The breeze flowed through the trees overhead as a full moon shone gently upon the soft moss that covered the forest floor.   The trees rustled on account of the beginnings of fall, with the leaves turning gold and drying.<br/>Fireflies hovered and buzzed nearby, casting their multicolored luminescent light thought the area, giving it a beautiful, almost enchanting appearance...<br/>Nights like these were among Adam's favorite.  The wizard silently padded through the forest moss, in search of the rare moon shades that bloomed in this area at this time of year, being highly prized as a base unit for many powerful potions and concoctions.<br/><br/>It wasn't terribly cold, and so the wizard had elected to don a loose fitting brown adventuring robe, typical to most spell-casters.  His long black hair glistened in the moonlight, with dual streaks of gray starting at his temples, and continuing backwards.  His face was clean shaven, with his gray eyes scanning the ground carefully, looking for the tell tale soft blue glow of the herbs he was after.<br/><br/>Adam had decided that tonight was going to be a good night, regardless of if he found anything.<br/>The wizard stopped for a moment, and grasped the wine-skin at his waist.  He brought it up to his lips, eager to taste the blackberry vintage.  Right as the cool, sweet liquid hit his tongue, he had almost closed his eyes, only to see a woman in a long flowing dress running frantically across his path, about one hundred feet away.<br/><br/>Adam considered for a moment that he was hallucinating, or that maybe Frank had spiked his wine with mushroom extract again as a prank...<br/>Shortly after the image of the woman disappeared into the underbrush, he could hear the whoop-hollering of something that sounded like a pack of hungry jackals...  He wasn't quite sure.  A moment later one of the creatures crossed his vision.  It looked like a huge, humanoid wolf, easily twelve feet tall and possibly six to seven hundred pounds of pure fury.  It bounded past with great alacrity, and was out of his view as fast as it came.   It was then followed by three others, each one similar, but with minor differences...  Adam couldn't make out much more detail in the moonlight.<br/><br/>The wizard, swallowed the sip of wine that made it to his mouth, and then he looked at the wine-skin suspiciously.<br/>He did not feel sick, nor was he dizzy.  This was not a prank of Frank, nor was it a hallucination.<br/><br/>Steel wires tore at his heart, pulling in the direction of the way the five had just ran.  Adam thought to run after them, but he could not hope to match the speed of four werewolves in their hybrid battle form.<br/>His wizardly mind worked quickly.<br/>He looked upwards at the many trees and saplings that surrounded him.	He would not be able to summon his wings and fly, as their would be no room.   Perhaps he could sift forms into something that flies?  No, that would take too long, he was never the best at polymorph magics anyway...  He could cast a quick haste type magic, but what would he do once he caught up to them?   One puny human against four savage werewolves, lusting for the hunt, savoring their prey.  No, that just seemed like a bad idea.<br/><br/>"Alright then..."  He murmured low, "...A compromise then."<br/><br/>He summoned magical energies, and pooled the power into his legs.  He then leapt up into the air, landing on a thick oak bow.   He could see them now, but just barely.  He summoned more magical power, and temporarily enchanted his eyes to be able to see in degrees of heat.  His vision shifted to that of low lighted moonlight to the infrared, with the cool trunks and damp moss appearing a deep shade of blues and violets.  The four bloodthirsty lycanthropes appearing as a series of hot yellows and reds.  The girl was ahead of them, appearing to be a distant orange candle flame.<br/><br/>They were almost upon her.  He would have to act quickly.<br/>Adam drew forth more energy, and sprung from tree to tree after them, catching up to them rather quickly due to the power of his leaps, acting like a massive bullfrog...<br/><br/>The wizard was not sure what to do next.  He was easily forty feet above the ancient forest floor, so he was out of their immediate reach...<br/>As he leapt from tree to tree, feeling the cool night air rip across his face, Adam's mind worked through a list of possible scenarios at an alarming rate, due to the adrenaline coursing through his system.<br/><br/>Being a powerful wizard, there were several options, however all he had was his raw magic.  He had not been expecting trouble, and so he left most of his wands, staves, rings, and other enchanted tools at his camp.<br/>He inwardly swore.  Werewolves were not supposed to be this far north, and damn sure not on his land.<br/><br/>Loose a lightning bolt at them?  That would definitely get their attention.  What about a fireball cast into the middle of them, its explosion sending them scattering out in all directions?  That would likewise make them stop their pursuit and divert their attention.  Both of those options however would give away his position.  Even as powerful as he was Adam's good sense did not give way to pride.  Four werewolves at once would be difficult even on his best day, and here he was, without any of his equipment, and slightly tipsy on blackberry wine.<br/><br/>There was also the problem that he was not fully apprised of the situation.  For all he knew the woman could be an evil hag in disguise, and was being hunted.<br/>Adam would have to make a decision quickly regardless.<br/><br/><i>"What to do... What to do..." </i>He thought to himself.  He was directly above the four now, and closing on the fleeing woman.  His eyes lit up as an idea suddenly sprang into his mind...<br/>He gauged the flow of the wind, and he saw that there was a river nearby, downwind, with a old hollow oak that he had slept in many times while out on these late night forays...<br/>The wizard sent a mental whisper to the mind of the terrified woman...<i>"Once you find yourself covered, stay still, and remain silent..."<br/>
</i><br/>In the time it takes to draw one breath, he thought that something about her felt "familiar".  He couldn't put his finger on it, but he cast the distracting thought aside for now.  Right now he had other questions.<br/>As he sprang towards her overhead, the wizard's tongue spewed forth a powerful word of correspondence.  The woman suddenly disappeared in a brilliant shower of blue sparks, followed by a column of smoke...<br/>She would then find herself safely tucked away in the hollow tree downwind of the pack near the river.   She was close enough that she might still hear everything that was about to be said.<br/><br/>The wizard then watched the werewolves skid to a halt where the woman had stood a moment before, sniffing and pawing at the dirt.   One of them inhaled a little too much smoke, and started to cough...<br/>One of the wolves howled in anger.<br/><br/>Adam let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and saw that the lupine quartet had not yet noticed him.   He grinned.<br/><br/>The wizard waved his hands at the massive water oak he was hidden in, and it started to creak and move at his direction...	From its trunk, an evil looking face turned to face the werewolves, and in a deep, booming voice,<br/>"...Which tribe do I have the honor of addressing..."  it bellowed at them... "...and more importantly, why are you trespassing on the private land of Adam Scorchbark?"<br/><br/>Adam had had dealings with werewolves before.  Perhaps his name still carried a little weight with them...<br/><br/>He watched them carefully as their forms glowed a little bit hotter, going from yellow to a soft white at the fury of loosing their prey, and then back to yellow as the tree puppet incantation startled them...<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="8" data-username="@Alchemy" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/8/">@Alchemy</a>