The end of the whip tore into Xavier’s cheek, burning as it sliced flesh. The strike was so quick that Xavier hardly registered it before he felt its sting. Retreating out of Gorath’s range to avoid a second strike, he touched the throbbing flesh, and his hand came back bloody.

“I’m going to make you pay for that,” hissed Xavier, his frustration growing. The wolf had dodged or deflected every one of Xavier’s attacks with minimal effort.

“No, you won’t. You have power, but you lack patience. This makes you predictable,” Gorath mocked, as if he were a teacher with a failing student. “You need to take lessons from your friend.”

Rain had arched wide around Gorath, beyond the edge of his vision, as he engaged Xavier. Coming in from behind, she thrust her dagger towards Gorath’s exposed back. A single prick would get the poison into his blood. A single prick would slow him down.

Gorath lazily side-stepped Rain’s lunge, moving just enough that the dagger passed harmlessly through his fur without touching skin. The quick movement threw Rain off balance, and as she stumbled Gorath kicked her square in the ribs. Rain screamed in pain as the kick shattered three of her ribs and she was thrown backwards. She landed hard ten feet from Gorath, writhing in pain and struggling to breathe.

“See, your companion is smart. She uses distractions – that’s you, by the way – to create vulnerabilities in her prey’s defenses. If she were a wolf, she would make a half-decent assassin,” Gorath lectured as he casually dissected their battle. He was toying with them, and it infuriated Xavier to his core.

Rain opened her inventory and pulled out a red vial. Popping the cork, she drank its contents in a single gulp. Her breathing stabilized, and she slowly got to her feet, her forehead beaded with sweat.

“Smart and versatile. Was that a Potion of Dull Pain? Brewed from birch bark and Panicled Aster flowers, yes? We have alchemists in the clan who can create such concoctions. I dabbled with it myself, but it was not my true calling,” Gorath remarked. “The clan can always use more alchemists. I think I’ll capture you for a slave when I have tired with you.”

Rain spat a mouthful of blood and held her dagger at the ready, watching Gorath intently. She slowly moved her offhand inside the pocket of her tailcoat and grasped a vial.

“Not you though,” Gorath added, shifting his gaze back to Xavier. “We’ve got enough hotheads in the clan already. Now, I don’t want to miss out on the fun down below, so let’s put a quick end to this, yes?”

Gorath stepped towards Xavier, hungry for the kill, and drew his whip behind him to strike.

He did not get the chance. At that moment, an explosion rocked the battlefield as Gertrude, the undead muskrat, exploded in Fairy Killer’s mouth. Gorath staggered, and he saw Fairy Killer spew fire from its mouth and collapse to the ground. His eyes grew wide with surprise, and he snarled when he saw Milly and Calista survived.

Rain seized the opportunity.

“Xavier, now!” she shouted, as she drew the Potion of Darkness from her pocket and hurled it at Gorath’s feet. The bottle shattered and a billowing cloud of utter blackness spiraled outwards, quickly engulfing a ten-foot radius around the wolf.

Xavier’s eyes flashed black as he activated his Quick Strike talent, and a dark halo encompassed his feet. He angled his blade down and shot into the darkness like a bullet, slicing upwards. Gorath screamed, and a moment later Xavier emerged on the other side of the darkness, his blade bloody. He held Gorath’s whip in his hand, which had two of Gorath’s severed fingers still attached to the handle.

“You are full of shit, Gorath,” Xavier said triumphantly. He plucked Gorath’s fingers off the whip and casually flicked them into a nearby bush. “I am more powerful than you know. I selected the Shadow Reaper class when I hit level twenty, which increases my strength and speed in the darkness. I am stronger and faster than…”

An iron dagger flew out of the darkness. Before Xavier could react, the dagger was imbedded deep in his shoulder. Xavier’s painful shriek echoed along the valley as his arm was rendered useless. His hand opened and he dropped the whip.

Before the whip had even struck the ground, Gorath dashed out of the darkness and punched Xavier squarely beneath his chin with a three-fingered, bloodied fist. Xavier was knocked off his feet by the force of the wallop. Gorth leapt kicked him in the stomach in mid-air, his motions smooth and practiced. Xavier spat blood as he was launched backwards. He landed hard on his wounded shoulder and the blade was pushed in deeper. Xavier’s second scream was louder than the first.

Xavier tried to scramble to his feet as he clenched his teeth against the pain, but Gorath was on him in an instant. The wolf grabbed him by the shoulders and slowly and maliciously twisted the imbedded dagger. As Xavier screamed again, Gorath gripped Xavier’s head with his mangled paw and slammed his head hard into the stony path.

Xavier’s head spun as he struggled to react. He was vaguely aware of the crack that had formed in the back of his skull, but his thoughts were growing foggy. He awkwardly tried to raise his sword to defend himself.

Gorath casually batted the sword away and slammed Xavier head into the stone again and again until Xavier lay there, unmoving and struggling to stay conscious. Blood soaked the stone from his cracked skull.

“A Shadow Reaper?” Gorath spat furiously, wiping his bloody fingers on Xavier’s shirt. “I’ve seen the Hands of Death, boy. You are not one of them. I’m going to enjoy tearing you apart, piece by piece.”

Xavier forced his eyes open and gave Gorath a weak smile. “I don’t think so,” he taunted weakly, blood spilling from his mouth with each syllable.

“I’m going to start with your tongue,” Gorath decided, placing his hook hand against Xavier’s lips. “Then I won’t have to listen to you speak, you arrogant little…”

An intense pain ended Gorath’s taunting, as Rain slid her dagger into Gorath’s back.

The blade pierced a lung, and Gorath released a hollow gasp. Rain struck with all the strength she could muster, then yanked the dagger free and stabbed him again and again. With each piercing strike, the Dagger of Lugh Samildànach flooded more of its poison into Gorath’s body.

Gorath desperately reached behind him as he fought to dislodge her from his back. His claws encircled Rain’s upper thigh, and his razor claws pressed into Rain’s flesh. Five puncture wounds appeared and began to leak blood down her pale leg.

Rain tried to block out the pain as she continued to strike with her dagger. She did not want him to hear her scream. The dagger’s gem was nearly emptied of its poison, quickly returning to its milky white.

She did not get a chance to strike the final blow. Gorath’s arm tensed as he ripped his claws straight down Rain’s leg, cutting her from thigh to ankle. Strips of flesh were peeled from her skin and her leg was split open in five straight cuts that carved down to the bone. She screamed then, the pain eclipsing both her enhanced toughness and Potion of Dull Pain. Her hands began to shake, and she felt her stomach turn. She glimpsed down at her lacerated leg, now little more than strips of mangled flesh clinging to bone. Gorath’s claws had ripped through skin, muscles, and tendons, and blood poured from the wounds onto the stone below.

Gorath wrapped his claws around Rain’s ankle and twisted sharply. Rain felt her ankle snap, and she let out another blood curdling shriek. Despite his injuries and the poison, Gorath hurled Rain away from him by her ankle. She struck a boulder at the edge of the path, her breath forced from her lungs as another rib shattered.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Come on, Rain. Come on,” she whimpered desperately. She tried to stand, but immediately collapsed. Her ankle was snapped at an unnatural angle and her left leg was useless. Her leg was growing numb, and she struggled to keep her eyes open as her vision began to spin.

Gorath hoisted himself off Xavier, his fur drenched in his own blood. He swayed on his feet as the poison spread within him, but his eyes were wild with uncontained fury. Foaming at the mouth, as if he were a dog with rabies, he reached down and grabbed his whip with his mangled hand.

“I’m going to flay the flesh from your bones,” Gorath spat at Rain, his words slurred as the poison spread.

Rain opened her inventory to find something – anything – to help, only should couldn’t focus on the pictures on the screen. Her head was spinning, and she felt like she might pass out at any moment. The effort made her want to vomit.

Gorath took his first step towards Rain.

Xavier used the last of his strength to wrap his feet around Gorath leg to hold him in place.

“Forget… her. We… aren’t finished… yet,” Xavier spat out through gritted teeth, desperately holding onto a sliver of consciousness. He reached blindly for the sword Gorath had knocked away, but his hands found only bare earth.

Gorath swung his unhindered leg and kicked Xavier hard in the chest. Xavier’s ribs snapped from the force of the blow. He was thrown ten feet away, and when he landed, he lay there face down and unmoving.

Gorath resumed his advance on Rain. His movements were slow and unsteady from both blood loss and the poison now moving to his organs. His passage was marked by a trail of blood behind him from severed fingers and perforated back.

Rain reached into her inventory randomly, and her hand closed around the rusted dagger she had taken from the Castle of Glass lobby. Her starting dagger felt so weak in her hands, as if it could snap at any moment. She knew it would not be enough to stop the hulking monster advancing towards her.

Rain’s bravery snapped and fear took hold of her. She tried to scramble backwards, but she could do little more than worm her way along the stones.

“I’m going to start by tearing out those pretty little eyes,” Gorath taunted his helpless prey. He drew back his whip.

Rain braced herself and shut her eyes.

“Rain!”

Hope soared within Rain as she opened her eyes in time to see Calista and Milly emerge from the cloud of darkness.

Gorath struck. The whip collided with the shield Calista had hastily erected between Rain and Gorath. The weak, incomplete shield was shattered instantly by the force of the blow, but it was enough to shift the whip’s momentum towards the ground a few inches away from Rain’s ear.

Calista hurled her spear at the surprised wolf, who snarled and jumped backwards to dodge. The Spear of Pinga missed by a foot, but he was thrown off balance. He didn’t have time to recover before Milly’s lightning caught him full in the chest, hurling him away from Rain. The whip fell from his grip as the smell of scorched flesh filled the air.

“Rain!” Milly shouted again as she rushed to her friend’s side. “Oh my god, Rain. Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got you. Oh god…”. Her last sentence came out as a whisper as she stared in horror at Rain’s shredded leg and shattered ankle.

Milly’s hands glowed healing blue and she pressed them against Rain’s thigh. Rain gave an involuntary hiss of pain despite the growing numbness. The bleeding slowed as her healing accelerated the clotting, but Milly felt her magic plummet from the effort. Her magic attribute was high, but she only knew her Healer’s Touch spell, and it was not powerful enough to heal this serious of a wound.

“Shit. Rain, this… this is bad. We need to get you to Whitewing. Cally, grab Xavier,” Milly instructed. She continued to pour her magic into Rain, trying to stem the worst of the bleeding before she picked her up. She felt her magic plummet.

She knew she should save her magic. There was a horde of wolves coming for them. It did not matter. All that mattered to her right now was saving Rain.

Calista rushed over to Xavier’s side and pressed two fingers to his neck. “He’s alive, Milly. But he’s in bad shape. His skull is cracked open and he’s struggling to breathe.”

Calista recalled her spear, then hoisted Xavier onto her shoulders. His weight was nearly unnoticeable with her enhanced strength.

Milly grabbed the whip and stashed it in her inventory. She let her healing magic fade. Her reserves were nearly empty, and the fire of Salem’s fury had diminished to a tiny flame on the verge of being extinguished.

“I’m sorry, Rain. This is all I can do,” she apologized to Rain, unable to conceal her apprehension at Rain’s condition.

“It’s okay, Milly,” Rain mumbled bravely. “Whitewing can… Mils, behind you.”

Her warning was no louder than a whisper, but Milly glanced up just in time to see Gorath barreling towards her. His chest was nothing more than blackened flesh, his fur having been burned away by the lightning. Blood and foam dripped out of his mouth as the poison reached his heart, brain, and tongue. He staggered as he ran, staying upright through sheer force of will. The vicious predator growled like a wild animal, all semblance of intelligence gone.

Milly glimpsed Xavier’s black blade lying on the ground, and, with the last of her magic, she reached out with her telekinesis. Catching it by the hilt, she braced herself and held the blade horizontal moments before the wolf reached her.

Gorath skewered himself on its shaft. His eyes filled with shock as he looked down at the dark metal now penetrating him through the heart and out his back. He gripped the blade weakly, slicing open his hands as he tried to push himself off the blade, but Milly held fast with her enhanced strength.

Milly gasped in surprise. The blade began to drain Gorath’s life away, his lifeforce flowing into its metal. It was as if the blade were feeding on Gorath blood and soul. Gorath’s essence traveled from blade to hilt, and Milly felt a tingling sensation as the energy flowed from the hilt into her fingers and throughout her body. It was both a pleasurable and desperate sensation, as if the blade were a parched man drinking from a river.

She shivered as Gorath’s essence was converted within her and began to refill her magic reserves. She felt replenished. Gripping the hilt tighter, she willed the blade to keep drinking. She felt Salem’s Fury returning to full power. Her eyes fluttered as she felt the power inside her, and all she could feel was Gorath’s life draining into her own.

Her magic reserves were nearly full when the last light in Gorath’s eyes died. His face had been drained of color and was now a deathly gray. He slumped over, now dead weight with nothing left to give. Only then, when the final spark of life left him, did Milly release her grip and let the blade fall, still embedded in his corpse.

“Milly… Honey? Are you okay?” Calista said, standing at her side. Xavier was draped over her shoulders. Milly had not seen her approach. She didn’t know how long it had taken for Gorath to die. She had lost her sense of the world around her. All she had known was the essence flowing into her.

“I’m… I’m fine, Cally,” she said, shaking her head to break from her trance. “Get Xavier to Whitewing. I’m right behind you.”

Fairy screams accentuated the urgency in her words. Calista started heading towards Whitewing, Xavier’s limp body bouncing on her shoulder as she ran.

Milly grabbed the black blade and yanked it from Gorath’s corpse. It slid out cleanly, without a trace of blood on its blade. She glanced over at Xavier’s unconscious body headed towards the healer’s seonangdang, then turned away from him and added the blade to her inventory.

“He’ll… want it… back,” Rain said weakly, clinging to consciousness. She lifted her arms towards Milly as if she were a toddler. Her legs lay uselessly beneath her, and she sat in a pool of her own blood.

Milly grasped Rain’s arms. Lifting carefully, Milly carried her over her shoulder, legs dangling over Milly’s chest. Rain’s blood soaked into Milly dress, and Milly used some of her newly replenished magic to resume trying to stop Rain’s bleeding as she sped towards the seonangdang. She resolved to select a more advanced healing talent as soon as she was able.

“I know,” Milly said with concern. “But I’m not sure we should give it back. There’s something wrong with him. Something more than normal, I mean.”

Rain struggled to keep her eyes open. “Won’t matter if… we don’t win… this Arena. Was hoping… Gorath and Fairy Killer’s deaths… would have ended it.

“We didn’t beat Fairy Killer,” Milly said, staring up at the corrupted Arena dome. “We injured it, but it healed itself and he ran towards the bazaar.”

“You’re… going after it?” Rain asked, matter-of-factly. Her voice was increasingly weak as she teetered on the edge of consciousness.

“Yes. It’s still our best guess on what the victory condition is for this Arena.”

Her eyes were drawn to the bottom of her spectacles, hoping for some sign from Luna. There was none. Milly’s heart dropped, and the sounds of dying fairies filled her ears.

Come on, Luna. What’s taking so long? We’re fighting blind.

“I don’t think… I’ll be much help,” Rain said as the pain overwhelmed her. “I’m… sorry, Mils.”

“I’ll protect you, Rain,” Milly promised. “I’ll protect you all.”

“Even… Xavier? He… tried to… save me. He’s… not all…” Rain mumbled, but she lost consciousness before she could finish.

Milly rushed towards the seonangdang, leaving the question hanging in the air, unanswered.

Congratulations! Your party has defeated Gorath the Alpha.

Your party has been awarded 15,000 experience points.

Milly Brown has leveled up twice. Four attribute points and a class talent point (The Scarred Witch) acquired.

Calista Gale has leveled up three times. Six attribute points and a talent point acquired. Class selection unlocked.

Rain Desjarlais has leveled up three times. Six attribute points and a talent point acquired. Class selection unlocked.

Xavier Holloway has leveled up. Two attribute points and a class talent point (Shadow Reaper) acquired.

Items Acquired: The fingers of Gorath the Alpha (unique ingredient)

Gold Acquired: 4,000