Wolf and the gang lucked out this time. They landed a mission of escorting a pair of Alchemists around Mirkwood for two weeks.

Mirkwood was a renowned danger zone in Silverhound, some two months away from Silver City. The mission was originally supposed to be a six, or maybe even seven star one, but it was urgent and was posted for all Mage Orders, just with different requirements for the number of students attempting it.

Wolf’s party originally failed to meet the mission requirements. However, the mission was urgent, and Wolf talked Mandy into going to check with the management.

After a couple of minutes, the woman returned. Wolf’s request was approved on account of his previous achievements.

That’s why, after rushing at breakneck pace for a month, Wolf and company were now waiting for two distinguished Alchemists to arrive.

“Whew, we made it.” Wayde said with a smile, thinking how disorganized those Alchemists were to make such a request at the last possible moment.

Unfortunately, the deadline wasn’t the only thing making this trip tense. The first couple of days felt like things would explode any moment. Luckily, Anna mellowed down, and Wolf didn’t do anything overly stupid, like talk for instance.

Matilda stared daggers at the young man whenever he opened his mouth. The five of them were in such a rush Wolf didn’t even have the time to tutor them. In fact he hardly said anything at all.

“We’re early by a couple of hours,” the young Marchioness said, beaming a happy smile.

When she told her father the details of her mission, the man praised the good head she had on her shoulders. Escorting two Alchemists from Highseat was a great chance to make a business connection. One even her family found desirable.

“Let’s set up camp. The agreed time was sundown today,” she said enthusiastically.

Following Matilda’s suggestion everyone got to work. The camp and dinner were ready in no time. Just as they were about to sit down and eat, a large, luxurious carriage rapidly approached them, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in its wake. The driver was as motionless as a statue, but the strange steeds moved at a considerable speed even without his direction.

Wolf took a glance and instantly recognized the beasts.

”Huh, a team of Bipedal Land-Drakes? If they’ve got those, why do they need people to guard them?” he said to himself.

Land-Drakes were rare and very expensive mounts and beasts of war. The four-legged kind was stronger, but unless you could personally overpower them, they were too unruly. Because of that, only a select few used them.

Their bipedal cousins had much milder tempers, but they were rarely used as steeds outside Highseat.

The team of blue ones, which pulled the carriage, were the weakest of their kind, but even they were Fourth Order Monster Beasts.

The four of them nominally had as much combat power as a Seventh Order Mage.

These Alchemists could just take those drakes as bodyguards, right? Wolf wasn’t the only one thinking that. However, he was the only one to realize their claws were dulled for safety reasons.

All five Mage Academy students watched the approaching carriage with undisguised curiosity.

The carriage came to an abrupt halt some ten meters away from them. The door to one side opened, and a pair of footmen jumped out of the coach. One opened the other door, while the other placed a fancy stool to act as a step.

“Lords, we’ve arrived,” the two of them said in unison.

While his friends were filled with anticipation, Wolf barely held back from rolling his eyes. Then a chubby elderly man slowly walked out of the carriage. As he touched the ground, a fat meaty hand grabbed the doorframe and a very obese old man walked out.

In his other hand he had a still steaming drumstick, and as he stepped onto the ground his fat belly jiggled. The fancy blue robe made the man’s torso look like it was covered by an ocean full of surging waves.

“Greetings Sir Dmitrin. Greetings Sir Darson.” Matilda smiled warmly as she greeted the important personages who just got out of the carriage.

The fatter one nodded, which Wolf found impressive, considering his triple chin. The other one didn’t even bat an eye. He just observed the not-too-distant dense forest, disdaining everyone present.

Matilda felt flustered for a moment, but almost instantly continued talking.

“My name is Matilda Thonburi, this is Barbara Charter, Annabelle Didot, Wayde Northshield and Wolf—” she paused for a moment, she couldn’t say without-a-surname. Instead she just continued talking.

“We have been sent by the Silver City’s Mage Academy to act as your escorts,” she concluded the introduction.

The less fat one, Sir Dmitrin, glanced at Matilda after she made the introduction. His eyes flashed with surprise when he heard Wayde’s surname, but otherwise didn’t bat an eye as he rudely inspected his escorts.

“Is this a joke?” he asked with an unamused tone. “We’ve asked for an Archmage to accompany us. What can a couple of whelps do? We already have Rings of Holding to carry our belongings.”

“With all due respect, noble Sir,” Matilda said, pretending she hadn’t heard the rude remark. “Sir’s mission was estimated as a Seventh Order one. Due to the urgent nature of Sir’s request the academy officials also considered larger parties. After careful consideration, they deemed us fit and assigned us as Sir’s escorts.”

“We’re not looking for those kinds of escorts,” the man said bluntly without batting an eye. “We need someone who can ensure our safety in the depths of Mirkwood. Four Fourth Order Mages and a Fifth Order Mage don’t meet our needs.”

As the man pointed at the stars on their uniforms, anger flashed through Matilda’s eyes for a moment, but she didn’t lash out. Unlike Matilda, Anna and Barbara kept their frowns, as did Wayde. Wolf, however, expressed his opinion with a sword which appeared in his hand.

“Settle down Wolf,” Matilda said.

She didn’t even bother to look back. She knew her friends and immediately knew who among them really had the vilest temper and was by far the craziest.

“We are acting on orders from Mage Academy officials. Here’s our letter of introduction, if you wish to inspect it.” Matilda still spoke calmly and produced the official scroll which was to serve as a letter of introduction.

“I’m not doubting they sent you. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with a bunch of useless brats I ended up with!” The thinner of the two Alchemists started to shout openly, but his friend interrupted him.

“Now, now, Tommy, the Mage Academy wouldn’t throw away students’ lives. We already notified them where we’re headed. If they believe these… students stand a reasonable chance of achieving that and surviving, then that means all is well and good,” Lord Darson said a tad more amiably, trying to pacify his volatile friend.

“But Alfred, can you honestly feel safe with these children in charge of protecting us?” Tommy asked.

“What? You think they would dare neglect us? Or do you believe the Lord of Steel should’ve come in person for the two of us?” Alfred retorted, smiling a bit at his wittiness.

“That’s not what I’m saying, but these kids are still wet behind the ears,” the other Alchemist continued whining.

“Sirs, you might not be aware, but Wolf single-handedly killed Van Dale of Highseat.” Matilda used the ace she’d come up with on their way over.

She expected that whoever issued a mission for a Seventh Order Mage would be dissatisfied with them. However, she didn’t expect that these Alchemists actually asked for an Archmage level escort. How self-centered were these two to believe themselves worthy of having an Archmage bodyguard? How much money had they spent on this mission?

“Never heard of him,” Alfred said flatly.

“He was a Sword-Sage for hire. But he’s not ‘of’ Highseat, just ‘from’ Highseat,” Tommy said, frowning as he tried to recall the name. “If you needed someone dead you called him, or something like that. I caught some rumors about him. Never knew he kicked the bucket in such a backwater place.”

Tommy gave Matilda a long look, before shifting his dubious gaze to Wolf.

Seeing the way these two fatsos were looking at him, Wolf wanted to slap them. How could a Mage Academy student lie about something which they could easily check?

Tommy and Alfred had a problem with the disrespect in Wolf’s eyes, but the air about this boy was kind of dangerous. After a tense moment, Tommy broke the silence.

“Fine,” he said. “You can work for us for now. But you’d better be aware that if anything goes wrong, we’re not saving you. You are here to protect us, not the other way round.”

***

Next morning, the party of seven set off into Mirkwood. Alchemists left their servants, steeds and carriage behind to wait for their return.

On the first day, Matilda still tried to make friends with the two eccentric old men. But after constantly being on the receiving end of language which bordered on verbal abuse, she gave up.

The first day went by peacefully. They encountered no Monster Beasts, while regular animals avoided them. On the second day, after walking for a couple of hours, Wolf raised his hand and clenched it into a fist, motioning everyone to stop.

“A pack of Monster Beasts is approaching. They’ll be upon us in a moment,” Wolf whispered, but before he was done with his words, his friends already had weapons in hand and spread out in a formation for frontal assault.

Over the course of their travels, Wolf’s party had crystalized their fighting style. Wayde held a long-sword and a short-sword at the ready. Barbara had settled for a long barbed whip, while Anna and Matilda had repeating crossbows at the ready and were already loading them.

The Alchemists didn’t even get to scoff at Mage Academy students taking out weapons, when the first Dire Wolf jumped out of the bushes ahead.

*Twang! Twang!*

As soon as the Monster Beast appeared Anna and Matilda shot it. They didn’t even bother to check the results and pressed the levers of their crossbows, reloading them and preparing for the next shot.

The Dire Wolf was dead. Its lifeless body had one bolt lodged inside its skull, and another sticking out of its throat. But even before it fell down to the ground, the bushes behind it rustled and sounds of branches and twigs breaking drowned the dull thud the beast made when hitting the ground.

A pack of Dire Wolfs dashed out of the bushes, growling and howling in rage. They charged towards Wayde and Barbara, who were already chanting. A pair of Inferno Rays struck the head of the nearest Monster Beast, turning it into smoking charcoal.

*Twang! Twang!*

Another Dire Wolf fell to the ground and started convulsing, two bolts stuck in its neck.

Dmitri and Darson watched the scene wide-eyed. In their eyes, these youths were barely out of diapers, and yet without saying a word they felled three Dire Wolves in a matter of seconds.

Maybe there really was a reason why Mage Academy sent this team? Alfred thought, then checked what Wolf was doing. Why isn’t he attacking?

Wolf had a javelin in hand, darting his eyes left and right, observing the battlefield.

The youth suddenly exploded with motion, sending his javelin flying in a completely random direction, to Anna’s and Matilda’s flank.

At that moment a Dire Wolf jumped out of the bushes, attempting to ambush the archers, however its motion looked like it threw itself onto the javelin, offering itself as a willing sacrifice.

With a meaty sound the javelin pierced through the Monster Beast and disappeared into the bushes behind it.

Matilda didn’t bat an eye, but Anna turned back and looked towards Wolf.

“Don’t look away,” Wolf shouted, but it was too late.

Barbara and Wayde each kept two Dire Wolves in check. Thanks to the whip’s reach Barbara was still managing. Wayde, however, had no reach worth mentioning. Monster Beasts pressed him hard. He barely kept himself safe and could do so only for a couple of seconds.

He was waiting for a pair of bolts to kill the wolf to his left and relieve the pressure.

The young Duke inwardly sighed with relief when he heard the strumming of strings and the whistle of bolts flying through the air, but then instead of two only one bolt thudded into the Dire Wolf’s thick, muscled neck.

Suddenly, a completely routine situation turned into an extremely dangerous one. Matilda wasn’t lucky. Her shot wasn’t enough to bring down the lupine monster. To make matters worse, in her panic, Anna fumbled with her crossbow and couldn’t load the bolt properly for a moment.

Wayde thought he was a goner as the stinking hot breath washed over his face. The wounded Dire Wolf snapped at him and Wayde focused on it completely, trying to fend off its berserk assault.

The other Monster Beast took advantage of Wayde’s distraction to flank him.

With another sound of rushing air a javelin pierced the flanking Dire Wolf’s skull, sending blood and bone chips flying. The monster dropped dead just a step shy of biting off Wayde’s head.

“Anna, calm down,” Wolf shouted as reassuringly as he could. “I’m here, nothing can go wrong. Now just do it like you did before. The next target is the enemy to Barbara’s right. Remember, don’t shoot between Barbara and Wayde, you can never predict how they might be forced to move.”

Anna breathed in and out deeply.

“Now,” Matilda said, sounding even calmer than Wolf.

*Twang! Twang!*

Another Dire Wolf dropped dead.

The second one fighting Barbara turned around to flee, and the young woman took the opportunity to slash her whip at Wayde’s wounded Dire Wolf.

Meanwhile, Wolf sent another javelin flying after the fleeing enemy. He was certain he’d kill it, but the Monster Beast ducked under the javelin and fled.

Meanwhile, Barbara and Wayde flanked and quickly brought down the wounded Dire Wolf.

“Well… That wasn’t too bad,” Wolf said with an awkward smile.