My heart dropped. I knew that we were able to hold off the corrupted wolves only because they were ruled by primal instincts. They did not have any knowledge of utilising their strengths fully, and even their natural pack instincts were dulled by the corruption. But these Khargs, they knew they were strong, stronger than we were. Oh, they knew. And they flaunted it. The gleam of malice in the lead Khargul's eyes said it all. As my mind reeled, I could see from the corner of my eyes the rest of the Kharguls preparing to join the fight and pounce. They were unlikely to have the same burst speed as the first, but if we all stood in shock, we would be easy prey. I wanted to move, to shout at the team to recover, but my body was not responding.

I gritted my teeth, straining my muscles even, and still, my body was not responding. I think seeing Luke get bisected like that really rammed home the reality of fighting monsters to me. I was no stranger to blood, having worked around dead animals for most of my life. But it was one thing having an already dead animal on a workbench, and another to have a comrade split in half with entrails spraying. Perhaps the horror of the first battle's aftermath was finally getting to me now. I could feel the shame heat my face as I bent down and retched, unable to keep my stomach at the disgusting sight.

Fortunately, I had teammates of steadier stuff. While some were still queasy or shocked into stillness, Peras yelled out.

"Stand Strong! Those beasts are stronger and faster than us. But we are a team, and we will bleed them dry! Reserves on me! We'll get the lead, keep the other four busy and whittle them down one by one!"

I felt someone pat my back once as they ran past me, charging towards the lead Kharg. Shaking off any nausea, I stood up. No worthier death than to die defending one's friends and team, I thought. I ran towards the lead Kharg with a spear at the ready, all the while incoherently yelling. A total of seven of us had gone to fight the Kharg alpha, not including Perdis who was on Manud's back. We encircled it, trusting in our team to keep the rest of the Khargs away from us. We'd have to make it quick too, from what we'd seen, five to a Kharg was far too little. But we had no choice, thin on manpower as it was. Thank the Gods they could only attack us from the front, if they had surrounded us, we'd probably have been wiped out.

We surrounded the Kharg. As we probed the Alpha with long thrusts and swipes, so too did the Alpha examine us, with tentative lunging bites and claw swipes. One thing to note, though, was that its "probing" claw strike was more than enough to cut a poorly angled shield in half. As the fight went on and we got used to the rhythm, we found that we could surround it with one on each limb and a guy near the neck, with the last two rotating. We seemed to have a real chance of tiring it out, and indeed, a few minutes after the frenetic combat had begun, we noticed it moving extra slow. It was favouring the right foreleg after Peras had landed a critical blow on its left foreleg.

The Kharg was pushed back by a pair of spears from the front, leaving a brief lull in the battle. I head Peras whistle out, noticing those around me charging in to deal the finishing blow. I too joined them, legs pounding on the rocky ground, and I sought to put my entire body weight behind the spear. I had no thought nor concern of how my single arm would handle the strain, utterly focused as I was on dealing a grievous injury to the Alpha and allowing my team to finish it off.

Peras and Manud, the stronger of our team, were the first to reach the Alpha. With a leap, Peras was poised to bring down a thunderous overhead slash with his sabre on the tired Alpha. Time seemed to slow down near that moment. I noticed the Alpha bare his teeth the same way it had before when it killed Luke. My heart stopped, my body having long gathered so much momentum that I kept moving.

"Watch out!! It's -!"

I heard a voice cry out. It could have been mine. The Alpha blurred into action once again. With the sound of air being ripped, its jaws were around where Peras had been. All that was left of him were two bloody legs that fell down to the bloodstained legs, bouncing once before lying still. Something came over, a red film that blocked out all my thoughts, and at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to spill its filthy blood. So consumed was I, that I did not notice that the rest of my team had stopped charging. It was only Manud, with Perdis on his back, who were savaging its lightly armoured underside. They were doing their best to stab and cut around the chitinous plates.

I didn't care that I was going in alone. Or that Manud and Perdis were both cleaved with a retaliatory claw strike. At least they did more than their fair share of damage to the Alpha. I ran in, using my sword-stump arm to leverage myself up the beast, before driving my spear deep into it back. I had hoped to get its spine, but it was unfortunately armoured, which left me wishing that I'd pierce a vital organ and bleed it out. Part of me liked that idea, a part that I'd never encountered before. I wanted the beast to bleed and run. To move in terror even as every movement forced out more of its lifeblood and brought it to death. And when it edged on the precipice of death, I would savour its fle-.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Come down, man, we've won! That was amazing, what you did. You sure taught it the meaning of pain, what with you spearing its insides and blinding its right eye."

A shout cleared the red from my eyes and brought me out of my stupor. I found myself stooped over, barely conscious as I propped myself up with my spear. Numerous deep pierces dotted the Alpha's back, yet all I could feel was the faint sting of a missed opportunity. As I slid down the Alpha back, I wondered how we fared in that battle. Both our powerhouses, Darren and Stedrall, had been allowed free reign to wreak havoc among the other four Khargs, but we had lost our no.3 and no.4 to the Alpha.

Landing on the ground, I stand for half a second before buckling, wracked by blinding bursts of pain. Both my arms are entirely unusable, having long been fractured and slashed to ribbons. It's a miracle that they held together for as long as they did. Now that the adrenaline was gone, however, I was in for a world of pain.

"Kyrios? You ok? Darren, I think he's not alri -"

My world faded to black as the pain consumed me. Surrounded by darkness, I realised I was not entirely unconscious. I certainly could not feel my body, for all I know I was dead. But inside here, it was pitch black, save for a dim light near the centre. Not so much light, but just the sense that the darkness was not so, well, dark. I walked toward the centre, guessing that I was somehow inside my mind. Either that or this was the afterlife. At least there was no pain here, and I even had my left arm.

As I neared the centre, the midnight black gave way to only the dullest of lights, tinged a dark maroon. I kneeled down, trying to see what the source of light was. I couldn't make out anything, with how dark the floor was. I moved my hand over the light, trying to see if I could feel what I wasn't seeing. To my confusion, my hand came across something rough-textured, a slight dry bump on the otherwise smooth floor. Curious to find out more, I smelt my hand. To my utter confusion, it smelt of blood. This had to be a patch of dried blood. Perhaps, this had something to do with the bloodthirst that came over me during the fight against the Alpha? I could almost feel my heart swell with hope. I would take any power, even if it was related to blood. The only question would be how I would find out.

Discovering the crusty bloodstain in my inner mind used up all the energy left, for I knocked out afterwards. Whether that was because I was so weak after the fight, or if it was because finding even a hint of my awakening was so momentous, I don't know. I came to, gently swaying along to the walking gait of the person carrying me. Noticing that I was awake, Stedrall gingerly lowered me to the ground.

"Good to see you awake, Kyrios. You did well with the fight against the Alpha. Unfortunately, it seems like your arms are destroyed. We'll handle the rest from here on, so just take care of yourself."

Even if I wanted to argue, the cold hard fact that I could no longer feel my arms meant that I was useless. I was curious about the chill that emanated, but I was sure I would get an explanation soon. Even if I was armless, I refused to become useless.

"How is the rest of our team, how did it go?" I asked, concerned about the small number of people I saw around me.

"Out of twenty-eight, we lost another twelve. Those Khargs got their pound of flesh during their entry as well during their death throes. The Khargs have a necrotic venom in their claws, that was why I had to freeze your arms. If either I or Darren had better control, we might have been able to purge some, if not all the venom. But we don't, and I apologise."

I was surprised at the humility and guilt Stedrall showed. Here he was, our platoon's greatest, yet he was apologising at not being able to use his powers better. Truly remarkable. With a drive like this, he is bound to have a great future.

"Please, without you, the poison may very well have consumed me. Not to mention that you were instrumental in handling both monster attacks. Nevertheless, I wish to help. Is it possible that I will be some kind of scout?"

Stedrall looked a little taken aback, probably expecting me to be more morose and to just rest. His eyes showed concern, perhaps worried I was overexerting myself.

"You do know our last objective is the Kharg' ul, right? Greater than a pack of Kharg alphas put together?"

"Yes. I refuse to be helpless when the lives of my team are at stake. Besides, weren't we told to have a little fun?" I ask, a little surprised by how into it I was getting. I could feel the manic grin I had before tugging and the corners of my cheeks.

He looked me in the eyes for a while before nodding. Perhaps my conviction to go down fighting had convinced him.

"Hah! You're right, true courage is to laugh in the face of death. Sure, you can be a scout. Scream if you find it."

Nodding, I turn to start jogging, before thinking of something.

"Hey Stedrall, can I get a knife?"

"Sure thing, anything to help you have fun." For a while, I looked at him strangely, tipped off only by his ghost of a smile that he was trying to be funny. I smile back, after all with teammates like this, how could I not have fun?