My feet moved on their own and quint spread from my core to the rest of my body. Sweeping away the leaves and jumping the bushes, I could feel my mouth watering, already imagining the taste of their soft meat!

The one with the red back was frozen, fear shining in its eyes like the small puppy it was, while the bigger one stepped forward, trying to look scary and all.

My smile widened. Did this doggo think I would be scared?

"I'll show you who should be scared!" I screamed to the beast that was at least five of me in height.

The Silverfangs hunted me down last time. Now I'd show them why that was the biggest mistake they ever made!

My fingers tingled, and in a flash, fire licked their ends like claws. I jumped and stretched to reach with my flaming fingers. Surprised by my actions, the big Silverfang didn't have time to react other than move its head to the side.

Almost slipping, I grabbed it by the neck and pushed by speed and strength I didn't even know I had, the force lifted the Silverfang off its feet, sending us both rolling to the ground.

Snapping out of its confusion, it dug its claws into the earth and stopped in place. Carried by the speed, I lost my grip and was dragged against the ground.

The Silverfang howled loudly, pained by the fiery marks all over its neck. Then the surrounding quint moved around its fangs and claws and light shined. It was such low and weak light, if I hadn't seen the quint, I wouldn't have realized what it had done.

With a bark, it rushed straight at me, full of anger.

It was fast, but I was faster. By the time it had reached and was slamming down its claws at me, I barreled below it, scratching with fiery nails all over its belly. It howled in pain as the soft smell of burning fur reached my nose.

Panicked, the Silverfang kicked with its back legs to grow the distance between us. From that point on, the fight was already over. It tried to look scary at first, but now, it had understood, and was afraid, just like the small one.

"This is so much fun!" I laughed out, taking a step forward and the beast took a step back.

"Weren't you wanting to eat me? Here I am!" I laughed again before jumping back at it.

It couldn't even protect itself anymore. Fear had taken over, its speed slowing down and its movements becoming easy to read. A claw to the left, a bite to the right, always backing up in fear.

It… it was so much fun! I didn't know fighting was so much fun!

'More! More! I want more!'

Escaping a claw at a hairs breath, I scratched back at its free leg, hot deep red spilling out.

It cried out in pain, falling to the side as the fire caught on the wound and the surrounding fur. From the way its belly moved up and down, it didn't look like it was going to last for much longer.

"No! It's not enough!" I screamed, scratching at its belly from above, but then I stopped, a smile finding back its way on my lips.

‘There is another.’

There was a second Silverfang here.

Turning, I met its eyes, wanting to laugh, and that I did.

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I laughed and laughed, unable to control it, not that I tried to. It stood the same way it did when I last saw it. It didn't even bark! All this time, it was watching from the distance, frozen by what it was seeing. The fear, the terror shown in its eyes said it all!

"Fear me!" I screamed, taking a step towards it.

It jumped like a rabbit, and by the time I made a second step, it was already on its feet, running, hiding, doing whatever it could do to escape.

As if I would let it!

I ran behind it, the red mark on the back revealed its location inside the greens of the forest. A thunder rang and the first droplets of water fell. In the distance, drippy sounds began to clear out, and by the time I reached the Silverfang, we had reached close to a river.

I jumped, aiming for the neck, but missed, ending up grabbing it from the back close to where its red mark was.

For a moment, its speed increased, but the next it stopped in place. I scratched right at its red mark, opening it as blood poured like a fountain, its howling cry echoing as loud as the droplets splattered in the river.

It dropped to the ground, and I laughed victoriously.

It didn't even have the strength to bite back!

My fingers tingled and fire ignited.

I scratched at its back again, its painful cry a joy like no other.

I scratched and scratched and scratched, each time the Silverfang sang its beautiful song. The rain intensified, and it sounded beautiful with its howls, but soon enough, the Silverfang stopped. It couldn't cry out anymore.

"Not you too!" I yelled at it, scratching furiously, but it stayed put. Its belly had stopped going up and down, leaving me alone with the tinkles of rain.

I stopped, breathing heavily. A puddle of deep red had formed all around us. I looked down at the Silverfang. The scars were too many to count, its entire back opened, etched in fire, pinky juicy meat showing through the burning fur.

I stood there, looking straight at the meat, the pattering sound coming from the river filling my ears. What should have been disgusting was a sweet, savory smell tinkling my nose. I could feel my heart thumping faster and faster, all my thoughts drowning in the rain.

All but one.

My tummy growled again and the next moment, there was silence. Complete silence. No heart thumping, no rain drumming, no warmness, no coldness, no dizziness, no hunting images of buildings crashing, no people burning, no Theodore, no Papa.

There was absolutely nothing.

For a moment.

The next, my tongue filled with a salty, warm taste of dirt and metal. It should have been disgusting, but it was the best thing I've ever eaten.

Swallowing, I reached for another bite, and another, and another, and another...

Humming in satisfaction, a sound to the other side of the river, paused me. There, a group of Silverfangs stood, some letting low growls, others barking.

The taste in my mouth soured, and the satisfaction turned into anger.

'They want to take my meat! They want to eat it! Stay away!'

Bark! Bark! Bark!

Deep red saliva and chewed bits of meat spar out with each bark.

The Silverfangs took worried steps back.

A smile formed as I stood up and took a step towards them. They took another step back, and with one more of my own, they turned and vanished just as fast as they appeared.

"Where are you going? Come back!" I screamed, taking another step behind them, but slipped and fell just before the river.

It was only now that I realized how thirsty I was. I drank and drank, the water tasting different from what I was used to. When I was finished, the water calmed down, and my pendant flashed with a dark light.

My eyes grew big and a nasty feeling twisted in my tummy. The reflection—my reflection—looked no different from a beast. A beast with ashen white skin, bathed in blood, wearing the scariest smile I had ever seen, so dark and evil, stretching from ear to ear. But even scarier than its smile were its eyes: one so deep a blue it swallowed light, and the other, the deep red one, reflected the fear and painful cries of the Silverfangs.

I jumped back, shaken. Something reached from my tummy and blood and chunks of raw meat came out of my mouth.

"This isn't me! This isn't me! This isn't me!" I screamed, my hands reaching for my head, but they too were colored deep red.

Suddenly, a stabbing pain came from my core and I stumbled forward into the river.

Panicked by this sudden coldness, my mouth opened to breathe, only to end up gulping water. The next moment, the coldness allowed me to think straight and resurface. Thankfully, the river wasn't very deep and I could still stand on my feet.

Coughing for air, the waters calmed down and my reflection returned. Me—the true me was looking back, my eyes back to normal.

Another thunder sounded, and the rain continued. I left from the other side of the river without looking back. I didn't want to remember. The river had cleaned me off, but I was wet and cold, and the strong rain hurt like tiny needles poking at me.

Even worse was the pain in my core. It hurt just like how it did when I first woke up. Like a heart, it thumped into the rest of my body. Sitting beneath the leaves of a big tree, I waited for the pain to go away and to dry out.