The bear was a true apex predator. 3 meters tall, and built like a living tank, there was no animal on earth that could hope to challenge it. Anywhere that the bear went, every animal fled. But tonight, the bear was the one on the run, a score of cuts down its side dripping fresh blood. The primal instincts in it told it to hide, but there was no safety to be found. Still, the bear fled from the oncoming threat…

The pained roar of a wounded animal echoed in the night. My eyes snapped open as I bolted upright, the hairs on my arm standing straight up. I could see my parents already stood up and reaching for their swords, their reactions not dulled a single second almost a decade after leaving the hunter’s guild.

It was completely dark outside the tent, the moon obscured by the clouds. I could barely make out the silhouettes of the rest of the Knightly Bards all exiting their tents, weapons in hand. Ajax stood in front of the group, massive war hammer swinging lightly in his hands like a toy. Mia guided Lucina and Bella behind her, pounding her gauntlets together to shake off the last vestiges of sleepiness. Even Frank, who normally would have cracked a few jokes about Mia’s bed hair, was silent, sword drawn and deadly serious.

My mother glanced back at my dad. “Protect Gilan,” she said, unsheathing her rapier. The wind gusted around her blade, picking up the cinders from the smoldering fire.  My dad grabbed me by the arms and wrapped me in a hug.

The hunters formed a circle around the camp, eyes straining to see the first sign of a threat. They didn’t light a fire; any source of light would only hinder their ability to see far into the darkness. All of the hunters knew that a wounded predator catching any of them by surprise would certainly mean a grievous injury.      

Out in the darkness, a movement. The shadow loomed closer, and with each step the creature took, the ground seemed to shake.

The hunters all tensed, ready for a sudden strike to come out of the darkness. The creature stalked closer and closer…

“Enough!” Frank bellowed, blasting a pillar of flame high into the sky. A wave of heat blasted through the surrounding area. The immediate vicinity illuminated, all of us turned our sights towards the prowling animal.

Illuminated by the flames was a massive bear. The animal reared on its hind legs, standing well over 3 meters tall, and roared back a challenge at the fire. It swiped its massive paws, vicious claws singing as they cut through the air.

“Come on then, you mindless beast!” Ajax stepped forward, hammer drawing an arc in the air.

The bear roared again, this time with a slight tinge of fear, then fell back on all fours and began lumbering away. The hunters relaxed, and a Mia released a light chuckle and slapped Frank on the back. “Scared of a little teddy bear, Frankie?” she teased.

“You were nervous too,” Frank muttered as he staggered under the impact. “Did you see the size of that thing? That coulda eaten us all alive if we weren’t carefu-”

Frank was cut off by the strangled roar of the bear. Everybody whipped around to see the massive animal slowly collapse, completely still.

“What the hell?” Lucina whispered. “What killed that bear?”

The clouds parted, and the moonlight spilled across the plain. Shadows rippled over the long grass, dancing to the tune of the wind. And… nothing. The plain was empty. Nothing in sight that could have killed that ferocious predator, yet there the body lay, an unmoving mass in the distance.

Everyone’s grip on their weapons tightened. The silence in the fields suddenly became deafeningly loud. Suddenly, my mother’s offhanded remark at the start of our journey flashed through my mind. She had said something about… corrupted beast?

The grass rippled around us. Suddenly, six wolves, each the size of a horse, appeared from the shadows, their silver pelts gleaming in the moonlight.

“Dire wolves,” my dad whispered as he tightened his grip around me.

“Are they the corrupted beasts?” I asked.

“They are. But don’t worry, your mother and the other hunters have this under control.” The tremor in his voice betrayed his worry. I had read about dire wolves in the hunter’s guidebook during the long travel. Larger and more powerful than any normal wolf, dire wolves were famous for their blinding speed and crushing jaws. One of the most dangerous B class beasts, they were grey wolves who had consumed enough mana from the atmosphere to gain unnatural power, but that power also turned the animals feral, as if corrupted by the mana. During a hunt, their howls were even known to paralyze their opponents in fear…

Realizing they had been seen, the largest of the wolves threw back his head and howled at the moon.