My claws tore into the inner part of the human's arms - into his chest, ripping his skin to shreds. Much to my surprise and above all irritation, though, the wounds I inflicted on him didn't stay bleeding for long.

'Fucking concoctions!'

»Weakling!«

Whatever potion the big human had drunk earlier must still be working, or my unusual regeneration wasn't as unusual in this world as the deranged human led me to believe. Whatever the case, the barrage of my strikes didn't sway the human as much as I had hoped, and when he eventually managed to block my attacks, he didn't hesitate to punch back.

"Fuck! Just hold still for a moment, cunt!" he growled, frustrated, as he failed to land his blows time and time again. On the other hand, I was quick enough to leave a few more scratches on him. Annoyingly, though, that was it. Despite my best efforts - and the beast was really trying, actually quite enjoying the whole thing - I failed to get him further away from the pup, let alone seriously injure him.

"I said stay still!"

»Make me!«

'Shit! Do you have to piss him off even more?!'

Sure, it was daring, tickling my stupid beast pride, but dumb as fuck. Why provoke him when things didn't go exactly as planned? Didn't the beast realize that I wasn't in the form that made the mind bitch run away, that I couldn't handle the big human in a heartbeat without breaking out in a sweat? Well, the scary thing was that it did. As I understood my limits, the limits of this strange partial shift, so did the beast. In fact, the limitations of this twisted form irritated it beyond belief. I could feel it raging deep down inside. It wanted to push further, to turn me into what I was afraid of becoming, but couldn't, as if shackled by some force.

The only consolation in all of this, as annoying as it was, was that the big human male didn't understand the provocations pouring out of my tongue; in fact, none of the three monsters left did. That by no stretch implied that some of the meaning behind my growl didn't get across.

"As you wish, you fucking feral half-beast cunt!"

»Know your places, stupid human!«

Irritated by his taunt, I unleashed another barrage of claw strikes, not giving him a chance to make good on his words. A mistake on my part that he immediately took advantage of. While I sunk my claws into his chest with disgusting glee, he moved lightning-fast and grabbed my hand. The next moment, while holding me in place, his free hand balled into a fist connected with my chest, knocking the breath out of me and, worse, breaking a few ribs. The sound was sickening, sending a shiver down my spine, but the human didn't even let me howl in pain.

No more blows came, though.

Instead, my feet lost contact with the ground again. The big human yanked my arm out of his chest, took a step back, and as if I were a mere sack to him, swung me over his head, slamming me into the ground behind him.

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Needless to say, it hurt like a bitch. And that was just my pride.

The actual pain itself that ripped through my body was not far from the worst I'd ever felt. In fact, I was pretty sure I had broken my right wing, a few more ribs, and quite possibly my ass. And then there was my head. The ringing going wild in my skull was so loud I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. That was until I saw her.

'What the bloody fuck! When did she...?'

Did I black out? I had to. There was no other explanation because when I blinked, the female was sitting on top of me, two daggers in her hands and a crazy smile on her face.

"Let's see how you like this, cunt," she spat, plunging both daggers deep into my guts, the blades grazing my lower ribs. That bitch didn't even let the world know my pain, as my pained wail died in her sickening cackle of laughter.

"The fuck are you doing, Yara?"

"What do you think?!" the female barked back at the illusion-wielding human. "Something we should have done in the first place - make sure the cunt matches the description."

"Presuming dead, that's what the note says."

"And? Doesn't mean she has to stay alive if she’s found breathing, does it?"

If only she wasn't wrong.

If only I could truly find peace in death.

If only I didn't cling so hard to life.

If only I didn't have other people's lives depending on me.

If only all this was all just a bad dream and death could wake me up from it - I might smile back and even thank her. But instead, as the female raised her eyes to the big human, I pushed through the pain and clawed at her throat. The instant the first drop of blood hit my face, time in the back alley seemed to stand still for a moment.

'Shit - I did it again.'

Certainly not the thought I shared with the human bitch. Her eyes, like mine, may have gone wide, but while mine held a mixture of horror and disgust at what I had done, hers reflected disbelief and fear.

'No. No, please don't...'

The female clutched at her bleeding throat, her gaze slipping down to me. Confused, she tried to understand what had happened and, most likely, what I was. When she tried to ask, though, only her own blood came out of her mouth, and before long, she collapsed on top of me, choking.

'Get off me, get off me!'

While the beast made me lick my blood-stained lips and bask in victory, having a dying woman lying on top of me wrenched my guts into a knot. Although the two daggers embedded in my belly, pushed now by the weight of her entire body, might have had a lot to do with that heavy feeling.

A few final twitches and my skull tingled with a notification.

* You have slain [Fruit Grower - Yarandra Dun: 42 sigils]

'What? She was...no. No, what matters is what she became, a monster.'

Not exactly a comforting thought, as it was a fate I quite possibly might have shared with her. Did she also have her inner beast eating away at her sanity? Doubtful. But she might have had her own Dungreen, Fae, and a fair share of bad luck in life.

'Stop it, Korra! Why the fuck should I care?'

»Because weak.«

That was the bitter truth. Because I was weak, unable to get my head around the fact that I did what was necessary. It was either her or me, either the monster or the pup.

'Shit! Ria!'

As if jolted to life, I looked behind me, finding the little kitare sleeping where I had left her. The same couldn't be said for the big human. Instead of standing between me and the pup, I found him towering over me, his foot coming down fast.