Now that he had lost the element of surprise, Isaac wasn't entirely sure what to do. They'd managed to kill two of the wolves, but that still left 18 of the damn things. He could see that the injured members of the group had managed to get about halfway to the town gates. Luckily, the wolf pack was more interested in killing the ones who had slain their brethren than they were hungry.

Have to split their focus a little bit. If I can manage to get the attention of a couple of them then the guards might be able to clean up the rest. Isaac just had to make sure that he caused enough trouble that the wolves were more interested in them than they were in chasing after the group that was running away.

He tightened his grip on the spear and picked up the shield that laid nearby. He was briefly surprised by how light it was. Huh, shouldn't slow me down too much. The bigger problem was that Isaac didn't actually have much experience with spears. His father was a guard for the village and had been able to teach him the basic stances for a number of weapons, including spears, but they had drilled with two handed versions and he had no idea the proper way to hold the smaller spear in his hand in conjunction with a shield.

Isaac dared a glance over at the guards. His best bet was to mimic their stance and strike only vital areas. He bent his knees, raised the shield slightly higher, just below eye level, and let the length of the spear rest on top of the bronze shield. Two of the wolves took Isaac's sudden change in stance as a challenge and charged him.

As the first wolf closed in, Isaac struck out with the shield. There was a sickening crunch as metal met bone and the lead wolf's snout exploded in a spray of blood. The force from the collision blasted him onto his back, causing him to lose his grip on the shield and blurring his vision. One of the other wolves sensed that he was vulnerable and leapt on top of him. It managed to pin Isaac's spear arm under one of its massive paws, and raked the other across his chest.

Isaac's blurred vision went white as pain coursed through his body. His chest felt like it was on fire. He threw an elbow at the wolf's face, but the blow hardly fazed the massive creature. The wolf raised its paw in the air again. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the the monster's massive claws headed towards Isaac's face. I guess this is where I die. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the blow.

But it never came. Isaac opened his eyes to find an arrow lodged right in the middle of the wolf's skull. He pushed the wolf off, an anger settling into his very soul. He had never felt so afraid ... so weak ... so helpless. He intended to never feel that way again. The sounds of fang on metal brought him out of his daze. He looked over and saw that the group of royal guards had managed to slay three wolves, but one of the guard's arms hung limply by his side no longer usable.

Isaac picked up his spear and shield. His entire body screamed in pain and blood ran freely from three deep gashes on his chest. He began to walk towards the nearest wolf. The pain threatened to overtake him as he staggered and had to use the blunt end of the spear to steady himself. There's too many of them. We're all going to die.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts away. He wasn't a coward. If he was going to die, he was sure as hell going to take half of these damn things with him.

* * *

Evan and his men thrust their spears as another wave of wolves crashed against their shields. The group they had been protecting had reached the safety of the town and they had been able to overcome the number advantage the wolves had by putting their backs against one of the hills. He couldn't see the young man from earlier anymore. One of the wolves had managed to tackle him to the ground so Evan figured he was probably dead.

Not that it mattered, there were still at least a dozen wolves left and Ryan couldn't even hold a shield up. It was only a matter of time.

A horn in the distance shook Evan out of his musings. Three short horn blasts from somewhere nearby answered the call. Two men and a woman appeared out of thin air on top of a nearby hill. They aimed their bows at the pack with deadly grace and released arrows faster than he could see.

Whispers.

* * *

Isaac watched in awe as wolves dropped around him. Each arrow found itself embedded in an eye or neck. The pack dissolved into chaos. Wolves tore at each other while trying to escape. Out of the corner of his eye Isaac saw one of the wolves making a last ditch lounge at the man who had been leading the royal guards. The large man was too focused on the rangers and the destruction they were causing to notice the giant wolf about to end his life. In a single fluid motion Isaac launched the spear in his hand at the wolf. It flew threw the air and caught the wolf midflight right in the throat. The creature was dead before it hit the ground with a loud thump.

It took only seconds for the rangers to kill the wolves that remained. When the last wolf let out its final breath a screen appeared in front of Isaac.

You have successfully completed your first Trial!

The Tower had tasked you with a Trial that was outside the difficulty of a normal Novice Trial and you succeeded. With greater risks, come greater rewards.

You earned 3000 experience points for successfully completing the Trial.

You leveled up! You are now level 2. You gained 5 attribute points.

You leveled up! You are now level 3. You have gained 5 attribute points.

You have earned a Title! Titles are extremely rare passive powers that are bestowed by completing difficult Trials.

Title: Here Comes The Cavalry (5% increased attack and defense to all members in the party)

"HEY! KID! Can you hear me?"