“Quick! The corrupted wolves are coming! Find some cover in the terrain and fight around it. Stick with your squads. Show these stupid wolves who’s boss!”
Darren’s yell cut through the evening like a bolt from the blue. We had already settled down to rest, having been unable to find any good defensible points earlier in the morning. We had not seen any monsters, and being on high alert all the time had started tiring us out. I suppose being slightly tired was helpful for me, though, as it reduced my anxiety about the fight to an upcoming level. We were starting with wolves, after all. Wolves, the pack predator. I am sure they’ll be easy, right?
As we spread out to place our spears in the trap holes that we made in the few sports where there was dirt, I could see the flickers of movement in the distance. I quickly shoved the spear into the hole and packed dirt around it to keep it sturdy. I took a deep breath as I stood, drawing my shortsword and buckler, the standard beginner issue for monster hunting. We were allowed to specialize at any time, but bar any preferences this is what we were taught. I was glad to have something to hide behind, even if it was only a small shield the size of my torso. Bracing behind a rocky outcrop, I felt my back bump against someone else’s. I kept my eyes trained on the forest, not bothering to look and find out who it was.
A sharp wolf howl cut through the air, announcing the start of the attack. The thump of a horde of paws on the rough ground resounded. I was mesmerized by the sheer savagery the wolves exhibited, crimson eyes highlighted by their midnight black skin and saliva dripping off their jaws. I must have stood too far forward, trying to get a good look, as one of the wolves hit me straight in my centre mass, bowling me over. Technique and planning went out of the window; the whole world condensed into me keeping the slathering jaws of the wolf away from my neck.
The wolf snapped its jaws, aiming to rip my neck apart. Part of my training took over my panic, and I brought my shield up in time. The gouges on my shield were proof of the sheer strength with which it was attacking. Confused by its failure, the wolf first reared its head up, before the crimson glow in its eyes seemed to double and it brought its right paw down viciously. I had previously been scrambling backwards, which definitely gave me a better angle, but the shield I raised up was batted away like it was nothing. I definitely felt something in my left shoulder pop, but I had more significant concerns now. It was do or die, after all.
I swung my sword, aiming for its leg that it had stretched out. Fortunately for me, it was about to move closer to me using that leg, which meant that the wolf was unable to dodge my attack. I’d finally first blood in the battle. A minor wound, to be sure, but definitely well-aimed at the part where its leg met the paw. If I could strike it harder, perhaps I could sever its ligaments and deprive it of a limb. I took its awkward dodge away from the strike to stand up and to fight it properly.
Our battle continued, somewhat reminiscent of a dance. The wolf would dart forward, snapping or clawing at me. I would step backwards out of range of its claws or use my shield to divert its bite, slashing every chance I had. Eventually, both the wolf and I were heaving, breathless and cut all over. My left arm was numb, and I had a cut on my head that was bleeding into my eye. The wolf wasn’t much better though, having lost the use of a leg and a wound deep enough to see bone on its back.
I knew I had to end the battle before it got used to its lopsided gait. Perhaps the wolf sensed my determination, for it too charged at me with a snarl. I offered my already numbed left arm, buckler and all as bait for the wolf, which it willingly bit onto. As it prepared to ragdoll me and rip it off, I grit my teeth and thrust my blade into its eye, praying that it would strike true. Indeed, it blinded it, but it only seemed angrier. Already the sheer force of its bite had splintered my shield and mauled my forearm. I took a second to jump towards the wolf, using my grip on the sword and its hold on my arm as leverage to clumsily wrap my legs around its monstrous neck.
I swear the wolf knew it was dead, and I could see its pupils widen in fear. What surprised me, though was the manic grin I had, as I pushed my sword as deep as it could go, eventually piercing through its brain and killing it. As it collapsed to the floor, so too did I, barely avoiding a rock which would have brained me given how I landed head first. Get my legs around, I was now able to squat. I now had another dilemma, the matter of my hand trapped in its jaws. Even in death, the damned wolf was troubling me.
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I wedged its mouth open with my sword before using it and my boots to pry my arm out. It was horrifically mangled, a career-ending injury for any fighter. I could only hope that what they said about injuries not remaining was right, but even if it wasn’t, I wasn’t willing to go out so pathetically. Besides, I’ve never, ever, had this much fun. The thought surprised me, initially, but I must say fighting was a sheer adrenaline rush and the ability to finally feel some measure of power made it all worth it.
I looked around the battlefield, noting that there were many fallen comrades around, but much fewer dead wolves. Even then, the wolves were outnumbered, which meant that they had gone for the weaker members first, which just about pissed me off. Turning around to see how my fellow rock outcrop-mate had faired, I witness Lethin, a reasonably strong fighter from my bunk barely holding on. He is crying, in terror, I presume, yet his muscle memory keeps bringing his sword and shield up to defend himself. He is being edged back, as his stamina wanes, and I can see a slights bump that would trip him up soon enough if he continued at this pace.
Determined to protect my fellow mate and deny the wolf any measure of victory, I charge in with as little noise as I can. I take the wolf by surprise, ramming my sword all the way to its hilt into its exposed belly as I try to climb over it. With a handle sturdily attached, it’s not too hard. After that, it was merely a matter of Lethin and me stabbing it repeatedly. The wolf died, blood slowly trickling from the wounds that adorned its body. As I swung myself off of the wolf, Lethin came up to me.
“Thank the gods you came! I never expected these wolves to be so terrifying. That moment when you came barreling out of nowhere and stabbed that wolf? Gods, I’ve never been more relieved. How’d you take out your wolf?”
I raised my mangled left arm.
“With some sacrifice. No matter lets go help our team out.”
Eventually, as more and more of us handled our wolves, while the ones that weren’t targeted help others out, we cleared out all the wolves. We grouped up in the middle, taking stock of our injuries. This was only the first objective, and we had still lost 10 people, with another 2 grievously injured. One of them, Perdis, had lost both his legs and was bleeding out. The other, Paul, had had his arm up to his shoulder ripped out, and was already in shock. Darren cauterized their open wounds with a heated blade. Someone helped Paul move along, while Manud strapped Perdis onto his back. It was definitely a grim sight, a man with no legs strapped to another man by a bundle of cloth, yet also inspiring, the way all of us had resolved to fight to the end.
They must be doing something right in their selection rounds that no one even tried to desert during such a horrifying attack. Or maybe they simply didn’t think they would make it without anywhere to go, not to mention how we were being mysteriously watched and assessed. Looking around, I could see that we had been attacked by a pack of twenty-five wolves, and from what I heard, Stedras and Darren had taken out a whole eight of them. Our spear traps had also gored one wolf in the neck while the traces of blood indicated that a few others had been wounded. Even then, we suffered severely. Both because they were targeting our weakest, and also because we didn’t fight as a team.
We grouped up, sticking together much more closely. Our aim was to this time fight each monster with at least four people, with at least one wolf solo killer in each group. This meant I was grouped with another wolf killer and two others who had helped. Not the most experienced group, but we made do with what we had.
As the monsters grew more powerful, they also grew rarer, which meant that we could expect a handful of Khargs, but even that would be a savage fight if this was any indication. Mood a bit dreary from the loss, yet underlined with a tinge of pride for having come this far, the twenty-eight of us set out. Moving forward to find a more defensible location.
Though we made slow progress, we eventually found an area where only two sides were fully exposed. Two gigantic rocks blocked off the other half, with only a small gap in between. Stedral blocked off the small hole with ice, which meant that we could focus solely on having to fight enemies from in front of us. With the way the rock walls were, we decided to go with five teams of five, and 2 teams of four to backup anyone in need. Having found a defensible place, we decided to rest. There was no dirt here to try making a spear palisade like before, so we set a watch and the rest of us took a quick nap. Or at least we tried to. The fight we just had was definitely gory and gruesome, and most of us were unwilling to revisit that battlefield when they closed their eyes so they just talked and stood watch.
As for me, though, I knocked out like a lamb. It might have been the blood loss though. I was woke by a fearsome roar that exuded dominance. Not to mention the ground shaking as a pack of 5 Khargs stalked towards us. Not only were they bigger than the wolves we just fought, but they also had what seemed like armour on their more vulnerable areas, as well as far longer claws. The sheer stench of blood that rolled off them perked me up instantly. I reached down to grab my shield, only to remember that I didn’t really have much of a hand. I wrapped my stump of an arm with some bandaging cloth and tied my shortsword to it. I’d definitely be trying to stay at range for as long as possible with my spear.
As we spread out to form a human wall that curves inwards at the middle, we waited for the Khargs to come and attack, spears at the ready. What we did not expect, though, was for the lead Khargs to pound the ground once before bounding forward faster than any of us could react. It bounded forward faster than any of us could see, and stopped only a hand further than our spears could reach. In front of it was what had once been Luke, a talented spearman, but now was only a disembowelled corpse. The lead Kharg slowly licked the knife-like claw that had cut Luke in two, and I swear, it smiled.