The Wolves Ch. 032

[You're sure this will work?] I asked, glancing over to her.

[Reasonably certain,] she answered. [Seotrosses assert dominance over each other by fighting. You have an advantage over her by being able to level, so you should be able to win handily. You should also have all the knowledge you need on how to act after scanning her.]

After Tamara stopped sending, I saw Orileth's eyes flutter open before locking on my form. She quickly got to her feet and roared before beginning to beat her chest with her lower set of arms. I reciprocated her actions, roaring and beating my own chest. Orileth didn't like that one bit, as she began charging towards me. When she got within range, she dropped down onto her front two arms and then launched herself at me. I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge it, so I wound up and punched with all my strength.

Two of my fists connected with the side of her head, but that didn't stop her heavy mass from colliding with me and sending us tumbling. I was the one to recover first while Orileth lay on her back, shaking her head. Not wanting to give her time to recover, I rushed forward and opened my mouth before locking my jaws around the back of her neck and beginning to apply pressure.

She tried to reach back and grab onto me, but wasn't able to find purchase on my body. After applying a little more pressure, Orileth let her body go completely limp, a clear sign of submission. I let go of her neck and walked around to stand in front of her. Dropping down onto my top set of arms, I grunted at her before turning and walking away. I didn't need to turn back to know that she would soon be following me.

As I turned, I saw that my mom was standing outside the enclosure with my friends.

[Hey, guys,] I sent. [Did you just get here?]

[Just in time to see that other Seotross barreling towards you,] Sonja answered. [What was that about?]

[That's the Seotross I scanned a few days ago. Apparently she was causing some issues down here so I had to show her who's boss. We're moving her back to the main enclosure, so you may want to step back,] I said, gesturing to Orileth who was slowly walking forward.

[C'mon guys, lets go stand beside Tamara and her daughter,] my mom sent. She slowly made her way over to Tamara with my friends following her, allowing Orileth a way through.

Orileth stopped to watch my friends go by, so I grunted again to get her attention. Her head snapped back to me and she continued following me. We made it to the entrance of the main Scyftan enclosure about a minute later, and she followed me inside. After a series of grunts and gestures, she went deeper into the dense forest. When I could no longer see her, I turned back and left the enclosure before closing the door and switching back to my human form.

"Let me know if she causes anymore trouble and I'll come back down," I said once I was done shifting.

"I will. You'll probably need to come down once a week, but it won't take more than a few minutes of your time."

I nodded before looking over to my friends, "Is it 13:00 already? Time definitely went by fast."

"Just about," my mom answered. "I directed them down here, but I've got to go back to work. I'll see you all later."

She teleported away a minute later and Tamara was the first to speak.

"So Jonathan filled me in on why you wanted to meet with me, but he didn't go into any detail about what you all want as your first tamed beast. We have quite a few options available, but more exotic beasts might take longer to procure."

"Our team name is 'The Wolves', so I thought it would be cool if each of us had a tamed wolf. I haven't given any thoughts to any other animals, but we have no idea where to start," Mason said

"It can be quite difficult for people to get started on the path towards being a beastmaster," Tamara agreed. "The most common way they do so is by taming a family pet like a dog or a cat, while others go the rather cruel route of hunting for a young animal in the wild, usually killing its parent or parents in the process. Fortunately I have a way of doing things that will give you a more formidable companion, and won't hurt anyone in the process. Do you have any preference for the type of wolf you would like?"

Anja laughed at the question, "If I know Mason at all, then he'll want the biggest and meanest type of wolf."

Tamara chuckled. "Well I might be able to help you there. Teleport up to your rooms and equip your armor and then come back down here. You may want to let Abi know whats going on so she can provide support, just in case there are additional bounty hunters already on Earth. Once you're all back, we'll get started," she finished, directing the last bit at me.

"Where are we going so I can let her know where she should position herself?"

"Ah, right. Tell her that we'll be near the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories."

*****

Fifteen minutes later, eight of us were standing atop a hill surrounded by a forest and a large winding river. There were a few signs that humans had been in the area, but the rest of it was pristine wilderness. Tamara's husband, Floyd, had joined us for this trip, as they were the masters of both the alpha male and alpha female of a nearby pack.

Once we were through, we hiked through the forest for about fifteen minutes until we reached a small opening without any trees. When we stopped, both Tamara and Floyd shifted into beautiful gray wolf forms and proceeded to howl off and on for about a minute or so. When they were done, Tamara shifted back into her human form and sat down in the grass.

"Take a seat," she said after looking back at us. "If they're nearby, they'll be here shortly, and if not, then we'll move and try somewhere else."

"How close do they need to be to hear your howls?"

"Somewhere around nine kilometers is the max while in a forest. The sound just gets bounced around too much so it doesn't travel as far. If we were on a tundra, that increases to about fourteen kilometers."

Floyd suddenly barked softly, which caused a broad grin to appear on Tamara's face.

"They're close. They'll be here in a minute or two. When they arrive, don't make any sudden moves."

"You'll also need to let them smell you," her husband said when he was done shifting back. "When Tamara prompts you, or I do, slowly reach out and hold your hand out, palm down. Don't go to them, let them come to you. While we did tame the alpha male and alpha female, they do travel with additional wolves. Arkus and Fenra will keep them in line, but be careful."

After Floyd's instructions, we all sat there and waited. About a minute later, I could hear some of the nearby bushes rustle. There was a quick bark, and then two wolves appeared, one quite a bit larger than the other. The bigger of the two walked right up to Floyd and began licking his face, while the smaller one did the same thing to Tamara.

Floyd and Tamara reciprocated the affection shown to them by petting their companions and scratching them behind the ears and under their necks. A few minutes later, both wolves broke off and began inspecting the rest of us. The female wolf, Fenra, went right up to Bria and licked her face, while the male, Arkus, came right up to me. I very slowly lifted my right arm, allowing him to sniff me, all while keeping my eyes averted. A moment later, he licked my hand and then walked past me and repeated the same thing with Anja.

After Fenra got her head scratches from Bria, she too began inspecting my friends, starting with Sonja. As I watched, she went from friend to friend, making sure that none of them were a threat. When she got to me, I repeated the same action I had with her mate, and soon felt her lick my hand as well.

Immediately there was another bark and I could hear the bushes rustling once more. This time, six pups appeared, followed by four more wolves.

"Aww, so cute!" I heard Anja coo from my right.

All six pups looked over towards Anja and froze when they heard hear talk. They quickly turned around and hid behind the grown wolves that were standing behind them. Arkus barked once more and the pups slowly and cautiously came back out from behind the wolves, their eyes locked on either Tamara or Floyd, as they were the closest two.

Apparently the pups weren't coming forward as fast as their parents would like, so Fenra walked forward and picked the first one up by the scruff of its neck. She proceeded to carry it over to Tamara before lowering it into her lap, before going back and getting another one. Arkus wasn't idle at this point either, and he was following his mates' lead.

Soon, six of us all had one of the pups in our lap, the only two going without being Mason and Ben. I lifted up the one that had been carried over to me and saw that it was a female. She had a beautiful brown coat with a small area of black fur on the tip of her tail. While she struggled a little bit while I held her, eventually she sat there, enjoying the attention I was showing her. I had no doubt that Vixa would be jealous if she had been here right now.

"Well, Mason, you wanted the biggest and meanest type of wolf, and these are them," Tamara said, carrying the pup that was dropped in her lap and handing it to him. "They're called Mackenzie River wolves, otherwise known by their other names; Rocky Mountain wolf, Alaskan Timber wolf and Canadian Timber wolf. They can get slightly bigger than Arkus over there, but even he is a bit bigger than the average size."

"How old are these little guys?" Sonja asked while stroking the back of the pup she was holding.

"About six weeks or so. Arkus and Fenra were living around my cabin until the beginning of July when we located them here. We wanted the pups born in the wild where their parents could teach them how to hunt and act like a wolf is supposed to act."

"Are these pups ours?" Mason asked.

"Not just yet," Tamara said with a chuckle. "They're too young to be separated from their parents as doing so would do more harm than good. Today, we're just bringing you to see them, and so they can get used to you. We'll come back perhaps once or twice a week so they get used to seeing you, and eventually a bond will form, or one won't. While Tame Beast is a skill, it's not an active one that you cast to tame a beast. Taming one of these little ones will require commitment, and no shortage of affection."

"Each time we come, you'll be given a different pup to look after while we're here, just to give all of you the best chance of having a bond form. If one or more of you aren't bonded by the time we leave Earth, then I'll see what I can do to put you and a few more pups together."

While Tamara was talking, Floyd brought over the pup that had been brought to him by Arkus and deposited it in Ben's lap. Now all five of us had a pup to play with, as did Bria who soon walked over to join us. The pups got restless after fifteen minutes or so, so we all gathered in a circle and placed the pups down on the grass and let them play.

It seemed like we had just started playing with the pups when Tamara came over and interrupted us, "Alright, that's enough for today. We're going to head back now, and we'll come back on Wednesday, weather permitting."

The twins immediately started protesting like little kids, requesting five more minutes.

"If you can convince Arkus and Fenra to give you five more minutes, then we'll stay, otherwise they need to go. I've heard a couple of rumbly tummies coming from Arkus and the other wolves, so they must not have eaten yet today."

The mention of hungry wolves had the twins quickly placing the pups back on the grass before stepping back and causing Tamara to laugh. With a chuff from Arkus, the six pups ran back over to join their parents, who turned to head back into the forest after receiving another head scratching from their masters.

When they were out of sight, we began the hike back to the hill we arrived on before taking the portal back to the base.

"So if taming animals is such a big time commitment, how did you even manage to tame your phoenix before getting kicked out of the dungeon?" I asked when we were back in the lower levels of the base.

"It wasn't easy, believe me. Fortunately, things like the internet and newspapers didn't exist at the time, so the locations of dungeons could only be passed on by word of mouth. After the dungeon was discovered, we quickly built one of our buildings around it. That allowed us to limit access to it, like we had with all the other dungeons, and gave me a bit more time to search. There were a few reports of phoenixes being in the dungeon, but there was no way to confirm it. It still wasn't until perhaps fifty years later when I was in the dungeon that I saw my first phoenix."

"Unfortunately the dungeon was only at around 29% with other people in the dungeon, so it hit 0% without me even getting close to taming it. Every time the dungeon reset I was the first one in there clearing my way through looking for one. Even so, it took another two years before I found the next one."

"This time I went in prepared, and knew that it was likely that I wouldn't be able to tame it in its adult form before getting booted out. Instead, I killed the phoenix and collected its ashes before setting up camp in the room I found it in. The morning after I had killed the phoenix, there was a red egg sitting in the middle of the ashes, though it was another week before it finally hatched."

"At that point, I acted as its mother, feeding it worms and insects while it grew. After two weeks of taking care of it, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tame it in time. I had kept regular contact with the Scyftans manning the building on the surface, so I knew the dungeon was under 5% on the last day. As night fell, I felt the sensation I was waiting for; a link was established between the two of us."

"It was the first beast I had tamed inside of a dungeon, though I knew a few Scyftans who had been able to take their tamed beast with them when they left. I immediately started packing up the small camp I set up and made my way to the waygate on the level I was on, all while my new companion was perched on my shoulder. When I reached the surface, I was happy to see it that it was still perched there, and the rest, as they say, is history."

"You really tamed a phoenix?" I heard Ben ask from behind me. "I thought they were a myth!"

"They're not, I've seen it. Apparently a few of the animals we thought were myths can be found rarely in dungeons. Some even roamed the planet, though they went extinct a long time ago. Well, except for gryphons, that is," I answered.

"Wait, gryphons are real too!? Why haven't I ever seen them? Do they have camouflage like dragons do?"

I shook my head but Tamara beat me to the punch, "You haven't seen them because I've been protecting them. There were less than one hundred when we arrived fourteen hundred years ago, and I moved them somewhere where they wouldn't be hunted. For hundreds of years that was on North America, but when the continent was finally discovered, I moved them into this base. Would you like to see them?"

"Absolutely!" Ben exclaimed, seemingly very excited to see a 'mythical' animal.

Floyd laughed. "Well, I'd love to join you, but I'm needed elsewhere. It was nice to meet all of you."

We all shook Floyd's hand and then he opened up a portal and stepped through. Tamara led us back to the elevator which had evidently been up at the top, based on how long it took for it to arrive.

"You said there were less than one hundred gryphons alive when you got to Earth... how many are there now?" Sonja asked.

"Two hundred fourteen as of the last count, with Thoosa being the newest addition."

"Thoosa?"

"Oh, right, you haven't seen Thoosa yet. She's a two week old baby gryphon that Bria is working on taming. I'm sure you'll see her shortly."

There was a ding when the elevator arrived, and the seven of us piled in. Tamara pressed a button and then raised her hand and sent a pulse of mana at the panel. A light at the top turned green, and the elevator started its descent.

"What's with the extra security?" I asked.

"I had them added to protect the gryphons the best I could. They're pretty vulnerable down here, especially if someone were to destroy or interrupt the Enlarge enchantment that encompasses their enclosure. I know that isn't very likely, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. This way, only authorized personnel, or people escorted by myself or my husband are allowed down here."

"I think the gryphons will be coming with us when we depart for Nedovis. There are more than enough vacant planets in Scyftan space, and they could thrive on any number of them. It would raise too many questions if I released them back into the wild on Earth, and they would probably be hunted or captured pretty quickly."

"Do you have a planet in mind? My dad can probably help you out if you don't. He put together a list of viable planets for the dragons, so I'm sure he could do the same for the gryphons."

"I haven't yet, but I planned to later on. We've still got a ways to go, so there is plenty of time," she answered.

A moment later the elevator dinged again and the doors opened. My friends and I were immediately treated to the sight of a number of gryphons flying through the air, as well as a large number of them perched on what looked like an actual mountain. There was a river flowing through the enclosure along with a forest on either side and an open area in the middle.

As we watched, a gryphon swooped down and snatched some sort of large fish out of the water. It carried it back to the mountain, dropping it for a gryphon that was sitting in a nest before turning around and heading back to the river. That wasn't the only food source it seemed, as I could see a few gryphons fighting over the remains of what looked like a deer.

"This is so cool! How is the sky generated, though?" Ben asked.

"It's an illusion projected from the ceiling," Tamara answered. "I had seen similar enclosures before back on my homeworld of Rozsin, so I modeled this enclosure after them. There are measures to prevent them from flying too high, but to them it's like they're out in the real world. There is simulated rain, wind, lightning and a whole host of other meteorological events. At night time, it gradually gets darker and the sky is filled with stars and the moon, too."

"Awesome. Can I ride one? They can carry humans right?"

"They sure can. C'mon, we need to enter from the forest," she answered, turning right and leading us down the hall.

It seemed like we were walking forever, but eventually we came across a set of doors at the corner of the enclosure. She pulsed her mana at the door, allowing all of us to hear an audible click before she pulled it open. Gesturing for us to enter, she held the door open before following us in and closing it behind her.

She led us down a path that had clearly been trampled down, either by humans traversing it, or whatever animals lived in the forest, besides deer. It didn't take as long to reach the edge of the forest when she stopped and turned to her daughter.

"Would you mind announcing us please, Bria?"

Nodding, Bria walked forward into the edge of the plains, raised her hand to her mouth and whistled loudly. I could see a number of gryphons look in her direction, but most of them ignored her, going back to whatever they were doing. Two did take off from the mountain and were followed by a much smaller form. As they got closer and closer, I realized that it was Thoosa gliding behind the two larger gryphons.

After touching down at the edge of the forest, Bria walked forward and reached up, stroking the head of one of the adult gryphons. As she stroked it, the gryphon lowered its head and closed its eyes. There was a high-pitched screeching which caused Bria to laugh and look down at her feet, where Thoosa was staring up at her. Reaching down she picked Thoosa up, before turning around and walking back to the rest of us.