to their destination, chaos erupts in the town square. Religiously fanatical Orcs assault the square, leaving destruction in their wake. Our heroes take aim on their Commander.
Chapter 6: Surprise Guests
Ulric the Paladin and Serene the Ranger run into trouble at the inn. What should have been an easy, relaxing evening turns into a nightmare. An enemy left behind returns to exact revenge and reclaim its prize.
“Bah! Hold yer tongue a durned minute!” Orin turned and stood on tiptoes to look over his pony at Vortex. “Yer tellin’ me ye seen it?” Orin asked, eyes wide. “Resurrection?”
Vortex returned his gaze easily and smiled, “Orin, my friend, I cannot recall. I am the baby in this story!”
“Ha! I knew it when I seen the silvery wisps in yer hair!” The pair laughed together. “Aye, I never seen it meself. I suppose I dinna really want to, do I?”
“I suppose that is a matter of perspective, my friend.”
They began to walk again. Orin’s pony trotted alongside them, weighed down with supplies. Ow-ow-owoooooooooooooooo. The pony bucked and skittered at the sound. The howling was close.
“Ye dinna think they followed us do ye?” Orin asked, patting the pony’s neck.
“They didn’t act like typical wolves. They seemed frenzied and disoriented.”
“Aye. Magic, ye think?”
Snarling turned the pair’s attention behind them. A gigantic wolf stood upright on its hind legs, drool dripping from its razor-toothed maw.
“Werewolf!” Vortex shouted.
“Aye, that explains it!”
Vortex slid his bow out from underneath his cloak. He disconnected it from his chest harness.
“Fancy toy,” Orin said as he drew his hand axe. “Can ye shoot?”
Three wolves trotted up to the werewolf’s side and stopped. Orin removed his shield from his pony’s saddle. Vortex notched an arrow. Four more wolves came into view in the field to their right.
“How many ye got, Elf?”
Vortex smiled at his friend.
“What is it, ye ornery Elf?”
Vortex drew the bow and let an arrow fly. It impaled one of the three wolves closest to the werewolf. Before the wolf’s body hit the ground, the arrow appeared back in the single arrow quiver attached to Vortex’s bow.
“Just the one, my friend!” Vortex shouted, laughing.
Orin’s mouth hung open like a castle gate. Vortex notched his arrow again, turned, and fired at one of the wolves to their right. The arrow hit its target in mid-run causing the wolf to faceplant and tumble in the field. He heard the thump of Orin’s shield hitting a wolf behind him as he notched his arrow for the third time.
Orin wrestled with the second wolf as the first one shook its head nearby. He had a grip on the scruff behind the wolf’s head, but the way the pair stood against each other, Orin barely avoided its jaws. Orin swung his shield around and bashed the wolf’s head as he let go.
The first wolf had recovered, and it charged at Orin again. This time, Orin got his axe around and split the wolf’s body at the shoulder blade as it leapt. The injured second wolf had been joined by a third. The werewolf was closing in. Another pair of wolves appeared on the path in the direction they were traveling.
“We’re surrounded!” Orin yelled as Vortex fired another volley.
“Kill the werewolf!” Vortex yelled. “Do not let it bite you, Orin!”
“Aye!” Orin answered with a grin.
The last of the three wolves close to them fell to Vortex’s arrow as Orin marched toward the approaching werewolf. The wolf pacing the werewolf began to run. Orin moved his stubby legs faster, running at the wolf. As they closed the distance, Orin swung his axe upward from the ground. The axe blade caught the wolf in the lower jaw as the pair met. Its body fell to Orin’s side and bounced away as he continued forward.
Vortex repeatedly fired his arrow at the encroaching wolves. One by one they fell until the final two were upon him. He deflected one with his bow while he drew his dagger. As he jabbed the dagger into the chest of the second wolf, the sunlight glared off its blade.
Silver, Vortex thought. “Silver, Orin! Silver!” he shouted.
His comrade’s voice reached his ears as the head of his heavy hand axe buried itself deep in the werewolf’s neck. Its body slumped to the ground at Orin’s feet.
“Silver!” Vortex screamed again.
Orin turned to Vortex as he shouted back, “What’d ye say?”
Vortex sliced a wolf from its neck to its stomach as he slid underneath. The leaping wolf’s innards splattered the ground before its body landed.
“Silver, you old, deaf Dwarf! Turn around!”
How could you be so stupid, Orin? Orin thought, already turning back around. The tiny blade’s hilt was in his grasp as the werewolf’s jaws bit down on his arm. It clawed firmly into Orin’s side with one arm while pulling the blade free from its flesh with the other.
Vortex’s arrow surprised Orin as it struck the werewolf in the eye. It howled in pain, releasing Orin and retreating several steps backward. The werewolf howled again when the arrow disappeared. Instantly Vortex moved to notch the arrow again.
Orin drew the tiny ornate dagger from its sheath. It was a gift from a long-lost friend. Not meant for battle, the decorative silver blade was something he carried to remember. He regained his footing as Vortex’s arrow hit the werewolf in the chest.
Orin ran towards the werewolf, tiny dagger at the ready. He squatted low as he met the creature and pressed upward hard with his powerful legs. He wrapped his arms around the werewolf as he tackled it to the ground. The intertwined pair rolled around as Orin stabbed repeatedly.
Vortex stared at Orin when he finally stopped stabbing the motionless body. Orin turned around slowly.
“It bit me,” Orin mumbled before falling into unconsciousness.
Grrr!!! Werewolf :)
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