As soon as his teeth found purchase against something, his jaws locked, and he gave his head a violent shake. The blood was hot in his mouth, oozing over his gums like water on the verge of boiling. The heat combined with the harsh clash of bone on metal plating was enough to convince the lycan to let go after only a few seconds. He released his grip with a small whine, tongue scraping against the backs of his teeth in an attempt to push the hot blood out of his mouth. Heavy paws stepped away, only to be held back by a grab from above.

Olvar snarled as he was grabbed, turning to snap at whatever was holding him. His teeth knocked uselessly against metal, claws dragging at the earth as he was scruffed and held down like a misbehaving pup. The lupundra’s anger only grew, and he thrashed in X’yros’s hold. At least until he felt the jab of a tusk on his side. The wolf stopped. Any movement could cause an injury greater than he was willing to risk. Though not the smartest, he had learned a thing or two since their last encounter, and avoiding reckless decisions that may not even work was among those things.

As X’yros growled, so did Olvar, none too happy about being restrained. As the minutes ticked by, five… ten… fifteen… the shifter slowly began to relax. Part of him knew that X’yros had no problem with waiting it out, and likely no problem with breaking a few bones if needbe. Heaving a rumbling sigh, the lupundra settled onto the ground, grumbling on every exhale, glaring at every movement.

Eyelids shut tightly to prevent any tooth of claw from flying into his vision if it slid off of the slope of his helm by some miracle and into his face. Thankfully, the design prevented this from happened. Instead he was still stuck sitting there locking his jaws upon the frantically scrambling wolfish-beast. As soon as his largest set of teeth pushed against his skin, just screaming to pierce into the flesh, the smaller beast stopped. Or at least, quit attempting to free itself. Snarlish gnashing of his teeth roughly told the giant ho displeased he was to be pinned against the ground. This had the opposite effect on X’yros, he was pleased to be forcing the little — down into the cold dirt. He was quickly reminded of how much he wanted to do this before. As the growling began to subside in X’yros in the passing of time, it was returned in Olvar. The bulls’ breath would most likely be found uncomfortable, like sitting in a hot sauna, especially as his saliva leaked onto the fur and his tongue pressed into the side with the aided jaws. Not minding, X’yros simply stayed put.

Finally, he felt the tense muscles begin to relax. With a low snort that blew into the mottled brown fur, the wounded arm was lifted and a large paw-ish hand was placed at the back of the canine’s neck. Almost to prevent him from moving further. He expected to be snapped at, he just didn’t care. As his arm was placed down upon the squirmy body, his jaws clicked. The tusks retreated from the skin, but were quickly replaced with a large rasp of a longer violet tongue coupled with a rumbling purr. Something you’d expect from a large feline. Not really something that boasted to be as reptilian-appearing as this dreadful giant. It was probably annoying to be have a large sloppy tongue glide across the furs like a pup being groomed by its mother. The giant attempted another swipe at the already wet furs, immediately releasing the weight his arm pinned the male down with as soon as this second action was complete. The limb was tucked beneath his body and his hips shifted until his toes touched his elbows. The jaws parted but this time crooked a little further to the heavens in the escape of a yawn.

A quick gesture of, “I really am not interested in this fighting crap,” and his eyes lazily fell back upon the quick figure. He questioned why this form of Olvar always attempted to shred him to pieces like a piece of paper.

Whatever fire burned in X’yros’s belly was relentless. His captor’s breath was hot and muggy, puffing against Olvar’s fur and assaulting his nose with the stench of a predator’s mouth. It ruffled his fur and made him squirm uncomfortably, even moreso than the fat tongue soaking his coat. It would take ages to get the musty scent off of himself, and likely ruin his hunting until then. The lycan squirmed now and then, testing for a loosening in the reptilian beast’s hold, but no such luck ever presented itself.

When he was certain his situation could grow no worse, he was proven wrong by a heavy hand settling onto the back of his neck, pressing his chin into the dirt. He was quick to turn and snap, but this time he couldn’t even twist far enough to catch the metal plating of Xy’s armor. With claws gripping the earth he hauled backward, but the jaws holding him down still remained. Squeezing out was quickly abandoned, and he raised a hand-like paw to claw at the monstrous arm pinning his front half. Needless to say, he did not break, or even reach the thick skin. He wasn’t even sure he scratched the armor plating.

It was at that point that the huge tusks threatening his ribs lifted away, and while Olvar started to squirm again, he was pushed off balance by the rasp of a huge tongue. His constant growling only grew louder, becoming a drawn out snarl when he felt it again.

All at once, he was able to pull his head out from under the log of an arm keeping him down, and he scrambled back a dozen or so paces from X’yros. Half of his fur was bristled with anger, and the other half was plastered flat by spit. It was infuriating, but venturing near to attempt a retaliation held the chance of a repeat incident. The wolf shook his head, the action continuing down his neck to his shoulders, hips, then tail. Though it helped throw some of the excess moisture off, the lycan dropped to his side to roll in an attempt to correct what remained. Upon standing, he shook again, then fixed a golden glare on X’yros, fur standing up in every direction.

“Gren karakos,” he snarled.

The resting form of the giant quietly watched the lupundra with a shallow snort of contentment posted in response to the clash of gnarled words tossed in his general direction. Whatever, grump. Sliding his weight from his rump forwards to stand back to his fours, X’yros dragged his tongue across the wound that had barely been inflicted by the canine’s teeth. Not really much damage done, just dried blood to clean up. A few laps and it was gone. Amber eyes flickered to the canine’s frame for a second before his broad skull rapidly turned back to look past his bulky shoulders. His body was quick to follow this movement before his stance stiffened as his nose told him a slight alarm going off in the distance. Smoke. Faint, but there. Then came a bob of light way off across the rolling hills.

There was a building of a tidal wave revving in his chest, clashing and toiling amongst itself before abruptly tearing at his vocals and erupting from his jaws like a sudden burst of flames. A grounding roar screamed out from his jaws with depth and intensity that was nowhere near his mocking threats from before. This was a genuine territorial boast. It would carry on for many miles and put a bit more speed into that bouncing light in the distance.

Once completed X’yros simply strode down the face of the hill and disappeared into the swirling mists at the base, his strong scent melting into the smell of due and the rest of the musk coating this place.

The lupundra smelled it only a few seconds after X’yros. The earthen burn of a torch floating lightly on the wind. He stepped forward to crest the hill properly, standing tall and lifting his twitching nose to the skies. From over the hills blinked the tiny torchlight, pausing briefly when X’yros announced his lordship over the area before hurriedly continuing through the rolling fields. A very strong, very primal urge to chase it prickled in the back of Olvar’s mind.

While his reptilian companion took his time sauntering down the hillside, the lupine predator took off into the swirls of the gathering fog. The travelers had chosen their night of travel poorly. Outside of the other dangers that came with living a life on the road, they now had to deal with a dragon-like titan and a relentless, ill-tempered werewolf. The night would not end well for them, but it would at least, mercifully, end.

The shifter made great time across the Steppes, driven not only by hunger, but the raw excitement of the hunt. There was no pretentious noble around to keep him confined during the new moon anymore. He intended to enjoy it. Approaching the road, he saw the travelers, a half dozen or so, well before they saw him. A menagerie of scents were carried on the wind, from the subtle, earthen scent of elves to the thick musk of what smelled like a troll. He also picked up human, an odd sort of orc smell, and one other that he couldn’t place. He also smelled fear. An uneasy, sharp scent sitting tensely in the air like a deer ready to bolt.

It was thrilling.

Olvar danced over the hills, staying hidden in the fog, but parallel to the road. An excited yowl escaped from his jaws, not sounding dissimilar to some sort of twisted laugh. It invoked nervous chatter from a few of the travelers. Weapons were drawn. From the wagon came the barking of a dog. Golden eyes spied the smaller canine staring into the fog at him. Its fur was fluffed along its spine, tail stiff behind it. The dog’s barking seemed to excite the footmen further, and they hurried the wagon along.

The shifter held steady alongside them, about thirty yards out. His instincts longed to throw himself at them, tear them to pieces one by one, but he knew such a tactic would likely get him terribly injured, if not killed. Indeed, some of the training he had received was actually being used without prompting. He wanted to target the weakest one first. The two not-quite-orc-smelling figures were walking in back of the wagon, protecting the rear. They would be a logical place to start. The lupundra dropped back several paces, watching the uneasy men as they followed their little caravan.

The dog was still barking, but Olvar ignored it. He didn’t care if they saw him coming. There was nothing to be done to stop him anyway. The lycan took off with an incredible burst of speed, barreling toward the two not-orcs. Jaws lined with gleaming white teeth opened wide as he leapt, colliding with the two and dragging one down after the other under the weight of the lupundra. A powerful bite locked onto the swordarm of the taller, and Olvar only had to whip his head to crack the bone. The not-orc screamed as he was dragged into the fog. From the wagon jumped the watch dog, racing to protect the one who had slipped him scraps during their meals on the road. The man’s screams were cut short as the animal vanished, then there was a brief, snarling scuffle, punctuated by a yelp.

The wagon had jerked to a halt, despite the protests of the panicked draft pulling it. The only human in the party had rushed back to help, too late to save the first brother, but just in time to keep the second from rushing blindly into the darkness. At the wagon front, the pair of elves had drawn their bows back, arrows knocked and ready to fly. The entire party was on high alert, but not one of them dared move from the ring of torchlight. All they could do was wait, and listen to the eager growls of the shadows.

The wagon had creaked to a stop with a panicking draft pawing at the ground and shifting its paws constantly as it desperately wanted to scream forwards at full speed. The reins were held back tightly as shouts and orders were given, one of the tan-skinned orcs cried out the name of their twin being dragged off into the darkness, being held back by surprisingly strong hands from the human…

The sound of death kept them tight together despite there being little they could do from the swirling fog but listen in anger and fear. The goblin shrieked at the group in his higher-pitched voice with a light sweat of precipitation sticking to his sickly green skin.

“Was that it? That thing took Ginnie! We can take that mutt on, C’mon ye bunch of ninnies!”

He tied the ropes tightly along the wagon and stood up, digging into a large bag to produce handfuls of dynamite he was about to propel in the direction of the wolfish beast that had claimed two of the members lives. From the human that appeared completely useless, he groaned. The black hair on his head thinned and covered his narrowing face and down his neck as height grew considerably well. Long, sharply pointed ears grew from his skull until an anubis took form with a permanent snarling look. The clothes it had were white and gold, and held a large septor in each hand. He’d be a considerable opponent. Once shorter than the orc pair, he towered a number of heads above them with his leaner body. The remaining orc, completely enraged, waved his fist and produced a chained mace and whirled it, swirling the mist closest to him. The female elf removed a pair of ring swords and crouched above the wagon with constantly moving eyes. Her brother still held the larger bow, tight. He was a quicker shot than his sister anyways. They seemed to be prepared for a small war.

Some sort of noise came through the mist on top of the snapping jaws of the lupundra. A hum, low enough in pitch to travel quite loudly. It seemed to come from every direction and quickly brought alarm to the group.

“Nay, that was not it…” The male elf said with a flip of his red hair.

The draft horse whinnied and began to back, move forwards, back again… It spooked and did a half-jump to what calmly walked in front of it. The armored giant was on his fours, neck arched back to even the height of the draft horse.

“…That– that’s-”

“That is it.”

“The Guardian..?”


“Aye… but they be sayin’ there was only one?”

The anubis growled and kept their rear protected as a few faces turned to observe their road-block.

An arrow flew from the male elf into the beasts’ eye-socket. X’yros twitched his skull to the side and it bounced off of his metal helm with a loud clink. He laughed, a deep, unnerving sound before his laugh suddenly cut short and his jaws opened wide. Another arrow was nocked and about to be released, the goblin was turning to release a handful of dynamite, the remaining orc turned to lash at a shadowy figure leaping in the direction of the anubis.

Flames consumed the animal at the head of the wagon with a screaming hiss from its mouth, and their efforts to unleash hell upon the guardian was halted. The horse screamed and took off at X’yros as it was coated in light. He simply stepped aside as the wagon went roaring past with the torches and all. The male elf had lost his footing and fell into the wagon, knocking his sister over, and the goblin was thrown from the wagon and completely into the dirt.

Amused, X’yros watched for a moment. The anubis could still see, but the other two scrambled blindly. This was going to be interesting.

A heavy paw lifted from the body of the half-orc, a low rumble bubbling through the fog. The source of the growl turned his attention to the small, shrieking thing perched on the wagon. He didn’t recognize the scent, but the shrill little beast seemed somewhat familiar in terms of appearance. Where he had seen such a thing before though, he couldn’t recall. The lupundra stalked to one side, squaring himself up to the creature as it barked orders, but his attention was stolen yet again by a more canid scent. Surprisingly enough, the human was the source, and he watched with keen interest as the man shifted not into a wolf, but into some sort of bipedal dog. A much finer fit to Olvar’s fighting style.

The eyes of the caravan had turned to gaze out in front of them, letting out cries of alarm and disbelief. Apparently X’yros had arrived. What better distraction than a giant armored lizard? While X’y lumbered about setting horses on fire, Olvar took a running leap at the strange canine creature, using his full weight to unbalance it before squaring up. On his hind legs, he more or less matched the shifted human in height, but bulk would be his advantage. His opponent looked thin as a rail.

The lycan used the surprise he had been granted by the fog and kept after the other canid. The pair exchanged snarls, jaws snapping together around extra fur while claws like daggers raked over chest and shoulder. The anubis was steadily being eased back by the lupundra’s relentless rage, but it wasn’t alone. Olvar was winding up for a staggering lunge with open jaws when a sharp pain slammed into his shoulder. The yelp was involuntary, but the roar of anger that followed was fueled purely by the fury of being struck. Luckily, the darkness had shielded him from any well-aimed attack. While the anubis took the break in focus to compose itself, the half-orc took on the task of occupying the huge wolf beast that had assaulted them. Olvar bared his teeth in a vicious sneer, ears fixed forward. A lashing tail flicked to the left just before he ducked in to swipe at the orc with a huge clawed hand.

The elves were both struggling to regain their footing in the speeding wagon, and once they had their focus was on disconnecting their supplies from the dying horse. The poor animal had gone down maybe thirty feet away, leaving the other members of the party to fight in almost total darkness. The light from the torches and burning body wasn’t strong enough to reach them from such a distance. Good news for Olvar and X’yros. Bad news for the sorry bunch of sods who had decided to brave the Steppes.

Tainted eyes filtered on the sudden lack of light and adjusted to the mist covered area that danced with movement. Screaming from an animal, snarls and jaws clicking, yelps, battle-cries- it was a whole carnival breaking into one destructive scene. Unamused with the flurry of commotion, X'yros trailed after the rolling wagon in silence, abandoning the canine companion to deal with what he thought the beast could handle. Heavy feet turned into soft padding as they felt the grooves of wagon tracks gored into the earth and followed them to a glow of light and more movement. The gap was quickly closed and his body moved to the braying mare that flung itself about with madness. The elves had unhooked the horse with the help of the goblin that held a sort of bent weapon in its hand. He hopped up as soon as the heavy draft kicked itself free to begin charging forwards. The goblins’ weapon cracked a loud echoing Pop, and the animal fell to the ground. He raised the weapon up and held it to his lips, blowing out the smell of smoke.“Poor bloody beasts…” “Help us get the crate open-”“Help you?? Whatever is attacking us is after them bloody crates-”“You were all paid to protect these heirlooms with your life. The King values these more than he values his own wife.”“Yeayea. That don't say much though…”The goblin hopped to the back of the wagon and held a lamp as the elves struck the large chests with a warped piece of metal to pry them open. The locks cracked and the lids flew back to reveal a mound of glittering gems. A second, and fine jewelry made so delicately they looked like pieces of ice. The third however, was a little less stunning as the first. A smaller chest, lighter in weight, and much less guarded. They didn't need to pry much before the lid cracked and a giant gold collar with two large gold-crafted ravens holding a massive moonstone in place was lifted by the female elf and slung over her shoulder. They began to stuff the goods into any pocket they could.“Is that a bloody belt?”“Seems that way.” The goblin snorted and retrieved a pack from the wagon with all sorts of weapons sticking up this way and that. “A’ight. Let's get that thing that killed Ginny and Cort.”He had an angry glint to his eye.The three began to hop down from the wagon and the female elf also grabbed a lantern and they headed into the direction of the quarrel behind. Something stirred in the mist close to their flank and they immediately made formation, all of their backs touching. “Was that the other thing?”“Not sure…”“Sounded like metal chains-”The female elf gasped as that metal clinking shot out from the mist, she didn't even have time to scream as she was quickly yanked, dropping her lantern and being sucked into the black. The goblin jumped forwards and tossed and explosive stick and the male elf began to fire arrows into where she had disappeared. They advanced slowly as they heard nothing, weapons raised and ready. They pushed the mist away with their light and began to uncover droplets of blood before coming upon a figure sprawled out upon her side. The elf sister groaned and they immediately rushed to her to examine her injuries. Multiple penetrations across her arm from a whip rowed in spikes that had flicked out to her. All of the gems had been stripped from her garments, including the broad golden belt. “I'm fine-” She groaned while beginning to sit up, wincing at her arm. “What happened??” The goblin growled while clutching one of the explosives.“Not sure- It was too dark…”“Hurry to your feet, Sister. We will have to leave the others as a distraction and continue on.”The began to hurry off in the opposite direction from the warring. X'yros had left them to their devices and retreat as he instead focused on the task at hand. He clipped the large collar around his enormous neck and pushed it beneath his armor with a content sigh. It had been a long time hunting for this. He had expecting it was only a matter of time however before it would return to him. Now content, the giant lumbered to where Olvar was still sacking the anubis while being thwarter back by the swinging orc. A light snort and the bull approached the smaller orc. He grabbed the weapon in one hand, balled his free fist, and slammed it into the orcs face. It was knocked back onto the ground and rolled a bit before coming to a stop. It certainly wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. X'yros looked to the sky, morning would be coming soon.“Wrap this up, Olvar.” He grumbled at the creatures locked in combat.He was all too eager for the sun, so he could test out his gadget.