Chapter 46: The Wrath of the Wolf

Landar

No! Now we’re stuck here! I shouted into my mind, and the she wolf growled in annoyance and rage. My eyes locked with Regi, and for a moment my heart stopped. His eyes were filled with a murderous blood lust, his expression was dulled by the clear head wound he was still healing from, his scalp and the bones of his skull were visibly knitting themselves back together as I watched.

His arms and legs were broken, but he walked and the pain never reached his expression, supported by thick tar like magic that came from him to his shadow. Wrapping around the shattered and healing bones, and forcing them to work despite the damage.

The world grew cold, and frost formed around my ax biting my skin.

Attack! Howled the she wolf, and I had to bite my tongue to keep control of my body.

Regi slowly made his way towards me. His movements were sluggish, uncoordinated. But power rolled off him like a waterfall.

That’s his broken core boss, it's mostly healed. But right now the cracks are strained again thanks to whatever that was that Roland did.

Wait, you don’t know what he did?

Nope! Real miracles are not really arcane. Also, you might want to move.

Move, pup! Or be eaten!

I dodged to one side throwing myself to the ground as a slugged blade of pure umbral mana lashed out from Regi’s sword. “Just you, and me.” Regi’s voice was slow, as if he were puzzling out a difficult logic puzzle. “Odd. I thought you might be an ally, with how much you hate her.”

My fingers and ax dug into the ground as I pulled myself into a run. A second black mana blade split the air where I had just been.

“Hate who?”

Regi’s dumb expression solidified into hate. “Sakura! Tegi! Megi! Everyone who would stand in my way!”

Go for his throat, before he digs his claws into you!

Shut up, or you’ll get us all killed!

Yeah, the boss is trying to think.

No thinking, kill him!

I ran for the nearest tree line, hoping to use it to at least get some concealment. Even if I knew his attacks would rip right through them. Even if they couldn’t protect me, I'd rather he tried to kill me without being able to pinpoint my location.

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My feet burned, my legs ached, and the cold around my ax bit at my fingers.I had to dodge two more sluggish shadow blades before I reached the trees, only for something to grab ahold of my legs and send me tumbling face first into the grassy ground.

Fuck!

Shadow hands ripped up from the earth and held me tightly.

I tried to pull myself up, but only got to my knees in time to be kicked back down on my back by Regi’s boot. I felt something in my shoulder crack, and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to use my left arm for a while as pain exploded through my body.

“My mind is clearing.” Regi stood over me, blinking. Trying to clear his thoughts and eyesight of the blood that still coated his face and down his torso. It was a mix of his own, and his siblings. “I thought you might have been an ally. But . . . But you didn’t hate her enough.”

FINE! I’ll do it myself!

Regi lifted his blade, it was uncoordinated. But the mana that wrapped itself around the weapon would make even a miss a likely deadly affair. The blade started moving.

Fangs and fur as white and gray as winter snow materialized in a pounce. Fangs wide, aimed like a missile directly for Regi’s throat. The she wolf grew in size as she finished materializing until she became nearly the size of the carnivorous six legged horses from earlier. Her fangs bit deeper with every ounce of muscle her body gained, and she bit down with the full force of her wrath.

“No!” Regi shouted, as he was torn off his feat. Dark tendrils of umbral mana erupted off the ground near me, freeing me from the prison of black hands that had been holding me, as they morphed into tentacles with sharpened spikes. The shadows' actions almost felt desperate to protect Regi from her wrath.

I felt the pain the umbril mana caused her, and saw the blood that poured from the dozens of shallow but long wounds across her body. But I also felt the coldness of winter dull that pain to a low rumble. Enough to know what was happening, while still maintaining full control of her and my own mind.

Despite Regi’s counter attack, she would not be denied. The She Wolf lifted him into the air, then shook as all canines did. Her teeth in his throat, it was a bloodbath.

The crunching noise sent shivers down my spine. Blood burst from his neck, and darkness wrapped him in a kind of cocoon looking protective barrier.

I was on my feet, ax in hand half a heartbeat later. As soon as she finished shaking him, she pinned him to the ground and tried pulling the black cocoon apart with her teeth and paws. I will show you how to skin a kill, pup. Watch closely.

She pulled, and bit, and chewed for a good ten seconds but while the darkened material stretched it did not break.

“Shit, we really should just run.” The sideways look she gave me was murderous. “If you’re teeth aren’t working, let's try mine.” I lifted my ax, infused it with a rather anemic Empowered Strike, and brought it down.

The cocoon rang like a bell, and a long gash ripped open down its length. Exposing an arm. Her bite tore into the explosed limb, but not before it was wrapped in another layer of protective black goo.

“I have enough juice for one of two things. A fire spell, or calling for help. I can’t do both. And he’s going to get better, really quickly and come out and kick us both to death. You got to work with me here.” Her glare was less murderous this time. But the frustration in her body language was palpable. “You hold him down, and I'll call for help.”

She huffed in annoyance, and resignation in a way that reminded me of my border collie from Earth. She redoubled her efforts, and the muscles along her jawline visibly bulged. It was then I saw goo was slowly pushing her teeth out from where she had dug deep into Regi’s neck.

Call for the pack.

As explosions of power ripped through the jungle not too far in the distance as the Knight Captain and whatever that horned elf guy was fought their bitter duel, I did just that.