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// Chapter 7: Timber Country 
// Story: Lucky Break 
// by Ferris the 1st 
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Dawn and I approached the remnants of the camp site cautiously, eyes and ears alert for any threats in the immediate area. She moved over toward the smoldering camp fire while I checked over the areas of flattened grass, only slightly wondering what I was looking for. After a moment of inspection, my companion vocalized her thoughts, “This fire can't be more than two or three hours old. There's scratches in the vegetation that make it seem like they were in a hurry to get away from here.”

Lifting my head, I eyed her, “You know, for an assistant, you sure do know a lot of things across a lot of subjects,” she stiffened and I raised a hoof in a placating gesture, “it's not bad. It's just different I guess. I know that there were a lot of foals back in school that could learn a lot by going through books. I just wasn't one of them.”

Dawn relaxed her stance and shrugged, “It's not just reading; my sister and I used to set up tests for one another so we could learn things quicker. We used to be... bored fillies,” she smiled sheepishly, “I would read it and explain it to her, but she always figured it out faster than I could. Sometimes I regret not telling her that.”

I nodded, “Well, I'll add that to my list of things to ask about once we find our missing ponies. I'm not good at tracking things unless they have a parcel number and an address, so... wow me, mare-of-many-talents.” I said, shaking my hooves limply in a poor attempt at “jazz hooves.”

She rolled her eyes at me and started to stalk the clearing with her nose to the ground. Her gaze was frighteningly intense as she paused here and there to point things out to me, “our captives were here. See the way this grass is laying,” she gestured to one of the flattened areas, “whoever was laying here wasn't doing so in a comfortable way. If anything, I would say that their legs were bound.”

A few more minutes went by as Dawn made her investigations, eventually ending as she stared off into the forest. The frown on her face made me worry as she asked for the map. She took a focused glance at it, then looked up at me with a fearful look, “All the signs I can see tell me that they went in that direction.” Her hoof was pointed a little in the southwestern direction.

I blinked, not quite sure why that was making her worry until I took the map back and felt my own eyes widen. The direction she was pointing would take a path straight between two tribal reserves, but the spot was marked with a warning about timberwolves. Gulping, I looked up at her and sighed, “We're going after them, aren't we?”

She nodded with a grin that didn't match the nervous look in her eyes, “At least I have my lucky stallion with me, right?” 

This wasn't the situation I wanted to be called her stallion in any regard for...

**

Stepping into the hunting ground of timberwolves was a terrifying experience. All at once the lush forest took a sinister turn and you could feel the malice exuding from the darker trees and denser vegetation. Everything about this direction screamed at me to turn and run as far and fast as I could, but here I was delving into it with my pegasus partner. I would love to say that we were pressed firmly together for reasons other than fear, but I would be lying.

I continued to keep my senses alert for signs of the predators while Dawn examined tracks in the ground to keep us on track. The whole place was silent as a crypt and smelled of decay that made me glad that we'd eaten light today. This was a wild place that lived on the dark magics that gave monsters life and was only held at bay by the old magics of the deer tribes and it devoured everything, including daylight.

Marching our way through the thick shrubbery with scant amounts of sun rays and our magelight to guide our ways, we came upon a scene that made me gag and Dawn draw up short with a gasp of shock. Suffice it to say that we had found a pair of our foalnappers and they... were less than whole. It was my first time seeing just how vicious timberwolves could be and I wish that I had never seen it.

Dawn recovered before me, taking a deep breath as she forced herself closer to the remains. A brief examination was all she needed to confirm the kills to be the work of the local fauna. It also looked like a large group had been there some time ago, but something (probably the attack) had forced the group to scatter in random directions.

I sighed, “If they're scattered throughout the area, it's going to be hard to find them all. That's assuming that they managed to get away from the wolves,” I turned back to her, “this may be where our trail gets cold, Dawn...” I flattened my ears in defeat.

Stepping up to my side, she draped a wing over my back and gave me an encouraging smile, “Hey, it's not impossible for them to have gotten away. We could still find them and we owe it to them to keep looking. We-,” she froze... and then trembled.

I opened my mouth to ask her what was wrong when I heard an ominous crack off to my other side. Breathing deep, I was almost bowled over by the sudden rancid scent filling the area. Beneath the dark canopy I began to see sickly colored eyes glowing between the trees, watching us. Rough snarls began to hiss out from all around us and even I could tell that we'd walked into a trap.

Moving slowly, I gently touched Dawn's shoulder, “Dawn... do you have any tricks hidden on you?” She shook her head and I began to mull over the options at my disposal. Most of Dawn's equipment was utility based save for her armor. I briefly glanced between her wings and the intertwined branches above us. Flying away wasn't an option.

Shifting my stance, I tested my hammer hooves to make sure they were on tight. The timberwolves were not idle as they continued to circle us, moving closer and closer as they prepared to attack. We were either going to have to fight or make a break for it, but from what I'd heard about timberwolves, they didn't stay down when you pummeled them.

I glanced over my shoulder at Dawn, finding her doing the same to me. I nodded slowly at her, “Dawn, when I say so, run as fast as you can out of here. I'll be right behind you.” Gently, I raised my hoof and the hoofring secured to it. There were a number of reasons that the flare band was one of my favorite accessories and this was going to be one of them.

Aiming for break between two of the wolves, I triggered the band to launch a blazing yellow light. Briefly illuminated in the vibrant light, the wolves snarled and jumped away from it as I shouted to Dawn, “Now!” We sprang into motion and dove over the sizzling flare as we ran for our lives.

Trees blurred around me as I hurried forward. Behind us, the wolves let loose a series of angry howls before giving chase. Our smaller bodies gave us the advantage of being able to dive through smaller gaps, but the longer legs of our pursuers gave them what they needed to keep on our tails. As we ran, I continued to fire flares behind us in an attempt to dissuade them, but all it seemed to do was make them pause briefly before racing after us angrier than before.

The other problem was one of stamina. I might not be the little colt from nowhere who had never run for anything in his life anymore, but I still had limits. So did Dawn. Unfortunately for us, the timberwolves did not and they knew that difference between us. My lungs and muscles were burning and begging for a reprieve that I couldn't afford to give them.

In the end, it was inevitable that they would catch up to us. The first to do so was between Dawn and me in a single bound, jaws clacking shut just over my head. I didn't want to leave Dawn, but it was clear that the wolf didn't intend to let us stay together. Shouting for Dawn to keep running, I twisted my body and poured all the energy in the amulet around my neck to my legs as I bucked as hard as I could.

I was not an apple farmer, so I wasn't truly ready for the sensation of striking a tree. The shock of the contact snapped back against my extended legs and the abused muscles burned in protest. Biting back against the pain, I pushed myself into another adrenaline filled run, hoping beyond hope that Dawn would be able to get away.

Driven by a desire to keep the mare safe, I fired off a barrage of flares, hoping that it would draw most of the attention my way and ran like Tirek himself was on my fetlocks. On one hoof, if the stampede of pawfalls was any indication, most of the pack had decided to chase me. On the other hoof most of the pack was chasing me! I was in a race for my life for the second time in my life and I was already sick of the experience.

Fleeing as fast as my hooves could carry me, I took a deep breath and concentrated through the agony that was my respiratory system. Deep in my chest, I imagined a length of string pulled tight and felt it snap within me. I yelped as one of my hooves met with an exposed tree root and pitched me forward.

The brush in front of me gave way to a steep hill that I found myself careening down in a flailing of limbs. Falling down, I rolled into a leafy bush and grunted as the air was forced out of my lungs and I wondered for a moment if my talent had failed me as I could still hear the wolves behind me. They closed in, snarling and howling and I closed my eyes.

...They thundered past me without stopping.

I blinked in confusion, not daring to move as I heard paws stamping all around me as they shot forward. It wasn't until I tried to lift my head that I felt the fabric of my cloak's hood covering my head. Somewhere within the fall, the enchantment of my cloak had activated and I'd broken line of sight with the wolves. Apparently being given life from magic didn't make the piles of living tinder immune to magic effects.

I waited for the noises of the pack to vanish into the distance before getting up. With my own predicament out of the way, I was worried for Dawn. Spinning in place, I started making my way back up the hill, hoping to find her before anything else did...