—Sally—

  The Wolf wendigo only gave Orion a second before it resumed its chase, its body leaping into a canine sprint. Each one of its vigorous, rabid strides had an intense energy it couldn’t of mustered minutes ago. As its legs carried it towards us far faster than Orion could flee, the ranger quickly adapted to its sudden recovery. He dove down an offshoot of the main street, his shoulders brushing the stone walls as he slipped inside the narrow corridor.

  I had to cling on for dear life as he dashed down a branching path of our current back-road. I didn’t know how he managed to navigate the identical walls, roofs and homes around us without getting disorientated. After the first few seconds of trying to keep track, it quickly became impossible for me to keep up, everything blurred into an endless smudge the longer I tried to pay attention.

  Eventually I had to try to calm down the racing of my heartbeat and concentrate on my [Talent] instead of agitating myself with things I couldn’t control. It was already difficult to sort through the different types of essences, and the additional pressure of adding it to Orion’s skill instead of mine was a challenge I’d need everything to overcome. Worrying about fleeing from the Wolf wendigo and how close it was wouldn’t make my job any easier.

  I clenched my four talons even tighter as Orion darted into a third maze-like alleyway—the sound of stone smashing and cracking echoed all around me. Orion kept slipping into the first branch of each alley he ran into, the avalanche of collapsing buildings behind us close on Orion’s heels. Luckily, it seemed that Orion’s constant ducking and weaving through the maze-like backstreets bought us a bit of distance each time he changed directions.

  A glance backwards destabilised my concentration so badly that I almost had to restart the arduous separation of the types of magic in my soul. I had looked back just in time to see the Wolf wendigo breach a house’s wall, chips and chunks of stone erupted in the wake of the explosion. The wendigo’s form was almost immediately shrouded by the powder exhumed from the collapsing house’s demolition. Then, the monster’s vile visage burst forth from the dust it’d created. Black-blood dripped from its jaw, chin, and neck, and it dug its claws into those blood-splattered tiles to fling itself at us.

  Disgusting saliva tainted by discoloured stomach-bile drooled from the wendigo’s mouth as it charged past or crashed into each corner Orion ducked around. It slammed into the walls and supporting pillars of homes, the path of destruction—which was thorough that almost seemed purposeful—sent most of the buildings that’d survived its rampage over the roofs crumbling to the ground. Instead of navigating around and between the tight walls like it could before, it charged straight through the stone barriers.

  As much as I tried to concentrate on working my magic, it was almost as impossible to resist the urge to glance at the wendigo as not thinking of pink elephants. Especially when I saw the monster start to latch onto whatever surface it could grasp with its claws. It pulled itself towards us in a way that looked like a bug or lizard climbing along walls or floors more than a human’s or animal’s gait.

  But when I heard a suspicious crack, I risked another look at the monster. My thoughts momentarily stuttered when I saw the small boulder it’d hefted up into its grasp. A screech of alarm made its way out of my mouth as I watched it lean backwards, the splintered foundation held like an athlete about to punt a shot-put.

  My grip on the different essences in my [Soul] fell out of my mental grip and mixed back together as Orion dived forwards. The unholy noise that I’d made had alerted Orion to the threat behind us, but the vertigo from his immediate dive forwards was enough to ruin my concentration.

  While he was in the motion of dodging, his hands snatched me off his head and clutched me to his chest. I still had some patches of his hair tightly gripped by my claws as he tucked me in between the firm surface of his—uh… just his bow. And maybe his chest was also there.

  A second after Orion ducked into a roll, the stone projectile flew over our heads, the half-a-metre wide chunk piercing through and pulverising the wall at the end of the street. I was annoyed for a moment that I couldn’t see what was going on with Orion’s stupid pecs in the way, but then I realised that I’d lost my hold on the threads of my magic.

  While the warmth from Orion’s body chased away the chill from the falling snowflakes, I refocused on my magic. I hurried even faster now as Orion jumped into the freshly opened route ahead, eager to separate out the essence of vitality and use the wendigo’s weakness to kill it.

  But as Orion dashed back onto the main street, I realised that no matter how much essence I harvested, I was having trouble on the last step.

  “It’s been two minutes. Are you ready?” Orion asked as he shifted me back up onto his head.

  “Sure. One way to f-hind out.” I answered, and Orion stopped fleeing. The ranger planted his feet on the stones beneath the layer of snow and reached to grab the final arrow in his quiver. As he moved, I quickly clambered back onto his head, freeing his hands for his weapon. He nocked the projectile onto his bowstring, and he drew it back and aimed at where he had run onto the main street. He waited in that position, arrow pulled fully across his breast and ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

  As he did so, a new avenue I could push the vitality-tainted mana into suddenly appeared, and hopefully it was the attack Orion was preparing. I eagerly shoved the essence into it, and the skill absorbed the mana as fast as I could push the energy into it.

  A moment later the Wolf wendigo charged out of the same destroyed home that Orion and I had come from. The side of its body with the remaining eye faced us as it skidded onto the main street, claws ripping the stone tiles out of the ground as it halted its momentum.

  I pushed all of the magic I could muster into Orion’s skill just moments before he released it. When his fingers unleashed the arrow, I think I managed to see magic for the first time. I’ve witnessed the second-hand effects of magic plenty of times, but this was the first time I’ve seen magic and mana itself manifest.

  [Used: [Heart Of The Ouroboros]]

  [Mana: 43/46 → 20/46]

  I had to squint to clearly see the almost-invisible aura around the arrowhead, but the hazy mirage that had formed was distorting the light around it and giving it a green-tinted hue. It reminded me of the currents of air in the sky that I sometimes stare at wistfully.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  [Critical Hit!]

  [[Essence of Vitality] has been injected directly into the [Wendigo Walker]’s Soul!]

  An excited whoop left my mouth as it nailed the Wolf in its eye, my magic visibly permeating its skull with a green wave. The monster staggered back and forth, turning towards us while attempting to stay upright—which was scary in of itself, given that it had an arrow in its cranium.

  [[Essence of Vitality] is extremely effective on [Wendigo Walker]]

  [[Boosted Vitality] has triple effectiveness and is applied instantly!]

  [Using [Appraisal – Lvl 2] on: [Wendigo Walker – Level 43]]

  [Health: 121/140]

  [Mana: 38/62]

  [Conditions: [Starvation (Stage 1)], [Nature's Purification (13%)]]

  Fuck. Fuck-fuck-fuck, fuck.

  I just… healed it. I would’ve fucking preferred accidentally using [Fairy Dragon’s Mist] instead of this disaster.

  But why didn’t it work? It was so effective against the other wendigo… Did I do something wrong?

  No, it can’t have been that, I hadn’t changed a single thing other than the attacks that were used—so the problem must be with something else. It had to be.

  “Sally? Did it succeed?” Orion asked me as we watched the Wolf wendigo reach up and grasp the shaft embedded in its skull with a bony mitt. I struggled to formulate a coherent thought as the monster pulled the projectile out of its skull. As I stared at it holding the arrow that held what remained of its second eye and bits of brain matter like a kebab, I had an idea for what I could do to rectify the situation.

  I could still make this work! I needed this achievement, the proof that I’ve actually made some progress. I definitely felt like I had to test myself, to see if I was capable of winning a fight alone. Because after all of my suffering, I needed to show that it was for something, that I’d achieved something. And after the past few days of putting up with Orion, I had to show that I could go my own way the next chance I got.

  “Yes? Yes! I just n-heed to… do the second p-hart of the plan.” I bullshitted as I leapt from Orion’s head. It became even more clear that the Wendigo had been completely blinded when it swung its head from side to side—when it aimed a ruined ear in our direction instead of its eyes. What once occupied the empty eye-sockets weren’t regrowing either. Those fetid empty pits stayed that way, even as the hole in its skull from Orion’s most recent shot healed.

  “Distract it.” I whispered to Orion as the wendigo lifted the arrow-kebab to its mouth. Consuming the morsels of its own flesh in an action of self-cannibalism as casual as all of its other acts of devouring human flesh.

  My plan was simple. Sneak underneath the wendigo, open Icaro’s weapon, and retrieve the substance inside. I’ll figure out how to use it against the wendigo when I get there.

  “Sally wait—uh…” Orion quietly muttered, cutting himself off as I began to move towards the wendigo, its stance still awkward and unsure. Without its sight, it looked lost with what to do with itself.

  “You no longer have eyes.” Orion loudly declared, his ability to state the facts had never sounded so serious.

  “I don’t care, it makes it all the better to hear you with. Listening to the beat of your fearful heart makes up for the pain.” The Wolf wendigo growled back, its temper raging as it began to move in Orion’s direction.

  It took a few steps before it stopped again, a thin smile forming on its snout.

  “But your arrows don’t work… So all I have to do is find you!” It exclaimed, its mood swinging back to childish excitement on a dime. I decided to use the sudden lowering of its guard to creep closer, making sure to muffle the sounds of my footsteps as I slinked over the cobblestones.

  It was extremely easy to sneak close to it, especially when it was relaxed and focused on Orion. It must think that it has nothing to worry about with Orion out of arrows—an assumption that might’ve been correct if it had known about Orion’s skill.

  “But you won’t be able to hunt us. What if we simply sneak around you?” Orion continued to taunt it, at least that’s what I was presuming he was doing. He was still talking to the monster in the same tone of voice he always used.

  While making sure my claws didn’t click against the stones, I managed to get within snatching distance of the censer. My heart was beating out of my chest as I began to investigate the latch holding it closed.

  “No! I’ll catch you! Sniff and track down anyone who tries!” It continued to petulantly cry out, sounding like a child who’s having a tantrum about losing a game of tag.

  Just before I grabbed the mechanism on the bottom of the ball that held it together I stopped myself, considering the loud noises my claws would make against the metal. I quickly summoned a layer of clouds, thinly cloaking my claw-tips in a layer of semi-permeable gloves.

  A tentative touch to the orb’s outer layer reassured me that I would be fine going forwards, relieved of the burden of being silent while messing with the latch.

  “Give up. You don’t have any weapons. Just your hands won’t be enough.” Orion shouted, presumably raising his voice to cover for my proximity to its mouth. It was hard to ignore the gaping maw at this point with how much it was drooling all over the place. The smell was putrid as well, the scent of rot and bile enough to make me want to gag. But I resisted the urge as I continued to work on the lock.

  The mechanism was a simple two-piece lock, a latch that slotted into a metal protrusion with a crosspiece that could be turned to secure said latch. I began to carefully feel around it to find the correct way to unlock it.

  “I like it that way, my claws make it all the better to rip out the delicious marrow.” It croaked as it lifted one of its hands, taking the opportunity to lick some of the gore off of its claw-like nails. I had to make a hasty retreat to avoid getting touched during its sudden motion.

  While it enjoyed a taste of its previous hunts, I took the chance it gave me to finish opening the censer. It only took a couple of twists for the metal sphere to pop open, which flung the layer of black blood coating its outside layer—and the contents inside it—everywhere.

  I quickly jumped forwards to grab the swinging ball, and I let out a sigh of relief when I caught it before it could loudly clang on something. But a wheezy laugh from above made that faint sense of comfort disappear.

  “I can see that you want to play with me first!” The wendigo taunted me as I felt a rain of spittle hit my head from above. With a rising sense of dread, I looked up and saw the monster’s head angled down towards me.

  The Wolf wendigo’s jaw was hanging open, and inside the deep, dark depths of its maw, I could see a glinting, glistening organ. On the fleshy wall that existed in between the top of the mouth and the back of the throat, an off-white orb had swelled like a puss-filled wart, with its black pupil looking at me. I couldn’t help but freeze under its inhuman stare, stuck staring back at the gaze from inside the monster’s maw.

  “SALLY!” I distantly heard Orion shout, but I didn’t react to his shout. Neither I nor the beast reacted to the arrow he shot into the wendigo’s shoulder.

  I did make a futile attempt to dodge when I noticed the wendigo’s raised hand suddenly jerk up even higher. But its fist slammed back down faster than I could move.

  [New Injury!]

  [Health: 6/6 → 1/6]

  In an instant my world was engulfed by a sea of pain and shock, my existence reduced to a speck of animalistic terror lost amongst a swelling tide of broken limbs. I could barely manage to make myself twitch, and even that simple movement was enough to rack my mind with a new wave of agony.

  I vaguely felt the wendigo’s bony paw wrap around me, and through blurry eyes I could see the ground below me begin to move away from me. I put everything I had into struggling, to fight against its grip, but all attempts to escape it were futile.

  I cried out, desperate for something, anything to intervene, some small part of me still convinced that there was something out there waiting to save me at the last moment. A guardian angel waiting to be my safety net in case of the worst possible outcome.

  Though, even as I heard Orion call out, nobody came. Nothing saved me as the Wendigo threw my limp body into the back of its throat.

  The last thing I saw was that pale pupil watching me with glee as I laid inside its gullet. The light of the outside world cut off as its toothy maw slammed shut.

  [New Injury!]

  [Health: 1/6 → 0/6]