Soon after we leave the cottage behind, we come across the road. It’s little more than a donkey trail, just a thin wisp of packed dirt trodden and retrodden by feet and hooves. Still, having a pathway is a godsend in this fog. My sense of direction has always been appalling. Take away the sky, the landmarks, the terrain, and I’m completely useless. Now, with my eyes glued to the road, I feel grounded. Safe even.

A string of text appears in front of me.

Skill Proficiency Increased:

Hiking 4

But the assured feeling of a road beneath my feet doesn’t last for long. After an hour in the fog, the cool lick of mist on my skin begins to sting. It’s subtle enough that I don’t mention it to the others. Maybe it’s just my keen distaste for the outdoors.

“So what’s the plan when we get to town?” asks Luci, her figure faint on the misty road. She skips and sways from one side of the path to the other, arms swinging. “I mean, I guess we need more quests. And probably some lower level stuff before we go after this sorcerer guy.”

“First, someone needs to buy this man pants with both legs intact,” I reply, tilting my head at Elias. “If the fisherman’s reaction is anything to go by, robot legs aren’t exactly welcome in the 1400s. And I’m not keen on murdering the entire town.”

“He attacked us,” says Elias.

“Sure.”

“It’s good none of us picked a sorcery class. I don’t think they like magic,” Luci says.

“Definitely a superstitious bunch,” I agree. “When we get to town, we need to play it straight. Towns mean safety and food and supplies. If we piss them off, we lose all that. So we should try to play nice.”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just want a place to sit,” whines Ron. “All this walking. I am not one with nature, man. I am not one with nature.”

Luci kicks a loose pebble. “Do you-”

A message flies into view.

Warning! An unmet party has received a quest. (1) quest is in progress by your party. (6) quests remain.

“Whoa! Anyone else get that?” exclaims Luci.

“I need less words in my eyes, man,” Ron whines.

“So one of those has to be the visa quest, right?”

I shrug. “At least. They said there was more than one.”

“We should work with the assumption that there’s not enough for each party,” replies Elias.

“Does that mean we-” Luci freezes. “Oh crap. Guys!”

She shuffles backwards as a dark shape forms in the mist. Its shadow is fluid and sinuous, beastlike in size and the contours of its spine. Its head lifts, and a pair of yellow eyes appear. A heavy, heated growl rumbles from its throat.

Luci fumbles for her bow. It’s too late. The creature is too close.

It attacks.

Luci vanishes, trails of mist swirling into the shape she left behind. There’s a blur, a path of dust carved in the air. Then she’s there, ten feet behind me. Sliding backward, she barely manages to dig in her heels before she trips. Her hair whips across her face.

“Ah! Did you see that?! I teleported!” she cackles. Then her eyes widen. “Oh my god, I’m gonna vomit.”

The wolf lands. It bows low, teeth bared. A tingle tickles at my mind.

Grey Wolf (Lv 10)

Featuring often in Irish mythology, the Grey Wolf was sometimes a guide, sometimes a curse, sometimes a shapeshifter, and sometimes just a wolf. This version is not a werewolf or a lycanthrope. In fact, it is no different than an everyday wolf if you ignore the supernatural strength, health, regenerative abilities, and unnatural thirst for blood that we have bestowed upon it. Your planet has made a note here that, despite its revered status, the Grey Wolf went extinct in Ireland in the 18th century due to deforestation and hunting. Well done.

Why are there always wolves?

Axe braced in front of him, Elias charges down the road, his robotic leg whirring like a piston. His body rams into the wolf. With a cry, the canine flies backward and spins across the dirt.

My turn.

Blades drawn, I focus on the wolf’s back and will myself to shadowstep - whatever the hell that entails. Before I have a chance to think twice, I lurch forward, and the world blinks away. For a split second, there’s only a darkness. Then I reappear, daggers raised, the haunches of the unknowing wolf bared in front of me.

I’m suddenly very nauseous.

Nope, no, gotta swallow it. I let the adrenaline and fear control me as I stab down. Both daggers pierce its silver pelt and sink deep into its flesh. I yank them free and slash across, then stab again. And again. As many times as I can.

I’m insanely swift. The curved, seven inch blades feel solid in my hand, the mold and weight in perfect balance. Still, there’s something missing. My melee handling is enough to ease me into the fight, but I feel the drain on my stamina sooner than I’d thought. Maybe I’m not holding them right.

Shit. The wolf growls. Fur bristling, it pads back up onto its feet and spins to face me.

That’s my cue. Again, I will myself to move, and in a blink, I’m back where I started. This time, my diaphragm buckles and I gag.

Ugh, I better get used to that fast.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Elias raises his axe overhead and hacks down onto the wolf as a second shadow prowls from the mist.

“There’s another!” screams Luci. She swings her sheath around and tugs the bow free.

“Ron!” I yell.

“I’m there!” He leaps into action, his dumbass gittern in hand.

The shadow leaps. Ron whips the instrument across its face, smacking the wolf clean in the jaw with a musical twang. He knocks it off course, enough to spare himself from the first hit. But his strength, while good, is only half of Elias’. The wolf shakes its head and pounces again.

Its full weight bashes against him. Ron is immovable, his balance sturdy. But the beast is undeterred. It leaps again, latching onto his arm. Teeth wrapped over his flesh, the wolf attempts to wrestle the big oaf to the ground, yanking and pulling and snarling like the man’s nothing but a rope toy.

“Argh, that hurts!” he yelps. “Ow ow ow ow.”

Still, he holds his ground.

“Don’t move!” shouts Luci.

An arrow whizzes by. A few seconds later, another arrow plunges into the wolf’s side. A third hits the dirt. Luci shakes out her fingers before reaching for another.

I survey the battle in search of a way in. I don’t know where to go or what to attack. I can’t shadowstep again. Or I could, but I’d be useless once I get there. I can feel it without even looking at my stamina.

Elias is still wrestling with the first. The man and the wolf are locked in a battle to the death, teeth and steel clashing between them. Deep gashes mar the beast’s fur, but the damn thing is relentless. Meanwhile, Elias doesn’t seem to have a scratch on him. Not yet. His battleaxe has taken the brunt of the damage.

It’s an insane thing to see, really. I’ve never seen a wolf in real life, and if I had, I would have fled. Or curled up in a fetal position and hoped for the best. Or just died. Just immediately died. To see a flannel-clad man duke it out with a wolf, no holds barred… Shit’s crazy.

And then, only a few feet away, there’s Ron. With the way that wolf is going at it, his bare arm should be nothing but bone now. But despite the blood seeping from the tears in his flesh, Ron is holding strong. For how long, who knows.

Maybe, if I get around toward the side…

Its grip on Ron begins to falter. Ron takes advantage and hits the wolf with the butt of his gittern, whopping it right on the snout. His arm slips free.

He flails, spinning right into Luci’s path. An arrow sinks into his shoulder.

“Ron! Oh, crap. Sorry!”

“All good, little lady!” he shouts back.

Then, the wolf bows low and snaps its jaws around Ron’s ankle. It pulls. With a cry, Ron slips off his feet. The second he hits the ground, the wolf releases him and sets upon his chest, jaws aimed right for the jugular.

Shit.

I can’t help it. I shadowstep again and dive onto the wolf, ramming both daggers into its back and raking them down the sides of its spine. The attack bleeds my strength. I’m on top of the beast, the blades embedded to the hilt.

I can’t move. Ron can’t move. But neither can the wolf. I feel it weaken beneath me, the muscles contracted around my blades pulsing with less and less fervor as its heart begins to fail. Its chest heaves, rapid at first, then slower and slower. The rattle of its breath softens. Finally, it stills.

1.

Enemies Defeated:

Grey Wolf (Lv 10) [Shared with Elias]

Grey Wolf (Lv 10) [Shared with Ron, Luciana]

Exp: 42

Earned: 210g

2.

Level up! You are now Level 9.

Exp to next level: 17/90

Attribute points earned: 3

3.

Title(s) Earned:

First Time Slayer: Defeat an enemy in an official region.

Reward: (1) Lesser Health Draught Voucher

4.

Skill Proficiency increased:

Melee Weapon Handling 7

5.

New Skill Unlocked!

Acrobatics

You can now perform acrobatic stunts. Improve this skill to better balance, react, and outmaneuver your enemies with dives, rolls, dodges, flips, and more.

Rolling off the wolf, I collapse onto my back beside Ron. I lull my head to the side to see Elias yanking his bloodied axe from the other wolf’s neck.

“We did it,” I sing weakly. “Hooray.”

I shut my eyes, just for a moment. My head swims. My muscles and joints ache. I feel like I just ran a marathon. Not like I’ve ever run a marathon. I hate running. But if I did, I’m sure it’d feel a lot like this.

“Ron, Ron, are you alright?” cries Luci. I hear her hurry across the road, her shadow falling over my closed eyes.

“No worries, button. You’re still learnin’,” replies Ron, his voice strained. The wolf thuds to his side. “Just jerk that arrow out of there, would ya?”

“Are you sure? Won’t you, like, bleed more or something?”

“Health regeneration,” I mumble. “Should be fine. If not, your uncle’s got that health thingie. Potion. Whatever.”

“Alright, Ron,” says Luci. “You ready?”

“You bet. Just count to- Ow!”

“Sorry! Sorry!”

“It’s good.” He inhales sharply. “I’m all good. Whoa! Check out my arm, dude!”

I open my eyes and prop myself onto my elbows. Beside me, Ron wipes some of the blood from his arm. As a group, we watch in fascination as the weeping holes in his skin begin to melt back together like tempered wax.

Luci laughs. “That is disgusting.”

“How’s your health?” I ask.

“Lemme see. Yup. Tickin’ on up,” he says. “Might be a few ‘til it’s back at max.”

“Is anyone else injured?” asks Elias, looking pointedly at his niece. He bends to massage his knee where his prosthetic meets flesh, then quickly withdraws his hand when he sees me.

Luci plucks the arrow from the wolf and fits it back into her quiver. “My shoulder’s a bit tense is all. I don’t think I’m standing the right way.”

“One in three isn’t bad for your first time,” I reply. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good. That was fun, right?” After placing the bow back into her sheath, Luci crosses her arms and surveys the misty battlefield. It smells like dew and iron. “Oh my god, I feel so jittery.”

“Probably the adrenaline,” I say.

“And you aren’t hurt,” reiterates Elias.

“I said I’m good! Come on. I shot a wolf with an arrow! And I teleported. Did you see me teleport?”

“I hit a wolf with a guitar,” adds Ron.

“And your uncle murdered a fisherman,” I say.

Elias sighs. “You won’t let that go, will you.”

“Not a chance.”

Luci grins. “That was seriously dope. You were right, Helen. Make it an adventure, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I repeat.

I pry my daggers loose from the back of the wolf. Blood gushes from the wounds. Good god, there’s a lot of it. I try to turn away, but my gaze lingers on the beast, its beautiful dew-kissed fur now a shredded, stained mess. With the heat of the battle over, the adrenaline fades, and it’s all just very unnecessarily gruesome.

“So, can we loot it?” Luci asks.

I prod the beast with my toe, willing a notification to pop up. “Um, nothing’s coming up automatically so unless you know how to skin a wolf…”

And so we leave the dead behind us and carry on down the road.

After another hour of trudging through the fog, the air begins to clear. At first, it’s subtle. The shrubs on the side of the path crispen. The contours of the surrounding hills start to form. Soon, the faint line of the horizon appears.

For a time, it remains hazy and uncomfortably wet. But eventually, the haunting mist withers, the skies clear, and the Enchanted Island is revealed.

Green fields and hills, now dappled in golden rays of sun, unfold before us. We can’t see the town, obviously, nor the river quite yet. What we can see is a landscape bereft of enemies. No more wolves sneaking up on us in the mist. No more of that raw, pinching pain prickling at my skin.

There’s only grass, a smattering of trees, and the hope of a quest-filled town waiting somewhere beyond.