Lucas had just enough time to raise his sword to block a swiping claw from the seemingly revived wolf. Despite managing to block the blow, he wasn’t at all prepared for it and the strike sent his sword flying from his grip. He wasn’t able to dodge the following swipe from the huge wolf and Lucas stumbled backwards with a trio of small gashes across his chest.

  He fell back to the floor, clutching at his chest and hissing in pain. Luck was on his side, at least. The cut was shallow, and the durable fabric that his new jacket had been made out of had withstood the blow far more than his normal clothes ever would have. If he’d still wore his old clothes, Lucas was sure he’d have some deep, possibly lethal, wounds. Instead, he was left with a trio of cuts that were steadily bleeding, but not nearly the most worrying thing.

  No, the most worrying thing was the group five more Direwolves that stalked out of the forest behind the risen alpha, surrounding them and growling ominously at Lucas. Ice ran down his spine and Lucas shivered as six pairs of venomous, hateful eyes glared death at him. These odds weren’t beatable.

  “Lucas!”

  Fay’s cry was followed by the choking gurgle of a dying creature as the blonde swiftly finished off the wolf she’d been fighting. Her body blurred as she rushed towards him, but she ran into a problem when the five smaller Direwolves gathered and blocked her way. A single growl from the alpha and all five lunged at Fay, initiating a deadly game of cat and mouse as Fay tried to avoid their attacks while trying to take them out as quickly as she could.

  And that left Lucas all alone with the alpha.

  It was only then that Lucas noticed something odd. The beast, along with having two eyes and no arrow in it’s skull, seemed to have no scars across it’s body and muzzle as well. That made him look closer, and he realized that the wolf was slimmer and smaller. The wolf he’d killed was more of a bulky, muscular monster whereas the wolf in front of him was far more wiry and lean.

  It wasn’t the same wolf he’d killed. There was a second one.

  A quick glance to the side revealed that he was right, as he could see the very dead body of the alpha resting in the grass. But that look drew the attention of the new Direwolf, and the angry growl that ripped from its chest snapped Lucas’ focus back to it.

  The beast took a step forward and Lucas frantically pushed himself back, trying to get more distance. He tried to stumble up to his feet, but his legs were refusing to work properly and obey his commands. His heart was pounding so hard that it was all that he could hear and the panic was nearly overriding his rational thoughts.

  Desperately Lucas looked around for some kind of way out. Fay wasn’t an option, she and Dove were busy dealing with the five wolves that the new alpha had brought along. Dusk… Dusk looked like she wanted to help so badly, but as she went to step closer, growling at the far larger Direwolf, the alpha bared her teeth and snarled. Lucas saw his little familiar flinch back in fear. It was a fight they both knew that she would lose.

  His sword. He needed his sword. If he had it, he could make it a more even fight and maybe even win. But where was it?

  He whipped his head around, trying to find his sword. Luckily, he found the blade laying in the grass behind him. Unluckily, it was a good two dozen feet away from him.

  And worst of all, the Direwolf was done waiting. The beast snarled again, stalking towards him and steadily picking up speed. The distance between them closed rapidly and all Lucas could do was scrambled backwards, trying to reach his weapon before the Direwolf reached him.

  He wasn’t going to make it, though. The beast approached too quickly, baring down on him in seconds while Lucas blindly reached behind him, hoping and praying that he would get close enough to grasp his sword and turn the tide.

  The Direwolf lunged at him, aiming to rip him to pieces. Time seemed to slow for Lucas and he was forced to watch in slow motion as his death drew closer. Those dagger-like fangs glinted in the light while those venomous green eyes glared at him with hatred. He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest and his mana was surging through his body as he desperately tried to reach for his blade.

  And then his fingers wrapped around a familiar hilt. Lucas’ eyes widened and his perception of time began to speed up once more. Without a moment of hesitation, he swung out with all the force he could muster.

  The Direwolf, mid-lunge, was unable to dodge and Lucas felt a dark satisfaction as he saw the beast realizing what was about to happen.

  Unfortunately for Lucas, the blow wasn’t as lethal as he’d hoped. His blind swing resulted in the flat of the blade slamming into the wolf’s face. It left a shallow cut across the beast’s snout, but that was it. The Direwolf yelped and jerked back, putting some distance between itself and the human who was suddenly armed once again.

  Said human forced himself to his feet, shaky as they were, and forced himself to take the stance Magnus had ingrained into his head. And then he noticed his blade. Only, it wasn’t the same sword that he was used to.

  The gleaming silver of the metal was replaced by a pitch-black blade that seemed to absorb the very light around it. And as Lucas moved the sword, he was stunned to see wisps of dark smoke trailing behind the blade.

  “Remember, follow your instincts.”

  Leonidas’ words from almost two weeks prior echoed in his mind and Lucas felt a smile slowly spreading across his face. He could feel his mana surging within his body, that dark sea of mana within him whipped up into a frenzy by his brush with death. And he could feel that mana flowing down his right arm.

  He spared a glance back behind him and Lucas’ grin grew even wider. When he turned back towards the Direwolf, the beast was tense, its body held low to the ground. It was smart enough to know that things had changed, and that was because they had. Lucas’ fear had faded and the beast could sense it. He wasn’t scared anymore, hell he was excited.

  Because behind him, laying feet away in the grass, was his xiphos. And in his hand was a copy of that blade made out of pure darkness and shadows.

  “Yeah. I can work with this,” Mumbled to himself.

  The smaller alpha growled at him, but the sound didn’t terrify him like it had before. If anything, it almost sounded like the beast was a bit scared of him.

  “Dusk.”

  The little fox perked up from her spot, yipping while her tail wagged vigorously behind her. Her partner was slightly wounded but standing tall and very much alive.

  “Go help Fay,”

  Lucas’ order caused that tail to freeze in place, like she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him correctly.

  “I’ve got this,” Lucas prodded. “Fay needs help, so go help her. I can handle this, I promise.”

  There was a small moment of hesitation where Lucas wasn’t sure if his familiar would actually listen to him or not, and then the little fox nodded her head and turned, bolting off to join the fight with Fay and Dove.

  Once again, Lucas was left with only himself and the alpha. Was he being cocky? Yes, he was. But he was confident that he could kill the beast now that he was armed. And now that he’d finally found a way to manifest his Darkness affinity, he was feeling more confident than ever before.

  Magnus and Fay had put so much effort into helping and training him, and now he had a chance to prove that they hadn’t wasted their time. He could prove to these Direwolves that he wasn’t just simple prey for them. In a one on one fight, he could win.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Fay had hunted Direwoves before. She’d taken on and taken down packs in the past. Facing off against five Direwolves, malnourished ones at that, wasn’t a truly life-threatening situation for the blonde. But it was time consuming and distracting, and time was something that Fay didn’t have much of.

  With five of the large wolves flanking her on all sides and attacking with every chance they got, Fay was left with next to no opportunities to go and help Lucas. She could have used her Speed magic to get to him and bypass the group attacking her, but that would have just brought them all within range of Lucas as well. Dealing with an alpha was bad enough, she didn’t want to toss in five more foes for him to deal with.

  As much as she hated to say it, Fay knew that she had to hope that Lucas could hold out long enough for her to finish off the wolves around her. She had Dove helping her, at least, but she just needed the right opportunity.

  One of the wolves, its ears tipped with black fur, lunged at her and Fay used a split-second application of her magic to speed up, ducking underneath an attack that would have normally been too quick and close to dodge. She lashed out in return, slicing up with one of her pitch-black daggers and carving a deep gash into the wolf’s stomach and chest.

  The wolf collapsed when it landed, but Fay could see that it wasn’t dead yet. And the rest of the beast’s pack seemed intent on protecting it from her as she tried to finish it off. A blade hurled at the downed creature was intercepted, and Fay had to blink in surprise when she watched one of the wolves actually catch and bite down on one of her daggers.

  Of course, that didn’t help much when the dagger disappeared after a couple seconds, reappearing back on the bandolier strapped across her chest.

  “Thanks, mom and dad,” She mumbled.

  The moment of confusion that the blade’s sudden disappearance caused to the wolf in question was something that was quickly taken advantage of. Dove swooped in from up high, having built up speed to be a blur that was hard to spot, much less stop. The confused wolf howled as sharp, thin gashes were cut across its face and Fay was proud to see that her familiar had managed to get one of the beast’s eyes.

  She accelerated, pulsing her mana through her legs to get in close. Between one second and the next, she closed the gap between herself and the partially blinded creature. Still recoiling from pain and missing an eye, it wasn’t able to avoid the dagger that Fay slammed into the side of its neck.

  As the creature collapsed, gurgling and choking on its own blood, Fay felt the familiar weight of her blade return to its holster on her chest. She gazed around at the remaining wolves, grinning despite everything. She’d always liked a challenge and the Direwolves were fighting smart for the most part. They’d grouped up, supporting and protecting their wounded packmate. Said wounded wolf had staggered to its feet, though it looked like it was bleeding heavily and Fay doubted it would last long.

  She looked at the group, mentally labeling them wolves One through Four. One was the largest and most healthy looking of the bunch while four was the one she’d carved into before that looked to be on death’s door.

  They all growled at her, snarling and snapping as they spread around her. One and Four stood together in front of her while Two and Three circled on either side. She took a deep breath, letting her mana flow through her body as she subtly shifted her footing.

  Speed magic wasn’t as simple and crazy as everyone thought it was. Everyone always thought that it let someone run fast, often to absurd speeds. And in a way, they were right. But they were also wrong at the same time. Speed magic worked by letting her speed her body up, increasing how fast she could move. But that increase in speed didn’t do much to stop the downsides of moving so fast. Running in a straight line was as easy as could be, but sharp turns required Fay to cut the flow of her magic and start it back up.

  Experienced mages with Speed affinities could master their movements and make turning on and off their speed near instantaneous. Fay wasn’t there, yet. She could make turns, sure, but they weren’t ever sharp. There was a limit to how fast she could move in a fight, too. In an open space, she could cut loose and blur across an open field in no time at all. But in a fight or a confined space, Fay struggled. The more obstacles she had to deal with, the less useful her Speed magic became.

  The clearing that she and Lucas were fighting in was decently large, but the Direwolves around her weren’t giving her much space to maneuver much. And the sudden bursts of speed she put on to close a gap were just as risky to her as they were helpful. If she misjudged her steps or the wolves reacted in time, she’d end up even closer to those sharp fangs or claws.

  The wolves all tensed up, their bodies dipping low as they prepared to lunge at her and Fay braced herself. Then Dove shrieked high above and she noted how Four and Three both flinched and looked up. Fay let herself grin as she dug her feet into the ground below, ready to push off and lunge in to finish the wounded wolf.

  She didn’t get the chance to, though, as a black blur launched itself from the grass feet away from Four and latched onto its neck. The large wolf yelped and flailed, but the black shape on its neck clung there, and Fay saw blood flowing freely as the wolf panicked.

  “Dusk?”

  Lucas’ familiar was right there, jaws clamped down around one the neck of Four as she growled and snarled. The remaining Direwolves were all equally shocked and surprised as Fay, looking at the small little fox that was biting deep into the jugular of their packmate. At the little fox that killed one of their packmates.

  Because there was no mistaking it as Four staggered and collapsed, its wounded chest rising once, twice, and then no more as Dusk bit down hard, a spray of blood painting her black fur red and causing the wolf to go still.

  Fay could have taken advantage of the surprise caused by Dusk’s arrival to try and take out one of the three remaining Direwolves, but she instead risked the chance to look over towards where Lucas was. Why was Dusk over here if Lucas was on his own.

  Much to her shock and relief, Fay saw Lucas standing tall and fighting against the second alpha that had shown up. He had his sword in hand and was dodging and swiping at the beast. It even looked wounded, too. Though Lucas still had those cuts on his chest that they’d need to check on. But he was alive!

  A howl of pain to her left forced Fay to look away from Lucas’ battle. When she spotted Two whipping its head around to try and shake off Dove, who’d latched onto the face of the wolf, Fay barked out a quick laugh. Her fight was almost over, and then she could go and help her boyfriend.

  She could have easily gone after Two and helped her familiar take it out, but the bigger threat was One. And unfortunately for Dusk, the little fox was right next to the large wolf and it didn’t seem happy about the blood-soaked fox killing its packmate. Fay’s eyes widened as she saw the beast tense and lunge at the little fox.

  “No!”

  Her mana swirled around her and Fay let herself accelerate as much as she could. She erupted forward in a straight line, the dirt where she’d stood exploding into the air. The blonde moved as a blur, watching as the largest of the Direwolves bore down on the little fox. She could see that Dusk was trying to dodge, but she wouldn’t get out of the way in time.

  So, rather than stopping, Fay charged. She barreled into One at full speed, burying her shoulder into the beast’s side and tackling it. She bit back a groan as she felt her shoulder screaming in protest. There was a decent chance that she’d at least bruised or broken something, but the pain was worth it.

  Both she and One went flying, tumbling across the ground in a pile as she shoulder checked the beast. She flinched as the beast’s flailing claws caught her arms a few times, leaving small little cuts, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. And when the two came to a stop near the edge of the clearing, Fay wasted no time grabbing one of her daggers with her left hand and burying it into the chest of the Direwolf.

  It growled and thrashed, howling in pain as Fay struggled to pin the flailing creature down. The blonde grunted and shoved the dagger in deeper, piercing flesh, muscle, and bone and causing the large beast to go limp.

  Slowly, Fay pushed herself to her feet, gingerly cradling her right arm. She’d definitely done some damage with her tackle. The Direwolf might not have been an alpha, but it was still big, sturdy, and dense with muscle. Hitting that at full speed had hurt a lot.

  Thankfully, the rest of the fight wasn’t much of a worry anymore. When she glanced back at the two remaining Direwolves, neither seemed to be having a very good time.

  Three was being harassed by both familiars and clearly struggling. Dusk was weaving between the beast’s legs, clawing and biting at the limbs whenever she could. Every time the Direwolf went to try and attack the fox, Dove would dive in and try to claw at the wolf’s eyes and face. The two were working well together and having quite a bit of fun.

  As for Two, Dove had done a number to the other Direwolf. A quick glance at the beast revealed that it was stumbling around blind, its eyes ruined by Dove’s talons.

  She really did need to give her familiar a nice treat when they got back home.

  The creature wasn’t much of a threat anymore, but it was still trying to join the fight as it blindly approached the battle between its packmate and the familiars. With both wolves distracted, Fay knew she had a chance to finish things quickly. Then, they could all go and help Lucas.

  She sprinted towards Three, keeping herself at a more normal speed while taking aim at Two. An obsidian blade cut through the air as she launched it, enjoying the sight of the blade sinking hilt deep into the skull of the blinded Direwolf. And a second later, she joined the fight against the last of the creatures. With both Fay and the two familiars working together, the Direwolf lasted all of a few seconds before it went down, a dagger slammed into the base of its skull.

  “Come on,” Fay called to the two familiars. “We’ve gotta go help Lucas.”

  But as she turned to check and see how Lucas was doing, she found that the fight was already over…

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I thought about making this chapter longer and not leaving it on a cliffhanger, but I felt like 2k extra words was going to be a bit much. Don't worry, you'll see how Lucas' fight ended next chapter...