Chapter 42
We entered the grotto. The entrance was littered with large bones of the livestock the werewolves had been preying on. I took charge, Mercy leading the way. A pool of water was on my left, and even at a glance I could see it was quite deep. A few trees, marred with scratches, covered the first half of the grotto. The second half was taken up by a large overhang of stone. The overhang was tall enough that a good-sized tree had managed to grow under it.
I didnt see the alpha werewolf, but there was a pair of regular werewolves glaring and snarling at me. I glanced to Maxwell, and with a nod, he began to play. A simple snare drum rang out in a constant beat, followed by a very recognizable baseline.
Maxwell, doing his best Freddie Mercury impression, sang, Another one bites the dust!
The magic of his music bolstered my abilities. The two of us moved in, me leading the way, and as I joined Maxwell in singing, the fight began.
The werewolves were much bigger than the ones we fought before, but they still didnt strike me as being the boss. As I charged, I kept an eye out for the one we were really after. It was a good thing I did too. Just before reaching the pair, a blur dashed across the corner of my vision. Id barely managed to dodge in time to avoid the tackle of a massive werewolf.
Maxwells song increased my speed, reaction time, and awareness of the battlefield, and it was barely enough to keep me from being mauled. I fell back into a defensive posture as the three werewolves closed in. Mercy was both a powerful offensive and defensive weapon in an open field, but I was outnumbered.
I could not afford to let the boss get behind me, so I kept turning toward it as it attempted to flank me. When I saw openings, Id lash out with Mercy. Maxwell started incorporating different sounds into his song, and soon, concussive sonic attacks began pounding into the werewolves.
One turned toward Maxwell and charged. I lunged at it, striking out with my blade-staff. Just like before, my goal wasnt to slay the creature, but to maim it bad enough that it would pose little threat to Maxwell.
I cut deep into the back of the werewolfs legs, severing the hamstring. The attack left me open, and I was unable to block the incoming blow. The boss slammed a fist to the side of my head and my chest. My ribs cracked and I was sent tumbling through the air, only stopping when I slammed into the solitary tree growing under theoverhang and sat there in a daze for a moment.
The alpha werewolf and one other stalked toward me as I brought myself to my feet. I used the small amount of mana I had to heal myself, though there wasnt nearly enough to restore all the damage I had taken. The wounded werewolf still pursued Maxwell, but with only one good leg, it was awkward and slow. Maxwell was carefully avoiding it by skirting around, never once letting up on his beat.
The large werewolf lunged at me when it came within a few meters. The powerful claws scored the tree behind me as I rolled out of the way and slashed out with Mercy. The blade tugged as it cut deep and temporally caught on something hard. There was a snarl of painone of its arms had been caught and cut through the bone. There was still a flap of skin and flesh connecting it, but it hung uselessly halfway down the forearm.
Still reeling from the blow that sent me flying, I fell away from the boss, trying to direct my path so Id stay within range of Maxwells musical buff, but that was a hard thing to judge as he was also moving.
The boss snarled and I saw a glint of intelligence behind its eyes. With a roar, a flurry of blows rained down on me. I used the shaft of Mercy to block as many as I could, but they came too fast and heavy to block them all. Slashes of wicked claws shredded at my clothes. It appeared that the boss was targeting my abdomen, a sound tactic if I were a living creature.
As the bosss attacks ripped into me, past my illusion spell, it tore at the thin black material growing over my bones. It didnt seem to affect me overly much. In fact, it reappeared on its own, knitting itself back together. But with so many blows, my illusion spell started to falter, and I was unable to maintain it, so I let it slip away.
As my skeletal form was revealed, the alpha wolf leapt back and snarled in alarm.
What do you think? I mocked. You arent the only monster here.
The werewolfs eyes narrowed and it balled its fists. The werewolf whose arm Id cut lunged at me from the side, claws outstretched. There was no time to dodge, so I braced myself and drove the butt of Mercy into the werewolfs chest at the last second.
We tumbled in a mash of bones and claws, and I found myself above it. Before he could regain the upper hand, I drove Mercy down in a lethal blow.
The boss roared in rage. Having turned my back on it slightly had been a mistake. A blow hit me square in the back and sent me falling forward, leaving Mercy stuck in the other werewolf. I tumbled over, and when I looked back, the werewolf was standing next to his fallen kin.
It yanked Mercy out and tossed it away from the fight. While the beast was distracted by its downed fellow, I healed myself with the little mana Id regenerated, even though the illusion spell was gone, my mana pool still had to rebuild.
I drew a dagger I kept as a backup weapon, Mercy now too far away for me to safely retrieve. The boss rounded on me, and I dove out of the way, avoiding a powerful overhand blow and slashed with my dagger. I scored a shallow cut along its leg before a backswing sent me tumbling away. In that moment, I almost reached for magicthe dagger wasnt enough of a weapon to kill this beast and I knew it.
From the gleam in the bosss eyes, I was pretty sure it knew as well. It stalked closer with a cocky look. I glanced in the direction Mercy had been tossed, getting an idea. It wasnt my best idea, but it was the only one I had.
Maxwells song rang out in the distance. I hadnt realized wed even been separated. The tune was different, clearly focused on fighting the creature pursuing him.
I began a losing fight with the alpha. I tried to block with my bare, skeletal hands or the dagger, but the creature was more skilled in unarmed combat. Blow after blow slipped through my guard and drove me back.
I stumbled, and before I could recover, the alpha surged and slammed a massive fist into my chest. My ribs broke and I cried out in pain, as I was sent cartwheeling through the air. My vision briefly blacked out, and when I came to, I was lying in the dirt.
My skeletal face tried to smile when I spotted a familiar shaft. The alpha wolf crunched through the low brush and grass on a charge straight for me. I scrambled forward, wrapped my hand around Mercy, and rolled over, trying to bring the weapon to bear as quickly as possible.
The werewolf was flying through the air, a look of shock crossing its face when I planted Mercy in the ground next to me. In the moment before impact, I tried to aim my blade-staff where I thought the werewolfs heart was. There was a cutting sound as the werewolf impacted Mercy, and I twisted the weapon to widen the wound.
A moment later, I was crushed under its immense weight, the blade cutting clear through its body with there being no cross guard to stop it. More of my ribs cracked, along with what I thought was every bone in my lower body.
I cried out in pain, and shock quickly took over.
The werewolf was dazed as well. From the blood pouring out of the wound onto my shattered body, I was fairly certain Id found its heart.
With a last, hate-filled gaze, the alpha snarled before snapping out with jagged teeth and crushed my head in its jaws.
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