It was still fully dark when they reached the Academy's defence line. As they had before, one guard stepped forward to stop the bus, and the rest of the group remained in the shadows.
"Halt, who goes there?" The guard called at the bus as Wolfe brought it to a stop.
"Wolfe Noxus, escorting Ella Mariel and a busload of Witches rescued from the cities to the south." He called back.
"Did you bring any trouble with you?" The guard asked nervously.
"Not of the human sort. They're going to need at least a few days to recover from the chaos that I caused, and they've got bigger problems than chasing me. I set all their imprisoned Witches free before I left, so they will have to round up all the ones that I couldn't take with me if they think they can continue as they were.
But we ran into a group of Dire Wolves last night. A rank three wolf and about two dozen rank two pack members. We managed to kill five of the pack members, but the leader escaped due to my lack of preparations." Wolfe replied.
The guard looked very impressed that they had managed that much, but the worry about whether the Dire Wolf pack would come to them was more important.
They shouldn't be this far south, as they weren't tropical monsters. But there also shouldn't be any monsters that strong wandering around Morgana Coven territory. If there were routinely Rank Three monsters outside the Frozen Wastes, all of the Covens would be in a lot of trouble.
With Rank One witches plus their guards, a Rank Three Dire Wolf Alpha could kill dozens or hundreds of soldiers before it was brought down if they were unlucky.
"We should prepare for them to come here then." The guard replied grimly.
"We will stay for a bit if you have food. The bus is full of rescued prisoners, so they're all exhausted and starving, but Ella is Rank Two, and I can fight well enough if I prepare in advance or get a few seconds to cast spells." Wolfe suggested.
"Park the bus in the clearing on the left. The others will feed your group, and you can wait and see if the Dire Wolves are following you."
That would give Wolfe time to put a proper enchantment on the blade, as well as work out a strategy to actually fight that enormous wolf properly. The last Wolfe on Wolf fight might have ended in a stalemate, but he was certain that he could win this one, even with the creature's resistance to magic.
The patrol proved to be much larger than expected, with over fifty people in the hidden camp when Wolfe pulled in, plus the group on duty at the road right now. That didn't bode well for the safety of the area, but at least they were trained soldiers, and they weren't exhausted.
[Why don't you help these guards out before we leave? Even if they don't have to fight today, they will soon.] Ella suggested in his mind.
[Good idea. It will help with morale as well. I'll bring it up as soon as we finish getting everyone settled.]
They parked the bus, and Wolfe felt a ripple of magic settle over him. They were the avoidance and nondetection spells that Witches usually placed on their camps to reduce the chances of being attacked in their sleep.
"Thank you for the hospitality, everyone. I will set a barrier around the camp as well, but leave it inactive for the moment so that the mana flow doesn't attract unwanted attention. That might have been my mistake earlier, and I don't want to draw anything to you." Wolfe greeted the soldiers who came up to the bus.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm "How bad are they? The road patrol reported that they were recovered from the Grand Dutchies." The witch at the window asked.
Wolfe pulled the lever to open the bus doors and shook his head at the Witch.
"They're not in good shape, but Ella healed them. They're just starving and exhausted, despite her efforts to get some food in them as they fled. I stayed behind to gather a few more, and we met them only a few hours ago with the bus, so a lot of them have been running for days using endurance magic." Wolfe explained.
The guards helped the Witches out and onto the soft grass around a campfire where they had a pot of stew already cooking.
Food alone wasn't going to do too much, but sleeping on a full stomach in a camp full of armed guards would. The Witches started to dole out bowls of stew while others brought around bedrolls for the new arrivals.
It was clear that many of them were damaged and hastily washed with magic, but there were enough for everyone, and within fifteen minutes, most of them were out cold.
Even Ella was close to swaying on her feet. They had stopped at night to sleep a little, but everyone was so weak among the prisoners that she had taken two of the three watches. That wasn't nearly enough when using endurance magic all day long, so Wolfe gestured back to the bus.
"Grab your gear and pick a spot by the fire. I will keep an eye open for threats, and you need the sleep." He reminded her.
Christa was still asleep on the bus, with Grok guarding the door from the outside, just in case they were attacked again. The little Goblin had proven to be a capable fighter last night, and the majority of the kills that they managed to get on the Dire Wolf pack were a result of his blade. So, she should be safe enough without an extra barrier, and Wolfe could focus on waiting for the battle that was likely to come.
But they waited all night long, and when the sun came up, there was still no sign of attackers. The Witches traded spots with Wolfe while he ate breakfast and lay down next to Ella to get some sleep, with no signs that the pack was still chasing them and looking for an opportunity to attack.
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