The sword never reached its target.
Before the deadly blow could descend, an enormous energy surged from the darkness, striking the wounded leader with brutal force, hurling him against a nearby tree.
The impact made his bones crack, and a cloud of blood burst from his mouth as he fell to the ground like a broken doll, his eyes wide with shock and pain.
The sword dropped from his hand, inert, rolling to a stop among the damp leaves.
The beasts that had been devouring the men stopped immediately, their ears perked, and their bodies tensed. The growls turned into anxious whispers, as if even they could sense that something far more dangerous had arrived.
Their eyes, bright and full of hunger, blinked nervously, retreating a few steps as their bodies went on high alert, ready to defend themselves from whatever had interrupted their feast.
From the shadows, a monstrous head flew through the air, landing with a dull thud in the center of the carnage. It was the head of a creature similar to them but larger, with twisted fangs and fresh blood still dripping from its jaw.
The beasts immediately recognized their king, the alpha of the pack. His face, frozen in a grimace of pain and rage, showed the last vestiges of a fierce struggle before his death.
Horror spread like poison across the battlefield. Some beasts retreated, emitting pitiful whimpers, as if their king's suffering resonated in their souls.
However, what had started as a retreat didn't last long. The whimper of one of the beasts turned into a scream of fury, and soon others began to join, filled with a wild mixture of pain and a thirst for revenge. Claws dug into the ground, and their bodies, once fearful, became filled with a vengeful energy.
The girl, still kneeling beside her father's body, didn't fully understand what was happening, but a shiver ran through her body. She slowly lifted her head, and her gaze met an imposing creature emerging from the trees.
"What... what is that?"
She could barely believe what she was seeing.
A four-legged being, similar to a wolf but much larger, with fur as dark as the night. Its body was covered in deep claw and bite wounds, some so recent that blood still dripped from them in thick strands, soaking its fur until it turned a deep red.
Despite its wounds, its eyes gleamed with undeniable fierceness, a gaze that showed no signs of weakness or pain. On the contrary, it seemed to feed off the violence, as if it was ready to face the entire pack alone.
The leader, barely breathing against the tree, lifted his head with difficulty. Blood dripped from his mouth as his eyes locked onto the creature. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't respond.
—What the hell...?! —he spat with fury, but pain choked him.
The bloody creature moved with surprising speed, as if time itself had stopped for it. With a burst of power and ferocity, its massive paw slammed into the ground, crushing one of the beasts that had been roaring the loudest.
Before the beast could react, it felt the brutal impact, and in an instant, the creature's enormous jaws closed with devastating force around its neck, tearing out a large chunk of flesh and bone.
An abrupt silence fell over the battlefield as the mutilated body was kicked toward the group of beasts, who recoiled, stunned and fearful at the sight of their comrade's miserable end.
The creature, still bleeding from its wounds, stood upright, watching the remaining beasts as if waiting for them to give it a reason to finish the rest. Its eyes reflected absolute disdain.
The beasts' growls turned helpless, their survival instincts screaming that the only option was to retreat.
The creature gave them one last cold look, devoid of any compassion, before turning its attention to the girl.
It watched the girl as she crawled toward the leader with hesitant steps, her breath uneven and her strength fading. Even so, her eyes showed no fear or doubt, only fierce determination.
The leader, barely conscious, struggled to breathe, his chest rising and falling with difficulty, stained with his own blood dripping from open wounds.
His bloodshot eyes focused on the girl approaching.
—You'll be devoured... like your father... —he murmured with a broken voice, tainted with hate.
The words didn't seem to affect her.
The girl, instead of retreating, stopped in front of him, her face covered in tears, blood, and mud. Her trembling fingers reached for the arrow sticking out of her own chest, and with a heart-wrenching scream of pain and fury, she ripped it out.
Blood gushed from the wound, but she barely noticed. Her eyes, clouded by suffering, flashed with a new, almost savage intensity.
The leader, stunned by pain and disbelief, couldn't react as the girl, arrow in hand, began to stab him.
The first blow pierced him easily, tearing a scream of agony from him. But she didn't stop there. She stabbed again, and again, her small figure trembling with each blow. The arrow punctured flesh and bone, each stab more desperate and violent than the last.
—Stop...! Stop! —he begged, but his pleas were useless. The arrow kept descending over and over, tearing through flesh, bone, and muscle.
The girl didn't listen, saw nothing but the burning need for revenge in her chest.
The creature's eyes, which until that moment had watched with cold indifference, opened slightly in a mix of astonishment and curiosity. "This little human is returning the pain with more fury than any beast."
The leader whimpered, his screams growing weaker until they turned into a gurgle drowned by blood. His eyes grew glassy, and his once-feared body lay lifeless and mangled under the girl's blows. Finally, with one last spasm, the leader stopped moving.
The girl, covered in blood, her own and his, remained still for a moment, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling violently.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze toward her father's body, lying on the ground. Her legs wobbled, and each step she took toward him grew heavier, more painful. Her vision began to blur, and exhaustion wrapped around her like a suffocating blanket.
Just a few steps from him, her body couldn't take it anymore, and she fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Everything went black, her consciousness fading, and in that last moment, the only thing she saw was the silhouette of a beast with eyes alight with opportunity, pouncing on her.
...
Far from that place, the sound of rain gently tapped against the roof of a modest cabin, lost among the trees of a dense forest. Inside, the only noise was the crackling of a fireplace that barely illuminated the room.
In a bed, under tattered blankets, lay a girl of about ten years old, motionless, as if the weight of life had been too much for her.
Beside the bed, a man slept deeply, slumped in an old wooden chair with his feet resting on a small table.
His appearance was disheveled, but every detail of his attire pointed to functionality.
He wore a dark leather coat, worn from use and exposure to the elements, and sturdy boots caked with dried mud. There were no adornments or luxuries in his appearance, only what was necessary to survive. His silver hair, long and unruly, fell over his face, almost covering his closed eyes.
A low, almost imperceptible whimper came from the girl lying in the bed. Her body, previously motionless, stirred slightly, as if she were battling a silent nightmare.
The man startled awake, quickly wiping away the drool that had gathered at the corner of his mouth, blinking as he tried to return to reality.
His sharp, alert eyes lit up at the sight of the girl's movement.
—It's time, —he murmured to himself, a spark of excitement in his eyes.
He rubbed his hands together as his heart pounded with renewed purpose. He had been waiting for this moment for so long.
With an agile leap, he rose from the chair, pushing it toward the table with a soft squeak. He walked over to the closed window on the other side of the room, adjusting his coat as he went.
The space, though small, was orderly, with tools hanging on the walls and some provisions piled in a corner.
With a quick gesture, he opened the window, and his face was immediately hit by a gust of cold, damp air. Raindrops began to fall on his skin, but he didn't seem to mind.
—It always rains at important moments... —he murmured, almost jokingly, as he shook his head to fully wake up.
Outside, the world was gray and gloomy. The storm that had begun sometime in the early morning still raged, making the trees bend under the force of the wind.
He watched the forest for a moment, his eyes scanning the misty horizon. The sound of the rain was constant, and in the midst of that noise, his mind remained focused.
He closed his eyes for a second, breathing in the moist air deeply, as if confirming something within himself.
"The world is still as cruel out there," he thought as he ran a hand through his silver hair to push it away from his face. "But maybe... maybe now everything will change."