Unlike other ferocious beasts that pounce on them as soon as they meet, wolves will observe and analyze the prey's weaknesses when facing powerful prey, harass the prey to make it tired and weak, and finally wait for an opportunity to launch a fatal blow.
A true opportunist.
Now, they are no exception, having started attacking in the morning.
They were lingering on both sides of the caravan, constantly howling to intimidate the caravan's pack horses. When they saw individual pack horses becoming restless, they would seize the opportunity and rush over, trying to plunge the caravan into chaos.
But this is still a trial.
After being able to rush into the bow and arrow range of the caravan guard, when the arrows and spears were full of wind, they quickly turned around and ran back.
This trade route has been open for more than two hundred years, and the Loki Daran wolves are already very familiar with human defense methods.
The two sides seemed to be playing a game. The wolves rushed up, the caravan guards shot arrows and threw spears, the wolves retreated, and the caravan guards continued to be on guard...
Over and over again, over and over again.
But the caravan guards and the travelers outside all knew that the wolves were consuming their long-range strike advantage.
For example, the wolves that were shot or nailed to the ground were too thin or had slightly gray and sparse hair. They were all old, weak, sick and disabled in the wolf pack, and there was no female wolf.
It's just that they know this clearly, but they can't do anything about it.
Before the wolves got within thirty meters of the caravan, many packhorses in the caravan were already neighing in fear. If they were not driven away further, the packhorses might lose control and bring an avalanche effect to the entire caravan.
As time went by, the arrows fired from the caravan became increasingly sparse, and the spears could no longer be seen at all. The result was only scattered wolf carcasses lying along the road. Some were not fully dead.
While struggling, the shrill wails continued in the wilderness, making the women in the caravan turn pale, and some even sobbed intermittently in fear.
The man's face was also solemn.
Not having enough arrows and javelins meant having to fight wolves as big as calves in close combat, which also meant that the number of casualties tonight would increase dramatically.
It's time to set up camp again.
The leaders of each small group in the caravan have a tacit understanding to keep each other's camps farther apart.
The reason for doing this is also to avoid the avalanche effect.
Mercenaries and caravan guards all serve gold coins and have no sense of honor in sacrificing themselves for others. Once their small group is attacked and collapsed by wolves, they will follow their survival instinct and rush into another country driven by the wolves.
A small group seeks shelter. In this way, they will also disrupt the other party's deployment and bring disaster to the other party, and become the accomplices of the wolves in disguise.
Each fights his own battle and settles his destiny.
As for which small group will be attacked by these wolves and who will die under the kiss of wolves, then pray to their respective beliefs.
Luck is also one of the necessary conditions for doing business.
The charioteers commanded the fed kodos to lie down on the ground and covered their eyes with airtight thick cloths to prevent them from being disturbed by the attacks of the wolves.
Once such a huge creature gets frightened and goes on a rampage, it will be a disaster for the entire caravan.
No one has the heart to go hunting in front of the huge wolf pack. The girls no longer gather together in twos and threes to talk and laugh, and the rough men no longer stare at the white ravines. They build fires in silence and eat dry food.
Waiting for dark, waiting for the wolves to attack. The setting sun is like blood, staining the sky and clouds red, shrouding people, making the worry on everyone's face clearly visible.
Chris held a piece of dried meat in his mouth and gently polished the blade with a stone he picked up.
The tiredness from the almost sleepless night last night lingered in his brows, but now he felt not sleepy at all, and was a little excited looking forward to nightfall.
Due to the past of often hunting alone in the Eaton territory, he was not nervous in the face of the coming danger; and the encouragement and expectation of his mother Avril to "face any difficulty bravely" before her death made him even more motivated.
Grandma, I will never lack courage.
He muttered silently in his mind, put down the stone and gently tested the blade with his thumb.
This calm demeanor fell into the eyes of Jacob, who had been observing him secretly, and he raised his eyebrows, "Dear little Chris, it's going to be dark soon, aren't you afraid?"
"Men in the north never know what fear is."
Chris raised his head and gave him a roll of his eyes, and corrected him seriously, "Besides, I am young, but not young."
"man?"
As expected, Jacob suddenly showed a joking expression, "Oh, God of Fire! Are you sure you are not a 'boy' who has never experienced women?"
This damn fly!
Chris made a movement with his hand, then put away the knife and stood up to find Sion.
After many days of companionship, he understood that the best way to get rid of this fly's harassment was to ignore it.
Not long after setting up camp, Sion and Atwood took their packhorses to settle down with the kodo beasts, but for some reason they haven't come back yet.
After passing through four or five fires, before reaching the Kodo beast, Chris saw Sion's figure.
At this moment, he was crossing his arms, watching Atwood arguing with the mercenary leader who was responsible for the safety of their small group.
Also watching with him were many caravan guards and mercenaries.
"Xian, why are they quarreling?"
Squeezing into the crowd and walking to Sion's side, Chris asked softly, curiously.
"Hey, why are you here too?"
Sion was surprised, and before he could answer, he explained in a low voice, "Atwood suggested that the principal drive out everyone's pack horses, but the mercenary leader was unwilling."
Oh I got it.
Chris understood what was going on as soon as he heard it.
Driving out the easily frightened packhorses can avoid internal dangers when wolves attack, and can also reduce the defensive circle for everyone, making it easier to survive the night.
The mercenary leader disagreed with Atwood's proposal, so he was naturally reluctant to do so.
After all, the mercenaries' guard duty is limited to the journey through the Great Wilderness, and there are so many of them that there is not much time left when the commission reward can be distributed equally to everyone.
"damn it!"
"A bunch of bastards who want money more than their lives!"
The argument didn't last long, and Atwood, with an angry look on his face, turned around and walked back cursing. When he passed by Chris and the two of them, he squinted and said "Humph" and scolded them both, "What are you looking at!"
You two are no better!"
It seems that he can't win over the mercenary leader, nor can he convince the leader of the small caravan group.
Well, Chris and Chi Yu, who had suffered such a tragedy, looked at each other helplessly and smiled bitterly, then turned and walked back.
But soon, Chris felt inexplicably relaxed.
Because when Jacob saw the angry look on Atwood's face, he asked "What's wrong" in a very uninterested way, and then the latter said "None of your business" back.
Not long after, night fell as expected, and the most painful moment finally arrived.
The clouds were thick tonight, and both the silver moon and the blood moon were absent, which made some people even more frightened, although there were burning fires and torches everywhere in the camp.
The five Chris people formed an inverted triangle, and Jessica stood in the innermost part. The quiver on her back had long been thrown to the ground, and the arrows were stuck head-down into the soil. There were less than twenty arrows.
The rest dealt with the harassment of wolves during the day. This also earned her the respect of all the mercenaries and caravan guards. She almost never missed a shot, and every arrow brought back a Lokidaran wolf.
The embrace of the ancestors.
Ouch~~~
The howls of the alpha wolf of each pack began to rise and fall, marking the beginning of the killing.
"Jessica, whenever these bastards get close to the fire, all your arrows will be used up!"
It was Atwood who spoke.
"Um?"
Jessica remained taciturn, looking sideways at him and expressing her question in a single byte.
The warning fire was a full thirty steps away from their position. At this distance at night when her eyesight was poor, even if she was very confident in her archery skills, she could not guarantee a kill with one hit.
"It doesn't matter if they can't be shot to death, as long as they feel that it is difficult for us to break through here."
As if he understood Jessica's doubts very well, Atwood immediately added, his voice still very calm.
This also made everyone look a little weird.
Because the wolves will definitely attack them. According to their hunting habits, if they find it difficult to break through here, they will naturally move to another place to look for opportunities. Therefore, Atwood's intention is to "sacrifice others for himself".
"good!"
Jessica's answer was still very concise.
Jacob and Zion didn't say much.
He just silently cast his gaze outside the warning fire and counted the number of green wolf eyes.
Only Chris, who had been raised under the wings of his fathers and was not yet fully familiar with the rules of the jungle, felt that this selfish and even blaming approach was cold-blooded.
"Um, Atwood, isn't it a little bad for us to do this?"
He turned his head and looked into Atwood's eyes, gently asking questions.
"Oh, not good?"
He asked back with a sneer, and Atwood stared into his eyes, letting his saliva flow, "This is the Great Wasteland! You know, the Great Wasteland! Every time you walk through the Great Wasteland, many people die! It's spring now, it's
When the Loki Daran wolf raises its cubs! These beasts will not give up the attack until they have hunted enough food! We are all prey, if others don’t die, you must die! Do you understand? It’s you who die!
You little rookie with a pretty face, there are no heroic deeds told by your wet nurse here, and there are no heroic hymns of bullshit knights! If you don’t understand this, go back and continue to nurse!”
Visibly to the naked eye, Chris's face was covered in red.
No one had ever scolded him so mercilessly to his face since he was a child. Although the other person was right to scold him, he still couldn't accept it for a while.
"Hold your knife, Chris."
Zion, who had been protecting Chris behind him, now stepped over, separated Chris from Atwood with his body, and gently patted Chris on the shoulder, "The wolves will be here soon."
Phew~~
Chris took a deep breath and tried his best to give Sion a smile, "Okay."
After Atwood finished scolding, his eyes had long been fixed on the outside of the warning fire.
Ouch~
Ouch~~~
Accompanied by howling, a Lokidaran wolf revealed its silhouette. The warning fire stretched its figure very long, and the pale canine teeth that were clearly visible outside the wolf's muzzle were highlighted, just like the smile of the god of death.
"Whoosh!"
An arrow drank in the evening breeze and penetrated deeply into its head from its eye as it began to run in preparation for the attack.
This is Jessica's masterpiece, and it is also the clarion call for the subsequent wolf pack attack.
Three more came rushing out of the darkness, baring their teeth and wildly knocking over the fire. They were smart enough to know that humans can't see in the dark.
But they also became twitching corpses on the ground.
Jessica shot all the arrows in one breath, turning two wolves into hedgehogs, and the other one died in Jacob's hands. After being hit by four or five arrows, it still kept running forward.
At some point, Jacob, who had an exquisite small crossbow in his hand, shot the crossbow bolt into its split mouth.
The wolves were not scared off as Atwood expected, but instead became even crazier.
The alpha wolf hiding in the darkness let out a shrill howl, and more and more wolves rushed toward them across the remaining fire.
The way they attack is still very tactical.
They were all in groups of three or four, and some would pounce to attract people's attention, giving the rest of the group the opportunity to bend over and bite people's calves, knocking people over.
The cooperation between Chris and Sion is also very good.
The mace, weighing more than fifty kilograms, was danced like a light embroidery needle by Sion, and he completely blocked the wolf pack's intention of getting closer by finding every opportunity. Chris, on the other hand, was only responsible for hacking to death with his knife.
"jump!"
Chris struck the wolf on the head with a knife, making a dull impact.
The long knife failed to split the Lokidaran Wolf's head as expected, but was instead bounced back by the huge reaction force.
Fortunately, Sion's teachings to him in his early years made him learn to reserve his strength at all times, so he did not lose his center of gravity and fall out of the formation. The Loki Daran wolf that was hit was just lying on it and beating him.
After a few rolls, he immediately stood up and shook his head. The white hair in the middle of the narrow wolf face was dyed red by the blood gushing out.
The reason why Lokidaran wolves are feared by caravans is not only because of their size and sheer number, which is as big as a calf, but also because their skulls are as hard as iron and difficult to be damaged by swords.
But obviously, neither Chris nor Sion knew this.
"Don't chop their heads. Your knife has broken off their heads!"
Atwood, who had been commanding in the middle and preparing for rescue, stepped forward in time. Before the wolf could stand still, the long sword in his right hand lifted its chin, and the dagger in his left hand instantly slashed across it.
There was a shower of blood on his neck.
After doing all this, he still had the mood to turn around and sneer at Chris, "You're a rookie!"
The difference between a rookie and a veteran is not only the understanding of the enemy, but also the ability to seize fleeting opportunities.
However, sometimes, even the old bird makes mistakes.