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the road. The sergeant had not yet seen the terrible creatures with gaping maws, instead he congratulated himself for bullying a Knight of the Hand. Carym drew his fighting sticks, connected them in the middle to form one long fighting staff, and then set them aflame. He wore no armor, preferring the magical armor spell that would encase his body in protective magical stone plates. When the sergeant saw what Carym had just done with his magic, his jaw dropped. Then the sergeant turned to see what Carym was staring so intently at and frantically shouted for his men to get into a spear formation. This was essentially a "V" shaped formation with the tip pointing toward the advancing foes, and Carym thought that was a good choice for these men. Four gigantic wolves trotted silently toward the nervous guardsmen.
    The wolves were massive, nearly the size of Carym's own horse, with eyes glowing fiercely. Their fur was dark, mottled, somewhat mangy. Saliva dripped from pearly fangs as low growls emanated from gaping maws. The four massive beasts stared at the humans, hatred and venom clear in their eyes. Palpable evil radiated from the creatures. Carym had no doubt that these were agents of the Shadowfyr.
    The sense of evil translated into a fear that penetrated deeply into Carym's soul, and he was truly tempted to flee. It was all he and Genn could do to keep their horses from bolting away from these horrifying creatures. Each of the beasts had distinctive markings, they were like no wolves Carym had ever seen. Their eyes were aglow with unholy ferocity, their teeth bared and bloody. Any creature that could take out a pair of mounted Knights of the Hand were creatures to be feared indeed; his heart ached for their needless deaths. The wolves spread out in a formation of their own, moving in concert to unheard commands. The sergeant ordered his men to spread farther out in response to the movements of the deadly beasts, but Carym sensed that was exactly what the wolves wanted.
    "Sergeant, close up your ranks! Close them up!" shouted Carym urgently. "Don't let them through your line! Close up, for the love of Zuhr!"
    "Coward!" shouted the sergeant over his shoulder. "We can stand against a few dogs!"
    Carym prepared to charge in and take over, but Genn moved her horse to block him. "He'll not listen!"
    Carym nodded, she was right. He  enflamed  Genn's cudgel with the power of the Flame Sigil to aid her. The two stayed close together and Carym hoped that one of the wolves would be separated from its pack mates by the sergeant's men. Then, it happened so fast Carym almost missed his opening. The wolves charged as one into the formation and began tearing into the frightened and poorly led men. Bodies flew and limbs fell as a sheen of bloody mist floated briefly in the air, silencing the bewildered cries of the men. As Carym had expected, two of the wolves flanked the formation of troops, ready to strike from the side. Carym kicked his mount and charged down the slope of the street toward one of the wolves, a grim smile on his face and vengeance on his mind.
    Carym used his horse's momentum to ram the wolf's flank and bowled it over, he was certain to force his mount to trample the wolf with its powerful hooves. Genn thundered in behind Carym, stomping across the squealing beast while Carym wheeled about and struck the creature in the head with his fiery fighting stick. The smell of singed fur filled his nostrils as he struck the surprised creature again and again and again. The great wolf alternately snarled and yelped as it was kicked and stomped by the horses and struck with cudgel and staff by men. With a great stroke of luck, Genn struck the flailing wolf in the throat with the silveryl spike at the base of her cudgel and the beast finally stilled. That was when Carym suddenly realized that the sounds of battle around him had stopped, completely. One of the dire wolves stared at him from the far side of the grizzly scene, its eyes