Mira looked around, confused as to what was going on. Surrounding Rhydian was 26 Rank 7 Star-Horned wolves, but instead of attacking, they all had their heads lowered.
Similarly, Rhydian's eyes were filled with confusion as she looked back at Mira.
'So, she doesn't know what's going on either.' Mira mused, then turned her attention back to the wolves.
Immediately following her gaze, the wolves felt as if they had been drenched in ice water. All their hair stood on end, and they jumped back a few meters, terrified. Their eyes widened so much that they almost bulged out of their sockets. They had never encountered someone or something with such a disturbing gaze before.
"It looks like they're here for you, Rhydian." Mira faced the golden wolf and said, "What do you want to do with them?"
Rhydian thought for a moment before she eventually made up her mind. She turned back to the wolves, sent Qi into her throat, and barked!
"WOOF! (What do you want?!."
The Star-Horned wolves felt a strange but intense pressure fall onto their bodies and bloodline, forcing them to the ground. However, they weren't upset at this. Instead, they breathed a sigh of relief at not being instantly killed.
The leader Star-Horned wolf looked up and barked a few times, trying to communicate their situation to Rhydian. Mira tried to listen in, but she didn't understand wolf and could only wait for Rhydian to translate. Although her beast companion couldn't talk yet, they were connected, so the two could at least understand each other to a certain extent.
Rhydian and the other wolf talked for a few minutes before she understood the gist of their situation.
After they finished communicating, Rhydian turned back to Mira and explained the situation.
'Apparently, they are a species about to be hunted to extinction. While they have always been hunted by both humans and beasts alike for their horns, things got worse around a week ago. Beasts began flooding the mountains in droves, killing everything in their sight. Many of their young died, and many Elders became injured trying to protect the pack.' Rhydian explained.
'When they caught wind of a golden-winged wolf flying around killing everything in sight, they decided to subordinate themselves to me for protection.'
Mira nodded in understanding, but she wasn't sympathetic to their situation. It was the law of the jungle out here in the wild. If they are weak, they can only be killed by the strong; clearly, this pack of beasts wasn't the latter.
"Becoming your subordinates is all well and good, but what do you get in return? Not only are these guys weak, but they are getting hunted to extinction. If the only thing useful is their horns, we might as well just kill them all now and go on our merry way." Mira said, causing the wolves to tremble.
While they couldn't quite understand what Mira was saying, they could feel her intent. It was the intent to kill.
"Woof, woof, WOOF!"
The leading wolf saw that Rhydian seemed to listen to the 9-tailed demon on its back and did its best to save its pack.
Rhydian translated the wolf's words to Mira, 'He said that since their horns have elemental properties, they are very sensitive to Qi. They can guide us while we are in the mountains.'
"Woof! Woof! Woof!" The leading wolf barked a few more times, which Rhydian repeated back to Mira.
'He also said they have numerous treasures that might be useful.'
Mira closed her eyes and pondered on the situation. The rational part of her said she should kill them and get on with her life. She didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of little wolf pups, nor did she want that responsibility. They'll likely all die regardless of whether they follow Rhydian or not, but the difference is that she'll have to waste her precious time looking after them.
However, her instinct was telling her to follow them back. She couldn't explain it, but something told her they wouldn't regret taking these wolves in.
"You should protect them." The Guardian's voice rang in her mind, which surprised Mira.
'Why? Is there something special with these wolves?' Mira asked, feeling perplexed.
"Hmmm~ Well, calling them amazing would be a bit of a stretch, but their horns are unique. Taking them in would be a net positive. Plus, letting Rhydian lead a pack would help her mature. You must remember that she's a wolf as well." The Guardian explained, making Mira raise an eyebrow.
'So, even Golden Empyrean Winged-Wolves travel in packs, huh?'
"..." The Guardian didn't answer, but his silence told her everything she needed to know.
She turned her attention back to the Star-Horned wolves and began examining them again, looking for anything special, but the only thing that stood out was their horns.
The decision took her a few moments to make, but curiosity won out in the end. "Alright, let's follow them back to the rest of the pack and see what's going on. If it isn't too much trouble, I suppose we can protect them for the time being."
Mira then turned to Rhydian with narrowed eyes and said, "However, they will be your responsibility. I'm not interested in taking care of a bunch of mutts. If they all die, don't come crawling back to me, blaming me for not doing my job."
Rhydian's head bobbed like a chicken as she repeatedly nodded at Mira's words, but a smile crept up on her face. Evidently, she was excited at the prospect of joining a pack.
"Woof! Woof! Woof! (Lead the way!)" She communicated to the leading Star-Horned wolf. Once it heard Rhydian's confirmation, its eyes brightened, and it immediately got up and ran in the direction of its pack.
Mira and Rhydian looked at each other, then shot off in their direction, following them.
Around half an hour later, they appeared before a large, rocky mountain. It had no trees, no grass, and was completely devoid of life. It looked more like a large pile of rocks stacked on top of each other, thousands of meters high, rather than a mountain. The tops of each rock were scorched black, seemingly from a fire, but any knowledgeable person would know better than that.
Mira's bored expression brightened as she stared at the mountain with shining eyes. Although this mountain was rocky, barren, and looked like nothing special, Mira knew that even diamonds can be found in a desert!
'It looks like we might have just hit the jackpot!'
While she didn't know if this mountain contained any treasures, she was confident that there was at least something valuable on it. Plus, those black scorch marks aren't there for no reason.
'This mountain is either always on fire, or all these rocks are attracting lightning to them.' Mira guessed, but she leaned more toward the latter as this wasn't uncommon.
*ROOOOAAAARRR!*
Suddenly, Mira was jolted out of her reverie by a loud roar. She looked over toward its origin and saw a group of hundreds of various beasts surrounding a pack of baby Star-Horned Wolves, all below Rank 5. Standing guard in front of them were a few Rank 7 wolves, but Mira knew they didn't stand a chance against that many beasts.
Mira gave Rhydian a few pats on the head, hopped off her, and said, "Well, you wanted to take care of them, so go do your job."
Rhydian gave a firm nod and dove head-first into the pack of beasts!
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Dozens of beasts were flattened under the weight of Rhydian's body! All the beasts stopped what they were doing and looked over, but that was a huge mistake as the golden wolf flapped her wings a few times, sending out sharp gusts of wind and ripping the unprepared beasts to shreds.
The beasts quickly realized the danger of the newcomer and swiftly backed away. They could all feel some sort of bloodline suppression coming from the golden-winged wolf, confusing them, but they didn't think too much about it.
Since the other party dared to attack them, then they must retaliate in kind!
*ROAR!*
All of them charged at Rhydian at once, hoping to take her down, but their attempts were futile. It was a mistake thinking they had any chance of winning against her.
They should have run for their pathetic lives while they still had the chance, but once they turned their hostility toward her, their deaths were set in stone!
Releasing a low growl, a searing heat exuded from Rhydian's wings. She gave one last look to the beasts surrounding her and sneered.
*FWOOOOSH!*
She flapped her wings one last time, sending a fire wave toward all her enemies. The beasts didn't even have time to feel fear before the fire turned them to ash.
