“One,” his voice echoed in his head, raspy from the holes in his cheek, low and rough. He had never spoken before and – though he had heard Mother’s own the few times she had talked aloud before – knew little of how to either.

However now, that knowledge and ability… appeared.

As though it were always there, he found his mind suddenly alight with information, an intrinsic understanding of how to speak filling the void in his understanding: the feeling of words streaming up from his throat and rolling off his tongue, how to move his mouth to form every word he knew of, cadences and tones…

It was an odd and startling moment completely at odds with the danger he was within. The voice… his voice, that had erupted from him, seeming to have the effect of freezing everything into a moment of stunned inaction.

But confusion, surprise, and further thoughts on the matter were harshly buried.

His life dubiously hanging in the balance, Nameless quickly snapped out of his shock, stealthily surveying his surroundings.

Eyes snapping between each, he found the Jaguars remained still, the death of one of their own – despite his obvious weakness – stunning them with fear and hesitation. Unfortunately, they all now stood, the one he had formerly stunned, seeming to have found its footing again, despite the tremors of unsteadiness that wobbled its limbs and flickered in its eyes.

“I have to finish that one off while it still remains unstable.” Nameless concluded, avoiding looking directly at the Beast – so as not to give a hint of his intentions away – his mind rapidly working through further plans of attack.

His leap towards the now dead Jaguar had put its shaky kin to his left and slightly behind, the remining three Beasts standing ahead of him, having moved to catch him before their surprised stop.

“If I kill a second, before they reach me, I have a far greater chance of survival.” He ran the possibilities through his head, a blink of [Tactics] only supporting his inference further, “However if I do not manage to do so…”

He immediately cut off that path of thought, turning his attention to more practical ones, rather than the same negativity that had led to his current situation, “Focus.”

The surrounding jungle was silent – even the chirps of insects being absent – as though the World itself held its breath in bated anticipation for what was to come. Soundless, he and the Jaguars remained engaged in a quiet tension, the only signs of their still living; the barest twitches of their muscles, the flicker of their eyes, and the rise and fall of their chests…

Until it was broken in a blink.

Nameless threw himself around, tepid water loudly splashing under his paws, whirling to face the dazed Jaguar. The sinew in his legs tensed, taut and trembling, coiling for a pounce that would take him upon the staggered Beast.

Time seemed to slow, Nameless watching the Jaguar’s awareness slowly shift, the realization of his approach rippling through its body like the shadows before the Brothers’ dawning…

Though, unlike their light, he was not so unfaltering.

He leapt, murk kicked into the air, and felt his left hindleg give way. The *pop* of muscles snapping barked out and traveled through his flesh, the sound felt more so than heard, an excruciating pain riding upon it to assail his mind as assuredly as his ears.

A harsh roar left his mouth, blood flying from it and the holes in has face both, his sight brightening with pain like a strike of lightning had slammed down before him. The world receded to the echo of the roar, his mind drowning under a growing tide of torment… and the fury it created.

Nameless landed – the Jaguar startling backwards belatedly – and lurched forward on his three working legs, into the Beast. Body met body, the duo going down in a tangle of limbs and claws, the piercing scream of the Jaguar following it down onto its back.

Pupils massive and unfocused, there was little behind his eyes but an animalistic fury, his thoughts lost beneath the tumultuous tide of instinct and preservation. The claws of his forelimbs buried themselves in the Jaguar’s chest – one just below its throat – his quarry thrashing underpaw, panicking.

The Beast lashed out wildly, pinned underneath Nameless’s bulk, clawing at every exposed patch of hide within reach of its limbs. Its claws created a mess of rents and cuts, blood running freely from his savaged pelt, the air gnawing at the now exposed flesh…

Yet its struggles were to little avail.

With a heave, Nameless tore his claws down, both sets *clicking* as they skipped over the Beast’s ribs. Lustrous fur parted to reveal the muscle and bone below, rich dark blood flooding behind his claws, the Jaguar’s growls and snarls turning to a gasping hiss.

Writhing in desperation, the Jaguar’s own instincts asserted themselves, its focus becoming a desperate need to escape from under him instead.

An escape that was not allowed…

Nameless adjusted and tore his claws down once more – feeling the Beast’s lifeblood soak his paws – keeping it trapped. He dug his claws in and ripped away at its flesh, creating pained and fearful wailing from his prey while it squirmed in a hopeless endeavor to extricate itself from his grasp.

The Jaguar’s stubborn survival – despite the claws that continued to mangle its chest – aggravating him; impatience begun to overwhelm his fury, the pain submerged by his frenzy beginning to insidiously lap at the edges of his consciousness.

His instincts urged haste… and Nameless abided. With only a heartbeat of hesitation he started to open his mouth, feeling the skin and flesh of his shredded cheek tug painfully with the movement of his jaw.

Mouth opening to its fullest, strands of flesh tore and snapped the tauter they became… but the damage he was doing to himself was ignored. There was nothing – pain or otherwise – capable of piercing the haze that had befallen him, his desire for survival overpowering his instincts, twisting and corrupting even that of his self-preservation into a violent and mindless thing.

The agony that rippled down every fibre, the disfigured condition of his form, the damage caused by the Jaguars… and himself, didn’t matter –

His fangs were coated in blood, his and the Beasts’, rivulets of red running down the dark skin of his face to drip onto the hysterical Jaguar beneath him.

– There was only one thing on his mind, a focus so all-encompassing that everything beyond it was muted and distant…

Survival by brutal means.

He struck, a stream of blood following his head down, and slammed his fangs through the Jaguar’s throat – the hollow *crack* of cartilage traveling up through his teeth. It’s blood swelling into his mouth to the current of its heart, the Beast stilled for an instance in shock, and Nameless took full advantage.

With a twist, the Jaguar’s gullet was violently prised from the flesh and muscle of its neck, a ragged hole left behind spraying blood into the air – and his face – like a pulsating geyser.

Though not an immediate one, it was a mortal blow, the Beast being left to either choke to death or succumb to loss of blood… and it was an end that could be made at no better time.

Fangs messily separating from the Beast’s throat, a weight crashed down on top of him, detaching him from the dying Jaguar in an awkward stumble.

The rest of its kin had arrived, with claws slashed at his back, tearing away flesh, fur, and feathers.

He was caught off balance, his injured hind leg crumpling, the violent joining of a new Jaguar to the fray making his frenzied state waver and thin… just enough.

As though awaiting this moment, Nameless’s anguish, fear, and distress pushed through the weakened fog of warped instinct, his mind abruptly reeling as awareness returned.

Weighing upon him as heavily as the Beast atop, reality crashed into him with obscene clarity; his wounds, the difficulty he had moving, how close he was to collapsing in exhaustion, the Jaguars and so much more, assaulted his mind with almost tangible force.

It was overwhelming, to the point of nearly debilitating him… but only nearly.

He forcefully extended his wings out to either side of him, dislodging one of the claws buried in his right shoulder, and slammed them down as he pushed up with his forelegs.

The combined force spun him upwards and over, his back – and the Jaguar attached – crashing into the marsh, knocking the air out of his lungs and a piercing yowl from the Beast.

Gasping, Nameless continued to move, flicking out his right wing to roll himself over. He struggled to retain consciousness, every thought sluggish, each movement made threatening to be the last his body was capable of performing.

Still, he stubbornly pushed forward. In a crude reflection of [Wisdom]’s bolstering his Soul, he dug to the very depths of his being, dragging out even the barest embers of willpower and determination to keep the darkness of collapse at bay. It was a tenuous thing, as tenuous as the grasp he had somehow retained on a few of his Skills –[Proprioception], [Dodge], [Sprint], and [Claws] the only ones remaining – but it was enough… it had to be.

Paws met cloying mire; water, blood, and mud dripping off of him. His roll faced him towards the remaining Jaguars – the two darting in for an attack – while the third struggled to make it to its own paws, buried partially into softened ground.

With the Jaguars approaching, there was little choice but for him to brace and observe, his lame hindleg drastically reducing his mobility. He watched the two Beasts smartly split apart, forcing him to choose one over the other and – inevitably – leave a portion of himself exposed to the other.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The decision was an easy if not forced one, his mangled right-side necessitating far greater protection to him than his relatively unscathed left.

Mind made up, Nameless held his ground – having little trust in his capacity to move any longer – eyes darting between the two rapidly closing Beasts. Their sinuous muscles writhed under lustrous fur, creating ripples and whorls that shimmered in his vision like waves in the night, confounding him.

Their forms flickering to his sight, Nameless’s pain-added mind struggled to focus directly on them. But, with the awareness of where they were rushing towards, there was little need of him to strain his attentions trying to follow them completely.

Even as the Jaguars made their final approach, he remained still, eyes no longer following either to save his mind the further stress as well as keep the Beasts unaware of what he might do next. His muscles tensed in place as the splashing of their progress grew louder in his ears, his body unconsciously preparing for what was to come; the combat, the pain… and what he needed to do next.

To the sound of his attacker’s growing growls and snarls, he finally shifted, turning to face one of the two and exposing a defenseless side to the other.

Lowering himself close to the ground, Nameless aimed to cover as much of himself as possible before their claws met. One wing draped itself over his undefended flank, adding a temporary – if ineffectual layer – between the Jaguar and his hide, and his every muscle coiled tightly in anticipation to counter or brace whatever attack would surely come.

Unable to move further with his lamed leg, he felt the agonizing slowness of heartbeats passing, just waiting – with preparations finalized – for the Jaguars to strike so he too may do so in kind.

Eyes latched to his chosen Beast, he allowed it to consume most of his focus, following it as it circled quickly around him just out of reach…

Until, with a twitch of his ears, he caught just the sound he had been waiting for.

With a powerful shove, Nameless twisted around himself, his right hindleg protesting loudly at having to support his entire weight through the motion... all so he could face the Beast that had aimed to attack his “defenseless” right.

It was a risky and quick plan, wrought with the possibility of failure. However – with the sight of the Jaguar just leaving the marshy ground to pounce – he was confident he had chosen the best path forward, despite its lacking [Tactics]’ touch upon it.

The moment his paws touched ground, Nameless was moving again, pushing himself upwards towards the rapidly approaching Jaguar. His eyes were fixed to the Beast’s throat, mouth opening, the sole intention of his scheme to kill it as fast as possible before moving on.

Incapable of Magic as he was, whether it be Beast or Monster, the most definitive manner of killing he could manage was through his opponent’s throat. Breaking its spine, crushing its trachea, or puncturing its aortas were all mortal wounds only the most resilient creatures could survive through, which made the method – despite its monotony – a reliably deadly technique.

Hurtling towards him, Nameless rose to meet the Jaguar, fangs fully bared.

Unlike his earlier leaps – prior to his hindleg giving out – he was well aware that he now lacked the strength to perform a true leap; so, in the same way as he had turned himself around, he used his forelegs once again to thrust his front half upwards, precariously balancing on his remaining back leg for the instant necessary for he and Beast to meet…

Violently.

With a horrendous scraping-clack, fangs met fangs, Nameless missing the Jaguar’s throat and instead burying his fangs into either of its cheeks. The momentum of the Beast broke what little balance he retained, forcing him to spin as he fell, his jaws squeezing down tighter to the sound of cracking bones and teeth.

Plans rapidly adjusted themselves in his head, but one – ironically – stood out to even his struggling mind. Thrusting his right wing out, he used the force of its opening to speed up his rotation, while holding tight to the Jaguar in his maw.

The awkward clasp of Nameless’s jaws to their own leaving it completely to his mercies, the Beast flailed in the air with the twist, only capable of maddeningly snarling and gnashing its teeth against his intruding fangs.

Ignoring the Jaguar’s struggles, he nearly completed much of his turn… and with a jerk of his neck and the horrid *crunch* of bone he had the Jaguar finish the remainder first.

Only, without its lower jaw.

As the memorable battle with the horde of I’thekik had assisted him earlier, so too did it do so here.

Careening through the air – blood and strings of shredded tissue flying with it – the Beast was thrown away, directly into the path of its kin. In water, blood, and mud they met, the grounded of the two trying to dodge out of the way of its hurtling companion, only to be taken down mid-jump.

With the Jaguars occupied, Nameless fell heavily on his side. Unable to completely close his wing in time, he felt the end of the limb crack under his weight, adding both to the number of broken bones he had as well as another source of suffering. The water and mud aggravated the tears and rents across his right flank, the sharp sting forcing a ragged hiss through his fangs and the holes in his cheek.

He staggered to his paws, his lower left side drooping without his hindleg to support it, eyes snapping to the Jaguars in preparation of yet more to come.

The one he had thrown writhed wildly in the mud and shallow water, clawing at the mauled and gory flesh that hung limply without the jaw that had once connected to it. A constant guttural groan emanated from its permanently opened maw, a terrifying death wail punctuated by the hacking wretch of blood and bile forcefully expelled in it distress.

It was no longer a threat, its death a certain, but agonizingly slow one.

Its kin on the other claw, still was. It too staggered to its paws, mud, water, and scratches marring its once pristine fur, breaking itself away from its mortally wounded prowl-mate… with a quite noticeable limp.

The sign of weakness was 0verwhelmingly tantalizing, mingling with his hopes of survival, to almost… almost compel him to making a hasty decision. However, he just barely held himself back, the awareness that what little strength he had left would be immediately exhausted – if he went on the offensive – staying his claws…

That is, until the moment the dying Jaguar lashed out.

With a stumble that took it too close to its panicked kin, the limping Beast found itself being attacked. The downed Jaguar slashed with wild abandon, too hysterical to realize that what had approached was not Nameless, but one of its own.

Confused and angered, the other lashed back, further adding to the misunderstanding with its own claws and fangs. They exchanged blows, blood and fur flying from either, Nameless forgotten in their own personal haze of conflict.

Which immediately broke his self-control.

He awkwardly weaved forward, neither Jaguar so much as looking in his direction, every step physically draining him. His approach was loud and unrefined, but as quick as he could manage; the fear that he would miss his chance to dispose of the Beasts – if he didn’t move fast enough – making haste the only acceptable path.

Snarling and tumbling over one another, the Jaguars tore away at each other, throwing mud and water about, oblivious to their surroundings… and Nameless’s sudden looming over them.

Without hesitation he joined the fray, bearing down upon the tangled Beasts with claws out. With weight and surprise on his side, Nameless cut deep into the distracted flesh of the limping Jaguar, easily tearing through the right side of its chest.

Hissing at the sudden attack, the Beast reeled away… only to receive a claw across the throat by its maddened kin. Blood bubbling and frothing from the wound, its coming death was obvious.

But it was not yet done.

With a dying rage, the Jaguar snapped back, its jaws cracking down over its similarly wounded prowl-mate’s skull – fangs puncturing both of its eyes. It worried its head back and forth, shredding the surrounding hide, and tearing a jarring wail out of the mangled maw of its kin.

Nameless stumbled back, distancing himself from the two Beasts and slumped down onto the ground, watching the Beasts’ final moments.

The jawless Jaguar swung its claws at the other, digging deeper and deeper cuts into whatever it could reach, leaving nothing but ragged hanging skin and fur behind; while the limping Jaguar bit down harder, its fangs audibly scraping against and cracking through bone.

They seemed matched, neither able to instantly fell the other, forced to continue an exchange that would only see both falling to exhaustion before death…

When, with a wet *pop*, the jawless Jaguar’s skull collapsed under the other’s bite. It spasmed and twitched, still trapped between the fangs of its prowl-mate, the final vestiges of life sputtering through its form.

Hide and fur torn and bleeding, the surviving Jaguar fell heavily to the ground, fangs firmly embedded in the remnants of its deceased kin’s skull. Ragged and wet breaths escaped its snout, blood spurting from the deep cuts in its neck, eyes unfocused and wavering.

“It is done…” With the beast now down – dying and drained – its threat to him was nonexistent… allowing for Nameless to release a tremulous sigh of relie-

A growl announced the presence of a figure forgotten, Nameless clumsily struggling to his paws… only to collapse, “No…”

The third of the last Jaguars stalked into sight, its fur completely covered in mud, a slight hitch to its breath. So caught up within dealing with the others, he had forgotten there was yet another, one last remaining Beast that he had to kill or frighten away to survive.

And now… he had none of the strength to do either.

“One.” The word whispered across his mind, bringing with it sorrow, regret, and the death of his hope. He had fought with everything he had, managed to do so much, but it wasn’t enough.

The Beast was wary in its approach despite his state, a sign of its fear of him that made Nameless feel proud despite his failure, “Four Stage Twos… killed on my own.” He smiled, his visage a disconcerting sight, flashing his blood-soaked teeth; his sorrow, fear, and regret lightening somewhat, “Would have… been better… if I had taken them all.”

The Jaguar froze, Nameless huffing at the effect of his mangled face… only to choke and sputter at another intrusion.

[Look. Bad.] A thread of [Telepathy] weaved around his consciousness, Shade’s words as direct as the charge of a Bark Horn and dry as water-less riverbed.

Unable to turn and see his brother, Nameless used their connection to follow Shade, feeling his mind slowly grow closer. However, while he couldn’t see Shade, the last Jaguar could…

In a panicked dart, the Jaguar spun and ran, wildly rushing through Jungle with fearful abandon, leaving its fallen prowl-mates… and Nameless behind without so much as a second glance.

Ending the last threat to his survival without a drop of blood shed.

Just as his hope started with the death of a single Jaguar and died at the paws of one other… it was fulfilled by the presence of one well timed brother, [I could not be more grateful for your appearance, Brother.]

Tired and injured, Nameless cared little for obfuscating his skill in [Telepathy], replying with a vibrant braided telepathic thread that shimmered between them with clarity of thought.

[Heard. Fight. Interested. Found. You. Watched.] A small amount of Shade’s shock and surprise – at Nameless’s own [Telepathy] – leaked through their connection, his words laden with his vision of the fight, [Came. When. Needed.]

[So, you watched me fight from the second kill on and… did not even think to come to my aid sooner?] Nameless had a feeling that he already knew Shade’s thought process, both from what he gathered from his communication as well as the past… however he was still curious enough about his brother’s reasoning that he had to ask.

[No. Need.] Shade answered simply, only – with his [Telepathy] as high as it was – Nameless caught the hidden undercurrent behind the answer.

Shade didn’t feel like helping.

A chuckle rumbled up from Nameless’s chest, quickly growing into a hysterical full-bodied laughter, deep and rich, [Thank you, Brother.] Nameless sent his gratitude through their connection, the thread almost glowing to the mind with the sincerity of it, [Thank you.]

No immediate reply came… not consciously at least; a subtle embarrassment, pride, and relief traveling down Shade’s thread to reveal the true feelings of his brother.

To spare his brother further embarrassment, Nameless continued to commune, laughter still filling his lungs, [We will need to move soon.]

[Yes.] Shade latched on to the change in conversation, his brusque demeanor returning, [You. Injured. Need. Rest. Soon.]

[That I do.] Nameless’s levity quickly began to die, the exhaustion and pain rising to the surface, [Can you help me up first?]

[Yes.] Shade reiterated; following his communication of which side needed support, his brother padded over to Nameless’s left and allowed him to brace the wing of the same side atop him.

[Where. Go?] Shade questioned, shifting to settle Nameless's wing, his [Telepathy] prodding for a direction.

[My lair… though it is… quite some distance… away.] His mind was becoming sluggish once again, the fear and relief he had felt no longer enough to compensate for his exhaustion.

[Will. Get. There.] Shade surprisingly reassured, already moving to face himself and Nameless in the direction of the den, [But. Should. Focus. Walking. Not. Talk.]

Nameless smiled and chuffed despite his fatigue… though as he began to walk with Shade, he did just his brother requested, and unspun his [Telepathy]…

Leaving them both with a much-deserved silence.