The thick dust left behind from the small fight at the mouth of the tunnel slowly broke apart in the harsh midday wind.
Inside the deep ditch, now sealed beneath a net of thorny roots, the frustrated groans and the clanking armor of the ten patrol soldiers were still faintly audible.
They were completely trapped, piled on top of one another with not enough room to even pull out their long weapons.
“You’re sure they won’t be able to break through that root net from the inside, Captain Vane?” Valerie asked, sweeping her gaze toward the tightly sealed earth gap.
“The roots of this giant tree are coated with a very sticky hard sap, Miss Valerie,” Vane answered, brushing dirt off his hands.
“Good.
Then they’ll need a whole day just to tear apart the first knot,” Valerie said with a relieved nod.
“Stop wasting time admiring that muddy ditch, Valerie!” Caleb snapped as he stepped closer with a dark expression.
“Why did your voice suddenly go up like that, Caleb?” Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow at the sudden change in his mood.
“Your knee is still bleeding and you’re just standing here like it’s nothing!?” Caleb barked, his eyes cutting sharply toward the red stain on the lower part of Valerie’s dress.
“It’s only a small scrape because I hit a rock when I jumped earlier, Caleb!” Valerie shot back, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
“Any wound on a human body can turn fatal if it’s left alone on this dry land!” Caleb grumbled, suddenly dropping to one knee in front of Valerie without caring that he was a wolf prince.
“Hey, what are you doing!?” Valerie gasped, trying to step back.
“Stay where you are, or I’ll carry you all the way back to the base!” Caleb threatened, tearing a clean strip of cloth from the inside of his leather cloak.
“I can walk on my own, Caleb!
Don’t make this weird in front of Captain Vane!” Valerie whispered in a panic, her face flushing red with embarrassment.
“Let Prince Caleb handle your wound, Miss Valerie,” Vane said with a soft chuckle from behind them.
“You’re annoying too, Vane!” Valerie muttered, finally giving in as Caleb wrapped the clean cloth around her knee.
“All done.
Now stand up slowly and stop moving around so much,” Caleb murmured, rising to his feet and dusting off his pants.
“Thanks, you very chatty wolf prince,” Valerie said dryly, testing her weight on the sore leg.
“You’re welcome, you reckless human who loves trouble,” Caleb replied with a thin smile.
“Now let’s focus on the main target before the sun moves farther west,” Valerie said, letting her expression sharpen again.
“That grain wagon should have already entered the tunnel zone ten minutes ago,” Vane said, glancing up to check the position of the sun.
“The sulfur fuse blast must have slowed the escort team down so they could inspect the area,” Valerie analyzed, already walking back toward the upper cliff.
“If they send a scout forward and find the path empty, they’ll push on even faster,” Caleb added, following close behind her in a guarded stride.
The three of them crawled back up to the stone cliff overlooking the western tunnel gap.
The midday air was getting hotter by the second, baking the limestone surface where they were hidden.
From far away, the heavy rumble of iron-rimmed wooden wheels rolling over stone began to shake the air, followed by the slow march of more than a dozen pack horses.
“There they are!” Vane whispered, pointing toward the thick rolling cloud of dust beyond the eastern hill.
“How many escorts are with that logistics wagon, Caleb?” Valerie asked, narrowing her eyes.
Caleb squinted his golden eyes and used the sharp vision of his wolf race to see through the dust below.
“Three large wooden wagons loaded with grain sacks.
Each one is guarded by five mounted soldiers and four foot soldiers.” “So that makes twenty-seven escort soldiers?” Valerie checked.
“Exactly twenty-seven soldiers,” Caleb said with a slow nod.
“That’s a pretty big escort for border food transport,” Vane muttered, tightening his grip on the bow handle.
“The enemy knows very well that food is the lifeline of Oakhaven Fortress right now,” Valerie explained, laying out her analysis.
“Are we still using the original plan to cut the wagon pull ropes, Valerie?” Caleb asked, looking at her.
“Yes, but we need to split their attention first,” Valerie said, pointing to two cliff points facing each other.
“You mean setting off a secondary blast on the eastern cliff?” Vane tried to guess the human girl’s thinking.
“Not a blast, Captain Vane, but dropping a fake rock slide from the right cliff to block their escape route!” Valerie corrected him.
“Once the road behind them is blocked by rocks, they’ll panic and focus on the front!” Caleb began to understand the shape of the tactic.
“Exactly!
Once their focus splits, you jump down and cut the pull ropes of the first and last wagons!” Valerie said, her eyes bright with tactical excitement.
“The middle wagon will get trapped between two wagons that have lost control!” Vane exclaimed in admiration, finally seeing how brilliant the trap really was.
“Remember the main rule, Caleb!
Disable the horses without killing them, and let some of the escorts escape back toward the fortress!” Valerie said firmly, patting Caleb’s broad shoulder.
“Why should we let them get away!?” Caleb grumbled, hating the idea of leaving enemies alive.
“If all the escorts die on the spot, the fortress commander will think this was a large scale attack and send the main combat force to sweep the whole forest!” Valerie explained in detail.
“But if a few escorts survive and report back, they’ll only think it was the work of some starving local bandits!” Vane added with a low laugh.
“You two really are a slippery pair of schemers,” Caleb muttered, shaking his head in amazement.
“That’s called guerrilla warfare, Wolf Prince!” Valerie said with a proud grin.
“Get ready, Vane!
The first wagon is already entering the tunnel mouth!” Caleb ordered, his voice turning cold and commanding.
Vane moved fast, crawling toward the pile of stones that had been wedged in place by wooden pegs on the right cliff, while Caleb lowered himself behind the rock gap on the left, ready to jump at any moment.
Valerie stood in the safest spot behind the old tree, holding the trigger rope connected to the pegs on the right cliff.
The sound of iron-bound wooden wheels echoed louder and louder inside the narrow stone tunnel.
The first grain wagon, pulled by four large black horses, passed directly below their position.
Cloth sacks of grain were stacked high on the wagon bed, sending up the smell of dry kernels that drifted all the way up to the cliff.
“Hold…
wait until the second wagon fully enters the gap,” Valerie whispered to herself, counting the timing between the horse steps below.
The mounted escorts in front looked around nervously, gripping their spears tightly.
Thin traces of smoke from the earlier sulfur blast still lingered in the air, making the escort commander even more suspicious.
“Speed up the horses!
This place is not safe!” the wagon commander shouted from the back of his black horse.
“NOW, VANE!
PULL THE PEGS!!!” Valerie screamed, yanking hard on the wooden trigger rope in her hands.
Vane stomped his foot down and shoved the main support peg on the edge of the right cliff.
At once, more than a dozen medium sized cliff stones came rolling down with a roaring crash, slamming right behind the third wagon.
CRASH!
A thick brown cloud of dust shot upward and covered everything, followed by hysterical whinnying from the rear escort horses that were nearly scared out of their minds.
The tunnel ground shook lightly as the fake rockslide completely blocked the road back toward the eastern hill.
“ENEMY!!!!
ATTACK FROM THE CLIFFS!!!!PROTECT THE LOGISTICS WAGONS!!” shouted the escort commander as he drew his gleaming sword.
“ROCKSLIDE BEHIND US!
WE’RE TRAPPED!!!” yelled one of the rear guards, panicking when he saw the road cut off completely.
Before the chaos could settle, a giant black shadow leaped from the left cliff, six meters high, landing with a heavy thud right between the first wagon and the front escort line.
THUD!
Caleb stood tall in the center of the dust cloud, snapping his leather cloak as his Alpha authority surged outward.
The horses in front of him shuddered in fear and reared up onto their hind legs.
“P-PPRINCE CALEB!?” the escort commander screamed, his voice shaking so badly he could barely believe what he was seeing.
The prince who should have been dead months ago was standing right in front of him.
“Drop your weapons if you still care about staying alive!” Caleb growled, his voice booming like winter thunder.
“DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!!!!
HE’S JUST A LONE REBEL!
KILL HIM!!” the escort commander shouted, spurring his horse forward to charge Caleb with a spear.
With a fast and precise movement, Caleb dodged to the side without even needing to draw his great sword.
His thick veined hand grabbed the enemy spear shaft and yanked hard, throwing the commander straight out of the saddle and onto the stone ground.
SNAP!
Caleb broke the thick wooden spear in half with one sharp motion, then flung the broken pieces straight into the dirt in front of the other horses.
The horses panicked and started struggling, refusing to move forward into battle.
Meanwhile, Vane leaped down from the cliff using a leather rope and landed cleanly on top of the second wagon.
With a dagger in each hand, he sliced through the leather pull ropes linking the grain wagon to the pack horse harness in a single swift motion.
“The second wagon is cut loose, Prince!” Vane shouted while kicking away a guard who tried to climb up onto the wagon bed.
“Good!
Again on the front line!” Caleb snapped back, spinning fast and swinging the iron scabbard of his great sword, slamming it into three escort soldiers at once and sending them flying unconscious to the ground.
“Monster…
that man is a real wolf monster!” one escort soldier cried out in terror, seeing his comrades dropped in seconds.
“WE CAN’T WIN AGAINST AN ALPHA!!!
RUNNN!!!
SAVE YOUR OWN LIVES!!!” shouted another escort soldier, turning around and jumping over the rockslide to flee back toward the fortress.
“DON’T RUN, COWARDS!!!” screamed the escort commander, dragging himself up from the ground while clutching his chest.
Valerie, watching from above the cliff, saw her golden opening.
She picked up the wooden horn trumpet Vane had made and blew into it with full force, sending out a fake wolf howl that echoed hard through the stone tunnel walls.
AWOOOOOOOOO!
The massive artificial howl rang out loudly, making it sound as if dozens of rebel wolf troops were already surrounding the tunnel from beyond the cliff.
“DID YOU HEAR THAT!
MORE REBEL TROOPS HAVE ARRIVED!” screamed the remaining escort soldiers in complete panic.
Without bothering to wait for their commander’s orders, the dozen or so escorts still able to stand dropped their spears and shields.
They jumped over the rocky blockage and ran hard, fleeing back toward Oakhaven Fortress in blind fear.
“COME BACK HERE, ALL OF YOU!
DAMMIT!” roared the escort commander, now standing alone in the middle of the dust filled tunnel road.
Caleb walked slowly toward the injured commander and rested the tip of his great sword scabbard on the man’s shoulder, forcing him to his knees in terror.
“Go back to your fortress and give this message to your fake ruler,” Caleb whispered in a voice so cold it felt like ice.
“What…
what message…
Prince…?” the commander stammered, his lips shaking.
“Tell him the First Prince has returned to take back what is rightfully his!” Caleb declared, then brought the hilt of his sword down gently against the commander’s neck, knocking him unconscious onto the ground.
The western tunnel went utterly silent.
Dust slowly lifted, revealing three giant grain logistics wagons that had now been taken over completely without a single death on the spot.
Valerie walked down the cliff path carefully, holding the stone ledge so she would not slip.
Her face was bright with satisfaction as she watched the success of her first guerrilla strategy in this new world.
“Quite a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Valerie said when she reached Caleb’s side, giving the thick grain sacks on the wagon a light pat.
“Fourteen heavy grain sacks in each wagon…
this is enough to feed the entire border village for two full months!” Vane exclaimed happily while checking the contents of one sack.
“How do you feel now, Caleb?
A battle without slaughtering every enemy to the end?” Valerie asked, turning toward Caleb, who was still standing there staring at the line of wagons.
Caleb let out a long breath and slid his great sword back into the sheath across his back.
He turned to Valerie with a look that was hard to read.
“Your tactic worked perfectly, Valerie.
There was no unnecessary bloodshed, and the enemies ran off with exactly the right amount of fear,” Caleb said honestly.
He put his big hand on Valerie’s head and ruffled her hair lightly.
“Don’t mess up my hair, crazy wolf!” Valerie protested, swatting his hand away while laughing.
“This tactic didn’t just save the food supply.
It also kept the size of our main force hidden,” Vane said, walking closer with admiration shining on his face.
“That’s right, Captain Vane.
The enemy fortress commander is probably panicking right now, thinking a huge phantom force is roaming the border forest,” Valerie explained, folding her arms across her chest.
“Now we just need to figure out how to bring these three heavy wagons back to our secret base without getting spotted,” Caleb reminded them of the next logistical challenge.
“The pack horses are all fine, Caleb.
We can use them to pull two wagons, and hide the third one in the nearest cave,” Valerie suggested quickly.
“Your mind always moves three steps ahead of any trained soldier I’ve ever met,” Caleb muttered, staring at her with deeper and deeper admiration.
“That’s because I fight with my brain, not just with fangs and giant muscles like your race!” Valerie shot back with a teasing wink.
“You two should get these horses ready soon, while I carve the prince’s emblem into the tunnel wall,” Vane said, stepping in while holding a stone chisel.
“Oh, right!
The twin claw emblem as a warning to the tyrant!” Valerie said, suddenly excited.
Vane walked over to the most visible stone wall in the tunnel and began carving the twin claw symbol of Caleb’s royal clan with deep, sharp strokes.
That emblem would become the first sign of the prince’s return in the eyes of his people.
While Vane finished the carving, Caleb and Valerie worked together to reconnect the leather harnesses to the pack horses, which had finally started to calm down.
Now and then their fingers accidentally touched while tying the thick straps, making Valerie suddenly go quiet and Caleb turn away awkwardly.
“Your knee is really okay????” Caleb asked softly in the middle of fastening one of the straps.
“It doesn’t hurt much anymore.
The cloth wrap you made is tight enough to stop the bleeding,” Valerie said, looking into Caleb’s golden eyes, which were now glowing with warmth.
“When we get back to the base, I’ll ask the village elders for a herbal salve to treat the cut,” Caleb promised in a steady baritone.
“Thanks for caring, Caleb,” Valerie whispered, giving him a sincere smile that made the wolf prince’s chest feel strangely tight.
“I’m doing this because you’re part of my force…
and someone important I need to protect,” Caleb muttered, glancing away toward the tunnel road.
“That’s all?” Valerie teased, lifting one eyebrow with a mischievous look.
“Don’t push your luck, little human!” Caleb said in a fake harsh tone, though a faint red color appeared along the fur near his neck.
Valerie laughed softly, fully aware of how awkward the Alpha prince had become.
Today’s bloodless victory was not only proof that her human strategy worked in the wolf world, but also another crack forming in the wall between them.
“The carving is done, Prince Caleb!
The route is safe for us to leave!” Vane shouted from the far end of the tunnel.
“Good!
Let’s move now before any backup patrol arrives!” Caleb ordered, taking control of the first wagon’s reins.
With the pack horses pulling hard and Caleb and Vane guarding the left and right sides, the three wooden wagons filled with grain sacks slowly began rolling out of the western tunnel.
Valerie walked beside the first wagon, looking up at the bright midday sky above the dry border land.
Their first mission in this new world had been carried out brilliantly.
This bloodless victory became the first stepping stone in their fight to reclaim the stolen kingdom, proving that a human’s intelligence could change the course of fate in the land of wolves.