Zen used his daggers to take out a large number of monsters, after that he perched himself in a tree waiting for the others.
The sun had begun to set when he heard a howl in the distance. "Wolves, how interesting. This should be fun."
Zen content plated if he should move now or wait. He had never seen wolves before so he was quite curious to see them and fight them.
'Those are shadow wolves Zen.'
"Nyra?"
'Yes it's me, and since you're in a forest, I can communicate with you.'
Zen nodded his head understanding what she meant. "So about the wolves?"
'They are shadow wolves, dangerous and unpredictable. Although you can tame one.'
"Mmm..."
'You should go fight them Zen, they have something you need.'
Zen thought for a moment. "Where are they?"
'East of your current location, far from the exit. You should hurry though, the others are on their way.'
Just then Zen heard the footsteps of numerous feet. "Shit."
Zen used the cover of darkness to head east, jumping from branch to branch. His feelings had changed towards the group of adventures, he no longer felt compelled to help them.
Leo was pissed beyond measure, he had a feeling Zen was far ahead of them, but he had no solid proof.
'Where is that street rat, I should have killed him the day we met.' He was seething, he had only come here to get the treasure, to further anchor his standing with his father the king.
Leo looked over to the group of adventurers. "I need to lose this dead weight." He whispered under his breath. 'But how?'
Another howl sounded through the air. "Perfect." Leo had read up on most of the monsters recorded, in the royal library.
"Let's rest here Leo, the others are tired." Jace came up to him.
"Fine, but only for 30 minutes, we have to keep moving, I don't want Zen to catch up."
He said casually.
"Leo, there is no way he could catch up now. Besides, we made a lot of headway in the past two days."
Leo wanted to roll his eyes at Jace. "Just 30 minutes, I'm going to scout ahead so long."
With that Leo turned on his heel and left.
"How much farther Nyra?" Zen asked as he kept moving.
'Another 30 meters, then you should be right above them. They are hunting tonight.'
Zen pushed himself forward, and as he did he heard low growls up ahead. 'Finally!'
Zen stopped and perched himself on a thick branch, he observed the wolves that were mere inches below him.
'There big, but how many?' Zen counted, 'There are fifty of them. Zen observed them and was stunned when one of them spoke.
"Come out human, I know you hiding." Was the shadow wolf talking to him? Just then the bushes below him moved.
His eyes widened at seeing who it was, Leo. Zen clenched his jaw. "What do you want human, my pack is hungry."
"What do I want?" Leo's voice was laced with venom. "It's simple, I want you to kill some people for me?"
The wolf let out an angry howl, it began to stalk Leo. "How dare you, a mere boy command me the king of wolves?"
Leo did not move, he did not show an ounce of fear to the wolf king. "If you must know, I am a prince of..."
"Hahahaa! Just because your royalty boy, doesn't mean you have the right to order me and my pack around. The only way you can do that is if you defeat me."
Leo's brows shot up, then furrowed again. "If I refuse?"
The wolf let out a menacing growl. "It's simple, I will kill you where you stand boy."
Even though the wolf threatened him, Leo refused to show any fear. Zen was still observing them when the wolf looked directly at him.
"Also I don't find you worthy to fight me, there is another that has the heart of the forest within him." The wolf king had said that to him. Did he mean, because he and Nyra spoke before on the lower levels?
"You see boy, your heart isn't pure. And I find you more like a pest than a prince."
Leo had lost the last ounce of patients he had. "You stupid fucking wolf, how hard is it to do what I ask." Leo was full of rage, he took off his axe and swung it at the wolf king's head.
Before it could strike the wolf king, he vanished into the shadows. Leo opened his eyes to see he had only hit the air. His head frantically turned in all directions to see where had the wolf gone to.
"I told you, boy, you are not worthy. Now for your incompetence, I shall have your head."
The wolf king appeared behind Leo. "You shall suffer like those who came before you." The wolf king had his maw open ready to clamp down on Leo's thin neck.
"Fireball!" The wolf king was blasted back, away from Leo's trembling form. Jace had come out from the bush, he had followed Leo, but he had only heard the last bits of the conversation.
Jace ran towards his leader, tugging him to follow. "Come, Leo, before the wolf gets up."
Jace dragged Leo away, leaving Zen alone with the wolves.
The wolf king lay there, unharmed. "Kid, stay there. The attack only caught me off guard, is Nyra with you?"
The wolf king looked up at Zen, he nodded at the king. "Can I speak to her please?"
Zen nodded at the king. "Nyra?" A light green light filled the surrounding area. Soon Nyra stood before the wolf king, she gave a low bow. "It's good to see you again your majesty."
"Enough formalities child, did you send the kid to me."
"Yes I did, he requires a new bow. And considering you are the one with the strongest shadow bow, I've sent Zen to you. But it seems the other one wants you to kill his party members."
The wolf king huffed in annoyance. "That's why I said he is not worthy. But your friend up there is."
Nyra gave a bright smile, "You've always been a good judge of character wolfie."
Nyra teased the wolf king.
The wolf king only snorted, "Nyra you are the only one who gets to raise me like this. But you are correct on one thing, I am a good judge of character and I also knew you were residing within him. Why did you choose him though?"
Nyra gave another smile. "Because I saw his past and his future as soon as he stepped foot into my forest."
Zen was stunned to say the least, that he nearly fell off his perch. "Careful Zen, don't get hurt before your fight." Nyra chirped.
Zen felt warmth spread across his cheeks. "So wolfie, will you fight him?".
The wolf king was silent for a bit. "Nyra, since you speak so highly of the kid, I shall fight him to test his skills. If he defeats me, I shall personally give him my powers."
Nyra gasped. "You sure your majesty, it will be the second time, since..."
"Since my father Nyra, it's time to pass the mantel to my son anyways." Nyra only nodded, Zen however felt a bit confused. This dungeon had its own rules.
"Kid! You rest up, tomorrow at first light we shall have our duel." Zen nodded at the wolf king. "He is a man of a few words," Nyra commented.
"That's why I like him already, also he surprised me with his stealth after that other boy showed himself. That's when I felt his presence. So if the kid wins, I'll be happy to aid him."
Nyra showed up next to Zen, "Here eat, then rest. Tomorrow will be a long day for you."
Nyra waved her hand, and a few fruits fell into Zen's lap. "Thank you, Nyra."
Nyra smiled, "Goodnight Zen." With that Nyra went back inside Zen's consciences.
"Goodnight..."