novelraw Chapter 59: The Wolf Riders
Chapter 59: The Wolf Riders
Garoth spread his wings, spiraling upward through the night-shrouded air. The currents above Needleleaf Valley carried the pungent scent of sulfur. Adjusting his altitude, he let the shadow of his dragon wings glide over the treetops without disturbing the creatures below.
Peering down, Garoth could see Rampage Bears scattered throughout the valley - some napping, others scratching their backs against rough mountain rocks. Mobel, the new leader of the Rampage Bears, was currently nestled among the female bears, rubbing heads and grooming fur to build relationships. He spotted Samantha amusing herself by poking at ants with her rear in the air, playing childish games alone yet perfectly content. Meanwhile, the Faerie Dragon Vira dangled precariously from a treetop branch, her wings and tail drooping as she slept unsteadily, swaying just enough to seem perpetually on the verge of falling but never quite tumbling - the sight almost made one want to give her that final push.
From this height, Garoth could observe every detail of the terrain below while remaining undetected. "Time to visit my neighbors," he thought. After circling the valley three times, he chose a northeastern heading and began his reconnaissance.
Under the cover of night, Garoth soared between drifting clouds, his massive wings beating steadily to control speed and minimize noise. His dragon pupils reflected the landscapes below - mountains, wastelands, forests, lakes - while noting the numerous magical beasts and monsters hunting in the darkness. The Ser Wilderness was truly a paradise for such creatures.
In comparison, intelligent races formed fewer and more scattered tribes here. Those that survived in this harsh environment tended to be exceptionally fierce and powerful. Time slipped away with each beat of Garoth's wings.
About half an hour later, hidden within the clouds, Garoth focused his slit pupils on a crescent-shaped valley below. In the moon-shadowed depths, a group of gray-furred creatures moved about. They walked upright, standing over two meters tall as adults, with hunched backs displaying exaggerated muscle curvature. Their bodies were covered in steel-needle-like fur, with lion-like gray manes around their necks and protruding muzzles filled with interlocking fangs.
- Graymane Werewolves.
A subspecies of werewolves.
Legend said werewolf ancestors were once human too. Some claimed they were cursed by the Moon God into becoming these bloodthirsty half-human hybrids, while others believed they transformed themselves through forbidden dark experiments. Over time, werewolves had branched into many variants.
Some could maintain human form normally, with human-level intelligence and speech, only transforming into bestial hybrids when provoked or under the full moon's light. But the Graymane Werewolves, having lived in the wilds for generations, had long abandoned their human aspects entirely. They lived perpetually in hybrid form - vicious yet retaining human intelligence. Under the full moon or extreme stress, they could transform further into giant wolves, gaining tremendous combat power at the cost of sanity, becoming lost in battle frenzy.The crescent valley held structures built from hardwood and stone. An outer wall consisted of layered marble slabs bonded with mud and resin. Inside, against the valley cliffs, adult werewolves trained their young by tossing heavy iron birch logs into the air. The pups would leap three meters high to bite them, leaving uneven marks with their developing fangs.
"Much more diligent than dragon whelps, actually training," Garoth mused. Dragons were born with too many natural advantages, instinctively knowing they would stand above most creatures - which also bred laziness. Dragons like Garoth were rare exceptions.
Back in the Iron Dragon Mother's territory, the red dragon Samantha and iron dragon Gordon would spend their days doing little beyond eating, sleeping, and wandering about. Despite their inherited knowledge that ordinary creatures would kill to obtain, they never bothered to study or train, let alone hone their natural weapons.
"Could it be that evil dragons exile their young to force them to overcome laziness through hardship?" Garoth wondered. But upon reflection, he decided he was overthinking it - the Iron Dragon Mother probably just couldn't be bothered to raise offspring.
Focusing again, Garoth scanned the crescent valley. The perimeter wall had crooked bone towers where Graymane sentries stood watch with longbows, their night-adapted eyes scanning constantly while ears twitched at every suspicious sound. Outside patrolled werewolf cavalry mounted on giant wolves. When stopping to rest, they prioritized feeding and watering their mounts over themselves. Some pairs displayed unusual intimacy - nuzzling and grooming each other.
This wasn't normal rider-mount behavior. Initially puzzled, Garoth searched his inherited knowledge and understood: Werewolves who remained in giant wolf form too long would lose themselves to bestial instincts permanently. Only those sharing close blood ties could calm them through a psychic connection.
In fully bestialized werewolf societies like the Graymanes, riders and mounts usually shared blood relations - perhaps as mates, parent-child, or siblings. This bond created unusual interactions and far greater combat synergy than normal cavalry.
"This settlement has over thirty giant wolf riders. Not counting pups and juveniles, there must be at least a hundred adult werewolves," Garoth assessed from his cloudy concealment. "Haven't spotted their chieftain or any shaman yet."
A tribe of this size would normally have at least one shaman, especially since Garoth noticed totem poles erected in their territory. His gaze continued sweeping until it froze upon the valley's western corner - there lay the wreckage of a metal transport wagon covered in bite and claw marks, with several pups using the iron sheets as chew toys.
This Graymane tribe had raided a merchant caravan traveling the Thousand Serpent Traces.