Demon Wolf

Kira spent the whole day bagged. While carrying her, the kidnappers unintentionally battered her black and blue, but bruises and pain were everyday occurrences for aspiring warriors. The unusual thing was being tied in a bag, half-suffocating in an awkward position, while her bladder screamed it would burst.

Please. Stop! I need to pee! In the dark, Kira desperately wished to voice her plea. Unfortunately, the panicked words which left her throat passed through a damp cloth and exited as incoherent, barely audible “wmmms”.

Finally, after a particularly careless thud, Kira’s bladder surrendered. The teen screamed and trashed as much as her circumstances allowed, alerting her captors.

“Did the Walsh lass piss herself?” the shorter woman asked, her nose curling.

Every now and then, she poked the bag, drawing fresh blood to leave an obvious trail for Kira’s mother. However, instead of red, yellow trickled from those holes.

“Oh, fuck me, Maeve, why didn’t you tell me straight away?” The brawny woman dropped the hunting pack and stepped away. Her lip twisted in disgust as she caught the sharp odor. She reinforced her leg with Qi and kicked the sack flying. “You petty mutt! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oi, Erin, watch what you’re doing. We need her alive to bleed,” Maeve said. We stuffed a rag down her mouth, you know? “Fiona’s got a Bloodsquirmer, and those little suckers recognize fresh blood. But if you really feel like it, you can kill the lass and throw her into the Lindworm’s Desert once we reach it.”

Maeve disliked dirty jobs. This time her mistress sent her to ensure Erin did nothing stupid, like executing the bait before reaching destination. The original plan was to break the girl’s limbs and ditch her in the waste, letting her pained screams attract the terrifying Monster Beast. However, Erin killing her and shouting to draw the giant serpent’s attention was also acceptable.

Lindworm’s Desert? Kira’s skin crawled. She forgot the pain in her cracked ribs. She even forgot the humiliation of soiling herself. The Lindworm was taboo, an anomaly which appeared around Digger Mountain, where Bear Tribe and Hare Tribe bordered. It ate the region clean, turning lush forests into a wasteland and blocking access to Digger Mountain’s mines.

Two tribes’ matriarchs attempted to subdue the monster together but failed. They concluded it had reached the middle stages of Blood Saturating realm and that it was better to abandon the mines, rather than risk the tribes’ core strengths. Mother could escape if she fled alone, but while carrying me…

The terror Lindworm evoked overrode Kira’s reason. It was only a moment later she realized another important detail. They want to kill me?

“You start a fire and cook the rations we brought,” Maeve said. “I’ll take the lass to the bushes so she can do her business. We’ve got ten more hours of running before we reach the desert, and we might as well eat.”

The burly woman muttered curses while the small one walked over to the bag and untied the cord.

“Come on pup. Get out.” Maeve waited a blink, and when Kira failed to obey, she grabbed her by the hair. She sent a surge of Qi into her arm, shoulder, and spine, then yanked, pulling the nude sixteen-year-old out of the sack. “Do I need to drag your bare arse into the bushes or will you walk?”

Kira looked horrible. Her back and shoulders were marine blue, her restrained hands had turned purple hours ago, and two dozen cuts covered her feet and calves. Kira grunted and shouted, but other than blowing snot out of her nose, she only managed muffled noises.

Maeve did not argue. She walked around and clasped the naked girl’s right ankle. Kira started thrashing, but Maeve tightened her grasp and twisted, dislocating her captive’s joint.

“Wmmmhhh!” Kira wailed.

“Now, listen,” Maeve continued in a calm voice. “We have two bushes to choose from. You can hobble through honeysuckles or I can drag your arse through blackberry bushes. If you don’t wise up and go limp like a fish right now, you’re getting the blackberry treatment.”

In response, Kira kicked with her left and got the blackberry treatment.

***

Wolf ran the whole day. He sprinted at his top speed, heading towards Hare Tribe. Along the way, he made interesting discoveries.

The more I burn my Vis, the faster I draw it from the environment. I should stop calling it Vis. Qi! Qi! Use the native term. Otherwise, they might figure out I’m an alien.

To resolve blood haze, Wolf executed the costliest techniques he knew, burning it completely in nine strikes. Vis— Qi deficiency kicked like a mule and lethargy washed over Wolf’s every muscle. However, the drowsiness passed after five minutes as Qi from the air surged into his body through his nose and mouth.

It did not instantly replenish his Qi reserve; that took seven hours. However, it was enough to function normally and allowed him to send Qi surges to reinforce his legs for faster running.

The problem is, I can’t keep my damn senses awakened at all times, like home. Back home, Anima was like Qi here. I could freely burn it, while I had to conserve Qi, and here it’s the other way round.

Not being able to amplify his sight, hearing, and scent, nor magnify his perception of time turned what was an easy dash back home into a headlong careen full of barely evaded obstacles. Fuck. How do regular people do this?

Regular people rarely run one hundred meters in ten seconds in woodland environments while keeping an eye out for branches, roots, and rocks; especially after sunset. Wolf made the snide remark he believed Silver would utter.

He worried about her. The little girl ignored his summons when he called her. And with his soul wounded, he could not risk entering his Palace of Echoes to check on her.

I hope you’re fine, and you just can’t hear me because of the damage my soul suffered. Wolf’s lip twisted and his heart ached as he thought how he had lost contact with his oldest friend. With a friend who kept him company since childhood.

What’s this? Wolf’s nostrils flared. He caught the aroma of a poorly prepared meal. Even dormant, his senses were sharper than average manling’s. If someone’s cooking something, and I can catch the smell in the forest, that means they are close. Why didn’t the blood haze trigger?

Wolf thought for a split second, then felt like slapping his forehead. I already used up all my Vi—Qi and replaced it with this world’s Qi. I need to name these two worlds. Biba’s memories had no name for her world, and I can’t call it Fellworld either. Maybe someone educated knows. I’ll ask around when I meet civilized people. As for home, I could call it Home? People here call it Treasure World, but I don’t like it. It’s like saying my world exists so they could plunder it.

While considering planar naming conventions, Wolf spotted warm orange light through the bushes. If they have the courage to start a cooking fire, that means they aren’t afraid of Monster Beasts. I’ve already entered Hare Tribe’s territory, and these could be their guards. I’ve removed Bear Tribe markings from my clothes, so I should look like a wanderer.

Wolf had a vague understanding of the animosity between adjacent tribes and the complex network of alliances and hostilities of various small forces. So he knew what he should not do and how to conduct himself.

If only I had two Mental Aspects. One to handle speech and body language, the other to figure out what I must do. Wolf could think in parallel. However, any strenuous mental activity required Anima. Sifting through memories he stole from the Bear Tribe’s warrior before killing her and composing a social profile of barbarian tribes was something he would need days for, weeks perhaps.

Wolf did not have weeks to waste. He wanted to return to his daughter and Mandy as soon as possible. Fuck it. I’ll improvise.

Wolf jumped into the small clearing where three women made camp. Two sat and ate stew. The third one was naked, bruised, bleeding, and shivering on the ground. Her hands were discolored and tied behind her back, while a dirty rag with blots of fresh blood gagged her mouth.

What the hells is happening here? Wolf thought, taking in the scene. Smelling blood, he instinctively awakened his senses, then willed them into dormancy, cursing himself for wasting Anima.

However, during that stretched moment of clarity, he saw enough. The girl’s wounds were shallow and untreated. The ones on her legs were older, slightly crusted over, and they showed early signs of infection. Her torso was bruised under her left breast. The welt still bloomed, telling him it was fresh. 

She reeked of ammonia. Her lips were cracked, meaning she suffered from dehydration. Her ankle was swollen, and her foot bent sideways. She either lodged it somewhere and twisted around, or someone broke it. Based on its freshness, the injury happened within the last hour. Based on the stew, ash, and embers, that was roughly when these women set up camp.

As Wolf took in these tiny details, the three women’s pupils stopped dilating. His senses finally went dormant and his rage exploded.

 

sleepydad88

Hello, Dear Reader,

For the foreseeable future, I plan to schedule chapters once a week, so forgive my lack of interaction and responses. I have two babies and two toddlers on my hands, and writing these several sentences took forty minutes.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy the story.

Best regards,
Sleepy