The battle was looking in our favour. Most of the direwolves had been injured at this point - some of them now limped on three of their feet, few of them had a missing eye or an ear while the others had escaped the combat with only few scratches. Obviously these were caused by Thorgar and Shogun.
As for Draven...
"There goes my fifth kill." He said satisfactorily as his fifth arrow burned down his fifth victim. At this point the direwolves weren't even approaching our side. All of them sensed a mortal danger lingering around him.
"Amazed by my skills?" Draven asked as he looked down at my squatting form. His lips curled up as I nodded slowly.
Then in a self deprecating manner, he shook his head as he glanced at Shogun. "You haven't seen that guy fight yet. He isn't even fighting...just swinging his hands like in some mock tutorial."
Such an appreciation by a serious man like Draven made me curious as well. I looked up at the muscular man who had his mace raised and almost looked like he was shooing away the lingering direwolves.
Atleast till this point, everything indicated that the fight was in our favour.
Then I noticed something quite bizzare. All the surviving direwolves suddenly froze in their positions. Their pale eyes shrank as a dense cataract like structure appeared around their irises.
"It has finally started." Draven muttered under his breath. I followed his eyes and saw the alpha, standing calmly at their backline.
Unlike the other direwolves, its eyes now had a strange luminous intensity, almost as if a pale reddish mist was being released from them.
I suddenly remembered what Draven had warned us before the ambush. The Hivemind Pathway.
Curiously I asked, "So does the Pathway allow the alpha to control the others?"
When Draven nodded, I asked again. "But won't it just decrease their efficiency? I mean... won't they just be puppets under his hands? And controlling so many simultaneously...I can already imagine the numerous blunders the alpha would be doing."
At my words, Draven let out a slight chuckle. He answered in a dry tone, "A smart theory. But impractical. Do you really think someone gains pathway just like that? Without proper understanding yourself, your own abilities...you shall never gain a pathway. In other words, every user of pathways are experts in themselves."
So pathways are complex...I see. Then something struck me and very curiously, I asked. "What's your Pathway then? Afterall, you are too strong."
Smiling mysteriously, he said. "I have none."
The very next moment, he turned and quickly nocked an arrow. Then with fast movements, he shot it at a direwolf that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, its powerful legs leaping at astounding distances.
The arrow missed it as the direwolf sidestepped it flawlessly and continued our way. Draven shot another arrow. The time the wolf didn't even bother dodging it but rather flicked it aside with its claws.
How the hell did they become so fast and strong? My mind was in shambles seeing them react differently than before. Draven hadn't missed a single shot before this.
But now, these animals acted like the arrows were just a nuisance in their path.
Feeling my gaze on his back, Draven sighed. "This is why I hate pathway users. No matter how much I work hard, without their powers...I am useless."
He slowly nocked another arrow as he deliberately eyed another direwolf that thought it was sneaking on us. But Draven had already noticed it. Though for some reason, he totally ignored the direwolf that was almost close to attack him.
The direwolf in front of Draven leaped in the air as it opened its jaw. The sharp canines glistened in the near darkness. But before it could land on him, a metallic mace shot through the air as it complete penetrated the underbelly of the wolf and came out from the other side.
The direwolf fell dead, it's jaw still open but not even getting the time to scream one last time.
The mace didn't fall on the ground though. Instead it hovered in the air and then suddenly flew back like a torpido into Shogun's waiting hands.
Shogun smirked at Draven and went back to kill another one.
At the same time, Draven too launched his arrow. Before the direwolf that was inching closer to my side could even understand what had happened, the arrow penetrated it's thick animal hide and burst into burning fire.
Within seconds, this direwolf died as well.
"See? This is called silent communication. Shogun understood I wouldn't be able to defeat the one in front of me, so he killed it for me while I shot another target whose focus wasn't even at me. I ho--ugh!" His speech faltered as his feet slipped and he fell on the ground face first.
On his shoulders, a massive paw pinned him to the ground as saliva dripped on his exposed skin.
The alpha had suddenly appeared and now it was holding Draven in it's powerful clutch. This unnaturally large direwolf zoomed on me and the other two girls, its eyes still releasing the red mist.
The nameless girl shouted in a shrill voice as she almost pushed Lysandra to the ground to run away. I quickly intervened and stopped her.
"Don't try to run. See it...the alpha is tracking our movements. The moment we run, it shall leap on us. So, stand still." And I wasn't wrong at all. It was restricting us from either joining the combat or running away from the field. Afterall from it's assessment, we were the weakest in this group. So taking out Draven would simply cripple our backline.
This alpha is intelligent...quite so. I thought as I glanced at the other two. Shogun was fending off four direwolves at once, each of them now more ferocious than before. He was also checking behind him at Draven from time to time.
On the other hand, Thorgar was bleeding from his forearm where a deep gash left him incapable to fight properly. He staggered as a direwolf swiped at him with its claw. The wooden shaft of his spear bent inwards as it absorbed the shock from the blow.
Suddenly, Shogun stepped back. Then holding the mace with both hands, he sweeped his mace in a diagonal arc. Instantly a sharp, tearing sound resounded in the air as all the four direwolves that had been surrounding him the moment before, were torn apart violently. Tissues and blood scattered on the ground.
Shogun rolled the mace in his hand as he sprayed the blood that was sticking to the metallic surface on the ground.
He looked at the alpha and stepped forward.
In response, the alpha simply pressed its long nails into Draven's back, drawing a painful groan from him.
It was as if the alpha was threatening "don't come forward or I shall kill him."
Shogun seemed to get the message as he halted.
'I think I need to do something. At this rate, we are all just going to be slaughtered.'
Suddenly, a plan twisted inside my mind. I glanced at the fallen bow and the few scattered arrows on the ground that had spilled when Draven fell.
"Communication..." I whispered softly, considering the weight of the word Draven had said before.
The nameless girl at my side looked at me questioningly.
I wouldn't have done it but Thorgar was looking like he was inches away from being taken down as well. Only Shogun was the capable one on the field but I bet he wouldn't even understand a single language of mine.
So I turned towards the nameless girl. "You strong?"
For a moment, doubt flickered in her eyes. But then her face almost glowed with pride as she nodded vigorously at me.
"Can you hold back a direwolf for me?" She considered this question of mine as she asked, "How long?"
Satisfied, I leaned and elaborateda plan into her ears. Her face turned serious and she slowly placed Lysandra on the ground.
I picked up an arrow from my side subtly and handed it to her.
'I really hope this works or we are all fucked up.'
________
A/N: Sorry for the late update :(