The wolf creatures were smaller than me and had light brown and grey fur. But there was something wrong with them. They were running on all fours, but their shoulders didn't move as gracefully as mine, and their hips weren't aligned right either. Their tails were also shorter than they should've been.

  But their strange appearance didn't matter. What mattered was they were headed towards my partner. I made it halfway, and the door to the house slammed shut.

  “Lucia!” Noma cried out from behind me.

  I turned and skidded to a stop. Three more of the strange wolves were forming a semicircle around the kappa.

  “Help!” Keagan cried from the house.

  The wolves reached the ranch house. They slammed into the door. It held, but a couple more hours like that and it would shatter.

  Noma slowly backed away until her back hit the tree. My heart dropped.

  What do I do?

  I could feel myself torn between saving Keagan and saving Noma. I promised I would protect Keagan no matter what. But I just can't leave my friend like that. If I do nothing, I lose them both.

  “Noma, climb the tree!” I turned back to the house. “Jump as high as you can. Keep away from them for as long as you can. I'll come back for you.”

  I'll come back for you.

  The wolves at the door stood on their hind legs and threw their shoulders into the door. Part of it gave way.

  I was wrong to believe they were actual wolves. Now that I was closer, I could see that they were a twisted mix of kaland and wolf.

  My claws tore divots in the dirt with each push forward. The world blurred around me as I focused in on the wolves ready to burst into the house. Every instinct screamed to go back for the little kappa, but my heart and reason locked on the house. I promised.

  I risked a glance back. She’d climbed maybe halfway up the tree. Her stubby hands dug into bark that flaked under her fingers. Two of the malformed wolves circled beneath her, leaping and snapping at her legs. She kicked one in the snout and nearly lost her balance.

  I almost turned.

  Almost.

  I forced my head back forward, muscles screaming in protest as instinct fought logic. He’s my partner. He can’t fight them. I can come back for her.

  One of the twisted wolves turned to circle around to me. He lunged from the side of the yard, trying to intercept me. I didn’t even slow down. My shoulder hit him midair, snapping his ribs with a crunch that rattled my bones. I felt something give in my own side, but it didn’t matter. The creature whimpered, twitching, as it rolled away.

  The other wolf shattered the door and fell forward back onto all fours. That one was female, and her snarl sounded wrong. It was like she was a person trying to sound like a wolf. She took a step in; her head scanned the room. As I got closer, she turned to look at me.

  I leapt the last few yards, hitting the doorframe and her. We tumbled into a mess as we landed into the splintered door. The assault of fear, blood, and splintered wood hit my nose.

  With her smaller size, my weight crushed and split several of her bones. As she clawed at my shoulder, I bit down on her head. The bones snapped and shattered within my maw. Her blood tasted rotten.

  Enemy defeated. Progress to level 4: 66%.

  I got up and looked around the room. “Keagan!”

  He was in the back corner with Nana. They were hiding behind the table, upturned onto its side. His eyes locked onto the corpse. “What are they?”

  I flinched. He doesn’t know? Doesn’t he know about every monster?

  I snarled at the body leaking more foul blood. “Whatever they are, they’re not wolves. But that’s not important. You need to hide somewhere safe. I have to go help Noma.”

  I stepped outside; after a quick look around, making sure there weren’t any more headed to the house, I turned my attention to Noma. The first one that I disabled joined the other three circling around the tree. His chest was no longer concave as I left it.

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  A couple of them were climbing it, and they were doing a better job than Noma was. She was using her water spray to hit them in the face to make them flinch and slip. Their movements were slower than I remember.

  Right, her venom is a powerful sedative. She must be able to infuse her water magic attack with her venom. Smart girl. You’ve done well. Now I’m coming to save you.

  My vision sharpened as it turned even more red. Dirt shot up behind me as my claws dug in to pull me forward as fast as possible. The kappa’s trick was buying her time, but it was a matter of time. I had no idea how much mana she had left. It couldn’t be much after our game, with how long she was holding out still.

  One of the wolves got within arm’s reach of Noma’s foot. As it reached up, Noma turned to spray it in the face. What came out of her hands wasn’t a spray; it was barely a trickle.

  Oh no. She’s out of mana!

  The creature needed no more encouragement as it grabbed her foot and yanked her from her branch. The kappa fell out of the tree and onto the ground. She landed hard and wasn’t moving right away. One by one, the wolves dropped from the tree and circled around her.

  “Lucia!” Noma’s cry was weaker. She tried to push herself up.

  I tried to run faster. My muscles were already pushed to their limit. But it wasn’t enough. The first creature attacked Noma. It bit down on her leg and pulled her. She screamed. A second wolf bit down on her arm as she tried to cling to the ground in a desperate attempt to survive.

  The third and fourth wolves each took a limb. Noma was suspended in the air and pulled in four directions. Her screams hit a new high.

  No, no, no, no.

  Time slowed down as I watched both legs and an arm tear from the kappa’s body. The wolves fell backwards, each with a prize in their mouths. The wolf with the largest prize, her body, went right for her heart.

  No!

  I let my wrath take hold. I unleashed it. They will pay!

  Everything went black. Everything except the strange monsters. Everything but my prey.

  They were too busy consuming their spoils to notice me until it was too late. My claws opened up the spine and disemboweled the first one. The second one was scooped up in my jaws. I bit down hard. Two pieces of it fell on each side of me.

  Enemy defeated. Progress to level 5: 25%.

  The other two wolves wisened up and focused on me. One went for my tail, the other for my neck. I swiped a paw and slammed the one going for my neck into the one going for my tail.

  Their movements were slow—pathetically slow. As they tried to stand up and untangle themselves from each other, they seemed to never find their footing. Noma’s venom was inhibiting their movements.

  Serves you right for eating her. That is the last mistake you make!

  My paw landed on both of them, and I bit down on the torso of the one on top. With a pull, I tore him apart. Blood and viscera drenched the one below. I spat out the horrid-tasting creature. I needed to make room so I could crush the next one in my fangs.

  Enemy defeated. Progress to level 5: 50%.

  Something bit my tail. I turned to see the one I had disemboweled back up. Most of its guts were still dangling outside of its body, but the wound was mostly closed.

  They regenerate? Fine. That means I just inflict more pain!

  I flicked my tail towards me. The wolf held on. I lifted it off the ground and into my waiting jaws. The first part to get crushed was its hips and hind legs. It howled and let go of my tail. I opened my mouth and caught the wolf a little further down its body. More bones snapped, and blood poured from lacerations from my fangs.

  Then I did it again, again, and again. Each time slowly working my way up its body, I crushed every bone, punctured every organ, and shredded every muscle. There was nothing recognizable of it by the time I reached the head.

  Enemy defeated. Progress to level 5: 75%.

  My attention then turned to the final wolf gnawing on my leg. The wolf had opened up a section of my front right leg down to the bone and even left teeth marks in that. But I didn’t care.

  You don’t feel fear? You should have. This is a mistake you will never learn from!

  My claws ripped open its guts. The next set opened up its ribs. Then the neck.

  Enemy defeated. Level 5 achieved. New trait available.

  It wasn’t enough. A fury of claws rained down on the bearer of my wrath. My next slash removed a leg. Another. This time it was an arm. The other leg followed. Then the last arm. Finally, the head.

  I wasn’t done. My Wrath needed more—more blood. And I let it have it.

  My fangs shredded them. My claws dismembered them. When there was nothing left to attack, I started eating. The taste was gone. I didn’t care. They needed to be forgotten. Nothing of them was allowed to continue to exist, even as corpses.

  Lang Ren consumed: +2 Toughness, +2 Resillience.

  Lang Ren consumed: +2 Toughness, +2 Resillience.

  Lang Ren consumed: +2 Toughness, +2 Resillience.

  Lang Ren consumed: +2 Toughness, +2 Resillience.

  Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. Shut! Up!

  In my haze, once I couldn’t see anything left of the monsters, a wave of lethargy hit me. My vision slowly returned to normal, and I saw Keagan and Nana staring at me. I lay down next to Noma’s body. The look of pain and horror was frozen on her face. Her bowl of water was dry.

  There was so much blood. My breath came ragged, broken. Somewhere in the haze, Keagan called my name, but it didn’t sound real.

  I failed. I’m sorry, Noma. I couldn’t keep my promise. Keagan, I’m sorry too. I let my wrath out. I let it control me.

  I let out a mournful howl as I fell over and blacked out.

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