My world slowed down as I watched the arrows fly through the air. My mind ran a mile a minute as it sped through some solutions. Or at least what I could come up with in Ursa form. What could I do to help her? What were my options? Throw the ice shield? No, I'd be leaving the rest of us defenseless. Jump up there? No, there’s a snowball's chance in hell I make that jump. Damn it. What do I do? Why did I let them pull off something so risky in the first place? I’m the Captain. Think dammit! THINK!

Then the water holding up Tawny just fell. It dropped right out of the sky like water was supposed to. My heart rollercoastered around my chest. The arrows flew just above her head. Yet this only brought up a new problem. Now Tawny was falling a good ten feet in the air, into a hole that I wasn’t sure how deep.

“Catch her Hait!”

“I’m trying.” Hait said, his breath wild and ragged.

The water vibrated in the air, then gathered back together under the falling mage, trying to reform itself into the solid sheet it was a moment ago. But it didn't reform correctly. The platform was filled with holes and water dripped out of the sides. The second Tawny landed on the aqua floor, it shattered, the liquid falling to the ground again and her along with it.

“Tawny!” I shouted.

She fell out of vision and into the hole. I wanted to move the shield and find her, but the oncoming arrows stopped that. My shoulder tensed up as more plummeted. Another round of arrows pelted the ice. One came with way greater force, catching me off guard and sending me to my knees.

Hait hopped off my shoulder, pounding the dirt. His voice not reaching above the battle.

That anger I drove down resurfaced, now swirling, threatening to take over. Blood was its demand. And I agreed. The blood of the bastards who killed my subordinate. No, my new friend. I looked at the sheet of ice in my claws. Crush them with the ice. DO IT! Images flashed in my mind. Smashing skulls with my new frozen weapon, piercing their bodies with the shattered remains. Yes. The corners of my vision slowly filled with red. YES.

I shook my head. Not yet.

“Quell yourselves. We must remain calm.” Rashith said. His words fell upon deaf ears. Calming down was no longer an option. I was going to burst any minute now, but I knew I could hold out for a minute. I wasn’t going to lose anyone else.

I peered around the shield. Tawny’s amazing blast wasn’t for naught. It had worked wonders, taking out a large majority of the attackers. Only three archers still fired at us. The others scrambled around, grabbing their wounded and dragging them toward the monsters’ side of the battlefield. A growl grew in my throat. I can handle three. Just before I let the rage fully take over, I gave Hait one last order.

“Put a shield up. Defend you and...yourself and Birdy."

“BIRDY?!” Rashith asked incredulously, but Hait and I ignored the outburst.

Hait slowly looked up, eyes vacant, but he still nodded, raising his hand. A wall of water formed behind me but in front of them. My shoulders relaxed as the growl evolved to a full on roar. Ursa-Rage activated.

I shot out. My feet pounded across the edge of the hole, inches away from the chasm. I couldn’t see through the shield and needed to keep it raised up, so the edge acted as a guide.

It had been some time since I last let Ursa-Rage completely take over like this. I’d gotten better at controlling the urge to submit to it thanks to all the training. But once I dived this deep, the only way to pull out was to lose the form, which meant running out of stamina.

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I forgot how much it felt like a movie. A movie that enveloped all of the senses. I felt the passion, the heat of rage, burning in my chest. The smell of upturned earth filled my nostrils. The stomps and rumbling of the charging masses behind me rang in my ears. Yet something was different this time. And I could still think.

It was difficult, each thought came at the price. A pain that pierced my brain with each impression or observation. Letting loose like this wasn’t a good idea, but the anger felt so good. Righteous even. And succumbing to it felt natural. Like it deserved the agency over my body. Like it had a will of its own. The rage thirsted for nothing else to rip and tear my enemies to shreds and I could do nothing to stop it. Nor did I want to. These bastards earned it.

The pain subsided; I didn't need to think right now anyway.

Arrows flew into the shield and by my sides, not a single one was able to slow me down. Soon they stopped coming at all. I lowered the shield from my face and saw that the three archers from before had dropped their bows. They joined their brethren in retreat, assisting those carrying the freshly electrocuted.

Now that I was closer to the enemy, I could make out what they looked like. They wore roughly tanned hides and furs, and hoods that covered their faces. They shared a deep red skin tone. I was still too far from them to gain any other insights. And I didn’t care that much. They were going to be dead soon.

I released the claws on my left hand from the icy shield, keeping it attached to my right. My rage wrought Ursa form really wanted to make that earlier vision of violence a reality.

But something was wrong. I ran on and on with every fiber of my being but for some reason the distance between me and my prey only widened. Though that reason wasn’t so ambiguous. AGI took a hit in this form along with some added weight. Meaning speed was not really a strong suit. That realization only fanned the flames in me. Frustration. That scum deserves our, my, wrath. The pain in my mind spiked again as I corrected the thought. It was my wrath, right?

Before I could explore that oddity any further, I roared once again.

I reared back as I ran, loosening my grip on the ice. I threw the icy shield with all of my might, tumbling to the ground as I lost my balance from the maneuver. It launched forward, flying through the air like a disc, straight for one of the enemies. I looked up from the ground.

The frozen disc soared in a perfect arc, cutting through the air, heading right for the cowardly foes. Then it landed, right into one of the bastard’s backs. The glacial projectile sliced through his shoulder, cleaving his arm right off and causing him to drop the body he was dragging. I climbed back up to my feet and bellowed out a victorious war cry before resuming my chase.

A notification jumped in my vision but it was quickly swept away before. It wasn’t important, killing these assholes was.

While I ran, my vision stayed focused on the retreating foes. But that wasn’t good. Not at all. Why wasn’t that good? Ending their paltry existence was my only goal. Another pang coursed through my mind. More thoughts. Monsters. Raid. Look ahead.

NO! FIGHT! KILL!

Look ahead!

Each thought that clashed with the bloodthirsty commands sent wave after wave of ache and torment. Where was this coming from?

Something caught my foot as I ran, not enough to make me fall but enough to jolt me and make my head move. In that instance I saw it. The mass horde of monsters coming straight at me. Horns, tusks, fur, claws, slime. All of it less than a thousand feet away. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Excitement. More fuel to sustain this rage.

MORE BLOOD! RIP! TEAR! SHRED!

Get back to them!

One last thought broke through. A pain surpassing everything that came before coiled around my head, squeezing down. An ache so great I felt my consciousness fading, yet my running didn’t slow down. As it intensified, I felt the red blur around my vision darken.

Protect them. That was the goal.

The world stopped. Then I heard a snap. The pain vanished in an instant. Clarity returned. My vision cleared. No more redness.

I lifted my arm. I had control back. I leaned to the left and grabbed the ground with my left hand. My claws dug into the earth, freezing the short grass. My whole body whipped around as the momentum shifted, pulling off a complete 180.

I wasn’t too far from the hole. Other Legion squads charged in between the areas of the holes, heading straight for the oncoming horde. Our squad needed to join them. But I probably needed to get my squad back first.

I ran back for the hole, thankfully I wasn’t too far from it so I wouldn’t get swept up into the stampeding forces. I looked down at my arms. They were still furry, my claws still white and covered in ice. For the first time ever, I got out of Ursa-Rage on my own. If only I could celebrate right now.

The notification blinked again. Later, let's get everyone back first.