Chapter Thirty-Seven: Pyrewolf

Three more days was how long it took for Ash to clear out the rest of the mine. He made enough from the wolf corpses to clear a good chunk of his debt, but he had to borrow a little more to get another fire resist potion.

Now, he stood at the path he was certain led to the fire dire wolf. It was hottest here; he could tell because the air was supercharged with heat, the rock cherry red.

If it weren’t for his elar and the fire resistance potion, he would be cooking right now. Lilith didn’t seem to mind in the least. He had been worried at first and almost insisted she stayed back, but she had upturned her nose and strode over the heated rock as if it were completely calm.

Ash didn’t press it then.

“The dire wolf is ahead, Lils. I guess we’ve come to it.”

Lilith flicked a wing, projecting unconcerned thoughts within his mind.

“Ha! Nothing’s a challenge for a dragon, is that it?”

Lilith lifted her head to say it wasn’t even a question.

Ash smiled.

He gripped his sword, took another sip of fire resistance, and walked.

The chamber ahead was the deepest level of the mine, which had been turned into a molten wolf’s den. Every rock glowed with crimson heat.

Circles with strange symbols were inlaid into the stone.

What are those for? Ash wondered. He wasn’t able to think about it much because his attention was taken by the massive, flaming wolf that rose from where it had been lying in the center.

Veins of dark fire shot through a body of dark rock and ash. Its eyes had no pupils; they were orbs of flame. Its paws and claws were wreathed in that same fire.

The wolf opened its maw, and flame shot forth from it steadily.

Ash pushed backward as Lilith stood at the entrance. Her eyes stayed on the wolf as it breathed, every breath exhaling smoke and fire.

It began to stalk to the side, head low, eyes focused on Ash.

Ash grabbed his elar, using his technique. His wings did little to counter the heat, but it did help a little. The fire dire wolf’s eyes narrowed as Ash dashed towards the wolf, using the form of the falling frost dragon.

Lilith’s thoughts were shocked, and they quickly turned into warnings as the wolf burst into pure fire.

Ash’s sword passed through it, dispersing the flame.

Lilith’s warning came again as an image of the wolf reforming behind him, attacking with a fire paw.

Ash turned, ducking as the thought hit his mind. The fire passed over him, singing his hair. He rolled away, bounding up, blade in a guard formation. The wolf launched itself at him, snarling, its saliva-liquid flame.

Acting on instinct, Ash folded his frost wings over himself. Just in time, the fire claws raked at him, steam exploding as heat met cold. He cried out as his skin was scalded.

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However, he successfully defended the attack and rolled away again. Reaching up with his other hand, he winced as pain flared at his touch. It wasn’t too bad, though. A slight burn, nothing more.

The wolf howled, jerking its head downward; it sprayed fire in a rush of flame.

Ash had no choice but to use more elar, increasing the effectiveness of his technique.

Once more, steam discharged, but Ash was ready, moving backward.

He ran around the steam, jumping forward, and attacked the wolf with a quick slash.

This time, he succeeded in cutting the blade into the wolf.

The wolfsbane went to work, sending void-like tendrils of necrosis through the wolf, preventing its regeneration. It let out an agonizing howl, bursting into a cloud of fire.

Ash gripped the handle of his sword, knuckles whitening, the scalded skin around them burning.

He had no idea where the wolf would reappear. He wondered why the book hadn’t discussed the dire wolf’s ability to transform into flame and reappear like this.

Lilith’s clarion call sounded within his mind, but he couldn’t react fast enough. The dire wolf, reverberating with fire, bore down on him from above, sending him crashing into the ground, his sword slipping from his hand, clattering to the stone a few inches away.

His wings shuddered, a thin layer of rime covering the wolf.

Its teeth gnashed. Ash turned his face away, getting his left arm between him and the wolf’s fangs. He hissed, burns breaking out on his skin. The wolf gnashed, biting into the leather covering his forearm, piercing clean through to the bone.

“AGH! FUCK!”

Ash didn’t bleed, as the fire around its teeth cauterized the wound.

The wolf jerked its head, and he had to draw more elar to have the strength to keep it in place. He dismissed his wings, as he didn’t want steam to scald him further. Stretching his right hand out, he gritted his teeth, reaching for the blade.

The tips of his fingers brushed against the handle. He was just shy.

Frowning, he pushed his head into the ground, trying to keep himself from the wolf’s teeth as he pushed the wolf away. He strained his arm, fighting to get an extra inch.

His fingers closed around the sword, easily lifted with his elar-enhanced strength.

The wolf bore down, teeth gnashing closer, his arm throbbing. Lilith let out a squeaky roar and crashed into the wolf.

“Lilith! No!” Ash yelled, and with renewed determination, he plunged the blade into the wolf’s neck.

The wolf shook, its flames going berserk. Lilith was knocked away, her form going still.

Then, with a sudden whoosh, its eyes pulsated, and its fire went out as necrotic ropes lanced through its body.

A moment later, the wolf went limp.

It fell over, dead. Energy poured into his elan, and a wildfire and hunger joined the winter of his elan.

Ash pushed himself upward, his arm vibrating with sharp pain and a burning sensation.

He crawled toward Lilith, who, thankfully, was breathing. She wasn’t even singed.

He gave her his last healing potion anyway.

She shuddered, her eyes opening.

“You’ve got to stop scaring me like this,” Ash told her.

She blinked, then turned her head away, eyes closing as she sent him smug thoughts.

“Oh, no way you’re trying to claim credit for this kill.”

She projected an image of her crashing into the wolf, allowing him to attack.

“I was the one who dealt the final blow!” Ash protested.

Lilith shrugged her wings, lifting her head. He wouldn’t have been able to win without her, so it was her kill. There was no other way to slice it.

He laughed, and it turned into a choking cough of pain.

“Ow. Let’s not do that.”

He turned to the corpse.

“I don’t think this is a fire dire wolf. I’m unsure what it is, but the book didn’t describe this.”

He shrugged, then returned to the next room where he had placed his pack. He didn’t have a healing potion, so all he could do was wrap his wound, which looked like two charred holes.

The leather was torn, it hung loosely from his forearm.

He grabbed two bags, a knife, and a jar.

Then he went to carve up the wolf, collecting his reward.