Fear clenched Rowan's heart as the chorus of howls echoed in the tunnel he had come from. His instinct screamed at him to run, but he knew he couldn't outrun them. Not without leaving Avery behind. Rowan considered it for a brief second. With the wolves busy, he could escape, but...
He shook his head, refusing to even consider it as an option. Looking down the bend, he guessed how long it would take the wolves to arrive. Five? Ten? For all he knew, they could be just past the light, waiting for his guard to drop.
"We have to run. There's no way we can fight off all those things while he's injured."
Nadia was trembling, no doubt recalling the fearsome wolf that had bitten Avery's shoulder. Looking at it again, Rowan realized he was a fool for believing a bite mark that size could have come from the creature he killed.
"We can't. They'll catch us in the dark, and we'll be in even deeper shit. The chances of us outrunning them are low with Avery, and are zero if they can see in the dark. It's safer to take a stand here and try to force them back."
Avery still sat against the wall, grimacing as he stared down at the corridor leading to the howling wolves.
"I agree. Trying to flee with me would kill us all for sure. I still have a good arm, we can make a stand and force them back, as Rowan said."
Nadia seemed to consider it before nodding. Rowan knew she was no fighter. During the combat test, she had done little after throwing the net, and her hopes for her ability weren't even combat-related.
Tensing his brow, he tried to come up with ways to defend the room. The entrance to the tunnel was perhaps only a meter wide. If the wolves were as big as Avery and Nadia made them seem, they would be in a chokehold before they could enter the room. With Nadia and his spears, they would be able to at least get the first one that tried to attack them.
Kicking the sand in frustration, he wondered where Aoife was. She must have heard those howls and was likely fleeing just as they were.
'Unless she's hunting them. Then she might be coming this way.'
He knew the hope was futile, but he hoped nonetheless.
"Can't we barricade the passage somehow? Slow them down by moving some rocks or stuff in the way?"
Avery struggled to his feet, a hopeful expression on his face.
"What could we use? All of the rock is in their direction. We'd risk running into them every time we went to grab some."
Avery's face fell, and he too kicked the sand, spraying it across the wall.
"We have to fight. I'm aware it's dangerous, but we'd have to do it eventually. We can't just flee those wolves forever. Eventually, we would have to reach a dead end."
Another howl punctuated his sentence. Terrifyingly close, close enough for Rowan to flinch and stare back down the tunnel. A fast blur was approaching, the sound of heavy footsteps as a wolf raced towards them.
As Rowan readied his spear, standing in the middle of the passage, he readied his spear for its approach. Sure enough, it was twice the size of the earlier wolf he had killed. The wolf saw him too, and growled, seeming to speed up as it closed the distance.
Gritting his teeth, Rowan braced his legs against the sand, leaning forward as he waited for the beast to close in. Black on white eyes stared at him from the passageway, as saliva flew from its snarling mouth.
Finally, the wolf was close enough for Rowan to start attacking, and he lunged to meet it. The spear caught the wolf in the shoulder, pushing Rowan back as its charge was pushed through to him. The sand offered little support, and he found himself tripping backwards into the room.
As the beast followed up, rushing to bite at the defenceless person in front of it, Nadia swung Avery's sword down, catching the wolf in the middle of its back. She had been standing in the same spot Rowan had in the earlier room, striking as it moved past her.
The beasts' yelp filled the air, as Avery thrust down with the spear, into its neck. Rowan once again heard the sputtering sounds of the beast trying to breathe, and forced himself to look away. Nadia's voice called before he could get back up.
"There's another!"
Sure enough, another wolf was approaching from the tunnel, sprinting the length remaining between it and the group.
Hurrying to his feet, Rowan scrambled to the door, readying his spear. The wolf continued charging, as Rowan placed his back foot against the dying wolf, using it as support. As it once again came in range, he went to lunge forward, but his foot slipped on the slick fur, and the spear swayed to the side, missing the wolf entirely.
Panicking, he pulled it back towards him as the wolf lunged, jaws wide open. Grasping the spear with both hands, he used the spear to block the wolves bite, feeling it almost get torn from his hands amidst the wolves monstrous strength.
Releasing the spear, he fled backwards, collapsing over the now dead wolf as the attacking beast flung his spear to the side, leaving it to roll to a stop against the wall. Lips parting seemingly in a mocking grin, the wolf continued forward, seeing defenceless prey.
Once again, Nadia swung the sword down. This wolf was slower, and with her weight behind the swing, it fell hard on the beast's neck, getting caught in the middle.
The wolf crumpled immediately, blood oozing into the sand. Groaning, Rowan rolled to his feet and ignored the accumulating bruises to grab his spear, which was a couple of meters deep into the tunnel. Keeping a wary eye on the passage, he fetched his spear before quickly racing back to the entrance, breathing heavy.
"Quick, help me drag the wolf's body to the passage!"
Avery's plan could finally work, and he was eager to put it into action. The trio dragged the wolves' bodies into the corridor, laying them on top of each other. The combined height was impressive, though Rowan believed the wolves could clear it with ease.
However, it meant they would lose some momentum when entering the room, preventing him from getting knocked flat each time.
Not seeing any more approaching beasts, they took the chance to recover their breath. Avery held his wounded shoulder gingerly, wincing from the strain it felt. He had likely made his injury worse while fighting, but it had spared Rowan and Nadia from being in a similar position. If either of them got injured, their chances of survival would drop significantly more.
Less than a minute later, Rowan flinched as another wolf appeared at the end of the tunnel. However, this one seemed to falter at the sight of the bodies. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to deter it, and it continued towards the group.
Steeling himself again, Rowan waited further inside the room. He left room for the wolf to leap over the bodies, so they could strike it when it landed. Taking a deep breath, he watched as the wolf neared the bodies and leapt.
Far earlier than he had thought.
It landed atop the bodies they had piled, perched atop for less than a second before it leapt again, set on a crash course with Rowan, who stood with his mouth agape. Coming to his senses, he pointed the spear at the wolf and braced the butt against the ground.
Realizing what was about to happen, the wolf twisted in mid-air, but was unable to alter its trajectory. The spear sank through its side, emerging from the other side with a spray of blood. The wolf lay atop Rowan, squirming, not quite dead despite its punctured body, yet it was growing weaker by the second.
Shoving it off of him, Rowan rolled to the side, and the sound of Nadia's and Avery's weapons meeting their mark sounded.
'I wish I could remain on my goddamn feet, for once.'
Grunting, he pushed himself to his knees, then his feet, and rose to see Avery and Nadia adding the corpse to the pile. Grabbing his spear, they had pulled out, he stood to the side of where he had stood before, out of the way of where a wolf could possibly land.
"How many more are there? We can't keep doing this forever."
Rowan knew that they likely could, but his pitiful stamina was already wearing thin. He hadn't had the chance to rest since arriving here, and as the sound of stomping paws grew behind him, he felt he wasn't going to get a chance any time soon.