Chapter 53: Old Friend

The dust settled and the echoes of battle faded into the night, a heavy silence descended upon the desert landscape. I stood amidst the aftermath, my chest heaving with exertion, my sword slick with the blood of my fallen comrades.

"How do we bring them back to their senses?". I turned to Aunt Agatha.

The weight of Aunt Agatha's words settled over me like a suffocating blanket, despair threatened to consume me. How could we be powerless to save our comrades, to bring them back from the grip of darkness that held them captive? Anguish clawed at my heart as I grappled with the harsh reality of our situation.

"We can't!" Aunt Agatha's voice cut through the silence, her words a bitter truth that I struggled to accept. My eyes widened in disbelief, a sense of helplessness washing over me like a tidal wave. "So we are going to lose 200 wolves like that?" I demanded, my voice rising with desperation.

"Their souls have long been burned. There's nothing we can do, Little Flower," Aunt Agatha'