There is a saying among people that all dogs go to heaven. Lucius couldn't guarantee that since he'd never seen a single dog in Elysium, but he might have gotten an idea of where all the big, bad wolves went after they died if the one in front of him was anything to go by. It was currently asleep, but the question was, for how long, given that they had to get their hands on the black knight's sword that was right next to it. Lucius didn't fancy going near the wolf due to the fear of waking it up. Both dogs and wolves had exceptional hearing, and just a tiny mistake could wake them up. In fact, it was a miracle that they didn't wake up when they unlocked the door and entered the chamber.
Lucius looked at Old Nigel to see if he had thought of something clever again. Lucius really appreciated the imp's help. It was nice having somebody else to rely on besides himself. Old Nigel was carefully examining the wolf and the sword. Then he reached out his hand and focused. At first, it seemed like nothing was happening, but slowly, barely, the black sword started moving. Old Nigel was trying his best to make the motions as light and slow as possible so the beast wouldn't wake up. Luckily, it didn't, and inch by inch, the sword slowly went up in the air until it was safely levitating above its head.
A more inexperienced individual would have immediately pulled the sword to himself, but Old Nigel was taking no chances with stirring the air in the room or experimenting with what the wolf could or couldn't hear or sense. Instead, as equally slowly as he raised the sword into the air, he started pulling it closer to them. And just like that, the whole situation could have been avoided because of the caution of one person. It could have been, because things are almost never so simple in situations as dangerous as this.
Just as the sword was halfway towards them, exactly the same distance to them and to the wolf, a loud group of demons rushed through the hall behind them, either rushing to the battlements to find out why the alarm had been raised or they were already searching for Lucius. The cause of their actions really didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that, as they were passing through, making all that noise, the wolf began to move in his sleep and barely, just barely, opened one of his eyes. The pair noticed this, horrified by the realisation that Old Nigel's effort was for nothing. Reacting quickly to this unfortunate turn of events, Old Nigel sent the sword swiftly towards Lucius, who grabbed it with his right hand.
Lucius was now armed, but the wolf was now awake and already on its feet. Lucius took a fighting stance, and the wolf began growling, showing its long and sharp teeth, which were more than capable of shredding them both to pieces. Lucius looked the beast straight in the eyes. This wasn't just any kind of beast in front of him. Those eyes that stared back at him were feral and bloodthirsty, yes, but they were also cunning and intelligent. He felt it's so. This wolf won't wildly jump at him, get impaled on his sword, or do anything similarly reckless. He was going to slowly examine its prey, wait for the perfect moment, and then strike, even confusing Lucius with fake attacks and sudden movements. This fight wasn't going to be easy, and if he could do something to avoid it, Lucius would take the chance immediately.
But in a way, he knew he had no choice but to kill the wolf. Old Nigel and him could retreat through the door and lock the beast in the chamber, but they would be doing a disservice to themselves that way, because this damned mutt surely wouldn't keep quiet and would instead start howling like crazy, drawing attention to itself. Not only would that lead to a quicker discovery of the sword's theft, but it would also mean that the wolf could then use its scent, which was equally exceptional as its hearing, to quickly track them and hunt them down closely, followed by its master. Neither Lucius nor Old Nigel fancied that idea, and they both knew perfectly well that upon leaving this chamber, that wolf had to be deader than the Dead Sea.
But neither Lucius nor the wolf made the first move, and they were just staring at each other, ready for a fight but neither willing to start it first. In that moment, Old Nigel, encouraged by his recent successes, decided to start the battle for them and do something that he thought would help Lucius win the fight more easily. Suddenly, he snapped with his fingers, and the wolf's fur burst into flames! Instead of dropping on the floor and rolling to extinguish the flames, the wolf, enraged by this unexpected attack, headed straight at Old Nigel instead of Lucius. Lucius was already striking at the expected location of the wolf when the wolf stopped and quickly changed its direction, jumping at Lucius instead and knocking him down on the floor!
It was the usual wolf's strategy of attack, trying to bite the victim's neck, and it would have been problematic enough if the wolf were of standard size and not burning, but now it was even more uncomfortable, and the only reason why Lucius wasn't dead yet was because he was quick enough to put his sword in front of the wolf's mouth, blocking its attack by forcing him to bite the blade instead. But the wolf was not stupid, and upon realising this, it quickly jumped off of him and tried to bite his leg, but Lucius was quick too and struck with the sword, forcing the animal to back off. Both of them were now aflame, Lucius's clothes catching fire from when the wolf was on him, but luckily Old Nigel used his powers to put the flames on Lucius out.
But the battle was not over yet, and the wolf, after it evaded Lucius's strike, made another attack at his legs. Lucius wasn't idle either and pulled his legs towards himself while at the same time leaning forward, reaching out with his right hand as much as he could to hit the wolf. He managed to lightly injure the beast's head, which caused the wolf to fall back and finally start rolling on the floor to put the flames out. Wasting no time, Lucius was on his feet and attacking in a second.
The wolf immediately stopped rolling on the floor when Lucius approached it and jumped at him, but Lucius was fully expecting this. It was a trap. This cursed thing didn't care if it burned to death, as long as it managed to kill him in the process. That's why he was ready with a trap of his own. The sword was in his left hand, and instead of using it, Lucius decided to use his right fist instead, and thus the wolf's snout experienced a very unexpected and strong uppercut, made significantly more powerful by the fact that Lucius was, like always, wearing a metallic glove. The force of the punch was so great that the sound of teeth cracking was heard, and the wolf's body flew into the air like it had jumped into the air. Before it fell to the ground, Lucius struck it with the sword. He wasn't that quick or strong enough to impale the falling wolf on his sword, especially because he was using his left hand, but he managed to seriously injure it by slitting its belly and quickly took the sword with his right hand after the strike.
The big wolf fell on its back, bleeding from its snout and belly. It tried to stand up and walk, but quickly fell back to the ground. Standing applied pressure to its wound. It could fight no more. Though it still growled at Lucius, that was the only thing it could do. It was defeated. It slowly started to roll on the floor to put out the flames, but it was useless. The stink of burnt fur and flesh, along with smoke, already filled the room. The wolf was not looking like a wolf anymore, and the scene looked pitiful and a bit sad, so Lucius struck again with his sword, and the wolf stopped moving.
"Look, I appreciate the gesture and the will to help, but next time, please don't set ablaze an enemy I'm about to fight in close combat, unless he's a mile away from me." said Lucius to Old Nigel, half seriously, half-jokingly.
"I'm terribly sorry, young lad. I thought I was doing you a service, but I now realise that I owe you some new clothes." replied Old Nigel, seeing how the fire ruined Lucius's appearance.
"I don't care for the clothes, but the burns I'm not fond of at all." explained Lucius, feeling pain and the sensation of burning at multiple parts of his body.
"Ah, I understand. Sadly, I cannot help you with that. To be honest, I cannot help you with the clothes either; I just said it because it's something I felt I should say out of courtesy."
"Never mind; I'll manage. Lead the way; we're still not out of trouble yet."
Old Nigel nodded, and the pair were quickly out of the chamber. After the door was closed and locked, they went their own way, leaving the burning corpse of the big, black wolf well behind them.