It had been a week since Moliira had started to stalk the poachers.  In that week, she had poisoned their water supply, forcing them to waste time in searching for fresh sources of water.  She had enticed wolves to raid the food stores while they had been out, again forcing them to waste more time.  And in the most amusing prank, Moliira had planted quite a few acorns around the camp, causing a number of obnoxious squirrels to take up residence around the camp.  And they didn't leave.  All the small things had snowballed into the poachers being too paranoid to leave their camp for a day.

Now, reinforcements were begin to arrive.  There were a dozen poachers, and they had brought in another four people.  To her experienced eye, Moliira could tell they were the adventuring type.  It was likely they had been cajoled into helping, the treasure of the Mo'mey Steppes took quite a bit of time to harvest.  But the hides of the animals that roamed here fetched a pretty copper in many markets, and Moliira was always keeping an eye out for the next set of idiots to try.

Perched on a ridge a quarter of a mile away, she could see everything going on in the camp.  The sun was low in the sky, and dusk would fall soon.  Then it would be time for her next prank to slow them down.  Already, a wolf pack was resting behind her, and they were only waiting for the cover of dark to make their move.  Their target was the horselines, as the animals were picketed just outside of the camp.  Spooking the animals would be easy, and Moliira didn't particularly care of they stampeded through the camp or off into the wilds.  Either result would give her a great amount of satisfaction.

Traveling was tiring, but she was getting much done around the small island. She was liking all the new places she ventured into as well. She might be killing monsters most the time but she always took a moment to admire the sites when she was done. This time wasn’t any different, the area she venture into was just as beautiful beautiful as the plains near the forest.

As Katherine walked along a barely visible path along the grass plain, her brown leather boots didn’t make a sound as she moved quietly. The white hair young woman was looking for signs of a village or city. Neither came into view as she moved through the trees.

A small pond came into view soon after she grew frustrated, almost wanting to turn back. Instead she kneeled down by the water and took a small sip. The taste was sour in her mouth making her spit it out instantly. “Seriously?!” She curse aloud softly, not wanting to have any predators hear her.  Shaking off her hand to remove most of the wetness off, she stood up. The young demon’s eyes looked along the horizon, the sun would be down soon.

A neigh of a horse hit her ears and hooves crunching against the grass. She turned to see three riders coming up to her. Seeing them as no threat, she smiled at the man who approached her. “Hello, miss.” He said looking down at her, his eyes glancing at the sword strapped to her back. “Hello.” Katherine said back. “Looking for water?” He asked motioning toward the small pond behind her. “The water hasn’t been right for a day or so. Maybe we got some at camp. Would you like to join us?” He asked as he pointed to the horse behind him. The free horse held some bags and no rider. With a nod, she joined them. She didn’t get any uneasy feeling, so she decided to go for it.

It wasn’t long till they reached the comp, joining many men. They said their hello’s and they all introduced each other. The men soon explained about the problems they been having the whole time they had been traveling, it was like they couldn’t get a break. “That's very unfortunate.” Katherine said taking a seat by the fire.  

Just after she took her seat, her ears heard a sound nearby. Almost like growls. “Got another problem to add to your list.” The woman stood from her spot and removed her blade from her back. Walking quietly towards the horseline, the men watched her, wondering what she was doing. “Wolves.” She whispered and they all got ready. Grabbing whatever weapon they could or had on them.

Running swiftly, she jumped over the horseline and landed before the attacking wolves. She got her blade at the ready to attack. Two wolves jumped at her, the others ran around. Holding up her hand, the wolf's bite landed on her gloved wrist. Only to be flung sideways to hit a nearby tree. The other came at her face; Katherine didn’t hesitate to roll under the animal. The wolf growled at her as it bared its teeth. “Get out of here before I kill you.” Katherine said to the wolf, she wasn’t one to kill animals, but would if she had to. Her cousin wouldn’t be all too happy with her if she did. So she gave the wolf a chance to run.

Her wild cousins were patient, and they waited until dusk had fallen to begin moving towards the camp.  She had made their instruction clear, and the younger wolves in the pack saw it as a great game.  And that was exactly what Moliira intended.  They started moving once they humans had settled for their meal, as that ensured they would be more relaxed and slower to react.  It was almost too easy to slip closer to the camp until it was far too late for anyone to really stop them.  The wolves had their directions, and were eager to play.  And one of the humans even obliged her a pair of brothers.  She jumped into the pack without a concern, and they decided to play with her.  One went for her hand, the other for her face.  Moliira had to admire the woman for not fleeing in the face of a pack of wolves. 

The majority of the pack was set on tugging loose knots and gnawing through the ropes with their sharp teeth, while Moliira finally made her appearance.  The wolves had freed most of the horses now, and the poachers were either trying to not get trampled or trying to recapture those they could.  But the horses were wild, and trampling through the camp and across the steppes.  When the large silvery wolf appeared though, the poachers all stopped to stare at her.  She let out a single howl, and sprang away, with the wolves following her.  Their work had been done, and Moliira would protect the pack until the poachers were evicted.  They headed back for the den, not bothering to cover their tracks. 

—–

The poachers had stopped panicking over the loss of the horses, and were discussing the price of wolf hides.  Some were arguing that they should just take down the silver alpha, while others wanted to take out the whole pack, just to be done with it.  The lead poacher, a grizzled man from Adeluna, tapped fingers against his chin while he debated the best course of action.  "Them wolves ain't natural.  That one leadin' em, smarter than most.  Ya notice they went for the horselines an' not the horses themselves?   Ain't natural.  Somethin' else is at play here.  Just dunno what.  But that silver pelt would be worth a lot of coin to the right people.  So I says we go hunt the whole pack down.  Ya want in on a cut, miss?" he said, addressing the new woman at the end.  Any extra pair of eyes and hands would be useful.