The look on my face must have been scary as everyone at the dining table looked at me in shock.

“Put out the fire immediately!”

The tone of my voice brokered no argument and my Mother immediately put it out.

She seemed to want to ask me something but I put my finger on my lips. Everyone kept quiet.

In the distance, a low howl could be heard. That was enough of a signal for me to know what was going to happen.

We were about to be attacked by one of the scourges of the apocalypse.

I quickly explained to my family, “Fleet wolves. Long snout, lots of small needle like teeth, smaller than usual wolves but rather fast, fur has a metallic sheen to it. They have a great sense of smell and that's how they found us.”

“You mean they smelt the food I was cooking?”

“Yes. So please take the food, Lylia and Snowie upstairs,”

“But daddy..”

“No Lia, go upstairs now”

My mother grabbed Lylia and went upstairs with Snowie at their heels. I grabbed my spear and gave it to my father.

“I want you to stay in the house and guard the stairs.”

I could tell he had questions but I'm glad he kept it in and simply nodded.

The howls were now much closer. Close enough that I could tell they were coming from the east. I took my bow, dagger and battleaxe and headed in their direction.

A light jog took me to the fence. In front of me was a clear area and then the start of some low hills. The fences were about 5 feet in height and I couldn't remember if that was high enough to stop the Fleetwolves. After a couple more moments, I saw them.

Running in a pack were about 8 wolves. They snapped and howled as they ran in our direction. Yet what was more chilling was that at the rear was something that made me downright concerned. It was bigger than a fleetwolf and in a stranger loping gait. Instead of legs it ran on 4 arm-like appendages. It had a flat face and 4 beady unblinking eyes. It was a Loaper and it was the real danger in the group.

At about 50 yards out, I activated [Marksmanship] and started shooting arrows in a barrage. I didnt really take time to aim, trusting my instincts and ability to carry the arrows to their targets. Thankfully, two wolves dropped dead while another two were slowed down. The rest were upon me in no time.

I discarded the bow and drew my axe. It was a single-edged weapon but had a sharp spike on the other side. The first wolf jumped at me and just narrowly cleared the fence, shit, guess I now know I needed to extend it upwards. As it cleared the fence, I struck and buried the axe straight into its skull. I pulled back and managed to dislodge the blade in time for me to get away as two more wolves managed to get through. The rest were stuck outside, scratching and banging against the fence.

I edged backwards slowly, deliberately ensuring that both wolves were in front of me. These smart beasts were actively trying to flank me. I was aiming for the barn as that would definitely help protect my back.

And then the Loaper arrived. It tried to climb up the fence but the sharp edges prevented it. Without skipping a beat, it phased through the fence.

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Even though I had seen it many times, seeing it now made me anxious. I had to finish off these two wolves quickly to help my father in the house. The Loaper took one look at me and started moving in the opposite direction towards the house. I cursed under my breath.

Okay no time to play safe, I dashed towards one of the wolves and swung my axe. It was too orchestrated and it jumped out of the way but the other wolf felt an opening and leapt at me, eager to tear into my flesh.

Gotcha!

I rapidly pivoted and threw the Swift Iron Dagger in my offhand. The dagger flew fast and true and it lodged into the belly of the beast. I then dropped to the ground as the other wolf flew past me. Instead of facing the wolf, I grabbed the axe and started running towards the house, hoping that I was not too late.

—

AUGUST

August stood with both hands clenched onto the shaft of the spear. He tried to remain calm but the shaking of the spearhead belied his true feelings. Had he ever used a spear before? Once or twice he recalled, when he was much younger and had to defend his father’s sheep against the wolves.

The howling of the wolves brought him rudely back to reality. He heard whining and screeching as well as the heavy thunk of objects hitting wood. August swallowed nervously.

Suddenly the voice of his son Thorwin came through, “Watch out! Its going into the house!”

‘What?!’ thought August, the door was firmly locked, the windows were barred, just how-?

It suddenly appeared out of thin air. 4 beady eyes that took in everything at once, and short snout and a muscular body covered in short, silvery fur. It turned towards August and opened its mouth in a gruesome predatory smile. It then dashed straight towards August, its powerful arms pushing so hard against the wooden floor that cracks could be seen.

August, despite his fear, stood his ground. Behind him was the stairs leading to his wife and granddaughter. He would rather sacrifice himself than let any harm befall those two.

“Get your spear down!” yelled Thorwin

August started and at the very last moment, he pushed the spear towards the beast. The sharp point scratched the chest of the beast causing it to screech, just as the point was about to lodge into its flesh, the beast once more disappeared and reappeared a few feet to the side. It crashed into the living room furniture breaking and shattering things around it.

Black blood dripped from the wound to the floor and seeing this made August bolder.

The door shook and the sound of fighting could be heard behind it. After a few seconds the door opened and Thorwin came through.

—

I took a few seconds to behead the fleetwolf that was chasing me. I quickly opened the door and gave a sigh of relief seeing my father alive and standing. To the side was the Loaper moving backwards. It was smart enough to know when to retreat.

As it moved towards the far wall, I charged at it but it phased outside of the house too quickly.

The house was secure for the moment.

The annoying thing about Loapers was that they would seem to retreat but then strike again after a period of time, hoping to catch their victims while they were unaware.

While I was thinking if I should go outside to check or remain on standby indoors, I heard a thud and a screech. I motioned to my father to follow me.

Going outside, the fence was still holding back the other fleetwolves. I looked at the ground and saw the tracks of the Loaper in the snow. We followed it and it ended near one of the traps I made.

It was a simple deadfloor trap where the ground would give way and below it were sharpened spikes. Looking down, the Loaper was there, gasping. It was on deaths door and would die soon.

“Kill it father.”

“Why?It will die soon.”

“You need the experience.”

Realization dawned on him and he quickly aimed the spear downwards and stabbed hard. It took him a few goes but eventually he managed to strike true.

My father must have leveled up because a soft glow emanated from him for a brief moment before fading. He looked at me in amazement.

“Son, I feel…I feel so much younger…and stronger…like I was 20 years younger!”

I smiled at him and nodded my head, “congratulations, I guess you leveled up?”

“Yea, it says im level 2, also says that I have the chance to learn spearmanship.”

“Good, let's keep you practicing then. I still hear the few fleetwolves banging at the fence.”