The Alpha prowled in a wide circle, its molten-gold eyes fixed on him, radiating a terrifying calm.
"Hold the line!" Aelric shouted over the din of snarls and clashes, his voice hoarse. "Elysia, with me! The rest, keep the smaller ones back!"
Kane, Lysa, Mira, and Joss formed a tight formation, their weapons trembling in their hands as the tide of Howlfangs surged. Fear was palpable in the air, but Aelric had no time to dwell on it.
His focus was on the towering Alpha.
It crouched low, muscles rippling under obsidian fur. Every breath it took seemed to draw the air from the battlefield.
"Now!" he barked, rushing forward.
The Alpha moved like a shadow, a blur of speed that belied its massive size. Its claws sliced through the ground as Aelric dodged. He countered with a swift slash, but his blade skidded off its hide, leaving nothing but a faint scratch.
"It's impenetrable!" Aelric shouted, his grip tightening on his sword.
Elysia darted in, her chain snapping with deadly precision. It coiled around the Alpha's foreleg, but with a guttural snarl, the beast tore free, flinging her aside like a ragdoll. She hit the ground hard but rolled to her feet, blood trickling from her lip.
"We're not breaking through like this!" she hissed, her voice sharp.
Before Aelric could respond, the translucent system screen appeared before his eyes:
[You have slain a Lesser Howlfang.]
Aelric blinked. That wasn't me… He glanced at Kane, who had just finished off one of the smaller beasts. The system is counting his kills as mine. The bond…
"Fall back!" he shouted. "We need a plan—"
But she was already moving.
The Alpha lunged at her, claws extended. She leaped back, but the force of its strike shattered the ground, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. Her iron cuffs shattered under the pressure, the runes etched into them flickering before extinguishing.
Elysia stared at her freed hands. A slow, unsettling smile crept across her face.
She flexed her hands, shaking off the remnants of the chains. "Thanks for that," she muttered, her voice low but edged with feral amusement.
"Stay back, Aelric," she growled, her voice carrying a feral edge. "This one's mine."
Aelric opened his mouth to protest, but the words caught in his throat. Elysia's eyes were glowing—a vivid, unnatural light that pulsed with raw energy. Veins bulged across her arms as her body trembled. A low growl escaped her lips, animalistic and terrifying.
He felt it then—the nascent bond between them flaring to life, flooding his mind with raw emotions: hunger, rage, and the primal urge to dominate. The intensity of it staggered him, and he stumbled back, clutching his head.
"Elysia, what are you—" But she was already moving.
With a feral roar, she launched herself at the Alpha. She drove her fists into its side with unrelenting force. The impact echoed across the battlefield, cracking bone.
The Alpha snarled, thrashing violently, but she held firm. Her movements were faster, sharper, as if her body had shed its mortal limits. Every strike landed with the force of a battering ram.
Aelric shook himself, forcing his focus back. He couldn't let her fight alone. His mana core flared to life as he began channeling energy into a Firebolt. This time, he poured everything into it. The orb in his palm swelled, crackling with unstable power.
The Firebolt pulsed, a miniature sun in his grasp. With a roar, Aelric hurled it at the Alpha.
It exploded against the Alpha in a violent burst of flame and force. The blast roared across the battlefield, drowning out every sound. Dirt and stone erupted into the air, raining down like shrapnel as the shockwave tossed Aelric and Elysia backward.
For a moment, all was still.
Aelric pushed himself up, his ears ringing. Smoke curled from the crater where the Alpha had stood, the ground charred black and seared with deep cracks. The acrid stench of burnt fur and flesh filled the air, thick and suffocating.
He staggered to his feet, his sword dragging against the ground. "Is it… over?" he muttered, his voice hoarse.
The smoke swirled, carried by the faint wind, and for a fleeting moment, hope flickered in his chest.
Then it moved.
A low, guttural growl rolled through the silence like distant thunder. The Alpha stepped out of the smoke, its massive frame shrouded in flame-lit shadows. Aelric's breath hitched. The beast was still standing.
But it wasn't unscathed.
The Alpha's fur was scorched and patchy, revealing raw, blistered skin beneath. Blood dripped from deep gashes along its ribs, a mixture of black blood and crimson pooling beneath it. One of its glowing molten eyes was dim, the lid swollen and half-closed.
Yet even injured, it radiated power. A broken growl escaped its throat, not of pain, but of fury—a wrath that refused to die.
"How is it still alive?" Kane's voice trembled from behind the barricade, his dagger shaking in his grip.
Before he could finish, the Alpha lunged. Its speed was slower than before, but its sheer power made up for it. The ground trembled as it closed the distance, its claws cleaving through the air toward Aelric.
He barely managed to raise his sword in time. The impact sent him sprawling, his weapon vibrating violently in his hands.
Elysia, her mind overtaken by fury had already launched herself at the Alpha and crashed into it. The Alpha stumbled, its claws raking the ground for purchase.
Aelric pushed past the haze of exhaustion, channeling the last reserves of his mana. His core blazed to life, but it was weaker. Damn. What do I do now?
Then, a sudden warmth surged into him. Through the bond, he felt Kane's energy flowing into his core, revitalizing him. His eyes widened. That was it! He could draw mana from his followers!
Reinvigorated, Aelric began gathering energy for another Firebolt. It grew in his hands, its light brighter and hotter than any before. The heat singed his skin, but he didn't care.
The lesser beasts lunged at Aelric, intent on stopping him. "Protect Aelric!" Lysa cried out.
She and the others threw themselves between the Howlfangs and Aelric.
"Not this time," Aelric growled, his voice steady despite the storm raging in his chest.
He hurled the Firebolt.
The orb streaked through the air, a comet of searing light. The Alpha roared, its molten veins flaring as it braced itself. The explosion that followed was blinding, a fiery inferno that consumed the beast.
This time, when the smoke cleared, the Alpha was still.
Its massive form lay crumpled, its molten eyes dim.
Aelric fell to his knees, his chest heaving. The translucent system screen appeared before him:
[You have slain the Alpha Howlfang.]
The message lingered, but Aelric barely registered it. His vision swam as the weight of his exhaustion pressed down on him. Around him, the lesser Howlfangs hesitated, their snarls softening into whimpers. Without their leader, they looked lost, aimless.
Lysa, Mira, and Joss stood frozen, their weapons slack in their hands. Kane rushed to Aelric's side, his face pale. "We did it," Kane said breathlessly. "We actually did it."
Another message flashed:
[Your Dominion is absorbing essence from the Alpha Howlfang.]
[An unknown change is occurring...]
The battlefield was finally still, the echoes of battle fading into the night. But then a scream—primal and guttural—cut through the heavy silence.
Aelric spun toward the sound, dread coiling in his stomach. Elysia stood over Gerrick, her glowing eyes blazing with feral light, her claws sinking into his shoulders. The older man's hammer lay forgotten beside him, and his face, once lined with defiance, was twisted in terror.
"Elysia, stop!" Aelric shouted, sprinting toward her.
Gerrick choked out a desperate laugh, though it trembled with fear. "So, this is it, huh?" he rasped, blood trickling from his lips. "The boy who preaches loyalty… and his monster." His voice cracked, a bitter edge replacing his usual calm. "Guess betrayal doesn't seem so bad now, does it?"
Elysia growled low, her body tense, her claws tightening around his shoulders. Gerrick flinched, but he forced his gaze to meet hers, defiance flickering in his eyes even as his chest heaved. "Do it, then," he spat. "I've survived worse than this."
Her fury consumed her, the challenge lost to the storm of instincts. With a snarl, she raised her arm, claws glinting in the light.
The strike came swift and merciless. Her claws slashed through Gerrick's chest with a sickening crunch. His body spasmed, his face contorting in a grimace of raw agony—then slackened, the defiance in his eyes dimming to lifelessness.
Aelric felt the frenzy through their bond—a maelstrom of rage and primal instincts clawing at his mind. He gritted his teeth, forcing the connection to stabilize. The beast within wasn't done. She growled low, her body tensing as she turned toward Aelric.
*****
A/N:
There we go—all the threats are eliminated… or are they? Just when things seemed under control, a new kind of enemy steps into the spotlight. This one's different, and it'll take more than brute strength to overcome. Let's hope Aleric has a plan that's good enough to face this challenge head-on.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the twists and turns so far! Drop a comment or review, and let me know what you're enjoying—or what you're looking forward to. Your support keeps the story going strong, so thank you for sticking around!