I nod, distracted with my own thoughts. Though I know the day has been going on for a while, looking up, the sun… or whatever star it is now… seems to not really have moved. Yep, definitely fixed position, but the habit of judging time by the position of the resident star is going to be hard to break. It’s not like I have a watch or anything, so how am I supposed to know when all the light is going to vanish and I’m going to be shit out of luck as far as seeing things? Are the days 24 hours like I’m used to? Less? More? I honestly couldn’t say. They seem to drag on, but that’s probably just me mentally processing the time as perpetual mid-day.

This shit will probably mess with my sleep cycle… if I’m ever able to stave off exhaustion long enough to let it.

Perks of fighting for your life: good sleep.

Rav and I walk in silence for a while, and I’m completely caught up in thoughts of giant, celestial rings and day night cycles when Rav fires off a blast of mana, creating a smoldering crater in the monster that was running at him.

I think too much. That’s my problem.

My body reacts before my mind. Suddenly, and urgently, my instincts tell me to drop down, which manifests as more of a trip considering how entirely unprepared I am. I feel Kaythe tumble away from me as I hit the grass, and a red blur streaks through the area I just was.

Carnines.

I spring to my feet and grab my stick from its place in my shirt, ripping it out fast enough that I scrape the shit out of my back, but adrenaline allows me to ignore it for now. In front of me, a small red dog with only small gouts of patchy fur growls at me. It should be silly, it should make me laugh, but despite myself I’m afraid. That fear intensifies as my instincts scream at me again to roll, to be aware of my surroundings, and I unthinkingly listen. Another carnine rushes past, clearly planning on taking me down with a pounce. They aren’t large, but the sudden weight at that speed would be more than enough. Then I’d die. I can almost feel my Combat Proficiency skill assessing me with more than mild scorn. The first carnine takes advantage of my moment of weakness to charge in and bite at me while I’m getting back to my feet. The sudden rush forward causes me to reflexively back away and I trip, falling onto my back. The carnine leaps, intent on landing on my chest, and my kick catches it and forces it higher. As it careens over my head, the second Carnine tries the same tactic, but this time I’ve recovered enough to use my weapon. I stab out with the blunt tip of my stick, and feel a jolt of pain up my arm as I knock back the offending monster.

The dogs may be small, but they’re heavier than they look, and they go faster than their small bodies suggest. Consequently, my ‘full stop’ stab probably would have shattered my arm before it was upgraded by the game.

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Silently cursing my Combat Proficiency for not making better decisions for me, I switch to a two hand grip and follow up on the recently grounded carnine with an overhead slam. It slides out of the way, but I manage to correct the strike enough to clip its side. A yelp pierces the air, but not from the one I just hit. Rav had neatly launched a ball of weaponized mana into the waiting mouth of one of his assailants, and its teeth look to have been shattered; its once lolling tongue now gone.

Briefly reminded that the battlefield exists beyond just me and one other opponent, I side step and half turn to try and catch the other Carnine. I really need to finish up here and go help Rav! Predictably, it was preparing another lunge, but once it notices that I’ve seen it, it changes tactics and veers away from me. Forced to choose between continuing to track it and keeping eyes on the first Carnine, I try to do both by constantly turning and glimpsing snapshots of their movement. The first carnine joined in with the second, and they both try to distract me so the other can get into position… and honestly, it’s working. I can’t keep looking at both of them, and all it will take is some good timing on their part for there to be nothing I can do to defend. Without much choice, I make a gamble. I charge for the second Carnine as it passes close to me, my newfound strength and agility aiding the motion, making it faster and more powerful than I ever had any right to be. My feet find easy placement on the hills and my balance remains within my control. All of this contributes to avoiding me slipping and getting eaten by dogs.

The second Carnine, obviously expecting this, tries to dodge me, but clearly underestimated my speed, and my unassuming weapon whistles through the air before shattering its back leg. That elicited a yelp.

In one smooth motion, I pivot with the follow through and turn to face the expected other carnine that was seeking to get me while my back was turned. In the same way a certain unfortunate rat learned about baseball, an ugly red demon dog did too. The stick lacked the heft to really redirect it, but I put enough power into it that it gets pushed off its ‘me’ trajectory and into a more safe ‘ground’ trajectory. The lamed carnine starts to limp away as its partner has its skull dented by a few follow-up whacks, but I’m beyond mercy. They hunted me.

There’s a feeling that comes after being really scared. The result of feeling a loss of control over your life, safety, whatever. At first, you’re surprised, then quickly you become scared. Scared that something has the ability to take something from you, and you recognize that. And then you fight, run, cower… but if you’re still alive afterwards, there is *hate*. Raw, unclean fury directed at whatever made you feel that way. A primal desire to settle the score.

And these pathetic, hateful little shits made me feel that way. Ambushed me and my friend. Hounded me, circling and nipping like I was prey.

I will not be hunted.

And this one -I think as I reach for its broken leg- will suffer horribly.

The tortured scream of having its leg jerked was cut short by what I can only assume was the crushing horror of realizing that I wasn’t going to just kill it, but let my Energy kill it.

[Congratulations, you successfully defeated two Carnine. +40 Power (-50). +10 Fragments (15)]