Lina's never ending quest for riches and power continued for two more years without being interrupted by Dark Lords or insane, vengeful Mazoku. Gourry, of course, was dragged with her every step of the way. Sometime shortly after the parting at the crossroads Amelia was appointed to co-regent of Seyroon and was no longer able to join the redhead in her adventures, but she still kept in touch often. Zelgadis, as usual, disappeared, severing all ties with his friends until they would unavoidably run into each other again.
Then the sorceress' travels returned her to the forest wherein she once encountered the lycanthrope so very long ago.
"This place..." She frowned. "The villagers say that there's a demon wolf pack in this forest."
"And we get paid to clear them out, right?" Gourry took out his sword.
"Shabranigdo in a tutu, you actually remembered..." She gave him a surprised look.
"What are we clearing out again?" He grinned sheepishly.
"I knew it was too good to be true..." The redhead sighed. "There's a pack of demon wolves in the forest that have been attacking the farms nearby. The attacks seem to be carefully planned, and so far only livestock is missing. Villagers have spotted the wolves, though, and want us to kill the wolves before they move up to people."
"Oh yeah." The blond sheathed his sword and shrugged.
"Let's get started." She rolled her eyes. "The sooner we get finished, the sooner we get paid, and the sooner we sleep at a nice inn."
"Okay!"
Five hours of unsuccessful wolf hunting later found them deep in the forest with night coming on fast. Rather than hike through miles of woods in the dark back to the town, the two adventures set up camp and opted to keep watch. If the worse came to worse, their prey might find them and at least spare them another few days of tracking. Gourry kept first watch since he was less likely to fall asleep when he went first and was hell to wake up afterwards. He was halfway through his watch, wondering what kind of cheese made the moon and how much cheese it would take, when he heard the first mournful howls of a wolf. They were distant, so he didn't concern himself over them, but minutes later the howling rose up again, closer.
"Lina." He poked the sleeping sorceress and ducked under the customary Fireball she shot at him for waking her.
"Go 'way." She muttered, turning over.
"Lina, the wolves are coming."
"What?" She sat up suddenly.
"The wolves are closing in." He grabbed the hilt of his sword as a wolf's howl echoed from nearby. The redhead scrambled to her feet and threw some more wood into the fire, granting them more light.
"All right." She grinned. "I'm ready."
As if they had been waiting for her word, wolves leapt from the bushes to surround them. Fifteen wolves in all formed a circle around them, each as tall as Lina's shoulder with their heads erect. Their furs ranged from black to reddish brown to gray, but their eyes were all a wild golden shade. The leader, a shorter gray-furred wolf with one eye, growled and leaned down to pounce. Gourry drew his sword and Lina charged a Fireball.
Then the leader threw back its head and howled. The pack hesitated a moment, then began to circle the humans.
"This is really getting weird." The swordsman frowned, trying to watch the pack and leader at the same time.
"They must be lycanthropes." Lina realized. "Men and women who can shape-shift."
"So should we take it easy on them?" He asked in confusion.
"Hell no!" She shook her head. "If we do, we die! Lycanthropes are deadly beasts." One of the wolves leapt at her, fangs and claws barred. Her Fireball quickly incinerated the creature, though two charged Gourry and another lunged at her a second afterwards. The swordsman, to his dismay, found that his sword would not cut the lycanthrope fur. He drew the Sword of Light, however, and the magic bladed easily pierced what it would not before. The leader of the quickly dwindling pack howled mournfully before throwing itself into the fray. The lycanthropes fought furiously, but Lina and Gourry picked them off one at a time.
Then, all at once, the fighting stopped. The remaining six wolves included the one-eyed leader and two black and grays, but all six suddenly slunk back and stared at a single point in the break of the clearing. The two adventurers, confused by the actions of their opponents, also looked at the spot.
From the darkness emerged a sleek and silent white wolf. Its coat was a solid ivory-white, its eyes a sharp and piercing blue. Smooth ivory formed a curved blade-like horn that surfaced from the center of its skull between its eyes, and its claws were also like ivory. The great white wolf stood as high at its shoulder as Lina was tall, and it carried itself gracefully for its great size.
For a moment the white wolf stared at the two humans. Then it casually circled around until it stood between the remaining wolves and Lina.
"Outsiders." The white animal spoke to them in a low but soft male voice that echoed in the glen. "You walk our hunting grounds with the intent to kill this Pack." The wolf's blue eyes narrowed. "As long as Maookami is Alpha, the Pack will not die so easily." The wolf growled lowly, shifting his stance to the aggressor's position. Lina overcame her initial shock at the wolf's grasp of human language and readied a Flare Arrow. Gourry changed his stance and shifted the weight of the sword in his hands. Maookami took those motions as a sign and lunged, hooking his horn under the hand guard and tossing his head back so that the weapon was torn out of the blond man's grip. The legendary sword landed in the bushes behind the remainder of the pack, even as Lina released her spell. Maookami's horn and eyes glowed briefly as he turned his head to see her attack.
Gourry, if questioned later, would swear that he saw the odd wolf smile, as if he had been anticipating, nay, counting on, the magical outburst.
The spell hit the wolf in the head and by all rights should have killed him. The horn flashed, however, and captured the energy from the magic.
"The Alpha protects his Pack." Maookami said firmly. "The Alpha will not let his Pack be murdered!"
The tall lupine beast skulked towards her, and she could see the desire to protect his clan in his eyes.
"FIREBALL!" The flaming sphere was sucked into Maookami's horn as well, which glowed red and then resumed its milky color.
"Outsiders should leave the forest." The demon wolf growled softly. "The Pack did nothing wrong. Now you Outsiders want to kill my pack and expect me not to fight back? The Pack is loyal to Maookami, and Maookami is loyal to the Pack! I refuse to let my Pack be destroyed by Outsiders!"
"DIL BRAND! ICICLE LANCE! MEGUIDO FLARE! BLAST ASH!" Lina tried spell after spell, but each was absorbed by the white wolf's horn.
Meanwhile, the six remaining wolves had cornered Gourry against a large tree, keeping him from reaching his sword with vicious body slams that repetitively threw him back against the thick trunk. They growled fiercely and their claws dug into the earth, but neither fang nor nail was raised against the swordsman.
"Li -- " The one-eyed wolf slammed into his stomach, cutting off his cry for help.
The redhead tried to move towards her companion, but the ivory beast snapped threateningly at her and growled.
"Outsider, give up and the Pack may release you." He offered slowly. "Or Outsider could become like the Pack. Outsider does not have to hunt us. You could hunt with us."
Lina's red eyes blazed with anger. Give up? Not her! She sank to her knees in mock defeat, secretly drawing the dagger from her boot. Maookami drew closer, sensing her unhappiness. His blue eyes watched her expression carefully, wary of her surprising surrender. Behind him he heard Gourry groan after a vicious body slam by the two black and gray wolves. The blond slipped between consciousness and unconsciousness. The white wolf's gaze shifted ever so slightly to see how his pack fared, and Lina saw an opening in his defense as he did. She leapt as high as she could, nimbly clearing the wolf's lowered head. As she vaulted off his back she plunged her dagger up to the hilt into his left shoulder.
Maookami yelped in pain and collapsed with a thud, whining softly as blood soaked his wounded shoulder. The remaining wolves hurried to the side of the Alpha male and tried to help him up by pulling out the blade and nudging and nuzzling him to his feet.
"Outsiders should leave forest and not return." Maookami grunted softly as he limped away while the sorcerers checked on Gourry. "Tomorrow night you should be gone."
And then the white wolf disappeared into the forest. No matter how hard she tried, Lina could not find the tracks of the pack, so she returned to healing her sidekick's bruises.