This piece of hairy shit! It fucking hurt!

The impact spread through my body, momentarily stunning me. I forcefully gathered my consciousness and grabbed onto anything after Romulus released me. As he raised his hand, I remained clinging to his fur. He dumbly stared at me, wide-eyed in surprise. I stabbed my right arm into his palm and clasped a bone or something.

“Get off, you bitch!” Romulus whipped his arm back, attempting to throw me off.

That’s rich getting called a bitch by a werewolf. I got flung around like a rag doll. It’d take more than that to get rid of me. My right hand holding on strong, I began ripping off whatever I could reach with my left. Every rake removed chunks off Romulus’ palm. Must’ve been painful for him because he kept screaming.

Then Romulus had the brilliant idea of slamming me to the ground again. Didn’t work out the first time, so he tweaked this strategy by repeating it. Again. And again. And again.

Shocks rattled my brain. Impacts were incessant; I couldn’t think straight. I no longer knew which way was up or down. My vision was a blur of the world. Didn’t fucking care. Shutting off the pain, I honed my focus into shredding his arm like chicken breast for salad. I don’t know what the fuck I’m thinking about. What I did know was that I made my way up his arm. Right hand hold. Left hand rips off anything within reach. Left hand grabbed onto something. Right hand tears everything.

Repeat. Repeat. No rinsing, which I badly needed. I was coated in gore. Three seconds later, I was up to his elbow.

His next display of genius was to pull me off using his other hand. I transferred to it as he tried to grab me, like a rabid tick the size of a human. A small human. Not very genius of Romulus, it turned out. Back at it with disassembling him, one fistful at a time.

Romulus thought of something that did work—biting off the arm I was tearing apart above the elbow before I could reach further up. I didn’t realize what he did until I fell to the ground, holding his severed left arm. The little that remained of it anyway.

I wiped the blood and bits of flesh off my face and looked around. A hint of the sun crept up the horizon.

Morning already? We must’ve spent more than five hours inside that whale monster. In this meager sunlight, I couldn’t see Romulus anywhere.

Fucking stupid! I should’ve jumped on his torso. Better yet, his head. I lost the chance to do my signature head-rotating move. Or even my older punching-through-the-eye-socket-to-reach-the-brain skill. My new schtick of tear-apart-piece-by-piece didn’t prove very effective. It was supposed to be a slow and scary torture—I wasn’t planning on killing him yet—but it didn’t incapacitate my prey.

“Now, where did that bastard go?” I muttered, heading to the trees. I picked up a couple of Romulus’ fingers, and I passed. They were thicker than my wrist.

The power of Romulus made him very hard to find. At least, it wasn’t teleportation, that was certain. He should be deep in the forest.

Or maybe not too deep? Another gamble, or more like a strong hunch—that armless mutt wouldn’t flee far. He’d want to spy on me, just hiding in the darkness. It was either to keep track of me for his comrades to find or, more likely, to find an opening for revenge.

Sprinkles of purplish blood accented the green grass I passed. Not too helpful though. The drops were spread over a wide area because of how fast Romulus fled. They only gave a general direction of where he went.

Darkness returned as I entered the shade of trees. I walked with a slight crouch, projecting wariness while carrying two of Romulus’ fingers with still-intact claws.

I was confident Romulus was observing me. He should be trying to guess what my special abilities were. I wagered that he couldn’t accept that I was physically stronger than him. There had got to be a trick, he’d think. I was a true Adumbrae—it was natural I’d be stronger—but my image as a weak woman would create a dissonance in his brain. A giant werewolf shouldn’t lose to someone who looked like me.

The trail of blood stopped. I backtracked and picked a new path. Ended up with nothing. I started circling.

Romulus must be waiting for his arms to regenerate before engaging me. No way he’d let it end like this. But if he didn’t show up soon, I’d end up lost!

I didn’t bother calling out to him or chiding him. That wouldn’t aggravate him into revealing himself. By pretending I was taking this seriously, with my guard up and all, Romulus would think he had a chance at defeating me head-on.

Or not. Still no attacks. Jubjub, help me out here!

A rustle to the left. That tree with rings of leaves spread upwards its trunk. Some of its leaves were falling!

I hurled a finger of Romulus like a spear. My target—a bunch of branches swaying. Might be more accurate to say Jubjub was swaying them when I came close enough to notice. The clawed finger hit something with a fleshy thud, unlike the sound of a thick tree. A spurt of blood from seemingly nowhere.

An anguished roar followed. Romulus came into view, his camouflage peeling off like that gray film on a scratch card. I hit him to the side of his abdomen, pinning him to the tree. I threw his other finger and impaled his shoulder. Then I sprinted to him before he could free himself.

Romulus hadn’t regenerated his hands yet, only his arms, and couldn’t pull his fingers out of his body. What a weird thought out of context. All he could do was wildly thrash to dislodge himself. He grabbed the base of the tree with his feet, anchoring his lower body, and tried to do a weird ab crunch, bringing his upper body down. He might’ve succeeded in tearing himself off the tree if it weren’t for Jubjub.

“The hell?” Romulus angrily croaked as black tendrils emerged from the shadows beneath the leaves and wrapped around his neck.

They choked him and pulled him back. He strained against the bonds. Some of them tore. But I was already standing in front of him with a raised brow.

Romulus chuckled, relaxing and raising his stumpy arms in surrender. “Okay, okay. You got me.”

“Time to answer some questions,” I said. His blood flowed down the tree, watering its roots and slowly spreading toward my bare feet. I couldn’t move away because that was uncool.

“What’s this power of yours?” Romulus asked, wrongly assuming that Jubjub wasn’t a separate person. “I’m not the only one comfortable in the dark, eh? Is this how you detected me? Was this on me the entire—rargk!”

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I cracked his shin with a punch. His lower leg was all I could reach. Annoying that he was looking down on me. “That’s for interrupting me earlier,” I said. “And I’m the one asking questions. First, can you turn back into a human?”

“Turn into a human for you to torture me easier?” he scoffed. “I’m not stupid to do that even if I could. This is my permanent form.”

“You’re lying,” I said, completely guessing. Good thing if he was stuck this way. Deen might object to my next actions if done on a human body as compared to a monster. I punched the same leg, once again breaking his currently healing bones. “Return to your human form.”

“I’m telling you the truth, you bitch!” Romulus kicked me with his not-injured leg.

I ducked, expecting that he’d eventually do it. The log of a leg passed above me. I stood up and caught his leg in the return. I would’ve preferred taking the hit. Much cooler. However, I learned my lesson that I was too freaking light for cool stuff. I’d get lifted off my feet even though I had the superstrength to absorb the impact. I quickly twisted Romulus’ leg several times, enough to rip skin and flesh and pop the joint off its knee socket.

Romulus yelled as blood poured from his amputated leg. Funnily, he didn’t try to kick me again. Some clear minds prevail. I noted his hands were starting to reform.

“My next question,” I said. “Where on a fucking map is this place? South America? The Pacific?”

“I can’t answer what I don’t know,” Romulus replied, grinding his fangs.

I jumped up and stabbed his stomach with his leg. The leg’s flesh peeled off encountering Romulus’ abdomen, but the bone continued, penetrating his body and driving into the tree trunk behind him. There. He’d have a harder time removing himself once he got his hands back.

“Argh!” He spat out blood on me. I was already covered in blood, so it didn’t irk me as much. “Use your brain, little girl! Why the hell would I be told such an important information?”

I was aware I’d likely wouldn’t get anything from him. “You must know something,” I said. “You’re just trying to drag this out until rescue arrives.”

Romulus laughed. “Damn right, I’m waiting for the others to arrive. But I also don’t know anything of use to you even if you squeeze me. I just watch the river and report anything wrong. What now, little girl? Are you going to kill me?”

Has he really called base? “You’re egging me on? Not afraid of death?”

“I willingly became a monster! Do you think I’m afraid to meet my maker? Do your worst! You don’t have much time to torture me and get nothing!”

I narrowed my eyes. That was a good comeback. If I continued dismembering him, then I’d be the sore loser. I did want to do it but not anymore after getting told to. It was like Mom telling me to clean my room though I already planned to, and that just made me resent the whole bit.

“How did you call for help?” I asked. “Where’d you hide your phone or whatever gadget you’re using? Stuffed it up your ass? You’re just naked under all that fur?”

“Willing to perform a cavity search on a werewolf?” Romulus snickered, blood dripping down the sides of his mouth. His fun was cut short when a small explosion puffed from his chest, followed by a tiny bloom of electric currents.

Bits and pieces of machinery fell.

I caught some. Must be a hidden radio that Jubjub had found. Did it mean that Romulus succeeded in calling for backup? “So, that’s where it was…” I said, holding up a piece of whatever up at him.

“Nifty trick, Adumbrae,” Romulus said. “Congratulations on finding it. With your power, you knew I was up the tree. And that’s also why you were confident revealing yourself. How did you even get here? You must’ve snuck on Kevin—that’s the name of the swimming big guy. But how did—GAARGGH!”

I stretched my arm, palm facing down, and sliced across his heel. His severed foot fell to the ground. I stabbed him with his foot.

“Kill me already!” Romulus roared. “Kill me and get lost on this island! It changes. I’m going to watch you struggle from hell, you Adumbrae! I’ll wait for—” He stopped mid-rant and sniffed the air. “You have company?”

Company? Fucking Deen is coming here to stop my fun! That, or she was warning me to wrap this up before trouble arrived. I turned around. My best friend, still wearing her wetsuit, emerged from the trees, walking quickly towards me. She was wearing an indecipherable expression. My friendship senses were tingling. She wanted to tell me something, but I couldn’t guess what.

“What now?” I asked, retaining the face I wore for Romulus. This was what remained after I took off the mask of the lost 2Ms’ client. “Can’t you see I’m a bit busy here?”

“Erind, I have to tell you something,” said Deen. “Come here. I’ll whisper it to you.”

I shrugged. “Sure. Our friend here was doing a Little Riding Hood bit earlier. He forgot about his large ears. He’d probably overhear—”

Deen punched me across the face. That was a fucking serious punch. My body was ready to react and fight her. A thought stopped me—no way the enemy could’ve mind-controlled her; her Guardian Angel was the ultimate counter to that. This also couldn’t be an illusion for the same reason.

Deen followed it up with a punch to my stomach. I got lifted off the ground. She grabbed me before I got sent flying away. Twirling for momentum, she launched me through the trees. As I soared, my mind raced. Why was she doing this? Was she angry at me for torturing Romulus? If so, she would’ve just told me off.

I slammed against a tree for the second time today. I flipped myself and landed the right way up, immediately running back to where Romulus was as soon as my feet touched the ground. A shadow kept up with me to my right. Not my shadow.

“Jubjub, cover me,” I whispered, crouching as I ran.

The darkness complied. Jubjub reformed into her body as I went under the blanket. Slowing down, we continued on our way. “Let’s see what Deen’s plan is,” Jubjub told me.

“You didn’t think she betrayed us?”

“Why would I?” Jubjub answered with a tone that implied she thought I was asking a stupid question. “The only explanation for her actions was that she had a plan. She sent you away with a throw rather than a blow—she wanted distance to perhaps trick the enemy. I followed you so we can return with my stealth ability.”

“Huh…” I blinked in surprise. Jubjub was insanely loyal. I would’ve thought the same thing if I completely trusted Deen. “Can the werewolf smell us inside here?”

“No. But he can hear us. Quiet now and watch your steps.”

Nearing my launch point, we heard voices.

“Rommy, Rommy,” Deen loudly said. “Looks like you got yourself in a pickle.”

“Rommy?” The werewolf grabbed his leg impaling his stomach and pulled it out with a heave. Some of his fingers had returned. “That you, Laura? You shapeshifted into her friend, huh? Why are you here?”

What’s with that question? I wondered. Was Romulus bluffing about reporting my presence to his bosses? Or was this ‘Laura’ whatever not supposed to be part of the reinforcements?

“I sensed something weird earlier while on the boat,” Deen replied. “Fortunately, I came to check on your sorry ass.”

Ass? I giggled. That was something Deen wouldn’t say normally.

Romulus freed himself from the tree. He tried to balance standing on his amputated legs, looking comedic. “Did you take care of this woman you copied?”

“No,” Deen replied. “She managed to get away from me. We should also run or that bitch who did that to you figures out I’m not the cavalry.

I frowned. Hey! She called me the B-word.

“To the safe zone by the tree,” said Romulus, walking briskly. “It’s going to change soon. We’ll lose them in the Yellow Island. What’s the time?”

“Time?” Deen grabbed Romulus as he passed, pulling him to the ground. “Erind! Time for you to kill him!”