The red masks descended towards our last kill, disappearing behind the ridge.

  I knew hiding behind this rock would do us no good once they got serious about searching for us. Finding a thick patch of grass wouldn’t do the trick either. Really, our best bet would be to escape into the woods, but we were quite a long way up. Maybe we could find a branch to jump to, then slide down like I had done before, but we wouldn’t have time to move so slowly, and the risk of falling would be a danger in and of itself.

  Whatever the case, the red masks were currently out of sight, and it was only a matter of time before they came around the ridge again.

  Actually…

  I spotted one of the three flying straight up, aiming to disappear over the mountains. Could he be getting sent back to inform others of our possible location? Did that mean these mountain ridges would be swarming with red masks soon?

  One way or another, if we escaped immediate capture, the den and this mountainside were no longer safe for us. But, immediate capture was our current concern, so I nudged Lily and nodded for her to follow.

  We moved quickly past the landing, onto another narrow pass. Lily was actually having an easier time than me since she was small. My paw occasionally slipped, sending small rocks spilling down the mountainside.

  It was currently the middle of the day, but if we could just elude them until nighttime, that would change everything. Both Lily and I had stealth skills, and under the cover of darkness, we could easily make it far enough for them to completely lose our trail.

  Obviously, they didn’t have a tracking spell as powerful as the one that had found me in the woods before, otherwise they would have already descended right on us. I wondered how rare that kind of tracking skill really was, though. There was so much I didn’t know about this world, and the System was next to useless in helping me understand things!

  We made it to another landing, this one a little closer to some trees than the last. We could feasibly jump for a branch at this height if things became dire.

  Speaking of dire…

  I looked back to see that the two other riders were airborne again. One followed the mountain line further away, while the other was coming towards us. They hadn’t spotted us yet, however.

  I moved tight along the mountainside, trying to stay in the shadows of the cliff above us as best I could, Lily right on my tail.

  However, things didn’t last long as the rider lowered down, and I realized they may have spotted where our steps disturbed the loose stones along the narrow pass. Even without a tracking skill giving the rider our exact location, it seemed they knew how to follow a trail.

  This landing led to another narrow pass, and there is no doubt we would be spotted trying to cross it. Looking down, it was a rocky slide to a lower landing, but it would at least put us under the tree branches.

  I crouched low, gauging the slope. Jagged stone and loose gravel promised bruises or maybe worse, but it was a better gamble than waiting for Lily to be plucked off the path. She was the real concern, because while I think I’d be able to put up a good enough fight against those bat things—Direwings, according to the System—Lily could easily be scooped up, and then I doubt I’d ever see her again.

  I chuffed, gesturing down, and her ears folded back as she looked down the slope as well. It looked dangerous, but even she seemed to understand it was our only chance. As the rider’s shadow skimmed the cliff face behind us, I knew we couldn’t wait any longer.

  I leapt first, and Lily followed soon after me. Our paws scrambled against the slope, searching for anything to slow our descent as we both slid down backwards. We needed to keep our bellies facing the slope; otherwise, if either of us started rolling, the momentum would quickly get out of hand.

  The shadows of nearby tree branches swallowed us as the world turned into a blur of gray rock and green streaks of moss. I managed to dig my paws deep enough to slow my slide, but with all my focus on my own situation, I couldn’t check how Lily was doing. Though she seemed alright, as she was descending a little slower, meaning she may have been a little more nimble with this whole process than I was.

  Finally, the slope curved out more evenly, and I turned to run down the last of it, soon arriving on the lower landing below the tree branches.

  Looking back, Lily was right behind me, lost momentarily in a mini avalanche of pebbles and falling rocks, but otherwise okay. However, looking even further up, I saw a blur streak across the sky, then arc upwards as it changed its course to double back. A moment later, I heard a tribal war cry echoing as the rider called out loudly to their partner—we were spotted!

  I ran to the next cliff, eyeing the tree branches and gauging the option of trying to disappear into the forest. I didn’t like it. Even after our descent, we were still quite high off the ground, and we wouldn’t have the luxury of slowly taking our time navigating tree branches. Even if we made it to the bottom, it would do us no good if one of us got injured on the way.

  Then I heard a rustle and snapping of the tree tips above us. The rider burst down through the canopy. From here, I could see it was a woman, and the hollow eyes of her red mask stared right at us.

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  The Direwing swooped low, right over Lily’s head, but she leapt behind it, just barely dodging the its claws. However, instead of steering the mount around, the rider jumped off.

  She landed in a roll on the landing, pulling one of those electric poles free from a holster on her back and turning to face us. “Ha! Both of ya’ huh? You must have come a long way, pup.” She gave the pole a shake, and purple energy began dancing along the tip. “Now, now, no need to make this any harder than it needs to be. Here, puppies, good puppies.”

  Lily ran to my side and we both growled, baring our teeth at her. Could the two of us take her down together? I sincerely doubted it. Plus, past experience told me one touch from that damn electrified pole would put me down easily.

  But there was nowhere to run, and reinforcements would be on the way. That left me with one choice.

  I used {Marrow Sense}, and instantly a translucent skeleton appeared over her body, almost like I had X-ray vision. Portions of it were green or yellow, while others were red. Her pelvis, forearms, thighs, and legs were all green, while her joints were mostly yellow. However, I spotted something interesting—her left ankle was red, and as I examined her posture, I saw how she favored it ever so slightly. Was it an old injury? Either way, that seemed like a weak point.

  I charged ahead.

  “Alright, puppy wants to play, huh!?” she growled, stepping forward, her bad leg going behind her, and she positioned the pole for a strike.

  I stopped my advance just as she moved to intercept me, feigning away from her attack. I then hit the ground low and scrambled in an arc. She growled, spinning to try to meet me, but as her back leg came forward, I saw my chance.

  I lunge at it, casting {Crippling Bite}. My teeth clenched down right on target with powerful force, and before she could even get a scream out, I twisted and felt the satisfying snapping of bone vibrate through my jaw.

  This time, she did scream, but as she fell, she managed to jab the pole into my side. I felt scorching pain erupt through my body, it was so intense I couldn’t even breathe or force out a whimper.

  “You fucking mutt!” she yelled in agony, driving the pole into me harder. I could only lie there and take it, wishing for the pain to stop.

  Then I heard a bark behind me, and with a blur of black fur, Lily leapt at her face.

  Unfortunately, Lily didn’t seem to understand armor as her teeth only scraped against the red mask, but it was still enough to knock her back. I’m pretty sure Lily thought that was our adversary's actual face.

  I whimpered, “Lily, run!”

  But she didn’t run, and the woman’s free arm reared back and punched my little sister, knocking her down. With a cry, Lily skidded across the ground, rolling before getting her feet under herself again.

  The woman got back to her knees, raising the pole. One foot was broken, but she wasn’t out of the fight yet. As for me, I was just barely getting over the pain I had recently experienced and was forcing myself up onto four shaky legs.

  I barked at Lily, telling her it was time to run. With her broken foot, she wouldn’t be able to pursue us. But Lily didn’t get the message, her paws digging at the earth as she bolted forward.

  “Lily!” I barked, warning her of the pole. As much as it injured me, it would do even worse to her!

  The woman laughed from behind her mask, jabbing it right at my sister, but I soon realized I had underestimated Lily for the second time today. The pole went right through, and a second Lily leapt out of thin air, latching her teeth right over the woman’s wrist. However, once again, Lily didn’t understand the armored leather bracer that was there, so while she at least gained control of the attack arm, she did no real damage.

  “Ah! Damn mutt!” the woman growled, dropped her pole, and lifted Lily off the ground, the small pup dangling and growling viciously as she stayed latched on despite the woman trying to shake her loose.

  But I saw my chance. Her elbow was armored as well, but {Marrow Sense} showed me the joint was yellow. With enough of a twist, maybe I could still break it. I summoned all my strength to run forward and leapt at her, casting {Crippling Bite} for the second time.

  My teeth clenched down, I twisted and pulled. I didn’t hear the snapping of bone, but the woman screamed in pain. Between the two of us, we managed to force her down. She fell to her side, punching at the top of my head, but there was very little damage. Me and Lily both continued trying to rip and tear.

  We could win! We could really take one of these damn red masks out together! But crippling her limbs wouldn’t be enough; I needed to think of a fatal blow, and knew the neck was always the quickest target for killing something.

  However, as her free arm dropped to her belt and she pulled a dagger free, I let go and barked a warning at Lily. “Look out!”

  I retreated, quickly yanking Lily’s back leg as she dangled from the woman’s arm. Lily understood and let go, loosening her bite and turning to run alongside me. However, before I got far, I felt a streak of pain across my lower back and yelped a cry. The dagger had found me, and I’d been cut!

  It wasn’t enough to slow me down, however, and once we had some distance on our opponent me and Lily turned to assess our next attack.

  The woman rolled her shoulder and cracked the knuckles of the hand we had attacked, then reached down to grab her pole. “You damn mutts are going to pay for that!” she sneered from behind her mask.

  I couldn’t believe it! Her arm seemed perfectly fine—we didn’t damage it at all!

  But no, that was actually wrong. She rolled her shoulder again and bent her elbow, wincing slightly as she tested it. I used {Marrow Sense} once again to see where her wrist and elbow were once yellow, they were now red. That led me to believe another Crippling Bite could break the bone in those areas.

  The woman tried to stand, but instantly fell to her knees again. Her ankle was completely broken, and she would not be able to pursue us. “Ahhhhhggg! Oh, you’re really gonna pay for that, pup. Just you wait!”

  Lily lowered, baring her teeth, hackles raised in a threatening growl. Now wasn’t the time to think it, but her posture was actually more cute than intimidating for how small she was.

  Focusing back on my Marrow Sense, I took note that the woman’s spine and neck were green, making me believe I couldn’t kill her with a quick twist to the back of the neck, and she did have some dangerous weapons. Looking down at Lily, I considered our options. Keep running, or finish her off first?

  I remembered my huge boost in levels from the last red mask I killed. If Lily could get the same, it would be a massive benefit. That could take out days worth of training and help her survive long term.

  I decided the chance was too good to pass up.

  I began to prowl in an arc around the woman, and Lily moved the other way, both of us growling as we planned to attack her from both sides. The red mask was still a danger, and we’d have to make this quick before her reinforcements arrived, but I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity to level Lily up.

  “Shit…” The woman looked back and forth between us, raising both her dagger and pole defensively. She knew what was coming.

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