Pissed at myself for forgetting to pay attention to my domain, to what was going on around me, I did the best I could to avoid the big male's foot coming at my face. As frustrating as it was, though, the bitch turned out to be a pain in the ass, even in death. With her lying on top of me, her two daggers stuck just below my ribs, what I could do at that moment was limited to tilting my head and avoiding the worst.

But, of course, that was not enough.

The beast's painful howl ripped through the back alley as the male's foot hit the ground.

"Cunt! Stay still, will you!"

»Fuck you!«

'Seriously, please, get out of my ear!'

I might have avoided having my nose shoved into my face, but I wasn't so lucky with my sail-like ear. Worse, the big stupid human did not seem intent on moving his shitty foot. Instead, he twisted it like he was putting out the butt of a cigarette, grinding my ear under the sole of his boot. To make matters worse, my ears made me hear everything, every little detail of my skin tearing.

Nothing pleasant.

In fact, rather shamefully, instead of the defiant growl I had hoped for, a pained whimper came from my throat. It hurt; it hurt so much, far more than the two daggers in my belly. But reminded of those and seeing the shithead going for a kick, I swallowed another whimper and, with tears in my eyes, rolled the corpse of the human bitch off of me.

"Fuck!" the stupid male cursed as he kicked his lifeless mate in the head instead of my arm, which he was aiming for, no doubt to break it. Admittedly, a bit satisfying, but not the outcome I had hoped for, either. Instead of stumbling or recoiling in horror at what he had done, the male remained standing firmly on my ear. If anything, should I trust my instincts, it only pissed him off more.

'How could he possibly get..?'

»Fuck off!!!« Not only did the beast's roar drown out my stupid question, but it was, in a way, the answer itself. There wasn't just one kind of rage. One could be furious yet hold back, lash out but be aware of their actions, or let oneself be blinded by the rage. And the stupid male seemed to have just reached the final stage.

When I clawed at his leg with both hands, instead of swearing, an unintelligible roar came out of his mouth. While it did the job and I managed to free my ear, seeing him like that and hearing his rage was like another punch in the gut.

Was this how I looked like to the others? A senseless feral beast?

'Oh, stop it! Not now, Korra!'

Of course, I didn't stay lying there to ponder on it; that would be stupid.

No, I roared back and, as he graciously lifted his now bleeding leg, I rolled onto my side, jumping to my feet. At least, that was my intention. The two daggers still logged just below my ribs threw a wrench into what was supposed to be a swift and elegant gain of advantage.

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Another frustrated, pained, bestial roar ripped from my throat as I, kneeling on one leg, yanked the daggers from my body. The weakness of mine was so vexing. If only this body weren't so pitifully feeble; if I were to shift fully, all those gutless cowards would be lying at my feet in pools of their own blood. Instead, it was me who was bleeding.

»Cravens!«

With frustration vented, I noticed that wasn't entirely true, though.

Whatever concoction the stupidly huge human had drunk earlier seemed to have worn off, or at least the effects had diminished. Unlike my stomach, which bled less and less with each painful breath I took, undoubtedly the work not only of my regeneration but also of my inner mana the beast was swirling around the wounds, the male's leg did not stop bleeding.

'Good.'

That was really good.

How else was I supposed to fight someone who was healing before my eyes, right?

Somewhat surprisingly, the stupid human didn't miss any of that either, so when I bared my fangs at him in a grin and wagged my tail happily, he roared furiously and lunged at me. All the swagger was gone as soon as I tried to move, though. Once again, instead of being proud of my graceful swerve, I was forced to swallow my shame as my legs buckled in weakness, and a whimper left my throat.

Sure, it served its purpose as me collapsing like a feeble pup was something not even the big guy expected, but . . . it was simply so annoying. I was supposed to be the beast, baring my teeth at my prey, not the one running away.

»You'll have to try harder, cowardly craven!« I snarled at the male in a lame attempt to salvage my pride, actually glad he didn't understand my pointless swagger. Barely dodging his blows, I struck back with the daggers, whimpering once more in pain.

Who would have thought that clutching the handles with the claws out wasn't the most brilliant idea?

Forced into another painful roll on the dirt floor of the back alley, I took advantage of the space gained and hurled the daggers at the stupid human. As expected, he stopped and covered his face with his forearms, but much to my frustrated despair, he didn't have to bother. My first attempt at a dagger throw could not have been more lame. Despite the close distance, one blade missed him completely, and the other bounced harmlessly off his hand after hitting him with the hilt instead of the edge.

"Huh? Is that it, cunt?"

'Shit!'

The clarity returned to both his voice and his eyes.

»Far from it!«

Once again, baffled by the cockiness of my inner beast, I could do nothing but lament the missed opportunity.

"Stom!" the huge, stupid human shouted, sending my heart into fright.

The illusion-wielding human!

'Oh no! The fucking mage guy! How could I forget him?'

That brief moment of distraction of me looking for Ria to see whether or not she had ended up in the hands of the fucking illusionist was what made the difference between avoiding a punch and being sent sliding on the ground into the wall with more broken ribs.

"That's it. How do you like that you f . . . ? What the fuck!"

The smug smile on the big guy's face quickly gave way to stunned despair when I got back on my feet.

"What the fuck are you, cunt? How are you still standing?"

»Your punches suck.«

'Because I had no other choice.'

There might have been a hole in my ear, and my left wing hanging broken. Every breath I took might have brought tears to my eyes and made me hear my bones crunch and grind against each other, but giving up was not an option. It would mean going through worse - much worse.

Not to mention that I wouldn't be able to bear the guilt of bringing a similar fate upon a little pup.