Anna

By the time Anna was woken up, it was nearly dawn. Some, like her, were meant to stand as look-outs, and were shown what to look for and where to stand by Volas.

Most, however, were requisitioned by Greg to make fortifications for camp. He had them clearing underbrush and digging trenches. Martayne, one of three remaining geckites complained that the effort was wasted, as they were most likely leaving in search of a better site at some point.

“Marty,” Volas replied when Greg stayed silent about the complaint, “We can’t force you to do anything. Yes, we will most likely leave in the morning, but this is good practice. If it takes more than a day to find a good spot, we’ll need to camp out again and again. The more we practice, the better and faster we’ll be. Suppose I die tomorrow, suppose no one else knows what the hell they’re doing?

“You can choose to not do a damn thing, the rest of us can choose not to help you when you need it. We’re all pulling our weight, you think I want to save the ass of someone who does fuck-all when I could save someone who actually does work? If practicing this gets me an inch closer to my goal, then you bet your ass I’ll do it.”

The words were a bit harsh, but Anna certainly didn’t disagree with the sentiment. Nothing had turned out as she’d expected, but she couldn’t afford to sit around and wallow. Survival meant pushing forward, sitting around in her feelings almost resulted in her getting killed by a kobold.

“Yeah, I get it.” Martayne admitted in a mumble as he got back to digging. The others around him that had paused their work to witness the exchange gave the geckite a nod of encouragement before moving back to their own tasks.

Probably not the first time Volas chewed someone out.

The rest of the morning was uneventful and Anna spent most of her time trying to open the system menu without meditating. By the end, she only succeeded in giving herself a headache. Apparently, thinking as hard as possible wasn’t a viable option.

Once the sun had rully risen, Helen let her know that her guard duty was up. “Everyone only did an hour or so. Volas says it’s just to understand who is or isn’t cut out for it. You, I’m afraid to say, are not.”

Embarrassed, Anna replied, “Got too distracted, huh?”

“That, and you looked constipated for half of your shift. Kalvin and I had a bet on whether or not you’d pop a blood vein.” Seeing the horror on Anna’s face she added, “Don’t worry, we’ve all done the same. You were trying to open the menu right?”

“Yeah, do you know if there’s some trick to it?”

“None that we’ve found. Maybe as we progress in our classes. Speaking of which, I’m a Shadow Siren, got a sweet yell ability, what did you get?”

“Forest Shaman, I have a vine that appears from my skin. Gross, but useful.”

Greg motioned Helen over to take a look at the trenches, so Anna walked a little upstream for a sip of river-water. Then she began packing up her belongings, assuming that they would have to move soon.

Others followed suit, and soon the whole camp was ready to leave. Pays to have almost nothing.

Anna was approached by a young orc, about as tall as she was. He held a machete with a crossguard just like hers in one hand. “Know how to use this thing?” he asked.

“Nope, but I’m guessing it's pretty handy when cutting through branches. Maybe someone else can show us how to use’em?”

As Anna and the orc, who introduced himself as Stephen, moved around the camp, she felt a change in energy around her through her soul membrane. The energy in the clearing began fluctuating, first sputtering, and then becoming overcharged. Looking for an explanation, she turned in the direction where she felt the largest source of condensed energy.

Standing there, partially hidden behind a few trees, was a massive wolf. Its mottled fur stood on end as if charged with static electricity.

Desperate to get her group's attention, she yelled, “WOLF, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”

The wolf tilted back its head and a split second before she heard it howl, lightning arced from the top of the canine’s back and into Stephen's body, making him seize and fall onto the floor.

At the same time, three additional arcs of lighting flew into the camp, two striking people and one smashing into the floor, exploding a small area.

Volas and Greg were shouting at the others to get to the trenches when five wolves entered the clearing and began causing havoc. Both of the warriors immediately moved to engage a wolf while the others made a dash for their new fortifications. Anna grabbed Stephen by his collar and dragged him down into the trench dug nearby.

There several others were waiting and had started fighting back. Kalvin shot large stones towards the pack while another dwarf lit the stones aflame. The wolves made a beeline towards one of the fallen humans. One of them bit her tightly around the waist and started running back into the forest.

The tide was starting to turn, projectiles were flying overhead and the group unleashed whatever skills they had at their disposal. The wolf engaged with Volas was hit by a flaming stone and was knocked prone. While it was down, Volas suddenly blinked forward and stabbed it through the base of its skull, killing it.

Another wolf grabbed a fallen dwarf this time and fled the battle, leaving two of their own dead behind. It was only on their way out that Anna realized the first victim was Helen.

Dropping Stephen, she climbed out of the trench and made a mad dash towards the pack. As she ran, she yelled out in Greg’s direction, “They have Helen!”

A few others followed Anna into the forest, but Volas blocked the path afterwards shouting, “You’ll just die with her you morons!”

No one else followed.

Who gives a shit! We wouldn’t have made it without her and Greg, how could they be so spineless! Anna made no attempt to look back or call for help as the group fell further and further away. She could tell by the footsteps that there were some people running along behind her, but didn’t know how many.

The wolves were able to stay just ahead of her the entire time she was running. It seemed that just when she would close in on the pack, they would suddenly get a burst of speed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Frankly she was shocked she could run for so long in the first place. She’d kept a hard pace for over two minutes. Hold on, I’m faster now, but I’m not that fast. These wolves should be way ahead. A sense of dread filled her as she made a realization. They’re leading us. It’s a trap.

The wolves were clearly intelligent. They fought a group with inferior numbers and had planned for it. A few of us were incapacitated in the initial attack, and they stayed just long enough to get their prey. Now, a smaller group is following them, and they are leading us somewhere.

“Greg!” Anna yelled, she was certain he would have followed his wife. “They’re leading us!” It’s not like we can actually do much about it though, they have Helen.

No response came.

Just before she stopped running out of uncertainty, the three remaining wolves fled through a wall of shrubbery. Greg’s voice finally called out, “Wait, stop here.”

With her lungs crying out in relief, Anna finally collapsed to her hands and knees. She turned to see four others were there: Greg, Kalvin, the fire mage dwarf, and a young geckite she’d seen talking to Greg a few times.

“Good eyes catching where they went, " said the fire mage.

“I don’t think it was due to any work of mine, to be honest. I’m Anna, I don’t think we’ve ever been introduced.”

“That’s Hobbes,” Greg said, answering for the dwarf.

How the hell is he not out of breath?

“This is Kalvin,” Greg continued the introductions quickly, “and that’s Miranda. You’re right, they were leading us here, but they have Helen, so we have no choice but to go ahead. Miranda and I will take point, Kalvin and Hobbes will stay out of sight and launch stones. Anna, try and see if you can get to Helen and Kelbyn, that’s the other one they caught.”

Taking one more deep breath, Anna got up and nodded to Greg, “Got it. You lead, I’ll walk around and see if I can get close without being seen.”

With that, the plan was set. She had no idea if it was a good one, but she did have faith that Greg would do whatever he could for his wife. Miranda was the first to go through the large bushes, she carried a shield and machete like Anna’s, followed by Greg with his own spear and shield at the ready.

Anna walked some ways to the left of the oversized shrubbery and tried to catch a peak on the other side. She made out the forms of her friends and looked where their gazes lead. The two were standing in a small clearing facing off against their opponents. The three remaining wolves were there, circling several men.

They were led by Salar. He had his large staff in his hands and was flanked by two orcs, both wielding swords. A human in a large stiff coat was in front of the geckite, speaking to Greg, although Anna couldn’t make out what was being said. Finally, an archer stood behind the group, her bow aimed directly at Miranda.

Anna spotted Helen and the dwarf, Kelbyn, laid out behind one of the wolves. Both of them were bleeding and moaning on the ground. At least they’re alive.

The fighting was bound to begin soon, and Anna searched for a way towards Helen. Her mana still hadn’t recovered at all, and she was unable to call out any vines. She knew she had to do something though, they were outnumbered, and exhausted from their extended run in the forest. Kalvin and Hobbes had also thrown quite a few skills around, and she wasn’t sure how long they could keep it up.

Before she could make up her mind, an arrow was fired and marked the beginning of the battle. The projectile slammed into, and through Miranda’s shield, but luckily lost too much momentum to severely wound her. Instead, the tip grazed her shoulder as she charged forth, slamming into one of the orcs.

Greg threw his spear hard at Salar, which seemed like a bad idea as it disarmed him, but in the next second he pulled his arm back and another spear, just like the first, materialized. Salar didn’t have to dodge, however, as he swung his staff forward and a screen sprang to life, slowing, and then halting the spear in flight.

The wolves rushed forward to join the fight, but thankfully, the dwarven duo in the bushes managed to blow up the head of the first one with a flaming rock by catching it off guard. The other two were forced into the defensive as they dodged follow-up rocks.

The human and remaining orc rushed in and engaged Greg. He kept them at bay by swinging his spear in broad strokes in front of him, but he was bound to falter at some point.

Anna tried sneaking towards her downed allies in the back. She dropped her bag, drew her machete and walked with a hunch to make herself as small as possible.

Before she even had the chance to properly enter the clearing, an ice cold force slammed her back, knocking the wind out of her. Salar had used a skill to create a barrage of cold air, keeping her out of the fight.

Not knowing what else to do, Anna pushed out her soul membrane and senses, looking for an opening. She didn’t find what she was looking for, but perhaps something better. That same fluctuation of energy was there, but instead of charging an electrical attack for the wolves, it was linking them to something further behind the clearing.

Something in her gut told her that the energy source was damn important. Rather than try and push through a cold front she had no chance in breaking, Anna rolled to the side and crawled towards the source. She could only hope that her friends could hold out until she made her move. When she was far enough from the force, she got to her feet and ran instead.

What she found was a female elf dressed in a similar garb as her. Her eyes were shut and blood was pouring out of her nose. She looked like she was on the verge of death. Anna felt the life energy the elf was drawing in being converted into something foreign, and sent towards the fight.

Gripping her machete tight, she pushed aside any ethical concerns about attacking an undefended opponent, and stabbed the woman in the throat. The elf’s eyes shot open for a brief moment before she began to grasp at her neck. Anna ripped her blade clear from the wound and turned to run back to the fight.

As the woman died, the connection she had with the battle ended as well.

When Anna returned to the small clearing, the battle had taken a sharp turn in their favor. Salar laid on the ground, his intestine pooled around him, and his chest caved in.

Another wolf was lying dead over the body of Miranda’s orc. The geckite ran forward and stabbed the orc to death, only to be shot by an arrow in the back.

Anna saw the archer load and fire a second arrow before she reached her. She had no clue where the arrow had gone, but focused on swinging her machete at the head of the archer. The blade met soft leather and on the pull, she saw a large groove had been cut into the bowman’s head.

The archer fell to the ground and Anna thought she had won, only to be shanked by a dagger in her thigh.

She yelled in pain and slammed her blade into the archer once more, this time slicing into her shoulder.

Again, the archer retaliated by stabbing her. This time, Anna felt the dagger dig into the bone on her hip.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she blindly stabbed into the prone enemy over and over again until she’d made a bloody mess of things. When reality came back to her, the pain made Anna fall over as well. She had just enough sense of mind to land in the opposite direction of her victim.

Looking around, Anna took in the state of their battlefield. The remaining orc and human were both dead, one with his head blown off and his body aflame. The other had his throat ripped out by a wolf.

She watched as a bruised and bleeding Miranda slammed into the last wolf, knocking it off balance. A stone, this time not on fire, hit the beast in the face and completed the job the first had started. The wolf hit the ground and was finished off by Greg, his spear impaling the canine through the eye.

Turning to the others, Greg said, “Check the area, we have to make sure there’s not more of them.”

“Y’all do that, I’ll just stay here a while,” replied Anna. She cried through the pain as she weakly lifted her arms in celebration of their victory.