On that evening, Lee is training his aim in the shed when he hears a rustle of leaves followed by a soft whimper; as Lee looks into the woods, he finds two young wolves near his house. “Yin and Yang? What are you two doing here?” Lee asks, recognising the two wolves: one is black with soft grey eyes that almost look white, whereas the other is as white as snow with black eyes. And being cubs of the same parents, Lee gave the names Yin to the white wolf and Yang to the black wolf.

  The black wolf looks around before exposing himself and, biting Lee’s bow softly, pulls at it. “You want me to follow you?” Both wolves bark softly and the white one even lays down and looks over at its own back. Lee shakes his head, then goes back into the shed and retrieves his bag with the arrows, then grabs his two blades and fastens them to his trousers before following the wolves.

  After a ten-minute run in the woods, Lee hears a scream from a young girl. “No, get away from me!” the girl says in English.

  “Oh, we will let you go, but first we will have some fun,” says a rough male voice in English too, and Lee can detect a Japanese accent.

  Lee approaches softly, but due to the foliage, he is unable to see anything; then he notices the tree branch overhead. Using one of the wolves' backs, Lee jumps and climbs the tree. The scene makes his blood run cold; he finds four adult men looming over a young girl with jet black hair, her hands tied behind her back and her clothes torn, exposing her underwear. The first thing Lee does is record the scene on the ground, then jumping softly from tree to tree, he manages to capture each of the men’s faces.

  He then stores his phone, pulls an arrow from the bag, and aims; as the man in front reaches for her waist, Lee lets the arrow fly. It lands right in front of the man’s hand and next to the girl's waist.

  “What the heck?” the man says pulling his hand back and standing straight. “Who is there?” the man screams into the woods in Japanese as he looks around.

  “Don’t worry, boss,” another man says, this one with a scar that runs from his left ear to his chin. “Whoever it is brought arrows to a gunfight.” The man says as he pulls a gun from his waist and starts to turn around. Lee lets go of another arrow; this one pierces the man’s hand that has the gun and sticks it to the tree, making him scream a howl of pain.

  “What is the point of having a gun if you can’t shoot?” Lee says, thickening his voice. “Just let the girl go, or these woods will be your grave.”

  “Those are big words for someone who hides,” says the leader of the group.

  “Boss, I think it’s best if we have fun with the girl inside the van; Scar already had his hand pierced by an arrow, which shows that whoever this is, he's not playing,” another man says near their van.

  “I don’t think anyone will dare attack us again,” the boss says. “We belong to the Terracotta Dragon gang,” he adds louder as he spins with his arms wide open.

  “I don’t care what gang you belong to,” Lee says preparing another arrow as he places himself on a different tree, then he adds, “You all are just a bunch of cowards and unscrupulous. How do you look in the mirror doing this to a girl?”

  “Why? Do you wish to take part?” inquires another man, this one with a sickly appearance. “Don’t worry, we got paid to kidnap this one, have fun with her, then abandon her here as an offering to the wolves.” He then grabs the girl by her hair, and Lee is in shock, recognising the girl. “So once we are finished, you can have her, if you get her before the wolves do.”

  Through clenched teeth, Lee says, “In one thing you were right. The wolves will get an offering made to them today, but I doubt they will eat anyone as rotten as you four!” Never staying in the same place.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m only the driver,” says a skinny man leaning casually against the van.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “You drove them here, and you are an accomplice of theirs.” Lee sends an arrow flying, piercing the man’s shoulder as he is lifting the girl by the hair. The man lets the girl drop back to the ground as he lets out a scream of pain. Lee then quickly prepares another arrow and sends it flying; this one hits the man’s crotch. “If you are only going to use your manhood for heinous deeds like this one, you don’t deserve them.” As Lee finishes, two more arrows fly in quick succession, hitting the man that had the gun and the boss in their crotch, too.

  “You have some guts, I give you that,” the man leaning on the van says. “But if you show your face, I will have to kill you.”

  “You might belong to the Terracotta Dragons, but I have the pack at my disposal, so you better go before the wolves arrive,” Lee says, then tilts his head back and lets out a howl; Yin and Yang, too, howl from different places.

  “Like I would believe you can summon the wolves; it was a nice trick with your voice,” the man says as he surveys the woods. “It almost sounded like your voice came from three different places.”

  Lee looks down and notices that two of the men have passed out either from pain or blood loss. “I’m only going to say this once, so pay attention,” Lee says. “Take your coat and give it to the girl, then record a message on your phone. In that recording, you will show what is around, say the names of you four, and who contracted you.”

  “Really? And who is going to make me do that?” In response, the shadows near the man vibrate; then a pair of amber eyes glow and the alpha wolf—that Lee started calling Shadow due to his ability to blend with the shadows—steps in to be visible to the man.

  After Shadow becomes visible, more wolves step in to where the four men and the girl are. From the blood loss and shock of seeing the wolves, the other man that Lee shot faints; then Yin and Yang approach the girl and circle her. She too faints out of fear, but Yin leans down and the girl falls onto the wolf. “Well done, girl,” Lee says looking at the wolf; then facing the man, he adds, “Looks like it’s too late for you; just remove your coat and toss it to the girl’s body.” The man takes his coat and tosses it at the girl’s limp body that is leaning against the she-wolf.

  He then takes his phone and starts to record a video. “My name is Jarasmin; I and these three men belong to the Terracotta Dragon group,” the man says as he records each of the men’s faces, then aims his phone’s camera at the girl. “We got hired to kidnap this girl. From what we got told, her name is Emily, she is turning six; our instruction was to abuse her then abandon her here in the woods as an offering to the wolves.” The man starts to record the wolves then pans his camera over the other three men’s wounds. “What we didn’t know was that there is something worse than the wolves in here. My comrades got shot by these primitive weapons by someone or something that is capable of controlling the wolves.”

  Lee then slides down the tree after having covered his face with his black shirt, leaving only his eyes exposed and a bared chest. As he walks to the man, a young black wolf with silver streaks stands unseen behind Lee. “That’s enough,” he says, and the man turns his camera to Lee, capturing him walk slowly, a bow in one hand and a few arrows in the other, his eyes glowing with an intense blue colour; the wolf that is behind Lee lets out a few lightning strikes that arch from behind Lee and land at the man’s feet.

  To the man, it looked like it was Lee who shot the lightning. “You look just like a child,” the man says, his phone still recording. “What are you? How can a child control the whole pack of Great Dire Wolves?”

  In response, Lee nocks an arrow and lets it fly, striking the phone from the man’s hands. “I said that was enough.” The man nods and stops recording. “Now remove any safety locks so anyone can have easy access to the phone.” The man does as instructed as the wolves lean down, baring their teeth at the man’s face.

  Lee extends his hand asking for the phone; the man drops the phone into Lee’s hand and grabs him by the wrist and pulls him closer. “Now I got you; there is no escaping me. You are…” The man is unable to finish as Lee reaches for one of his blades and cuts the man’s hand off.

  Lee then walks to the unconscious Emily, the same girl he saved in the pool. He bends down and places her on Brownie’s back, then he too climbs on top; he holds to the wolf and taps his sides with the heels of his feet. Lee then starts to record a new video. “Guys, enjoy your meal,” Lee says and turns the phone down as he records Emily’s face and they run through the woods, the men’s screams loud, then the video is stopped.

  Lee guides the wolf to the edge of the woods; once they get to the town's edge, Lee hesitates for a moment, then he nudges the wolf forward. He drops Emily down gently. Then, after climbing back on top of Brownie’s back, Lee lets out a scream attracting people’s attention as he gets into the woods.

  From a different angle, Lee notices that a crowd is forming and that someone is calling the authorities and medical assistance.

  “Let’s go home,” Lee says as he leans into the wolf’s head, and the wolf takes a straight path to Lee’s house.