Death is saving me

Ulric worked his way around the perimeter of the castle wall, doing one final sweep of the grounds before he finally turned in for the night. He knew that even if he went up to bed he wasn't likely to sleep so he was in no hurry to go inside, especially now that the world had begun to thaw and the bitter, angry cold no longer bit at him every time he left the comfort of one of the hearths inside. It was pitch black outside with low hanging clouds covering much of the faint light that the stars might have provided, the clouds occasionally drifting across the moon and cutting off even that light from time to time. Something sat uneasily on him and he kept trying to explain it away as just knowing how badly Resin was doing and knowing that it could be any moment now that Tamsyn and Sirius would come up from the dungeons to tell him that she had passed.

But there had to be something else. It was too constant, his instincts just wouldn't let him settle. As he made his way back to the castle gates, he spotted a hint of movement out of the corner of his eye and he froze, his silver gaze darting toward a place along the outside of the castle wall ahead of him. He stood there for a long moment with his ears perked, listening and watching for any other signs. He had nearly let it go, thinking perhaps he was getting paranoid, when he caught a glimmer of eyes watching him from the darkness as a cloud shifted away and allowed the light of the moon to be revealed. His hackles bristled, and he carefully edged closer to the gates, keeping his back to the castle and remaining facing the unknown eyes, a snarl pulled at his lips as he hunkered down into a more defensive stance. "Come out and fight or get out of my land," he growled at them, the threat earning him a dark, rasping chuckle from the intruders.

They moved toward him, four of the massive dire wolves he had fought off to save Aranea, seemingly lead by one in particular that was missing an eye. "My fight is not with you," the leader of the band growled back as they stalked closer. He began to back away from them toward the castle, his heart beating harder in his chest, drawing them in, getting them closer to where the rest of his fighters would be more closely at hand before he called for them. If one of these wolves had very nearly taken him down there wasn't a chance against three of them on his own. But if he could get a few key fighters out here... He drug it on for as long as he dared before responding, "It is now," and tossing his head back in a quick, urgent howl to his most experienced fighters. Rage crossed the leader's face when he seemed to catch on to what Ulric was doing and lunged for him, the Aegis jumping away and beginning a game of cat and mouse with the even larger, slower dire wolves until his backup arrived.

Ulric Adravendi