*Upon entering the clearing Sarrai'a unsheathed her sword and walked over to the fur to inspect it, sniffing it to try and identify the creature if she recognized the smell, before taking a position to pounce on the creature in the cave* "It is not a were creature of any kind the smell on the fur is wrong."

Clover silently prayed to her goddess for strength, and then began speaking in the silent language of the forest, calling upon her Sisters for aid.

Caelus instinctively crouched a little lower to the ground, assessing the area and keeping an eye out for trouble.

*elras looks around a bit nervously as his teammates are getting ready for combat and he cracks his knuckles*

Drek hums with eldritch energy, running through both his body and weapon.

Sky steps back a bit behind Drek, not being the most useful in combat. She looks around, her eyes being her sharpest sense due to her aarakocra blood.

Lilith steps forward a little before she whispers "We should start the bonfires now since the sun will set in about 40 minutes. If anyone has a torch on them, please pull them out now."

*Sarrai'a slices her thumb on her sword which bursts into flames* "I've got mine ready, if anyone needs to be lit."

Drek holds out his hand and a small flame crackles to life in his palm.

"Get some tinder ready and I'll light us up."

*Elras holds out a lamp in front of Sarrai'a* "Would you mind?"

Cliver took the blade of the axe out of it's sheath. In contrast to his shabby appearance the blade of that axe is a masterpiece. It shines even in the fading sunlight like it's plated with silver, and all along the blade is an intricate depiction of a tree worked right into the metal. It didn't look like an axe that had ever once tasted wood and, to anyone magically inclined, radiated enchantment.

"I'll set the fires up. Clover?" He asked. "Can you tell me if any of these fallen trees have any of your people living in them? I'm afraid I need to cut them up."

*Sarrai'a lights the lantern using her sword*

"Thank you kindly" *He smiles and nods at you*

Clover was stricken by the sight of the flames. Note to self. The word fire was the mortal word for the Red Death. She could sense the evil, the malice, the anger in that torch.

She was shaken from her fear by the sound of the woodsman. She pointed a trembling finger in the direction of a fallen tree.

"Sh...she volunteers to help...the brave soul..."

Lilith lit her torch on Drek's flaming hands and the sun began to set. The bonfires were all set up and everyone went dead silent as noises began to stir from the cave. It sounded as if something very large started to stand up and deep, slow breaths began to echo out of the stone walls.

"Thanks." He said, starting to walk over to it. Then he stopped, noticing how shaken the nymph was. He got down on one knee and, with some reticence, looked her in the eye. He spoke gently. "I know this might be hard for you, but try and understand. Fire might consume living things, but it also eats up the dead and the rotten. It rids the forest of things that hurt it. That's all we're going to use it for. We're going to feed it something rotten and then extinguish it."

He stands up, walks over to the log Clover hand indicated, and places his hand on it. "Thanks for this." He says to it. "It'll be quick." Then, with two pats, he eases the ax and chops. There a sudden *Crack* and the large fallen tree splits cleanly in two from the place where it was struck, lengthwise. He places the ax against one of the split piece and chops again, and it comes apart just as easily. It a matter of moments the woodsmens deft blows render the tree down into a few stacks of easily potable pieces, which were constructed around the area.

"My ax is enchanted." He says aloud to anyone who might be wondering. "It'll split anything made of wood clean, with a single blow, so don't expect it to do that to the beast. Now, lets light up the night and put this thing to rest."

Clover, who had been so prepared for this fight, was taken aback by what she saw. Not the mastery with which the woodsman cut the log, but the kindness that he showed both her and the tree. He respected the forest, and thanked it for the gift he was receiving. Never before had she met a wood-cutter that was so kind and thankful for her home. She gave him a smile of appreciation before looking back at the cave, making a mental note to properly thank him after the battle.

The sky was dyed a deep orange hue as the noise from the cave began to grow louder and louder. A loud yawn was heard from inside as footsteps were heard with, signifying that the creature was about to leave for it's night time hunt. After what seemed like forever a large canine head stuck out from it's cave and it zeroed in on the group. The monster was huge to say the least, but that wasn't the only reason that it didn't look like a regular wolf, it's eyes were glowing, and it's feet held a whispy spirit like mist.

The beast let out a loud, deep howl before taking a defensive stance.

*Seeing the large wolf Sarrai'a sheathed her sword and launched at the creature shifting to her hybrid form letting out a ferocious howl while clawing at it face*

The wolf reers back on it's hind legs in response to being scratched so suddenly, before charging forward, bearing it's fangs to launch the attacker off of it.