Blizzard barely had time to think about the sudden attack from behind before his body reacted automatically. The wild wolf slammed into him with great force, its sharp teeth getting too close to Blizzard's neck. Blizzard quickly turned, using the force of the hit to roll them both across the icy ground. They tumbled, getting dirt and bits of broken ice all over their skin. The wild wolf growled, breathing heavily and wildly, but Blizzard hit his elbow hard into the wolf's ribs, making it cry out in pain. He pushed the attacker away and quickly stood up, his muscles ready with the exactness he learned from many years of hard practice.
Another wild wolf came out of the shadows, then another, until Blizzard was surrounded by four wolves. Their eyes shined with need and hunger, wolves that had long forgotten what it meant to be loyal to a group. Wild wolves. Scavengers. The kind that attacked those who were weak and easy to hurt. And right now, Shadow Pack was weak in the worst way possible.
Anger grew strongly inside him, rushing through him like a fire. His chest felt tight as he looked at the frozen figures spread around his once-lively home. His people, stuck in a strange stillness, unable to do anything. And these wild wolves, these pests, had dared to sneak into Shadow Pack land to eat at what was left like vultures.
Blizzard's sight became dim.
"You picked the wrong group," he said fiercely.
The first wild wolf charged, its claws out. Blizzard stepped aside and hit his open hand hard into the wolf's jaw, causing it to stumble back. Another tried to jump onto Blizzard's back, but Blizzard turned quickly and grabbed it in the air, using the wolf's weight to throw it into a frozen tree. The loud snap echoed through the open area.
But they kept coming at him.
Blizzard felt all the anger he had kept inside rise to the surface, worry for his people, the feeling of being helpless that had been bothering him since he first stepped into the silent pack lands, the years he spent wandering without a goal only to come back to this terrible situation. It all came out inside him, powering every hit, every move. He fought like a wolf who had nothing left that mattered.
One of the wild wolves jumped with a snarl aiming right for Blizzard's shoulder. Blizzard let the wolf get close, then grabbed it by the fur on its neck, spinning and slamming it down hard enough to make it lose its breath. Another scratched at Blizzard's arm, but Blizzard hit it with a quick knee to the stomach, making it fall down.
He wasn't just fighting to stay alive, he was fighting because of desperation, sadness, anger, and the strong hope that somehow he could still help his pack. Each hit held the weight of years spent training under different leaders, learning fighting styles from packs in far away lands. Every lesson, every scar, every drop of sweat used to grow now controlled his body with scary exactness.
The wild wolves realized they were not as good. Their movements became rushed, messy. One tried to run away, but Blizzard grabbed it by the back of its shirt and threw it to the ground.
"Did you come here to take things?" Blizzard asked angrily. "To take from wolves who cannot even protect themselves?"
One bad person coughed, confused. "We, we did not know, "
"You did not care," Blizzard said, his voice like ice. He was ready to attack again when another bad person charged at him with a knife, its shiny blade sparkling. Blizzard stopped the attack with his arm, feeling pain as the blade cut his skin. But he did not stop. He twisted the bad person's arm until the knife fell to the ground.
Then Blizzard held him down with a knee on his chest, breathing heavily. The bad person's eyes grew wide with fear as Blizzard raised a fist, ready to end it.
"Wait!" The bad person's voice broke with fear. "Wait, please! I know something, something that can help you!"
Blizzard stopped.
His fist was just above the bad person's face. The open space became quiet except for Blizzard's loud breathing and the soft cries of the hurt bad people around him. Blizzard's wolf inside him growled deeply, unsure between his feelings and a sudden bit of hope.
"What did you just say?" Blizzard asked, his voice very low.
The bad person swallowed hard, shaking. "I, I know how to help them! Your group, I know how to undo what happened!"
A strong feeling of shock went through Blizzard's chest. He held his breath as he looked down at the bad person, trying to see if he was lying, if this was just a way to not die. But there was fear in the bad person's eyes. Real fear. Not the kind from fighting a strong person, but the kind from knowing something bigger, something scary.
Blizzard's heart started to beat fast. A small bit of hope, weak, but alive, broke through his upset feelings.
"Talk," Blizzard said.
"I, I will," the bad person said, nodding quickly. "But not here! If I tell you here, I will die! The curse, if I talk about it in the wrong place, it spreads! We were told!"
A curse?
Blizzard tightened his jaw. Vrytin explosions were old, random, and full of stories. Some stories told of curses with them, magic that hurt those who messed with the core's secrets. Blizzard had never known how much of those stories were true, but he had to listen to everything.
"Why should I trust you?" Blizzard asked angrily.
"Because if you kill me," the bad person said, out of breath, "you will lose the only clue you have!"
Blizzard held the bad person's shirt tighter. Part of him wanted to end this now, to finish what the bad people started. But his group, his family, was still frozen, and this bad person was giving the first clue to fix it.
Hope. Scary, dangerous hope. But still hope.
Blizzard breathed out shakily.
"Fine," he said slowly. "You will tell me everything. And if you lie, "
"I will not!" the bad person shouted.
Blizzard wasn't really sure if the man was telling the truth. But he took a step away, so the rogue had some space to breathe. Since coming back to the place he was from, he now had a way forward, unclear but also certainly there.
And Blizzard would go that way. No matter what he had to do.