After another 5 minutes of careful movement their field of vision drastically changed. A massive stone wall reminiscent of the mountain's exterior filled their sight, they had reached the end.
Fen was the first to notice given his superior vision. The moment he saw it he couldn't help but smile. His smile quickly turned into a laugh which got more and more unrestrained. The moment that John was going to slap Fen's mouth shut he saw the wall, halting his arm in place.
"We did it, we've reached the end." John started laughing as well, his cheeks flushed red, and his fists were clenched in joy. Jack and Thorin had similar reactions…. At first.
"Awoooo!" All too suddenly a deafening howl resounded from nearby tossing an ice-cold bucket of water on their celebration.
The four of them quickly turned in the direction of the howl, now noticing a large gateway in the stone wall leading to another area. They were too far away to see inside but they instinctively knew it wasn't the exit.
"Well…shit!" Strangely the one to curse was the polite Thorin. This momentarily shocked the three of them as it was so rare to hear him swear. They even forgot about the loud monster howl from a second ago as they turned back to face their friend.
"What are you looking at me for!" Thorin's face flushed red as he shouted unable to understand why his friends all turned to face him when they just heard a loud monster howl.
Jack was the first to reply.
"N…no reason just thinking the same thing." The other two nodded along. Thorin's face started twitch seeing the three of them in perfect sync.
'Am I the only one who remembers we're in a monster lair?' He sighed as he thought this.
"Awoooo"
"Awoooo" quickly pulling them out of their reverie was another howl, in fact two howls coming from the hole in the wall.
"Frost wolves, two of them." Their faces quickly turned stern at John's statement. Fighting two frost wolves was within their means but still posed danger, especially when fighting in unknown territory. Plus, this monster lair had been anything but good to them so far.
Suddenly another two howls came from their right.
"Fuck! Four frost wolves, we can't fight that." Fen started trembling and his legs quickly turned to jelly. He was the weakest one in the group and the most likely to die if unprotected. John could probably handle two E-rank monsters, but frost wolves were quick and agile. It'd only take a second of error for one to bypass his guard and lunge at Fen.
Jack wasn't doing much better; his face had turned pale and cold sweat was pouring down his back. He was filled with fear, every pore in his body was screaming run, yet he was frozen in place.
Only John and Thorin were relatively composed, with their strength even with a few mistakes they'd likely be able to survive so their bodies didn't feel as much pressure.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Throughout this entire room the strongest monster we saw was an F-rank owl so how did we suddenly end up surrounded by four frost wolves! What the hell!" John's mind was in chaos, the previous monster and trap encounters were one thing, but four frost wolves was on another level.
However, he was the strongest here and the team leader he needed to take control. He quickly calmed down his emotions and tried to think of a plan.
"Calm down we must have entered their territory, as long as we back off, we should be safe. We'll use our usual formation, Thorin you and I will guard the front while Jack and Fen will guard the rear but don't turn your backs to them and move slowly." John quickly gave his instructions and helped arrange his teammates into a defensive position. He had no idea if this would actually work considering they were in a monster lair. The concept of territory would probably cover the entire room, but he had to give them some form of hope. The fact that they encountered little to no monsters as they approached this area helped make his argument sound more convincing.
Hearing their leader's imposing and confident voice filled them with strength, Fen's legs stopped shaking, Jack's cold sweat stopped and Thorin's fists and jaw unclenched.
They quickly regained their faculties and nodded towards John before moving into position, weapons drawn and their eyes darting around in anticipation for any movement.
These movements however gave the frost wolves enough time to enter the picture.
"Awooo!" The group shuddered before looking over at the gateway. There standing at 1.5 metres tall was a large white wolf looking down on them. Its body was covered in white fur with dashes of cobalt near its paws and forehead. Beautiful yet dangerous are the words normally used to describe frost wolves. Their pelts, a highly desired commodity yet the animal itself is incredibly aggressive and dangerous. If that wasn't enough, its eyes were blood red and as bright as fire, invoking fear among even the most veteran of hunters. Beneath the beautiful and deadly exterior lies 100s of kilograms of pure power, enough to crush trees and bones with a simple slash of its paw. And a massive jaw that could crush a man's head and rip it from its base in a single motion.
In the Northrend empire there isn't a single more revered and feared monster, so many adventurers die to these creatures every year in the name of riches, failing to understand the danger they pose.
Even one of knight regiments of the royal family is called the frost wolf battalion.
Closely following behind was another frost wolf with similar stature.
"Awoooo!" To their right another frost wolf showed up, appearing from behind the rock formation. This one growled and bared its fangs as soon as it saw them but didn't move any closer.
The three wolves patiently watched the group of adventurers slowly back away step by step.
"Crap where's the fourth!" John was sure he heard four different howls, but he could only see three.
Suddenly from a large protruding rock just a dozen metres from them an aggressive howl arose along with the last of the frost wolves revealing itself.
The wolf quickly pounced towards its prey, cutting its howl short. There was no better opportunity for it to attack than right now. It had a clear line of sight towards Fen the weakest of the bunch plus he was the only one who could attack from long range, making him a considerable threat. The wolf was able to isolate the strength of each member with its instincts alone and knew that the rest of them would take more than a simple surprise attack to kill so it aimed for Fen.
It used its companions to distract their attention while it silently moved towards their rear, hiding behind the large rock.
The wolf lunged without hesitation, its mouth wide open ready bite on Fen's neck and its forelegs stretched out to pin him down. With its speed and size, it could cross the dozen odd metres in a single leap giving the adventurers no more than a couple seconds to react.
"Shit Fen jump back!" John screamed as he moved into action. The moment he lost sight of the final wolf he was prepared for some sort of ambush. Wisely, their defensive formation left little gap between them allowing them to aid one another rapidly if need be. By having Fen jump backwards it bought him an additional 2 seconds giving John the time he needed to attack and block the frost wolf.
Fen responded instantly, jumping backward towards Thorin quickly passing John as he dashed towards his original position. This wasn't the first time they'd moved like this; many a time Fen had been singled out by the more agile and powerful monsters due to his lack of strength. In fact, this move of his was pretty much second nature, he didn't even need to think as his body responded instinctively to John's order. When situations like this crop up so often you tend to learn how to use it to your advantage. By using Fen as bait, knowing he'd be attacked the rest of them could easily plan an attack on the unprepared monster.
As like other the frost wolves they'd faced in the past this one was caught off guard. It felt that it was the one in control and had attacked at the perfect timing only to be ambushed by the one adventurer it didn't want to fight against, especially alone. Right now, its companions were eagerly watching from a distance and were too far to lend any aid.
All of this seemed to last a long time but really only a matter of seconds had passed. By the time the frost wolf had landed, Fen had already moved back to safety beside Thorin. His bow was drawn with an arrow ready to be fired its way at any moment and before it stood the large and powerful human with his sword raised high in mid swing. The wolf felt fear and panic, its instincts warned it wasn't a match for this large human and that if that sword was allowed finish, its swing, it'd be seriously wounded.
The wolf quickly yelped for aid as it strained its legs to resist its current forward momentum hoping to dodge the iron sword aimed for its neck.
The sharp cry for help greatly alarmed the other frost wolves who quickly grew angry and howled in response before dashing towards the group of adventurers.
"Ding!" John's sword narrowly missed the frost wolf due to its quick thinking, but his attack didn't end there, in fact he never intended for his sword to kill it. It'd be too easy for a frost wolf too die from that. No, he just needed it to be unable to move for his next strike. John knew he didn't have a lot of time after hearing the howls from the other wolves so the moment his sword missed, he quickly pulled back his sword arm and took a heavy step forward, smashing his sturdy shield into the wolf's face with his entire weight.
A shield bash, even with a simple wooden shield was a formidable attack when done correctly. It required great strength and timing to make it a decisive move. There had been tales of an S-rank shield bearing hero knocking a dragon unconscious with the power behind this move. Of course, John wasn't nearly at that level, he didn't even have the official skill, but it was enough to send the wolf flying and disorient it.
One upside to fighting frost wolves was the fact that they were all attack, they had little in the name of defence. You stop their movements and they're pretty much a sitting duck.
The frost wolf took the entire force of the shield clean on its face, breaking its snout. It was sent flying back several metres, its nose covered in bits of blood and mucus, but it was still conscious. The wolf had managed to move backwards slightly to alleviate about 20% of the shield's impact allowing it to retain its conscious, albeit in major pain. It released a mournful wail as it flew back much to the panic of its companions resulting in them dashing even faster.
"Now!" John shouted out as he turned to face Fen. This move consisted of him and Fen working together. Once a monster was knocked out or sent flying Fen was to fire off arrows into its defenceless body. Like clockwork, Fen was already primed and ready to fire. He armed his bow with a tempered iron headed arrow, regular iron, or stone one wouldn't be able to pierce very deep given his strength.
"Ptaangg" the arrow was let loose the instant he received the order, rapidly flying towards the recently landed frost wolf, aiming for its chest. If they managed to kill one of the wolves it'd make escaping a whole lot easier.
At this rate, the arrow would successfully find its target, the wolf though conscious was in extreme pain and severely disorientated, even if it could see the arrow coming it wouldn't be able to dodge in time.
The instant the arrow was about to pierce into its chest and heart a shadow leaped past and smashed the arrow apart like a fragile twig saving the frost wolf from certain death.
"Shit! they were too quick" Jack grumbled as he clenched his fists and teeth in frustration.
The other frost wolves had arrived and one of them was able to reach its injured companion in time, biting down on the flying arrow and shattering it to pieces.
The four wolves now stared at the four adventurers with extreme hatred, especially the injured one. It wanted to rip John to pieces and smash his nose apart in revenge. Luckily even though its nose was broken and bleeding, once it regained stability its fighting prowess wouldn't be too affected.