He dropped dead, his headless body crashing to the ground. The monster spun and chewed, a few teeth falling out of its maw. When they rolled across the shattered stone, a bulbous tongue shot out and sucked it up, including the rest of the corpse.

Its body shuddered and grew. Becoming twice its size. Shell-colored liquid oozed out of its eyes and flattened into plates. Within seconds it had regained parts of its shell.

I raised my arm and fired, but it sacrificed a limb and ripped it off before jumping across the street. Two men screamed and tried to run, but it wrapped its tentacles around their waists and pulled them in. I stood up and reared back. My axe sailed through the air and removed a limb. I activated the rune, and it tore through its eye. It screeched and bounced, rolling away on a half-formed shell.

"Get back here!" I yelled.

It whipped its tentacles out and slingshotted down the street.

Alice stood up, but her leg was twisted at an odd angle. She took a step and faltered.

"Go! I'll catch up!" she ordered.

I ran. Mana raged, my core burned free. The flames spread across my cloak and across my chest. It left a trail of steam behind me.

Purge! Hunt!

"I said shut up!"

Every step felt like a knife in my gut. A stabbing shard of agony bounced around where the connection should have been. Freki was gone. Still there, I knew it. But every second screamed in my head how wrong that was.

Hunt!

Flames erupted, and my arms protested. I didn't care.

The monster crashed into a carriage, and the horses tried to run. But the monster grabbed their legs and pulled.

Snap!

The beast cried and attempted to stomp it into the ground, but the monster hungrily devoured them. Hooves met shell and were repelled by the fountain of meat behind it.

I jumped and landed on its back and shoved my claws through the flesh. It bubbled and launched me away, but I released a torrent of flames before I crashed into a wall. I stood up and growled. It raged against the ground, and flesh melted. Plates of shell crumbled away as the rainfall tore at its form.

I extended my arms and watched my fur stand up. The rain couldn't reach; the flames were an inferno that warped the air.

My hands weren't human. I wasn't human. The thought struck through the haze of anger and clicked something within my core.

The monster rolled away, its back half a blackened mess that wouldn't move. It ripped free and exploded outward. Tentacles split from the central mass. Three became six, and six became ten. It whipped two in my direction, and I sliced through one and chopped another. A third came and knocked me off my feet while it whipped around the street and crashed through a house.

Screams rang through the thunder before the crunching started.

I stood up and ran, pushing past the wreckage.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Blood rushed into my ears, and I jumped, bursting through the window. The monster turned and flung a couch. I dived and launched forward.

My axe went flying, but I continued and sank my arms into its side. I tore through shell and meat to slash and tear. It pulsed, I swerved and let the fire rage. Flames erupted and forced the flesh away.

I'm not human! I'm a monster fighting a monster!

I raised my arm. My fur stood up like needles.

My axe smacked into my palm, and I swung.

Boom!

Pain surged, and my mind receded. My core flared and pushed the void away as it twisted the knife and sank into my chest.

Hunt!

The voice demanded, screaming inside my skull.

I tried to move my arms, but they didn't respond.

Hunt!

Pain tore at my sides, so I switched to my other arm and slowly tore at the ground until it pulled me forward. I scraped away the gunk covering my eyes and blinked through the tears and dust. Dark, brackish slime coated my fingers. I rubbed it on the ashy ground and fought the agony to look up.

Alice stood there, her arms raised. A mass of red crashed into her barrier and it cracked. Another impact destroyed it, but she swung her axe to sever the limb. Another slipped through and stabbed into her leg.

She crashed to one knee.

"Al-" I tried to say.

But my tongue was sandpaper and scraped against my teeth. I wheezed, and blood filled my throat and dripped between my lips.

Need... to breathe.

I dragged my arm closer and extended my finger. Slthick! My claw punctured skin creating a hole. Blood fountained and drained allowing air in.

Ek kalla heiðarloga.

Despite the hungry desire to incinerate all to ash, my core spasmed, and a single pump of mana rushed down my arm. For a second, the flames burned, and I sealed the wound before the flame extinguished.

My regeneration went into overtime, and I spat out a wad of brown phlegm and sucked in enough air before more blood filled the cavity.

Stolen story; please report.

Alice swung and slashed away, but her bones snapped under the colossal weight, and she fell to both knees. She raised her head to the sky, eyes widening as more tentacles rose up.

"Ek kalla til vǫrn." she cried.

Grey panels sprang to life and blocked another attack. They slid off before slamming again with twice the numbers. She screamed in pain, and her arm buckled. Her broken arm dangled limply as she spat blood.

"Alice!" I roared.

She turned, blood dripping from her eyes. She roared, angled the barrier, and deflected another attack before it shattered.

"Ali-"

More came, and she shouted the incantation, summoning a single panel.

Crack!

The barrier crumbled, as did her arm, and she slumped to the floor.

She raised her head and snarled. "Ek kalla-"

The ground gave way crumbling beneath her, and the thunder drowned my scream.

The tentacles lifted into the air. Blood rained down, and the flesh peeled away to reveal Alice's form. Her arms were broken, her legs twisted in the wrong direction. Blood pooled beneath her, dying the wood and stone a bright red.

She didn't breathe.

The monster emerged from the writhing wall of flesh and grinned with its broken smile. It extended its jaw and snaked a tentacle around her waist. As it lifted her into the air, her head rolled to the side, lifeless.

No!

Lightning flashed, crashing into the building over. Rocks cut my cheek, and dust coated my tongue.

No!

The tentacle released, and she slid into its mouth.

"NO!"

The world became blindingly bright. My bones snapped and extended, and my spine realigned as my teeth sharpened. Clothes disappeared, and fur took its place. Where my crimson cloak sat snugly on my shoulders, it folded inside me as I arched my back.

My jaw snapped together, and I raised my head to the sky. A howl rang clear, and I jumped. I broke through the shell and shoved arms into its jaws. It turned away, but I pulled it back.

Thunder boomed above, and lightning flashed.

"Give her back!" I growled as I reached down and sank my fangs into its head. The creature screamed and thrashed, and I tore a chunk free. "Give her back!"

I smashed through a shell and dug through flesh. It tried to bat me away, so I leaned forward and bit down. The limb came free in a spurt of blood. I swallowed. The flesh pulsed and bunched beneath us, so I shoved both my arms into its mouth.

It tried to crush me.

I'm stronger!

I'm the monster!

"Give her back!"

Flesh split and Alice fell free. Her skin had melted, exposing raw muscles and sinew.

The monster tried to crawl away, and tendrils shot for the sky. My fur stood up, and I tasted ozone.

No. I won't let you.

I extended my arm and summoned my mana. It thrummed in delight and pushed in a new configuration, a different pathway that eagerly rushed to fulfill my demand.

"Ek kalla til vǫrn!"

Lightning flashed, and my eardrums ruptured. But I blinked away the tears and lowered my arm. A wall of shadows tore a hole in reality. The void consumed the light while lightning danced along its threads before being slipping into the endless abyss.

The mana felt cold, and the rain around it became snow that melted into a slurry.

My core sputtered at the foreign mana before it breathed, and the shadows sank into my flesh and joined the swirling pool of magma. I blinked at the grey world as the colors slowly seeped into place and returned.

The monster screamed, and I growled. I placed my foot along its eye. My claws sank into the socket, and I pressed down.

Splat!

I stared at the goop and turned for the second half. It had crawled its way up the lone pillar that remained through the lightning strike. It hissed and swung to the otherside. Using the momentum, it sailed through the air, but I was faster. I caught it and dragged it closer. Its scent reeked of blood and bile.

Purge the corruption!

Fine.

Snap!

My fangs crunched through shell and chewed the meat to pulp. A single tentacle slammed into my snout but I ripped it free and tossed it into my jaws. I swallowed paste and opened wide. The rainwater filled my throat and I swallowed again, repeating the process till the trash washed away.

The beast relaxed its grip and returned to its spot in my mind. But I knew it wasn't over.

Hunt.

"I know, you bastard. Give me a second," I growled.

I walked to where Alice lay and hefted her into my arms. It was faint, almost nonexistent, but her chest expanded with shallow breaths. She looked fragile, small—so very different from the warrior I knew her to be. I pushed her hair back, pulled her hood down, and wrapped her tightly with her cloak.

Lightning flashed an eerie red, and I tore my gaze away to stare at the maelstrom in the sky. Thunder rumbled behind the clouds, as I took in the castle.

"Let's go, Alice. The hunt isn't over."