Realm of Monsters

Loh looked around camp, they were surrounded by over two dozen frost wolves. Running away seemed a long shot at best. Fighting was the only viable option, but the odds were against them. Rhian was not trained to fight and Stryg was still recovering. They would be overwhelmed in an instant.

The frost wolves stood around in a circle, not attacking, but not leaving either. Then there was the alpha. Loh had just spent most of her grey mana on a curse spell that had easily been destroyed. She wasn’t even sure how the alpha had done it, nor what else it was capable of.

The massive alpha wolf took a step forward and bared its fangs at Loh.

“The three of you, listen carefully,” Loh whispered.

Stryg, Rhian, and Maximus glanced at her.

“When I give the signal I need the three of you to get as close as you can to me. You can’t hesitate,” Loh whispered.

This whole thing was a gamble, the strain it would put on her body alone was a danger, not to mention the risk of overheating. But, she had no choice, there were too many enemies, she couldn’t defeat them all. She needed to thin their numbers. Loh took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She summoned all the orange mana within her heart, the immense power rushed through her veins and into her fingertips.

“Now!” Loh yelled.

Rhian and Maximus dashed next to her. Stryg ignored his limp and dived towards them. A ring of flame blazed around them and surged forward in a blast of fire. The frost wolves turned away in a futile attempt to escape the inferno. But, the alpha stood its ground and howled. A silver light formed a wall in front of the wolves as the frost-mist surged forth in a torrent, surrounding the fiery onslaught. The frost-mist shivered as the flames tried to break through to no avail.

Loh’s arm’s trembled as she held the spell, it needed to work, there was no other way. She screamed in frustration. Rhian and Maximus grimaced from the heat.

The fiery blaze was too bright for Stryg, he groaned in agony. The outer rings of his irises expanded, until his irises covered most of the eyes. His vision darkened, the world became bathed in black with silver outlines. The pain in his eyes was gone, but he could still feel the suffocating flames.

Stryg looked at his companions, the heat was encroaching around them. It was becoming hard to breathe. The flames were absorbing all the air. If this kept up they wouldn’t last. He looked at Loh, her body was ebon black with silver linings. Her eyes were wide in distress. He could see silver droplets of sweat covering her brow.

“Master! You have to stop!” Stryg shouted through the roaring flames.

But, Loh wasn’t listening, her will and focus all given to the spell. She had cast a spell meant to use all her power, all her orange mana placed into one grand attack.

The frost-mist began to give way, evaporating in the heat. The silver light behind the mist stood strong, its power not crumbling in the slightest. The alpha wolf stared calmly at Loh with silver eyes.

Loh Noir, high master mage, screamed one last time. Her arms fell to her side. The flames died out, the last of her mana spent. She dropped to her knees, her body burning from within, the strain of the spell taking its toll. The heat of the flames only served to increase her temperature. Her vision swam, she was overheating.

“Master!” Stryg caught her before she tipped over.

Loh slowly raised her head, she looked at Rhian with a tired gaze. “Get Stryg out of here, I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Rhian bit her lip.

“N-no, you can’t do this,” Stryg’s voice cracked.

“I still have black mana,” Loh breathed roughly. Shadows creeped from under and wrapped around her knees.

“That doesn’t matter, you’re in no condition to fight anymore. We have to escape. Together… I can’t run away, I can’t abandon my allies, not again,” Stryg took a shaky breath.

He could still remember the faces of his tribemates as the lamias attacked. He couldn’t bring himself to leave Loh in the same circumstance.

Loh gave him a half-hearted smile, “You’re not the only one with regrets. But, I told you, Stryg, you’re my 1st priority. You need to live, no matter what.”

“We both do, now get up,” Stryg glanced at the frost wolves. They still stood behind the silver light. If they ran now, perhaps they had a chance.

Loh shook her head. “I can’t stand, I don’t have the strength. Maximus, can you help me up for one final ride?”

In response, Maximus scooped her up and placed her in the saddle, “As I said, it was an honor. I could ask for no greater death than to fight against monsters.” He raised his battle axe.

“Our time was short, Maximus, but the honor was mine,” Loh grinned weakly. “Rhian, get him out of here now.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Rhian pulled Stryg towards her.

“Get off me!” Stryg struggled against her, his body still numb.

“We’ll make an opening for you two. Don’t look back, Stryg,” Loh said.

Rhian pulled Stryg up in her arms, “I’m ready.”

Loh looked at her apprentice one last time, You’re going to change this world.

The silver light around the frost wolves faded away. The alpha wolf advanced. Stryg pushed Rhian away with all the strength he could muster. He fell to the ground and stumbled his way between Loh and the alpha wolf.

He didn’t want to die, so what was he thinking? He wasn’t sure, but he moved anyway.

“What are you doing!?” Loh screamed.

Stryg raised his arms wide open, “Don’t touch my friends! I’m the one you want. I’m your goddess’ bad omen. Fight me, but keep them out of this.”

The alpha wolf stepped closer.

“Maximus, now!” Loh flicked her wrist, shadow tendrils firing out.

Maximus yelled and jumped forward, over Stryg’s head, axe swinging down at the alpha. The alpha howled, wind in a faint silver sheen roared forth, blasting Maximus and Loh away. Rhian’s legs trembled, she couldn’t move.

Stryg’s eyes widened, he looked up at the alpha. The titanic wolf stared down at him, as if noticing his presence for the first time. It drew closer and walked right past him.

The alpha wolf’s maw opened wide and bit into the charred carcass of the dire root-bison. The other frost wolves followed suit and bit into the remaining root-bison carcasses lying about. The pack dragged the bison away and left within moments. The alpha gave them one last look and went on its way. Stryg and his companions watched the whole affair with an air of surreality.

“What... the?” Stryg muttered.

Rhian’s legs collapsed underneath her, she started sobbing.

“Holy shit, I’m alive, oh thank the fates,” Loh laughed in relief. “I really thought I was going to die to some damn wolves.”

“Indeed,” Maximus stared at his battle axe that had landed a few inches from his face.

“That’s it? They just left? They just wanted the meat?” Stryg frowned.

“Obviously,” Loh nodded sagely. “They probably smelled the meat from miles away and came looking for it. I knew the meat could potentially attract predators, but you were paralyzed and the centaurs were exhausted after trying to save your dumbass. We had to set up camp here.”

Stryg was too confused to note the insult. “But, I was born a bad omen. Frost wolves are the servants of Lunae. I don’t understand.”

“It’s pretty simple. Gods aren’t real and those were just a bunch of dumb wolves hungry for a meal,” Loh stretched.

“Those dumb wolves dealt with you just fine,” Stryg pointed out.

Loh’s eye twitched, “Those are unfair comparisons. I was surrounded by over two dozen of them. I was forced to use large spread out spells to deal with them. Had it been a one versus one situation, I don’t doubt I would have beaten them, even that dire frost wolf.”

“Are you sure about that?” Stryg asked innocently.

“Hey, your eyes, they changed again.”

“You can tell?” Stryg blinked.

“Yeah, you’ve got those puppy eyes for some reason. I can barely see the whites, it’s all just purple iris and black pupil,” Loh stared. “This must be what the doctors saw after your fall.”

“It makes sense. Everything looks different again. Black and silver,” he examined his surroundings.

“What triggered the change?” Loh asked.

He looked up in thought, “It was really bright when you were casting the flame spell. My eyes hurt one second then they didn’t, my vision had changed.”

“Was it the amount of light that caused the change? Or maybe the large amounts of fire or perhaps the immense exposure to mana?” Loh muttered.

“I don’t know. But, I’m not in pain, so I think it’s fine. Can we talk about what just happened with those frost wolves. Like why are we still alive?”

“What is there to say? They were hungry, they wanted the bison meat, and couldn’t care less about us. End of story,” Loh sighed.

“But, isn’t that weird? I mean why not kill us? They clearly could have.”

“There was no point. Like you said, we were clearly not a threat and they didn’t want to eat us.”

“It’s still weird,” Stryg frowned.

“Creatures behave strangely under full moons. Wolves are especially known to act differently,” Loh dusted off her pants.

“These weren’t just wolves. They were frost wolves.”

“They are still a kind of wolf, aren’t they?” Loh shrugged. “You’re trying to find some special reason in a place where there is none. Sometimes shit just happens and sometimes you just get lucky. Tonight was a bit of both.”

Stryg threw his arms up in frustration and laid down on the burnt ground.

Loh scratched her cheek, “Look, all I know is that first thing tomorrow we are going to a tavern to get some actual rest. That and I burned all our supplies to a crisp.”

“...A soft bed does sound nice,” he admitted.

“First, you need to go check on Rhian,” Loh pointed at the crying centaur on the other side of camp.

Stryg sighed, he really didn’t want to deal with tears right now. Nonetheless, she was his tribemate, so he got back up and walked over. “Rhian, are you alright?”

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Rhian asked, wiping the tears from her own eyes.

“It happens sometimes, don’t worry about it. How are you holding up?” He asked.

“I’m sorry. I just need a minute is all. I was trained to perform, not battle. It’ll take some time for me to get used to it. I promise I won’t let you down,” she said with a shaky smile.

Honestly, this whole thing was getting too much for her, but she couldn’t say as much. She had confidently told her Master that she would win him over. But, now she had trouble even keeping a calm face. How could she be the best like this? She wished she had nerves of steel like Maximus. Despite everything, he was sitting down just meditating, although, strangely, he kept staring at his axe.

Stryg sat down next to Rhian, “...It’s fine if you need a moment to collect yourself after a battle. We all do at some point. Tribemates aren’t meant to work alone. It’s a group effort.” Stryg ran his hands through his grey hair, “I guess what I’m saying is, wipe your tears, I’ll cover you till then.”

Rhian looked at him with surprise. She could have sworn he would have been angry. “Master, can I ask you a question?”

“I’m guessing you’re not referring to the one you just asked.”

“Mm. Did you mean what you said? Back when you faced the frost wolf.”

“What are you talking about?” Stryg rested his back on her side.

“You told the alpha ‘to not touch your friends.’ Did you mean it? ...Are we friends?” Rhian laughed at herself, “Can a centaur even be a friend with a chromatic species?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Rhian clasped her hands tightly, “But, I’m an animal and you’re not.”

Stryg laughed, “The way I see it, we are all animals. Sure, some of us can use magic, others are smarter. But we all still need to eat, we all still bleed. What difference does it make if at the end of the day we all belong to the same food chain? The greater predator eats the weaker ones.”

“It’s pretty morbid when you put it like that,” Rhian chuckled.

“I don’t think so. It’s just the way the world is. The strong rule the weak. It’s why you’re here and not performing in some fancy show, I suppose.”

“I thought it’s because you bought me from Swift Winds,” Rhian raised an eyebrow.

“True, but the point still stands. The stronger one gets what they want and I wanted you to be a part of my tribe.”

“Yeah, I guess the strong do get what they want,” Rhian nodded. “...Do you think this world could ever be different?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure the world can ever change. Those are thoughts for civics people, philosophers or whatever Callum calls them. I’m just a goblin trying not to be a prey.” Stryg grabbed her arm, “Don’t let all of this confuse you. You saved me today. Rhian, you are strong. You’re just not as strong as me though, so you’re still mine.”

“I can’t tell if you are trying to be flattering or you are simply greedy,” she laughed.

Stryg released her arm, settled in next to her and closed his eyes. “I meant what I said, you are my friend, as is Loh. Not Maximus though, I don’t like him. More importantly, you are my tribemate.”

“What does that exactly mean?”

“It means you and I are going to do great things someday. Someday,” he mumbled as he began to drift into sleep.

“Ebon Hollow, huh?” Rhian whispered, tasting the words on her mouth. “I could get used to that.”

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