The Wolves of Torghar

After departing Ghul Akbar's shura, having been told only to find the heretics and smite them, Malik Nangial Sahi gathered his most trusted cousins Rostum Mahsud and Sharim Rizui and traveled south towards Maidan. Here they met two other cousins Zorak Sahi and Gul Sabani both fine marksmen with the most accurate jezzails ever crafted east of the Indus. They recommended two of their cousins armed with matchlocks and chora, Zarghi and Zarin, who brought their youngest brother Gul along for good measure. After gathering supplies the party left Maidan crossing deep into the Torghar, in search of heresy and the proselytizing of false rules.  After the third night they made their camp, surrounded by thick woods, they lit a roaring fire to stave off the darkness. 

Soon they heard the howling of wolves on the mountain winds, and something else, something older, something sinister...

Glowing eyes encircled the camp, and the low growls could be heard from the wolves, communicating their intent. Zarghi shoulder his matchlock and fire into the dark, aiming for the fierce glowing eyes, hearing yelp, he charged into the darkness to finish off the beast. To the north Gul Sarbani fired his jezzail, his round finding it's mark as the wolf cried out and dropped dead on the forest floor. Zorak Sahi too, fired his jezzail into the darkness, hearing the thud followed by a yelp he drew his chora and descended on the beast and struck it down with one mighty thrust into its heart. Rostum, not to be outdone, charged after him finding only darkness. 

The wolves set upon their prey. Running at full speed from the shadows, they pulled up short in the face of the fire and the armed warriors. Malik Nangial fired his pistol at a wolf charging on Rostum, finding his mark, then charged after the wolf cutting it down with his tulwar. Zarhin fired on the wolf to the west, killing it with a well aimed shot.

Sharim caught a glint of yellow in the firelight,  he closed on his target, tulwar drawn. El Osprey what was this beast? It's fur shone red in the firelight and it was twice the size of the other wolves, HASMATI!  Fabled beast or not, he drove his blade deep into the monster, striking it down with cold steel. 

He felt another wolf's dank breath on his neck, turning he cut this second beast down with deft skill.
From the east a loud crashing came from woods and a second hasmati thundered out of the trees pouncing on Rostum. Raising his tulwar at the last second, he was barely able to stop the beast, but not before being grazed by it's enormous fangs. Falling back he cleared the line of fire for Nagial and Zarak, the two cousins both fired steel shot into the beast dropping it. 

To the south a large black wolf charged into Sharim, biting deep into arm and driving him back. The space allowed him to bring the full arc of his tulwar down on the beast's neck, lopping it's head off with a single blow, his third kill of the night. 


Spent, Sharim failed to notice the fourth wolf charging at him. Fortunately, from across the clearing, Gul Sarbani sighted down his jezzail and put a steel ball in the beast's skull. 

To the west a third hasmati appeared on the bluff. This was totally unheard of, as they tended to be solitary creatures, and it had never been known that any more than one ever appeared. 
Zarghi and Zarin turned the matchlocks on the monster, both finding their mark and sending the beast back to Chitral.  
The fight over, the bloodied warriors returned to the fire. A scream echoed into the night a a last wolf that had been lurking in the pass struck out and sank it's fangs deep into Gul Sarbani before running off into the darkness. 

Zarghi grabbed his cousin and drug him back to the fire only to find the wolf had only bit deep into Gul's leather shot bag tearing it from around his neck, the strap ripping deep into his flesh. The warriors threw more wood on the fire, cleaned and loaded their weapons,  and waited for the dawn. 


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