The Forsaken Hero

I screamed as an incredible pressure clamped down on my thigh, dragging me to the ground. Long, yellow teeth ripped through my dress and sank into my flesh, sending agonizing gouts of fire through my leg. The pain was explosive, scattering what little hope remained like seeds before the wind.

The wolf shook its head, tearing its teeth free in a spray of crimson blood. It vanished back into the shadows, leaving me writhing on the ground, screaming. No matter how tightly I clashed at it, blood continued to spurt in time with my beating heart.

”S-stay back!” I sobbed, scrabbling back against a tree.

Glowing red eyes stared out at me from all directions, filled with a hunger and malice that I’d thought impossible in wild animals. The long winter of the Northern Continent left this pack thin and mangy, hungry for a kill. Each pant sent spurts of fog drifting through the air, carrying the stench of death toward me.

I swung the staff around in an arc, but the glowing crystal barely gave the wolves pause. A spell of dizziness swept over me, and I swooned, falling back against the tree. The staff slipped from my blood-slicked fingers, clattering to the earth with deafening finality.

There was too much blood. It gushed from the two-inch deep puncture wounds, staining the grass red. Within seconds, I was too light-headed even to think straight, the circling wolves growing blurry.

A particularly large wolf, standing well over three feet at the shoulder, paced in front of the others. Its image overlapped with the grand inquisitor. He grinned viciously, extending his hand toward me, fingers curled in awful claws.

”No...” I whispered, weeping more from the fear than pain.

My hands instinctively crept to my chest, the smooth, bare skin pulsing with heat. I could feel the amulet about my neck, weighing me down, threatening to crush my soul.

A dreadful howl rose above the growls, piercing the haze of my mind. The wolves froze, a tremble traveling from their noses to the tips of their tail. Another aura descended on the forest, causing my heart to stutter violently.

The shadows twisted, breaking to reveal a wolf twice the size of the others, standing a full six feet at the shoulder. It bore signs of infernal corruption, with long, curved horns and fur that shone like steel. Its eyes blazed with striking, glowing gold, flecked with star-like motes of white light. Lines the same golden color as its eyes ran across its pelt like cracks in a cobblestone road, pulsing with inner light.

Its eyes were bright, clear of the compulsive desires to kill and devour that plagued infernal monsters. Its soul emanated a mana as clean as my own, completely devoid of the infernal mana that had twisted its body.

The wolf, if you could even call it that, lowered its head, nostrils flaring as it sniffed me. I whimpered, curling up in a ball, unable to so much as scream. Its presence was beyond any infernal animal I’d encountered, transcending even the fourth level. It was practically an evolved demon at this point!

I cringed as it noticed the blood pooling beneath my leg. The wolf blinked and tilted its head curiously. Its tongue flicked forward, dabbing at the wound.

The wolf froze as it tasted blood. Its eyes blazed with golden light, and it growled like rumbling thunder. The wolves cowered back, whimpering in terror. I tried to join them, but blood loss left me too weak even to raise my head.

Slowly, the infernal wolf turned, its eyes fixing on a wolf near the rear, from whose muzzle my blood still dripped. The bloodstained wolf took a step back, cowering as though the gods themselves had descended against it.

And then it and the infernal wolf vanished.

I froze, the whimper in my throat dying out. The Infernal Wolf stood several dozen feet beyond where the wolf groveled, holding the tattered remains of bone and mangy pelt. Blood streamed from massive gouges in the dead creature’s corpse, rapidly draining dry.

The infernal wolf moved again, becoming a gold blur streaking through the trees. The wolves scattered and fled, their hunting howls reduced to panicked yelps. The first to fall was the pack leader, torn in half with a single swipe of the monster’s paws. Blood sprayed through the air, painting the trees red, as the golden wolf turned to face the others.

As their death screams filled the air, I mustered my strength and surged to my feet, moving on adrenaline alone. My leg collapsed beneath my weight, but I found my staff and struggled to my feet. The village lights felt so very far but, gritting my teeth, I stumbled forward.

Soon, the sound of shouts and barking dogs filled the air, but the sounds sounded distant and fuzzy. Blood streamed down my leg with every pulse of my heart, leaving me gasping for breath and lightheaded.

My strength failed as I reached the edge of the village, and I stumbled, dropping to a knee. I could just make out a humble, two-story building looming overhead, but it blurred as tears filled my eyes. The staff slipped from my hand one last time, dissipating into starlight.

”What’s going on?”

My ears twitched as voices approached. A group of men streamed past me, failing to notice my body body in the shadow of the building. I opened my mouth, straining a hand toward them, but all that came out was a croak.

”Wolves, I think,” a harsh voice replied. ”But I’ve never heard them howl like that. Did they catch some of Dan’s sheep again?”

As the group passed, the door of the building opened, and a large shadow fell over me. I had just enough strength to raise my head and meet the gaze of a large, burly man. He peered down at me, frowning as he took in my blood-soaked dress.

”Wolves, was it? You must be the prey,” he muttered. His frown deepened as his eyes raked across my horns. ”And a demonkin no less.”

I closed my eyes, cringing as I waited for his spittle to strike me. Instead, I heard a soft sigh. Rough hands caught my wrists, prying them away from where I held my wound. I struggled against his grip, tears leaking out of my eyes, but he held me effortlessly, leaning over to examine my leg.

”It’s bad, but I expect there’s more danger in the blood loss. Come along, Mother’ll want to get a good look at you.”

His hand moved, snaking beneath my knees and back. I curled up, waiting for him to grope or hit me, but he didn’t. He was gentle, tender even, as lifted me into the air as easily as he would a child.

”There’s a girl here!” he cried over his shoulder, ”She’s hurt bad. I’m taking her inside.”

A grizzled man dressed in leather armor and wearing a forest green cloak appeared beside him. Two long-bladed knives rested comfortably in his hands, and he wore a bow strapped to his back. They glittered with magic, and his aura placed him at fourth level.

”What happened?” the newcomer asked.

The big man waved him off. ”How the hell would I know? She was lying in her own blood outside my inn and only sobbing at that. Last year, Al got nipped by one of them beasts and howled for hours until his dad finally took a belt to him.”

”Fine, but are you sure you want to take her in?”

Their gazes lingered on my horns, and I noticed how the man had avoided touching my tail when carrying me.

”No,” the big man muttered, ”But I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t. You know how Emil is about these things. Take in every lost cat if I let her.”

The adventurer nodded, casting a wry smile back at the two-story building. ”I suppose you’re right. Besides, we can always throw her out later. If she’s cultist kind, I mean.”

A woman’s voice cut through the air like a knife, making both the men flinch. ”Is that a girl I see? Bilev, why are you two standing about blathering like a fool? Bring her in already, before she bleeds to death! And as for you, Helron, get those wolves under control. They’ll wake the children with all that dreadful howling.”

The adventurer nodded quickly, shooting Bilev a sympathetic look. The burly man sighed and moved into the building, where a stout gray-haired woman waited. Despite the late hour, she was dressed in a stained and powdered apron that looked as much a part of her as her wrinkles.

”But mother,” the man said, ”She’s a demonkin, and-”

”Aren’t you a sweet one,” she cooed, brushing him aside and laying a hand on my cheek. Her other hand traced down my thigh, brushing aside the hem of my dress so she could examine my wound.

The man started to protest, but she silenced him with a glare. ”Put her on the bed, and I’ll take a look at her. She’ll be needing some food if these arms are anything to go by,”

I winced as she pinched my bone-thin biceps and made a clicking noise with her tongue. Bilev carried me up the stairs, passing a few different doors before one finally opened. As we walked into the room, my strength seeped away. The adrenaline rush faded, and my exhaustion and blood loss took over. Darkness closed in around me, and my eyes grew heavy. Something about the woman’s kindhearted words whispered gently in my ear, and the man’s strong arms around me put my mind at ease, and I was asleep before I hit the sheets.