It didn't even take him one minute of running to come face to face with the black wolf. It had somehow followed their smell even in this heavy rain and found them. And it was not alone as two more wolves were just around it and growling. Greg immediately made his claws bigger and attacked the creatures with great ferocity.
They also didn't run from the challenge as they were seeing Greg for the first time and slashed with their black burning claws. It looked like they had advantage in numbers and more because of the darkness covering the night forest. But Greg could see them clearly and he immediately sent one of the wolves crying away with a simple kick.
The other two creatures didn't wait and lunged at him from different sides. Greg used his claws to pierce the stomach of one and throw its leaking body towards the other. The first wolf was trying to retreat and before it could manage to signal his location a bunch of sharp nails landed on his skull.
But by the time Greg looked back one of the uninjured wolves had already stood up and in the next second a loud howl filled the area. Other wolves in other directions were alerted and Greg immediately regretted not killing that one first. Well he knew he could fight and win against them but overpowering them completely was impossible.
The remaining wolf later tried to pick its injured partner and run or make some distance to wait for his brethren but it was swiftly dealt by Greg in seconds. Greg collected their cores and ate them instantly and started running back to the villagers.
His body glowed in the dark forest but now he couldn't care for staying discreet. He knew more wolves were coming and they wouldn't stop until they could kill each and every one of them. Eating their cores increased his strength but the boost was not much.
The first time he ate a core he would get the maximum benefits but from the second the benefits started to plateau out. Still he didn't complain. He needed all the strength if he wanted to stay alive and keep his people alive.
If nothing works out and he reaches a position where he couldn't protect himself he was also ready to abandon the group and only take Bog and Eka away and run. But it was still not up to that and he didn't want to lose the trust of the villagers he worked hard to gain.
Soon he joined the group of moving goblins but the atmosphere was dark. When he approached Bog and tried to find out what had happened his expression also stilled. Fess's wife had given birth, well the first brat was out and it was stillborn.
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Greg made his way inside and saw Fess looking over his child with a broken atmosphere. He couldn't say or do anything so he just walked beside him and hoped the others were okay. But his hope died after the next fifteen minutes when the other baby goblin was pulled out by old May and it was another stillborn.
It didn't cry and didn't move and Fess later carried his dead children away in both of his hands. Fess didn't show the condition of the kids to his female partner worried that she might break and something worse might happen.
It was common to lose a few children when goblinas birthed but that usually happened to the last child that came to the world and definitely not the first or the second.
But Greg couldn't stay as he was responsible for the whole village and not just one family. Also because the wolves were divided into smaller packs searching in the area some would find them first and others would come just as one fight was ending.
By now another forty minutes had passed and Greg had dealt with twenty plus black wolves but none among them were direwolves and he didn't know about this existence. They were also close to the waterfall and from here they could see the frothing water that was falling from such height.
When Greg finally returned after fighting another battle he found out Fess's third child had cried for a second and soon it passed away. When he asked old lady May she sadly clarified that it was too weak to live through the pressures of this world.
Fess had given up hope by now and was just moving with the mob. His legs seemed they could buckle anytime and he would fall but Greg held his shoulders strongly and said in a serious tone "You still have your wife to worry about and we are about to reach the cave. Don't give up now."
Maybe that comment ignited some light inside the gravely depressed goblin but the next moment his heart shook.
"The last one is coming out" old lady May declared but everyone had hoped for the worst.
Even the father of that child had hardened himself to hear the worst news and continued to hold his partner's hand as she breathed heavily and was too exhausted to scream.
The group soon reached the entrance of the cave but because of the overflow of water that was rushing through the cave the back entrance was shortened a lot.
Perhaps only one goblin at a time could pass through and Greg didn't let them wait and started sending the women and children in first.
When old May, the pregnant goblina and Fess finally made their way inside and only the men of the village were left, a great pressure was felt by Greg.
When he turned around he saw more than thirty black wolves revealing themselves from the underbrush. But that didn't frighten him. One moment later two eyes flashed into the foliage and soon a wolf bigger than a modern car walked up front. It was their leader, the direwolf.
