Unknown to either of them, one of the ghouls in the group that attacked them stayed back and only watched. This one was not like the ones Lola and Russel fought. This one had evolved. In fact, it had been the leader of those killed and sent them in as an easy means to slaughter the two humans. The inferior beings. They should have been killed without any trouble at all but it hadn’t realized the male was a wolf. That would have changed things. Wolves were dangerous. Hard to kill. Even for a group such as its.

Once its kind was completely killed, it left. Or ran away. That would be more accurate. Those dead were not coming back. It decided it would be better to retreat. Come back with more.

Then, the wolf and his female would die.

It had evolved and became smarter for its kind but it had developed something else as well. Something just as powerful.

Emotions.

It had viewed the massacre of its kind from a safe distance, knowing it could not kill the wolf and his female, and felt fear. Then, after seeing the lifeless corpses of its brethren, it felt anger. A desire for revenge. These…feelings…were strong. Strong enough to overpower its fledgling logic but not enough to cause it to do something foolish, like charge in to try and kill the two.

No.

Even in its anger, it knew that would only lead to death. The wolf and the female had overpowered seven of its kind by themselves. A lone ghoul, even one with higher-than-normal intelligence, would be killed just as easily.

That decided it.

It continued running away, moving smoothly and effortlessly through the wooded region it liked to call home. It was a good place. Safe for it and others. Usually, anyway. Humans were inferior but they had weapons and numbers. They could be dangerous. A lot had spent a number of years killing and driving its kind away. But some, like itself, had stayed and hid. Now, humans grew soft and careless again. Complacent. It had convinced other ghouls to not kill and eat all humans. Just some. Enough to sustain them but not enough to cause trouble. It had been clear on that and for many years that had worked.

It had worked until now.

It made a mistake. Attacked the wrong people. It lost.

A snarl crossed its features as it ran, its failure and the loss of its ghouls driving further and further into its head. Hours later, it disappeared into its lair to get more of its kind.

Then, they would find the wolf and his female and both would die, their flesh ripped from their bones and slurped down. Their organs sliced out of their still living bodies to be feasted upon. Their blood guzzled like precious water.

Its ugly, twisted mouth salivated at the thought of not only eating the wolf and female, but satiating the dark emotions twisting inside it.

****

“Did you hear that?” Russel said with a groan. He was feeling a lot better since the fight with the ghouls but he still fought with some soreness here and there in a few of his muscles. Particularly in his back right around the spot where he’d been impaled.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Lola told him, brushing a strand of hair out of her sweaty face.

They had crossed into Oclan six or seven days ago and the terrain was not pleasant. It was mostly full of rocky hills, uneven ground, and ankle-twisting treks through unforgiving wilderness. She had managed, just barely, not to seriously injure herself but only with painstaking attention to detail and a careful eye on where she placed her feet. Russel, on the other hand, walked casually as if the constant trudging up hills and watching out for loose rocks was no bigger a deal than a slight rain or a minor chill to the air. In fact, the comfortable and confident way he walked around got on her nerves a bit after a while.

He held up a hand and they both stopped for a minute. He closed his eyes and narrowed his focus. She guessed he was tuning his heightened hearing up to get a sense of what he might have heard. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again and seemed to relax.

“Probably just some deer or other animal running around,” he said.

“You sure?” she asked. “Might be something more dangerous.”

“This far inside Oclan?” He shot her a look of feigned indignation. “My father would never allow that. You might not see them but our borders are heavily guarded at all times. Especially the border with Harvenk.”