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As the darkness enveloped us, I steeled myself for his attack, startled to see both of us clearly illuminated, yet nothing else. The ground unseen beneath us was flat, which echoed with a clack when struck by the movement of my boots, like a sheet of slate. We're not really in the woods anymore, are we?

The lawless lycanthrope, a twisted nightmare born of fur and fang, lunged forward. His long claws, irregularly splayed and dripping with a viscous, dark grey slime, slashed through the air swiftly. It took all my effort to parry his razor-sharp attacks, my staff pulsing with holy bright light. The air hummed where my aura met his unholy form, sending sparks flying as we clashed. Despite my efforts to strike him true, his physical form seemed unfazed by my counterassault. He feigned yet another slash and took an arrogant step forward, snapping his froth-filled jaws in front of my face before he started laughing.

“Okay, okay, okay! Play first, then die!” he shouted gleefully. “I will remember you! Tell me your name? Tell me your name. Tell me your name!”

It's just the two of us in here, and he has no reason not to kill me. It felt vastly different than any of our encounters thus far. Upon my death, he would be lavishly rewarded, bestowed with additional power to dominate others. Maybe he doesn't mind if he dies, either. Madness had consumed him, making him no better than a rabid animal and certainly devoid of any finesse a respectable warrior would wield in battle. All that he seemed to have was an insatiable lust for violence, which horrified me much more than his intentionally vile visage ever could.

“Raelynn Lightbringer,” I answered slowly to gauge his reaction.

He recoiled in shock momentarily, then opened his mouth, unleashing a series of hysterical barks. “You're lying! Lying. Lying?” His voice became a questionable growl as he continued to jab and swing at me. “Even if you look like her, you can't be her? You can't be her. You can't be her!”

Sure, the one other being who doesn't believe it either is completely cuckoo.

“You are Rachel. Rachel? Rachel! A smith? Blacksmith. Goldsmith!” His neck grew, and his head twisted unnaturally until it was overextended, as if he were trying to look at and question himself simultaneously.

What the... “How do you have approximate knowledge of my name?!”

The demonic werewolf let out a guttural growl, his eyes narrowing into slits as he began to circle me with his heavy paws thudding against the ground with each step. “Your thoughts are many and loud, like Hrolf. Hrolf? Hrolf!” With that, he pounded his chest twice, claws tearing unnoticed at his faux flesh before he spread his arms wide. “Hrolf, the next Demon King!” he proclaimed his future promotion loudly just before launching his next frenzied assault.

With a mighty roar, he renewed his onslaught, his robust frame propelling him forward with ferocious speed. I braced myself and raised my staff just in time to block his first series of blows, the impact of which sent vibrations coursing through my body. Each time one of his paws collided with my staff, a burst of electric energy crackled between us before dissipating into nothingness. After finishing his first flurry of hits, however, he shrugged as if my aura and the sparks it summoned were just a mere nuisance.

“Imbecile! Your staff is but a child's plaything in this grave hour. Unsheathe your sword if you have any mettle left in you!”

“Who—”

“You dare ask my name, you negligent cur? Your current incompetence is your own doing! Go, sharpen both your blade and your wits before you attempt to speak to a master of war again!”

Whichever fallen hero she was, I decided immediately that I didn't care for her much. Grudgingly, however, I prepared to switch to my sword, momentarily cursing myself for leaving my targe attached to Aurum's saddle. As I drew my sword from its sheath, a brilliant golden light burst forth, illuminating the surrounding darkness. Maybe it just conducts my aura better? Perhaps it's just what I'm “supposed” to use...

Hrolf's body shuddered under the harsh glare of the blinding light, his form flickering like a faulty hologram. With a deafening buzz, he materialized just to my left, only to disappear again a split second later. His thunderous howls reverberated through the emptiness surrounding us, causing my hands to tremble as I struggled to track his unpredictable movements and identify a tangible target.

This is no time to be frightened, Rachel!

With a sudden burst of movement, he reappeared at my right. My heart raced as I lunged forward, hilt in hand, the blade slicing through the air with a sharp whistle. But once again, he had evaded my attack with his manic, unpredictable movements. Desperate frustration coursed through me as I struggled to keep up with his constant disappearing and reappearing. It felt like there was never enough time between the buzzing sound that signaled his arrival and his physical form materializing in front of me. If only he would hold—

His claw shredded my left pauldron, eliciting a scream as I recoiled from the intense pain spreading down my arm. Regaining my footing, I attempted to lift my arm, only to find I could do little else but roll my shoulder painfully. It had become utterly useless!

Sonnuva!

“First blood!” he bellowed triumphantly as he materialized in a distant corner. With a sickening slurp, he pulled a single, bloodied, needle-like claw along his tongue. Instead of instilling a sense of disgust or revulsion, it just filled me with simmering rage.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Faster! I need to know where he's going to show up next! Come on, Rachel—Concentrate!

It was as if I could feel an echo traveling through space. A subtle shift in the vibration confirmed my suspicions. He's going to reappear... right there! Without hesitation, I swung my sword before the heralding hum of his reappearance resounded. The impact was satisfyingly deep. I drove my blade further into his side, causing him to let out a spiteful howl. Furred flesh melted into black steam and oozed dark slime, exposing a dull, lumpy black core that sizzled angrily.

“Are you regretting any of your life choices yet, demon?” I mocked as I advanced upon his retreating form.

“Die, Die, DIE!” he screamed desperately as he leapt forward once more, his core still exposed.

Guess that was a no...

My sword pierced through his chest before angling sharply downward, slicing through the core itself with an angry hiss. He shuddered with a dark flickering as both pieces of the core burst into golden flames.

I got him!

“No... no? NO!” he screamed in anguish, knocking me back with a blast of force. “You are part of Hrolf! Part of Hrolf! You stay here with me! With me...” He grabbed both irregular halves of the core and fused them back together, extinguishing the holy fire that had started to consume them.

How am I supposed to beat something that could just rebuild itself?

“No more playing!” he roared, taking the words from my mouth.

Maybe I need to separate him into enough parts...

Gritting my teeth yet still unable to hold my sword in both hands, I unleashed a blazing flurry of alternating swings, literally trying to carve him apart. Luckily, his movements were slower now, too; it was obvious that using spiritual superglue had been costly for him. A few of my scorching slices simply went through him as he intermittently phased, but I eventually stabbed him once more, directly in his core.

“I'm not going to give up!” I screamed, primarily for my own benefit, as I twisted the glowing blade, wrenching it back and forth to break up the core as best as I could.

Crack! Sunlight suddenly tore through the dark dome overhead, ushering in a gust of fresh air. Large, serrated pieces of obsidian-like crystal rained down from the sides of the fissure, shattering into tiny slivers upon impact. The crack thundered on, tearing across the ceiling. I drew my sword back and braced myself, shielding my head and face as the dome dropped on top of us in a resounding crash.

Hrolf, impaled with a myriad of jagged shards that had pierced deep into his hide, fought to hold himself together as the pieces dissolved and reformed his flesh. His core, however, then threatened to split apart completely, sending violent, phasic tremors through his entire being. Fierce hisses echoed from the pulsating core itself as the lumps writhed and tried to pull themselves away from each other. Come on! Two direct strikes still wasn't enough!?

I wasn't immune to the aftermath of his pocket dimension collapsing, either. While the smaller fragments were destroyed on contact with my aura, the larger pieces cut through my skin and burned as they turned into a dark, sizzling mist. The burning faded quickly, only to be replaced with a numbing paralysis, negating my ability to stand. My sword slipped from my grasp as I collapsed onto my knees. At this rate, I'm going to—

“By the sacred chains of light, forged in the heart of fire divine, I cast this sacred seal, with holy light entwine! Binding Glory!” I heard Relias shout from behind me. Hrolf's form vanished, leaving only his vulnerable and pulsating inner core engulfed in a radiant beam of golden light.

With my vision blurred and my head spinning, I started to turn around. I could hear the panicked shouts of my companions as they ran towards me. “Be... careful...” I said in a muffled shout, unsure of what other dangers were present. I stepped forward and attempted to lift my sword, but instead, I ended up taking a knee.

“Don't even try to get up on your own!” Tetora shouted, stopping me with a single hand.

I weakly lifted my head as I looked up at him. “I think... I need... more training...”

“You did better than you think, Little Dragon,” Aleph replied as his powerful arms scooped me up, cradling me against his chest like a tiny child.

Then why do I feel so helpless and embarrassed right now?

As he carried me off to the others, I caught sight of Relias standing resolutely, his staff aloft as he advanced on the bound core.

“By the sacred and eternal will of Euphridia, whose sovereignty reigns supreme, I command you, amalgam of vile darkness, be expelled from this realm! Retreat to the dismal abyss from which you slithered forth, and there may you languish forever to bear the weight of your heinous atrocities!”

Relias then slammed his staff three times into the ground before shouting, “Aeternum Edictum Euphridiae!”

Hrolf's core erupted in a blood-curdling triad of screams, each voice pleading and shrieking for mercy as the binding light intensified. The core itself began to crack and disintegrate, crumbling into ash and releasing three sinister shadows that shuddered violently before vanishing into oblivion.

Amalgam... “He... was three demons, then?”

“Perhaps even more, at one point,” Aleph murmured as he sat me down gently, propping me up against a small pine tree. “Depending on the difference between them, it can take a long time for one to absorb another fully.”

I closed my eyes, trying to get my breath under control. “...Absorb? Hrolf... absorbed other demons?” He wasn't just a mass murderer... he was a cannibal, too? Well... I guess I shouldn't be too surprised...

“Demons are strong,” Tetora said grimly as he removed my broken left pauldron. “Sometimes, a demon will get desperate and try to overtake another. Whoever wins gains the power of the other.”

How gruesome...

“Rae!” I heard Nora and Vernie shout, their voices carrying a note of terror.

“I'm okay,” I mumbled, opening my eyes momentarily. Vernie appeared to be covered in blood, and Nora was soaked in sweat. “What happened to you two?”

“We were helping out Aurum.” To my great relief, Vernie pointed to my horse, who stood close by, flicking his tail in irritation. “Oh! This blood isn't mine—it belonged to the wolves! Pity we couldn't save them...”

“It was the bears that were the most trouble,” Nora said absently, staring at my wound in wide-eyed horror.

“Oh... it's not that bad...” I tried to make light of it. No worries, Relias will fix it... “I can't feel it anymore.” I felt sluggish, barely able to move, my thoughts trailing as I fought to stay awake. “...Bears? You fought bears, too?”

“And birds... all types of wretched woodland creatures...” Nora shook her head, tearing her gaze away fitfully.

A pang of guilt hit me in the gut. “If I had been faster... maybe we could have—”

“They were already lost, Little Dragon,” Aleph advised somberly.

“I'm sorry... I'm still not very good at this, am I?” I mumbled drowsily. “I just... feel like I need a user's manual or something...”

“When we get to Chairo,” I heard Relias say, “I promise to deliver you exactly that.”

“Sounds... good.” I cracked a weak smile. With that sincere promise set, I could finally pass out without worry.

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