Oh, But I Have Had Enough of Wolfshades!

Journal, Fourth Entry

The Wolfshade Champion Defeated

To our dismay battle found us yet again on the great lawn of Steinherz Manor, as the flames of poor Brummig's old home forced us forward, nearly into the Wolshades' very jaws! A long and difficult battle awaited us, which I daresay now in safety that I did not believe my friends would survive... In which case I would have had to have found a new group of heroes to chronicle, which would have been a great deal of unneeded trouble, so I'm very glad things went more or less positively.

Luckily the burning mansion provided a great deal of light for us, and with the combined efforts of our ever resourceful sprite Thumbelina and a bit of the old Pungo pizaz our enemies were rendered visible to us. But alas, poor Kala was not so fortunate, for a strangeness overtook him upon entering the fray, a strangeness I had not seen since... well, since we last encountered the fell predators now that I think about it. Sweet Mammy Grimmsong raised not a single coward (although my brother Higfrid was afraid of ducks, but that's understandable, he had a bad experience), but I daresay I have never experienced such fear in all my days until I saw his eyes: Gone were the warm sad-yet-wise goldish brown discs I had seen and shared laughter with, and in their place was a cold, dark abyss, wild and hungry and desperate to be free. Taken by madness he ran into the forest after some unseen prey, and we continued without him.

We had thought we had gained the upper hand over our adversaries, and were readying ourselves for flight, when suddenly those that remained faded a bit, but their darkness surged and combined, and before us stood a horrid amalgam of their power! Luckily, Kala had returned to his senses by this time and returned to aid us, and through the combined brilliance of Thumbelina and Ocultus, the beast was slain and the day won!

But alas, we looked about and searching eyes surrounded us. The Wolfshade pack spoke in unison, acting as a mouthpiece for their Master, but he seemed entertained by our exploits, and spoke softly and without anger or wrath. Whether he feared harm befall his servants with the morning sun, or merely because he had had his fun the pack dispersed and we were spared. We returned to Johan who was overjoyed at Brummig's presence, and began to detail our next mission...