“Well, thank the gods we don’t need to do all the work,” Narda commented, once the gathering of elves had arrived. Kire nodded, similarly pleased that they were eager to be rid of the thicket. “You [i]are[/i] going to let them work, aren’t you?”
“Don’t worry, I will,” Kire said, watching as they worked to chop the trees they had felled while the others brought down more. “Besides, it’d be interesting to see whether my soldiers or her men have more coordination,” she said with a slight smirk. Narda shook her head, though she looked amused at the remark. 
After a while, Aera finally asked Kire if they were ready to begin. “By all means, Princess,” she said, stepping back, though keeping her hand on her sword in case there were other surprises. “Let’s begin.” 

The Amrians watched intently as the first fires were lit. Kire remembered the stench of burning back in Cordon, when she and Ysaryn fought their way through the dolls, the stench Ysaryn had smelled when they saw the wolf earlier today. Narda was tense, fingering the handle of her axe, as if waiting for another gate or a pack of wolves to emerge. [i]So far, so good, though.[/i] For a while, it seemed that everything was under control, so Kire stood back for a bit, a little closer to Ruli, who had been keeping his distance from the princess. She now knew why, or at least the gist of it, and she could therefore guess why he said what he had said about not putting up a ward around the woods. She already knew Ruli could do it, natural element or not. “This’ll be over soon,” she murmured in assurance, her eyes on the elves’ work. 

A pained, wretched howling rose up from within the woods as the fire advanced further in. This time, Kire could smell burning flesh, too. “Nard, ready,” Kire said, unsheathing her sword and stepping closer. The air was thick with ash and fumes the closer they got. The giantess nodded, similarly drawing her axe. While Kire was confident the elves could handle whatever would come out of the woods, it didn’t hurt to be prepared. 

The first wolves emerged, their skin and fur catching flame. Already weakened by the fire, they were cut down easily by the elves. When more broke through, Kire and Nard stepped in, guarding the elves and allowing them to focus on the fires and preventing the wolves from igniting more forest. Kire was a little relieved that these wolves weren’t as much of a danger as the first time around; she hadn’t looked forward to fighting them after all the work she and Nard had put in earlier. 

The attacks slowed; and after a while it seemed they had either cut down or burned through whatever wolves had remained within. When Kire and Nard stepped back, coughing a little from the smoke, they were covered in dirt. “Yeah, let’s leave ‘em to it,” Kire conceded, wiping down her blade before sheathing it, rubbing soot from her face. “I am looking forward to a nice, long bath later.”