Danyell spoke with a soft voice.

"I think... there are more than we think there are."

"What makes you say that?"

"The howling. There's either more of them... or we're just extremely unlucky and stumbled on their den."

Danyell signaled them to follow him. They started to walk quietly into the oak trees that were next to them.

"Come oon... it can't be that bad... -"

Griff's ears picked up something as he quickly slammed Galvain's mouth shut with his right hand.

Danyell nodded at him approvingly.

Griff whispered in his ear.

"You f.u.c.king dimwit do you want us all to become wolf food?"

Galvain was sweating... he still hadn't grasped the seriousness of their situation.

The duo quietly marched, crawling, behind Danyell.

The oak trees were thick, enough cover for them to not be seen. Danyell suddenly raised his hand signaling them to stop.

"We need a way to prevent the wolves from picking up our scent. We can't fight this many silverbacks head on..."

Griff nudged at the nearby mud puddle with his head:

"That's the only way we can cover up our smell for now."

"As much as I hate it... you're right."

All of them started to rub the mud on their s.h.i.+rts and weapons. Galvain, disgustingly so.

Danyell turned to them after they'd finished camouflaging themselves.

"On me, you two."

They kept slowly walking as the trees began to become less thick and farther apart. They were about to exit the forest.

As they reached the edge of the forest, Griff poked his head out of the forest to take a look. It was an open plain, and all around them were wolves. Silverbacks, as the intel had said. However... that wasn't all there was there. There was a strong force of mana coming in the center of the pack.

Griff quickly pulled back, and turned to the two with some anxiousness.

"This isn't a normal pack. There's something that is far stronger than a Silverback leading them. I think... if we can handle that, we'll be able to ease the burden on your village. You said these wolves come down periodically?"

Danyell nodded.

"They're weirdly organized... I suppose this should be why. So, that's our strategy? Take the leader down, and the wolves will scatter?"

"Perhaps not scatter, but they'll be disorganized. Your village's warriors seem to be preparing to fight them, so this would be the most ideal for you all to push them back. You'll get the mountain back."

"We definitely need a way to lure away those wolves though..."

Danyell started to think, but before he could find a solution Galvain spoke up.

"Wolves like meat, right? How about we prepare some sort of trap? It'll have to be huge though... we're planning to trap all of the wolves. Their leader might or might not follow. It's a gamble."

"Good idea brat... but that's not enough. We can't dig a hole in one night now. The best trap would be... a frontal a.s.sault..."

Danyell pondered for a while and spoke up.

"Good idea and all, but how can we hold them off while one of us tries to take down the leader?"

Griff smirked at that.

"Do you have any way to contact the village?"

Danyell's eyes widened.

"You're seriously thinking of marching up the mountain with villagers?"

"That's all I have right now..."

Galvain shook his head sideways at that.

"That's impossible Griff. We might contact them, but they won't be ready till dawn. Moreover, these wolves may change locations. I don't see a den anywhere; this isn't their home..."

"d.a.m.n it..."

A wolf suddenly got up, and stretched. It began to walk towards the oak trees. Presumably to relieve itself. This horrified the trio.

"If we're seen, we're done... CLIMB! Now!"

Griff said with a soft yet stern voice to not alert the wolf. The trio started to climb the oak tree, and managed to sit on the branches just before the wolf got into the forest. After a few minutes, the wolf left.

Griff let go of his breath.

"That... was d.a.m.n close."

Danyell and Galvain were breathing rapidly in fear.

"Yeah... h.e.l.la close."

Griff looked around the area from top of the branch he was situated on.

'Now that I look at this place from a different angle... There's something s.h.i.+ny over there. It seems to be a sort of metal? M̶̡̞̠̞̺̠͉͙͗͋̕͠a̷̢̧̖̲̻̳̮̠͋g̴̮͚̥͍̃͛̏͐͌̀̊̅ṉ̶̛̩̳̪̬̘̮͐̏̓̒̍͗̊e̶̡͔̞̮͛̍̃̍͘s̷͈̤̞͚̱̿́͗ī̵̹̦̼̦͇̣̭̌̒́̉͜͝u̸͓̣̻͔̘͗m̸̢̱͉͍̜̟̞͋͝͠͝͝ͅ Moreover, this place. It's next to a cliff. We're on a plateau. I got an idea.'

Griff spoke with a soft voice.

"You two. Did you see something s.h.i.+ny on our way here?"

Galvain nodded.

"You're talking about the rocks around here? The higher we climb the more s.h.i.+ny rocks appear around here. Why? You want to toss rocks at them or something? That's stupid."

"Heh... if we had the higher ground where we could roll the stones from it would make sense, but no. I'm thinking that we can do something else with those rocks."

"What is it Griff? Come on man don't leave us hanging."

Griff pondered for a few seconds, and grinned at them unusually, something that was out of place to his character who mostly failed to express his emotions in the right manner or time.

Griff raised his index finger to his mouth and did a shush sign.

"It's a secret."

'More like I don't know as well... well it feels like I do... we'll have to see."

"Okay. Gal, Dan. You two should slowly get down this tree, and bring me as much as you can carry of that metal!"

"The h.e.l.l are you gonna do?"

Galvain said rebelliously.

"Me? I'm not done thinking up of the plan. Cut me some slack."

"Pssh. This'll fail man. You'll see. You should've waited for me to come up with a plan. The awesome Lord Galvain!"

Danyell slapped Galvain back on his head with a bulging tick mark on his forehead.

"Shut up you spineless swine. Just do as Griff says. He has some d.a.m.n experience you know."

"Hck..."

Galvain slided down the trunk and started to crouch back towards the opening they'd seen the s.h.i.+ny metal. Danyell sighed.

"He's just a brat Griff. Take it easy on him."

"No, no it's totally fine..."

'In fact, I actually envy him rather than feeling angry. I can't express myself like he can. No matter who I'm facing...'

"Come on buddy, we got work to do. Think something up till we get back w.i.l.l.ya?"

He extended his arm for a handshake. Griff, who was still not used to talking with others alone, slowly shook his hand, and grinned again.

"Alright, partner."

As Danyell followed behind Galvain, Griff looked onto the plateau infeste by silverback wolves. The plateau's opening was surrounded by the forest. seemed to have not a care in the world... truly a lifestyle he envied. A beast had no need for an ident.i.ty, or a history...

Several minutes pa.s.sed as Griff waited, and slowly the two brothers could be seen making their way back. They waved to Griff to come down, in their hands were several of the s.h.i.+ny metals and rocks they had come across. Griff slowly climbed down the branch he was sitting on.

"There ya go boss."

Danyell handed Griff one of the s.h.i.+ny metals. As Griff held it in his hands, that weird inner voice inside him spoke up once more.

'M̷̧̥͉̮̝̳̪̜̝͎͗̂̕͝ͅa̷̡̡͓͔͉̠͉̬̣͇̩̟̗͍͋̓́̾̋̇͐̋̽̓̔̄̒̃͜g̶̢̧̮̼̞̤͙̹̞͉͕̠͖̼̝̈́̍̑n̴̳̠̰̱̩͔͙̗̬͆̌ȩ̴͖̤̲̪͚̖̃͆̂̃͛̏̐̐͑͐̕͜͝ŝ̵̡̖̞̭̗̺͇̗̟͕̦͙̖͓͜į̷̛͎̻̜̤̣̘̺̹̦̬͗̂̉̔͆̎̏̅̃͐̐̕̕͜͝ͅu̴̠͇̦̽̽̏̈́͗̃̑́̑͜͝m̷̢͖̺̫̜̳̒̓̊̿̄̓̔̌͋̾̃͑.̸̢̧̲̱͉̻̼̜̤̪͈̺̯̩̞͊͂̈̏ ̸̨̦̣̖̖̠̝̞̯̠̈́͊͋̊̀̊́̈́̍̍̌͑͜͝͝͝B̸̗̖͖̞͗̑̓̊̓̊̈́̇͜ų̴̛̳̝͚̥̐͋͒͛̓͗̾͆͂́̚̚͝͠r̶̿̽̓̑̅̉͛̄̕͜ͅņ̶̘̩͈̠̳͈̋̓͂̊͂́̓.̷̧̨̡̨̙͍̖̠̠̘͕̠̆ ̸̡̨̫̲́̇́̏̿̍͂̇͜F̴̫̼̜̥̱̪̮͉͙̦̦̉̽͛̒̃̉͝į̴̣̮̱̫̠͚̰̉͗̾͑ͅͅr̶͈̝͇̜̫̫̓̆͌͂͆͊̾̃͂̀͝e̵̛͔͎̲̗̰̎͂̋̈́́̄́̕'

Griff held his head in slight pain as the sudden revelation rushed towards him, but it was valuable. He never had questioned this weird voice in his head till now and he did not plan to do so, at least not till he had the means to actually figure out what this was. Anways. Now was not the time for him to think about this weird voice. It was time for action. He turned to the two brothers.

"How about we throw a nice party for these wolves? An explosive one they'll never forget."

Griff grinned madly at his own dark humor. Danyell and Galvain looked at each other for a second and grinned as well.

"So... we'll use these metals to make explosives?"

Griff shook his head sideways.

"They already are. We've got a bomb in our hands! Combined with my magic, we'll be able to confuse these wolves. So, whaddya guys say? I know I'm kinda crazy, and I surely lack a lot of common sense and mannerism, so I can be pretty annoying, but will you still help this crazy plan?"

Danyell gave a thumbs up as Galvain smirked and folded his arms.

"I guess you need my help to stand a chance. Worry not, Galvain shall help you."

"Did he just."

"G.o.d why."

"Third-"

"Yes Griff. He did, don't point it out please."

Griff, and Danyell slightly chuckled, but held their laughter in as the wolves were still nearby.

"Well. I guess it's time for us to set up our plot?"

"Every cool plan needs a name!"

"How about... the gunpowder plot?"