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Chapter 2 - A Dance With Danger

It was madness and chaos outside as people scrambled to get to safety, but no place was safe; the fold had been breached,death hovered around like a vengeful god, and at each place I looked, torn limbs and headless corpses stared at me. The ground was coated in a sea of scarlet-red liquid, which made me want to gag.

"Pull yourself together," I mumbled, trying to calm my nerves. This was not the time to show any weakness; my people needed me now, and if I could prove myself capable, maybe they would consider me worthy of leading them. The men of war quickly transformed into their wolf forms, charging forward at the monsters that crawled in. I may not have my wolf with me to fight, but if there was one thing I was good at, I was skilled with the sword.

If we were not able to keep the monsters at bay,Riverdale would fall, and as long as I lived, I could not let that happen. I was willing to go into the fiery pits of hell, even if it meant protecting my people. I watched as the pack general yelled instructions, asking the women to seek refuge at the blossom chamber, but I spurred forward undeterred.

There was this rush of adrenaline that came with war, the feeling of being invincible accompanied by the excitement of the thrill of slaughtering the enemy, but alas, this was not one of those fights; this was a suicide mission. Worse, the unpredictability of not knowing exactly what I was dealing with sent shivers down my spine. It felt like I was in a waking nightmare.

The foul stench of decay and decomposition hit me, making my nostrils flare as a ferocious monstrosity spurned towards me at an alarming speed. Its figure was so distorted that I couldn't make out its actual form. I pulled out my sword, ready to strike, when the most unexpected thing happened. A shout of panic left my lips as a violent tremor erupted from where I stood. I wasn't fast enough to escape the disaster as the ground split into halves, taking my left foot in it. I writhed, struggling to set my foot free. I didn't have enough time to brace myself as the creature pounced on me.

Up close the creature was a terrifying sight, deviants were classified into several species I recognized the creature as the hydra from the stories Tika told,it had the power to create mini earthquakes and tornadoes evoking havoc wherever it went,it was a vile creature with an insatiable hunger for flesh always never full or satisfied, the only notable weakness of a hydra was the core now the trick was locating it as its unidentifiable body parts made it an impossible task,I used the shield to protect myself as it tried to claw at my face but with each passing minute I found my strength depleting, my movements were getting sloppier earning me a deep scratch as it plunged it's claws into my skin tearing flesh, the tears in my eyes stung like tiny vipers, I was already a bloodied mess, not having my lycan put me at a great disadvantage, while other lycans when injured had the confounding ability to speed up the rapid healing of their wounds, I was about to pass out from mine as I was losing a lot of blood.

I tried not to focus on the pain but it was entirely a difficult thing to do,as my whole body burned like I had been poured raw acid, the poison from the hydra's claws was so toxic that even the breath exhaled by the hydra was lethal to any man, the more I fought the more the seed of doubt seeped into me,it was becoming increasingly difficult fighting the monster head on and trying to escape the hollow holes which it created, my vision became blurry, abruptly it's mighty force knocked me off my feet that my head plummeted to the ground, within a span of seconds the creature was upon me, my pulse raced as it opened what looked like it's mouth about to devour me, was this how I was going to die I questioned my self, hope spiralled within me as I spotted a neon glow underneath its body which I hadn't noticed before, this must be the core I thought,without hesitating I grabbed the sword by my side plunging it into the the strange looking mark,I thurst my sword deeper with all the strength left in me so that the sword propped out of its upper body and at that the creature fell silent,I couldn't help let out a sigh of relief while I pushed its body off me, tearing the lace of my dress I grabbed my sword, wiping off the goo and slush from it.

Klaus oozed the aura of confidence as he marched flexing his sculptured muscle, he looked glorious even though he was drenched in sweat and his lustrous locks was a messy nest,there was always something about Klaus I couldn't place which made my heart skip whenever he was at close range,he looked towards my way only for a second but I swear I could feel the goosebumps on my skin followed with a tinge sensation,there were a thousand people around us but it felt like we were in a different world where it was just the two of us that mattered, there was this part of me that was filled with an intense craving to be with him which was an inexplicably feeling I couldn't fathom why, what where you doing to me Klaus I couldn't help but wonder, whatever it was, I was losing myself daily to him. Now was not the time to get all dreamy, I reminded myself as I soared onto the battlefield.

The battle grew heated, reaching its climax. A large bird with metallic feathers had attacked me from behind, its disturbing shierk was the only warning I got, though a little too late before its talons slashed my arm. The hubris had its beak made of bronze, which it used to feast on the entrails of its prey. Its ability to fly gave it an added bonus, which helped it to hunt its target. The massive weight of the hubris made walking impractical as its feet were smaller in proportion, making it unable to support the heaviness of its size. The hubris propelled forward towards me again. My shield was shattered to pieces in the course of my fight with the hydra. I had nothing to defend myself now except my sword, but even that was not enough as the hubris spited out the glacier from its mouth. A few meters from where I stood, a fallen warrior lay on the ground beside him with a bow and arrow made from thorn wood. I needed to get that arrow as it was my only hope of making it alive. I ran towards it despite knowing there was no way I could outrun the hubris.

The hubris pursued hot on trail. I was almost out of breath, but I ran, never looking back. Almost there,almost there I muttered to myself but as soon as I touched the arrow,it's beak grabbed the collar of my dress I squirmed trying to break out of its strong hold, I yelped as it began to peck on my neck drawing blood, raising the arrow I stabbed the right side of its wing,it let out a wounded cry dropping me to the ground, quickly I clutched the bow attaching the arrow to its string and then I fired without giving the hubris time to recover, it's bawl of agony echoed like a wailing siren while it made lazy awkward movements showing that its wings were wounded, provoked it tried to spit out glacier towards me but I managed to dodge the continuous attack, it seemed luck was on my side but for how long. Thump! a mass of ice narrowly missed me, merely grazing my cheek. Damn, I cursed under my breath. It couldn't move so fast now that its wings were injured. Still, I needed to make sure I did enough damage so it couldn't fly with its wings again. I kept firing shots until the hubris came descending down. I scurried away, not wanting to be crushed under such a buckling mass. Taking my sword, I stalked towards it. It tried to strain its neck to see who was behind it, but was too weak to even move. I needed to end this once and for all. Closing my eyes, I chomped its head off.

A chorus of happy laughter rang out as the men cheered, giving each other celebratory hugs, thinking they had managed to scare the retreating monsters away, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong. There was this ominous feeling in my gut. A small voice whispered in my head, telling me our victory was only short-lived. Suddenly, a thunderous growl resounded in the distance, confirming my worst fears. The haunting sight before me made me tremble like a leaf.

The cranion, father of all monsters, stood imposingly grotesque, evoking dread in our hearts; its hundred dragon heads almost touched the stars; the earth rumbled as it walked; its bottom half consisted of hissing serpent coils with razor-bat-like wings; and when its volcanic eyes of fire peered at me, my true terror began.