Hoooooowl~!!

That howl. That damned howl.

“They're here! Those damned beasts are here! Everyone, watch o–!!” A wolf that was a meter-and-half in length threw itself at Jason, rendering him unable to complete his sentence. Hit by a force equivalent to having a boulder thrown at you, Jason immediately stumbled and fell on his back. The wolf followed atop of him.

Hitting the ground on his back, Jason had little time to react when he felt a heavy force press down upon his chest. His eyes, wide open from shock, confusion, and a mixture of other emotions, saw the large, salivating maw of the creature atop him. Rows of deadly teeth, yellow and crooked, approached closer and closer as the beast aimed to rip and tear into his throat.

Fortunately, Jason’s arms were still free. The reality of the moment hit him and adrenaline coursed through his heart. “RAAWWRGH!!” he let out a mighty roar and slammed the wolf’s head using the sharpened shovel in his hands.

The shovel, containing the energy of an enraged man struggling for survival, crashed against the wolf’s skull. Instead of stopping there, the weapon then dug into the creature’s head, causing blood to suddenly spray out from the creature and halting its movements. What should’ve been a simple blunt attack had quickly turned lethal thanks to the shovel’s sharpness.

Having struck the creature, Jason had little time to process the effectiveness of his attack. Pulling at the handle, he realized that the shovel refused to move, having been resolutely stuck inside the creature's head. Resolutely giving up on the weapon, Jason clenched his fists and punched at the creature’s throat.

A sad whimper and a painful cry exited the creature’s mouth before its body suddenly went limp. It was only when the beast limply fell atop of the foreman’s body and remained there unmoving for a few seconds, did the man realize the extent of his action.

‘I-I killed it.’ His first thought was confusion and bafflement. However, it was soon followed by a burst of crazed excitement. ‘I KILLED IT! I KILLED THE DAMNED BEAST!!’

Jason roared with joy, punching at the gut of the beast a few more times to celebrate his victory. Just as he was about to hurl a few curse words toward the beast, he heard a sharp scream next to him.

It wasn’t the guttural howl of a dying beast, but the desperate scream of a dying man. Jason immediately turned his head to the side, only to catch the scene of a wolf clawing at his neighbor's stomach and ripping out his throat with its teeth.

Jason watched as a torrent of blood sprayed out of the man’s throat, dying the wolf’s beastly face and teeth in the process. He watched as the man’s body dropped dead on the ground, his entrails spilling out of him. He watched as the man’s head coincidently fell with his face facing his own; an expression of utter horror and unwillingness occupied his final expression.

Jason saw red, his mind going berserk.

“DAMNED BEAST! I’LL KILL EVERY LAST FU*KING ONE OF YOU!!”

---

The battle in the clearing outside the mines quickly turned into a scene of chaotic carnage. Man and beast engaged each other in a desperate brawl for survival.

The rocky ground within the clearing was dyed red, mere minutes after the wolf pack’s sudden charge. It was unknown whose blood dyed the greater area. Nonetheless, the very sight of picks meeting claws and shovels meeting teeth was gut-wrenching.

Staying hidden in some unknown corner of the battlefield, Lloyd watched the cruel battle unfold. He watched some men emerge victorious while others fell defeated. Foreman Jason and the man with the cross-shaped scar on his cheek particularly stood out on the battlefield. By his counting, each man had claimed the lives of at least three beasts.

As for himself, Lloyd… was unsure of what he should do. ‘Should I join the battle? Or should I stick to my given task?’ To abandon his station to join an uncertain battle seemed like a fool’s gamble. Lloyd wasn’t afraid of dying. He was only afraid of dying a fool’s death.

‘What would the foreman and the other elders feel if I joined the battle?’ Logic dictated that they wouldn’t be too happy about it. He had given them his word to accomplish his task. To go back on his words meant that he wasn’t a true man.

However, when he recalled the feeling of fear that had coursed through his body when he had first spotted that crimson-fur wolf, Lloyd hesitated. That beast was clearly a cut above the rest, and looking at the battle before him, it hadn’t joined its ilk in attacking the miners either.

The beast seemed to possess some measure of intelligence and was especially cunning. Heading towards the forest when such a beast lurked would result in a guaranteed death on his part.

Lloyd was not learned enough to reason out like above. But even he, in all his worldly experience, instinctively knew that rushing into the forest now would result in his death.

‘Hold on,’ a thought suddenly struck Lloyd, ‘are the others aware of the crimson-fur wolf lurking inside the forest?’ He had seen the creature but have the others seen it?

‘If they aren’t aware of that creature, then–!’ The outcome would be frightening. Arriving at this thought, Lloyd hesitated no more. The initial, mind-numbing fear from seeing that wolf had already passed. His battle spirit had rekindled and moreover, Lloyd wanted to contribute to the battle. Seeing those elders die such undeserved deaths caused his blood to boil.

“UWAAA!!!” Releasing a warrior’s roar, Lloyd pounced upon the wolf nearest to him.

Said wolf had emerged victorious in its scuffle against its human opponent and was inches away from claiming his life. Just as it was about to sink its teeth into its opponent’s throat, it noticed a man pounce on it from the side. Unable to react in time, the wolf could only watch as the man dug into its underbelly with a sharp shovel in his hands. A moment’s worth of disbelief later, pain arrived.

“Die! Die! Die!” Lloyd’s hands repeatedly moved with great haste and fervor. His eyes had turned bloodshot from the excitement and thrill of the battle. After stabbing the beat before him almost a dozen times, Lloyd finally retreated his weapon when he saw the beast grow limp.

After spitting on its face, Lloyd turned towards the direction where the battle was most concentrated and roared. “Foreman! Elders! ‘Nother beast is lurking in the fore–!!” A paw slapped Lloyd on his back and sent him flying.

The battle stilled as both man and beast turned to look in the direction of the earlier shout. And there they found a majestic-looking beast whose crimson fur gleamed against the soft moonlight.

The men despaired while the beasts rejoiced for the crimson wolf had joined the battle.

---

Where? Where did it all go wrong?

Jason asked himself while manically swinging his weapon. His movements were no longer as sharp and incisive as they were at the beginning for his arms felt like they were moments away from falling apart.

His steps no longer heroically charged ahead but instead retreated with every step. Accompanying him were no longer twenty-four fearless men but a mere seven; each was moments away from death.

Where did it all go horribly wrong?

Truth be told, Jason knew the answer. It was when that accursed crimson-furred beast joined their battle. It was at that instant that their chances at victory took a sharp dive downwards and turned impossible.

The battle was settled. The damned beasts had won. While the humans hadn’t died yet, it was only a matter of time before they did.

Retreating step by step, Jason suddenly felt something hard hit his back. A quick glance behind him revealed the rocky wall of the mountain’s face.

‘To think that the very walls that protected us from attacks from the rear are now responsible for hastening our death. O’ heavens, how cruel you are.’ Jason shook his head in regret. The others beside him also thought the same.

Gathered before this group of despairing miners, standing some distance away, was the pack of wolves with the crimson-furred one at the lead. Their numbers mirrored that of the miners, coming to a mere seven.

Seven versus seven. It had come down to this. It was fair odds some would say, considering that the injuries between the beasts and the men were roughly the same. However, in reality, it wasn’t so.

Not to mention that the crimson-furred wolf barely had any injuries scratching its coat, the morale of both sides was vastly different. The difference in the latter alone was enough to crush any force.

Seeing that death was inevitable, Jason stared at the creature that had brought them this inevitability.

The crimson wolf was notably larger than its kin, standing at almost twice their size. Its most notable feature, the crimson fur, was dyed with the blood of his fellow men; the beast alone had claimed six of their lives.

Staring into the face of his most hated enemy, Jason found an almost human mockery reflected within its eyes. It was at this moment that Jason understood. This creature, nay, this vile monster wasn’t fighting or hunting them.

It was toying with them, akin to how a cat would toy with a trapped mouse. It felt immeasurable pleasure from watching its prey sink into despair.

“Vile to your very bones,” Jason quietly huffed. He then exhaled a long stream of air before raising the weapon in his hands. Staring straight into the wolf, he said, “I will not give you this satisfaction, beast!” He then lunged at the beast.

Seeing its prey lunge at it while roaring, the crimson beast felt annoyed at having its moment of pleasure interrupted. Just as it was about to slap this pathetic lifeform for going against its design, the wolf suddenly felt the hair on its back stand up. Giving in to its instincts, the beats immediately sidestepped.

Swoosh! A wooden spike whizzed through the air at unnatural speeds. The spike barely missed Jason and slammed into the mountain wall, embedding itself into it!

Turning around with great haste, the beast found its attacker. It was a creature similar to the prey from before (a human). This one, however, was significantly larger than the rest. The creature also smelt revolting causing the crimson wolf to be hesitant about attacking.

“You.” the large-bodied man hissed. His fury was akin to a dormant volcano that was moments away from erupting. “You will die.” He declared.

Baro Helm lunged at the crimson-furred wolf wielding two wooden spikes in his hands.