Nami jumped back, the arrow landed so close to her foot it caused her heart to race in panic. Her eyes scanned the area and spotted a man with a bow standing by the front gates. Even from here, she could tell it was the same man that had sent the wolves to attack her back in Heartsville. She notched an arrow as he called out over the courtyard.

"I'm surprised to see you alive, girl. Though I'm glad you are. You really will fetch us a good price on the market."

She forced her rage to stay in her heart, for now, she couldn't afford to let herself be baited now. "I'm not gonna be anyone's slave. You won't lay a hand on me."

The man laughed a mirthless sound and aimed his bow at her. "Like I would give you a choice in the matter."

As he finished speaking, he released his shaft at her. She was already reacting, her arrow flying at him as she jumped to her left. She grinned as his arrow flew by. Her arrow took off his hat and pinned it to the great doors.

"Next one goes between your eyes, prick." She called as she notched another arrow.

"Your fast, and a good shot. I suppose that was some kind of warning shot? You're a fool for not killing me while you had the chance." The man held up a dark purple crystal. There was a howl from a closed gate on the west wall. The gate began to ascend and the largest wolf Nami ever saw stepped out of the shadows. It was thrice the size of any of the previous Shade Wolves. The worse part, it had the purple crystal shards all over its back.

"What kind of Shade is that?" Nami couldn't help but ask, as she moved back further, pulling out another arrow. The reply from the bandit was another laugh.

"Oh, that's not a Shade. That is a Shadow Wolf, the beast all the Shade Shards come from. Bjorg received this beast as part of his oath of loyalty… whoops almost said too much there. Needless to say, if you thought the Shades were powerful, you have not seen anything yet. Wolfie, kill them."

The archer started to climb up and into the fort using a rope dangling from the top. The beast turned to glare at the Dove trainees who clutched their crossbows in fear. The creature roared and four of its spikes on its back shot off. Two of them flew towards the young Doves. One stumbled as a shard pierced her shoulder, which earned a scream from the young woman. The man next to her had one zoom past his side. At first, it looked like he was alright until his leather shirt started to stain with a dark liquid. He fell to his knees in shock.

Nami snapped her eyes to the walls, looking to see whom the other two crystals had hit. None of their allies seemed phased in any way from the attack. Then there was a gurgle that chilled her blood. Her eyes turned to the bandit's remaining forces on the walls. One on each side was stuck by the crystals. On Dyric's side, it was embedded in the hand of the victim. Yet, on Simeon's side, the fallen bandit had a crystal in his neck. Another bandit obscured her vision at that point, but she didn't care. Let someone else save him, she needed to do something about the source of the attack.

Nami drew and fired her bow in two rapid movements. The deadly shafts flew at the beast's face, right at its eyes. For a split moment, she had the faint hope the arrows would hit their mark and blind the wolf. Then the beast blinked right as the arrows struck and the shafts bounced off its hide. She gulped bile climbing into her throat. What kind of creature had eyelids that could turn an arrow.

While the attack had not done anything to the creature, it did have the effect of revealing Nami. It roared and started charging at her, jumping over the frightened trainees. She saw the beast coming for her and after three long breaths, her body froze and refused to move on its own. She hadn't been this frightened since the flood. The creature could have taken a bite out of her in her daze if a bolt had not slammed into the beast from the side. Unharmed, the monster turned to glare at the source of its attacker. She glanced over and saw Simeon trying to reload. At that moment, her body unfroze and she pushed herself to dash up the stairs onto the wall. Once she reached the top, she dropped into a crouch and sighted down a shaft, and fired it.

Now, had this been any other wolf, the place Nami shot would have been very effective in harming the beast. Unfortunately, her efforts only resulted with another arrow skittering off the beast's body. What was its hide made out of anyways? She shook off her thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand. Then she noticed what was going on around her.

The bandits and the townsfolk had stopped fighting and hid. The bandits must not have expected the beast to turn on them as well. Every minute or so, the beast would shoot off more of the crystal shards which slammed into the walls and ground. Nami managed to jump out of the way of one that was coming right at her. She landed on her knee and there was a sharp pain as she scraped her knee on the stone. She winched as she stood, drawing another arrow. She was already starting to run low and could not afford to fall back to camp for more.

As she consdered this, she heard a cry. She turned her head to see what was happening. Someone jumped off the battlements and kicked the massive wolf in its muzzle. It was Captain Dyric. He landed on the ground in a tumble and came up into a crouch. She wondered if there was some meaning behind his stance as she heard him call out.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"You want a wolf? I'll give you a wolf."

He jumped forward, his hands curved like claws, and brought them down on the beast's leg. There was an awful crunch as he pierced the crystal-like hide and drew forth dark purple blood. The creature roared and swatted him with its other paw. Nami screamed, sure the massive limb was going to toss the captin. To her amazement though, the Captain moved enough so the creature would miss its mark. Then the courtyard was filled with noise like shattering glass. To her amazement, Simeon had appeared next to Dyric, his saber in hand. The creature's limb hit the ground next to them as the weapon started to dissolve. Simeon let the destroyed blade drop, now completely unarmed.

Dyric ran towards Simeon who cupped his hands and tossed the Dove Captain at the monster. He slammed his fists into its face twice, each one leaving a dent in its skin. She made a mental note to later ask him how he managed that. She watched him land on the ground and prepare for another go when he froze.

The beat had enough and opened its maw as wide as it could and aimed at the two men that had hurt it, light pouring forth. From her perch, she could not see what was gathering in its mouth, but she knew it could not be good. It was at that moment, she noticed on the back of the creature's neck, the light was also coming from there. Looking closer, there was a small hole in the creature's neck, discharging some of the buildups. Knowing this was their commander's one hope, she drew an arrow and aimed it at the beast's neck.

"Lord Godfrey, please guide my shot." She called out in desperation and unleashed.

The shaft flew towards the beast, spiraling in the air as it whizzed to its target. She gritted her teeth in disappointment, she could tell her shot was going to miss. Then, she felt the wind shift. It changed without warning and now blew in the direction opposite the arrow was flying. She watched in amazement as the breeze grabbed the arrow and corrected its path. The shaft slammed right into the hole on the monster's neck. The world turned dark purple and Nami was temporarily blinded by the flash of light.

***

When her vision cleared, Nami was lying on her back on the ground. She didn't recall falling over as she sat up. Her knee twinged as well. She frowned and took a deep breath, setting the pain aside for now. She knew it would come to collect in interest later, but she had a job to do. She stood and looked over at the rest of the group. Dyric and Simeon were still on the ground, their hands clasped over their eyes. Beside them, the beast was on its side, its chest still rising and falling. It amazed her that it could still be alive, given its head was gone. As she watched, she saw new crystals start to grow on the stub where its head had been. Nami's blood ran cold as she shouted.

"Captain, that thing is recovering!"

The man on the ground removed his hands from his eyes and rose, assuming a fighting stance. The beast had gotten back on it’s feet as it healed.

"I still can't see. Nami, direct me towards it."

Guilt whelmed up in her as she spoke. "I'm so sorry. It's to your right, within arms reach."

The Captain whirled and landed a punch on the monster's stub, reversing its healing. He then brought his foot up and slammed it into where the heart should be. There was an awful cracking sound as the beast leaped back, unable to make any noises or see what was going on. Its endurance despite the damage it had occurred was amazing, to say the least. It was waving its claws around and turned so it no longer faced Dyric. She drew her last arrow and fired at the beast.

The arrow bounced off the creature's hide again, but in its sense deprived state, that didn't seem to matter. It turned to face its attacker and started moving at her in a clumsy manner. She gritted her teeth and dropped her bow in exchange for her throwing knives. The wolf only took one step though, before Dyric moved between them. He had his arm pulled back, a faint golden glow to it.

"Time to return to the shadows, you foul abomination."

He kicked off the ground and vanished. Nami blinked her eyes, unsure of what had happened. Then she saw Dyric knelt a few feet away, his arm losing the golden sheen. For a split second, his hand looked like claws but when she blinked it was a normal hand. Had she imagined that? Either way, in his hand, was a small crystal that was beating like a heart. He brought his other fist onto it, shattering the odd crystal.

What happened next was something she would never forget. The beast froze in place and started to turn clear. Once the body had lost all color, it crumbled into shadows like the Shades had done. Nami slumped, resting on her good knee as that battle ended. Her eyes scanned the area the last of the bandits were hiding. She had no arrows and her hurt leg was going to limit her ability to fight without it.

The remaining bandits came out of hiding and threw down their weapons. There were only six left that wasn’t out cold or dead

"We surrender." One of them said as he held his hands out before him. "We never knew about that thing, let alone what it would do when released. Needless to say, this was our breaking point."

She could see Simeon glaring at the man as he took out a length of rope and used a knife to cut it into segments.

"It's far too late for that, but it is possible your victims will show mercy since you surrendered. Now, tie each other's hands together and then sit down until we come for you."

The men complied with Simeon tying the last one. As she watched this, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking over, she saw Dyric looking down at her.

"Are you alright, Nami?"

She sighed as she looked at her hurt knee. "I scrapped my knee up, nothing serious. Are you alright though?"

The Captain nodded and looked like the assault force reassembled around Simeon. "Yeah, my hands and foot hurt from hitting that things hide."

"What even was that? How did you do that much damage with your bare hands?"

Dyric grimaced as she spoke. "I'll tell you another time, we need to get inside that fort." He reached into his belt pouch and handed her a small pill. "Here, eat this. It will allow you to forget your pain for a short time. Be aware, when it wears off, you will suffer from twice the pain for the same length of time you forget it. We could use you in this final push if you're willing."

She hesitated for a split second before taking the pill. The effect was almost immediate, her knee stopped hurting as she rose to her feet. "Thanks, though I am still out of arrows."

It was at that moment there was shouting from the gate. Nami turned to find the Dove Trainee girl she had sent away coming back with extra weapons and arrows in her arms.

"Sorry that took so long, I saw the beast from where I was resting and thought you might need some fresh weapons."

Nami beamed at the girl. "Thanks, how are you feeling."

She grimaced and looked around the battlefield before setting down her load. "Well, I'm not alright with having killed a man. But I had to help."

Dyric reached over and patted the girl on her head. "Thanks. I agree with Nami though, you're done. Stay out here and watch the prisoners. Also, tie up the ones that are out cold."

She pressed her fist to her breast. "As you wish, Captain."

She set off about her task. Nami reached down and scooped a quiver of arrows and transferred them to the quiver on her back. She then headed towards the door, Simeon appearing beside her as she walked. She reached the gates and pulled on them. The doors begin to open and she couldn't help a grin on her face. Kin's group had completed its mission.

"Hang in there guys, help is on the way."

On either side of her, were the allies that she had fought the Shadow Wolf with. Pride burst from her chest as they marched into aid their allies.