Chapter 2 – White Fangs

Damn it.

All Enteico could hear were the screams of the monsters chasing him and his erratic breathing. Keith fended off an attack aimed at Enteico from a 15-foot-tall Scorchi, the creature relentless in its attacks. The level 60 creature resembled a flaming scorpion, not that Enteico and Keith had any chance to look at it, since they ran the moment it ejected a molten lava projectile towards them.

The two hid behind a crevice in the wall, gasping for breath as the creature thundered by, thankfully paying no attention to its surroundings.

"Enteico, remind me again what we're doing here?" Keith asked, panting.

"Well, we decided to go to a medium-level goblin loot stash that was situated in a shady-looking area by a shady-looking tabloid tip for the dungeon co-ordinates, since our shady neighbor kept harassing us and stole all our stuff," Enteico said, too out of breath to detect that the question was obviously rhetorical.

Keith bopped Enteico on the head. "Did I ask you for our tragic backstory? No, what I want to know is…"

Keith pointed out of the hiding spot, in the direction of a cluster of nightmarish creatures attacking and killing anything that moved, including other dungeon beasts. The dungeon entrance was sealed, unable to be broken down by anyone already inside.

…why in the name of Sam Hill are we in a bloody MYTHICAL DUNGEON?!"

As if on cue, a gruesome Behemoth crashed into the rock wall they were hiding in, alerted by Keith's outburst. Baring a grin that showcased blood-stained spiky teeth, the hulking brute stomped its way closer to the duo, causing Keith to scream and run while Enteico accidentally tripped on his trench coat.

The Scorchi from earlier charged into the Behemoth, initiating a fight between the two creatures that enabled the duo to escape with their tails between their legs.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see that thing again," Keith said.

The two came to a relatively safe zone, away from the range of the chaos nearby. Keith sighed and turned to Enteico.

"Dude, I thought we agreed…" Keith started.

"I know! I know! We did! And I swear, this wasn't set up and I didn't mean for any of this to happen, all I did was just follow the co-ordinates on the tip we got earlier for the goblin loot stash, which must be lost in translation because they clearly meant to say mythical dungeon! Look, it's right…here…" Enteico said, his voice slowly fading as he looked back at the tabloid in his hands.

To his surprise, the small section which had the tip along with the loot stash’s coodinates and details printed onto it was now blank, almost as if it was just deleted from existence.

"Keith, you gotta believe me…" Enteico said, his voice racked with anxiety.

Keith shrugged, patting Enteico on the shoulder. "I do. I know for a fact that you're telling the truth. Probably because you're way too bad of a liar to even try to do something like this."

Enteico let out a sigh of relief as he stowed away the tabloid. Their moment of peace was disrupted immediately when Enteico realized they were now stuck in here until someone beat the dungeon boss.

Since the mythical dungeon was rumored to spawn in this morning, the chances that anyone would find them before that were slim to none.

The two said nothing as they realized they were near an acidic sulfur pool, the mesmerizing color starkly contrasted by the pungent odor it gave off.

Keith was suddenly alerted by a sound that echoed off the cave walls, noticing that Enteico heard it too. It sounded like something was scuttling quickly towards them. A dark shadow slowly seemed to seep towards them, appearing to be alive.

With dread, Keith realized that the shadow was a swarm of flesh-devouring insects called Siadeath, small ant-like creatures that, individually, hurt as much as a bee sting, but usually hunted in a swarm, able to raze the flesh of any living thing within minutes regardless of their size.

"RUN!" Keith yelled, forcing Enteico in the opposite direction of where the swarm was converging upon them, a looming shadow of death eager to consume their flesh.

The two of them ran until they reached the edge of the rocky cliff they were standing on, the sheer drop into the acidic pit triggering Enteico's vertigo. Keith reassessed the situation. Siadeath behind us, acid below…so what about…

Keith looked above and spotted a slope disconnected from where they were standing, the platform extending to the area across the acid pool. Keith hurried to grab his weapon as he heard the scuttling sounds of death get closer behind them.

"Grab on!" Keith told Enteico as he extended the sword into its whip form and used it as a grappling hook to latch onto the platform and pull them onto it.

A behemoth appeared on top of the area where the whip was attached to and destroyed it, causing the duo to panic as they swung aimlessly through the air, certain death reflected by the acid pools below.

Keith twisted and turned, lashing out with his whip, hooking onto the behemoth and pulling on it, causing the surprised beast to teeter off the edge and fall to its death below, but not before Keith and Enteico jumped off his body to get closer to the platform.

Enteico latched onto the rocky platform with the sharp edge of his axe, helping Keith to swing off him and land on the platform, before Keith grabbed his hand, pulling him up.

To their dismay, a group of dungeon beasts was fighting amongst themselves, now focused on the duo as their new prey, the sudden splash from the behemoth drawing their attention to Keith and Enteico.

"Shit," Enteico said, gripping his axe.

Another earth-shaking slam onto the ground made Enteico realize the Siadeath were now consuming the Scorchi, causing the creature to retaliate by setting itself on fire and spraying flammable oil everywhere in a desperate attempt to burn the pests to a crisp.

Enteico noticed another Behemoth rising up from the ground in front of them, slamming its fists into the ground, breaking the platform and sending everything on the platform sliding down the slope, including Keith and Enteico.

"Keith!" Enteico yelled, sliding down using the remnants of the platform as a sled and fighting against the creatures. Keith used his whip to hook onto rocks jutting out to maneuver himself near Enteico, who pulled him onto the rocky platform.

"Hey, this is just like a waterslide!" Keith said, adjusting his weight on the platform to shift its direction slightly.

Enteico looked at him in annoyance and simply pointed to the edge of the slope. They weren't close to it yet, but Keith noticed that the edge stopped a few feet away from the safe ground and was directly above a large pool of acid, meaning that until they did something quickly, they were on a waterslide of death.

Enteico drove his axe into a goblin clambering onto their platform to attack them, while Keith forced himself to calm down and find a way out.

Enteico yelled in pain as the goblin he was fighting clawed into his shoulder and tore his backpack strap, making the bag tumble away from them, but still slid alongside them, rolling faster and faster down the slope with the duo.

To make matter worse, the Scorchi was sliding right behind them, gaining speed with each passing second, getting closer to Keith and Enteico with a large swarm of Siadeath still attacking a part of its arm as it set fire to the slope behind it and burned everything.

Enteico slammed his axe into the ground behind the platform, using it as a steering mechanism to avoid the rocky outcrops along the slope. Nothing changed the fact that they were approaching their death with extreme velocity if the dungeon beasts didn't kill them first.

"Now would be a good time to use that big brain of yours," Keith said, backflipping off a goblin to knock it back and extend his sword, yanking it upwards with a deadly crack, the whip ripping apart two goblins in one movement.

Enteico grabbed his axe and used the sharp edge to grab his backpack closer, searching for something inside. Keith saw a boulder hurtling towards them so he jumped upwards and ran across it, sweeping the ground with his whip, creating a deadly crisscross of barbed steel, shadows appearing to drip from the segmented pieces of the blade.

Enteico hurled his axe above, embedding itself in a goblin about to attack them from mid-air, while Keith grappled onto the handle of the axe, the shadows crawling along its length and consuming the axe.

Keith yelled and slammed the axe down onto the Scorchi as it screeched in agony, spraying flammable oil everywhere. Enteico threw a small contraption, the device blowing up when it came into contact with the Scorchi's flames as Keith leaped into the air to kick down the axe one more time, the entire dungeon shaking with the power of the move.

"Last crusade!" Keith yelled, the whip-cracking through the air like thunder as the axe came into contact with the exploding contraption.

The explosion launched Keith and Enteico across the pool, landing with less elegance than intended. They watched as the fiery remains of the slope collapsed into the pools, the faint sound of sizzling beasts echoing through the dungeon.

"Thanks for the help," Keith said, dusting himself off.

Enteico said nothing and began to scream in pain as he realized a clump of Siadath was now eating its way into the wound caused by the goblin earlier.

Keith scrambled to help Enteico shake off the Siadeath, but it was no use. Enteico saw his panic set in and told Keith to get a healing vial from his bag.

When Keith turned around, however, Enteico had plunged his hand into the acidic pool in a desperate attempt to kill the flesh-eating swarm.

He went limp from the pain, collapsing as Keith rushed over and poured the liquid onto Enteico's arm. Enteico gasped at the pain but ultimately remained motionless, the pain having taken its toll on his body.

Keith sat nearby under a giant mushroom, noticing the raw and scalded flesh of Enteico's arm slowly beginning to heal up. Keith took a deep breath and fell asleep.

The world was spinning. It was too fast, too much for him to handle. He heard screams, whimpers of mercy from people dying around him and the faint clank of metal chains.

The world spun again, turning his vision into a blur. His breathing was shaky and uneven.

Soon, his entire body started shaking as he realized the breathing came from a man behind him, his shadow encompassing Keith, the cold aura seeping into his soul…

Keith woke up to the sound of Enteico groaning. He shook his head clear and helped his friend stand up. As they walked to the next area, Keith smirked at Enteico.

"So, it's going to be a while before you use that hand to do anything. If you know what I mean." Keith said, eliciting another groan from Enteico, unsure if it was his reaction to the joke or the pain he was going through.

Enteico stood against a wall to support himself as Keith pulled out his Pokia to look at their dungeon progress. Surprisingly, they had skipped more than half the dungeon due to their encounter with the beasts earlier.

Keith figured the slope must have been designed to collapse as a guaranteed death trap. It was just by pure luck and quick thinking that they managed to escape with their lives.

Enteico flipped on his Pokia and lit up the long stretch of the tunnel they were going through with the small pocket light on the back of the device.

The dungeon walls were scrawled with various in a strange text. After a quick scan with his Pokia, it translated the writing into a vague riddle.

Strength will fail you, the enemy of the night

Compassion will subdue the beast you cannot fight

From within the darkness, the howl will rise

Rely upon your heart, not upon your eyes.

"Since when did dungeon beasts become poets?" Keith asked, scratching his chin.

"This whole thing is way too suspicious…" Enteico said, nodding slowly.

"Usually I would say you're being paranoid, but for once you're right," Keith said.

Enteico and Keith walked towards a dim light at the end of the tunnel.

As they entered the next area, the cave they were in rumbled as the duo discovered the dim light was from a cluster of glow worms that was spread out across the ceiling.

"You know, if this place wasn't filled with bloodthirsty monsters, it would be one hell of a date venue," Enteico said, in awe at the breathtaking sight before him.

This area was massive and had a small water stream trickling into a pool below, with some marine life swimming around, oblivious to the nature of their surroundings. The rumbling reminded Enteico of that stormy night, the day thunder became the most comforting sound he would ever hear…

Enteico nearly had a heart attack when he saw the actual source of the rumbling, hidden away in the shadows, the glistening fangs cutting through the darkness.

Atop a mound of treasure laid a giant sleeping wolf. The beast was nearly 30 or even 40 feet tall, almost 3 times the size of Enteico's shop. Keith saw Enteico notice the beast as well and motioned with his hands to keep quiet. They sat in a corner of the area, a safe distance from the beast in case it woke up.

"What's the plan?" Enteico asked.

Keith said nothing and looked at the map on his Pokia, appearing to be deep in thought. "We sit and wait."

Enteico was baffled. "What? But why?"

"This is the final area, so that…"

Keith pointed at the giant wolf, a faint mound of silver and black atop a gold pile.

"…is the dungeon boss."

Enteico looked at the wolf with newfound dread. The dungeon boss was supposed to be far more powerful than any other creature inside the mythical dungeon and guarded the pristine treasure that mythical dungeons were coveted for.

However, it was rumored no one could leave the dungeon once they entered without killing the beast, so the only way to leave was to either subdue, tame or kill it. It took an entire town to beat a mythical dungeon boss sometimes.

Enteico and Keith were a few people short of a town.

Keith reached for something in his pocket and pulled out a small lid that he extended into a bottle and drank from it. Enteico recognized the faint smell of ale as Keith lifted the bottle to his lips and gulped heartily.

Enteico was flabbergasted, unsure if he should've laughed or punched Keith in the face. "You brought ale to a dungeon raid."

"Hey man, you got your healing juice, I got mine," Keith said, taking another drink from his bottle.

"You think big tubbo over there would like some?" Enteico asked, glancing in the direction of the dungeon boss.

"I've already got one mangy alcoholic beast draining my supply; I do not need another one that's building-sized," Keith said, waving his bottle in silent mock fury at the wolf.

Enteico snickered, but paled when he could've sworn he saw the wolf awake and stare at them, its eyes piercing through the darkness. Keith did not pay any attention to anything other than the contents of his bottle.

Two mesmerizing orbs stared into his soul; a calm yet strong blue that was resilient in the face of any threat and rose beyond its limits. The eye reminded Enteico of a past…one that he never had? Or didn't have yet? Or that was forgotten, even to him?

It would have been an understatement to say that the other eye was a stark contrast.

The glaring red circle elicited a mess of boiling emotions within him. Enteico felt helpless, bound by something that came before, regret and guilt washing over him before being instantly replaced with a sense of anger.

Enteico snapped out of his trance as the wolf fell asleep once more, the rumbling returning to the cave. When Enteico turned to Keith, he had clearly gotten a little tipsy and seemed to be counting little flecks of glow worms idly.

Unable to do anything more, Enteico fell asleep under the sound of the rumbling which calmed him and set his mind at ease.

Keith awoke when he felt something brush against his leg. Through half-lidded eyes, he saw a small wolf jumping up and around his legs like some sort of obstacle course.

The pup was then tackled playfully by its sibling, yipping as it hit the ground. Other littermates soon joined them, hopping in delight at their newfound friends.

Keith punched Enteico awake as the mother awoke to check on her 5 pups, curious by their incessant noises. The giant wolf slowly rumbled as she acknowledged the two scared shitless humans in front of her.

One pup had taken a liking to something inside Enteico's bag. Enteico leaned and pulled out the struggling pup as it dragged what appeared to be another flask out of the bag. Keith tutted and snatched it away from the pup.

"Nope, you are definitely underage, even in dog years," Keith said, gulping nervously as the giant mother stared at him, sending shivers up his spine as she emanated a subtle growl of warning.

"You, on the other hand, don't look a day over 20, hehe," Keith said, holding the flask up as the beast swatted the open container away, spilling the liquid and causing all the pups except for one to go lick the ground the liquid spilled on.

"What a waste of perfectly good Moon Juice, so disappointing…" Keith grumbled.

"I'm more disappointed about the fact that you brought your god-awful homemade liquor to a raid and prioritized it over more weapons," Enteico said.

"I think I made the right choice," Keith said.

Enteico punched Keith in the face so hard that Keith snorted up his own saliva mid-laugh. Keith looked over at the wolf pack and rubbed his jaw.

"Why aren't they currently feasting on our flesh and bones?" Keith asked.

"Beats me. Man, I'm hungry." Enteico said, patting his stomach.

"Same here. You think you could get some fish from that pond over there?" Keith asked, breaking off a piece of slated rock and using it to scratch the wall.

"What are you doing?" Enteico asked him, ignoring his question after a pause.

"I'm writing our will since that's what most people would do in this situation, right?" Keith said.

"How did you somehow become more depressing than me?" asked Enteico.

"It happens once every blue moon, like your jokes actually being funny," Keith said.

"It's not my fault you can't understand the complex genius of dad-jokes considering you're too busy gawking at every purple-haired woman that so much as breathes in your direction." Enteico shot back.

Keith paused for a second, the gears turning in his head.

"I actually can't argue with that one," Keith said.

Enteico did a little fist pump. "Wait, so what's the score?" he asked Keith.

"17 to a couple thousand. Give or take." Keith said.

"Damn it. One day I'm catching up to you." Enteico muttered.

"Get better at arguing and you might stand a small chance. It's tiny, but it's there. LIKE YOUR DI…" Keith said, never finishing the punchline as the mother wolf dragged in something with its mouth, the tiny pups yipping in delight.

The beast dragged a dead carcass of a mangled dungeon beast, unidentifiable as its features were worn away and its limbs were torn apart, gushing out a steady amount of blood.

The wolf dropped the carcass in front of the duo and nudged it, inviting them to feast with the pups. Unlike their newfound friends, however, Keith and Enteico weren't too keen on eating raw meat. Or maybe Keith did since he had some weird tastes when it came to food.

The wolf growled and the pups broke away from the carcass. Two pups nipped at Keith and Enteico's clothes, tugging them away from their mother. They soon got the hint and went along as they moved a few feet behind the giant beast.

The wolf sent forth a burst of fire hitting a dry heap of wood and rubble and setting it aflame. As it grew in size, the fire slowly warmed the two men and provided another means to cook the raw meat the wolf had brought in.

Breaking off a leg with exposed flesh, they held it over the fire and slowly roasted it.

As the group ate in peace with munches and growls that became more frequent as time passed, a pup was distracted by a fish that jumped out of the pond and ran to catch it.

Unfortunately, the ground around the pond was slippery and the wolf slid in, unable to force itself to stop.

Enteico was the only one who noticed the pup flailing around, its thick coat becoming waterlogged and making it gasp for air as it began to sink. He rushed over and pulled the pup out, taking his ragged coat and using it as a towel to dry off the pup.

The young pup licked Enteico's hand and bounded off to its mother, who briefly nuzzled its child before looking at Enteico, giving a slight grunt of thanks. Enteico sat back down next to Keith while warming his hands, the roaring flames crackling as it consumed the dry material beneath it.

The orange hue from their warm fire stood out against the bleak atmosphere in the dungeon and formed an otherworldly aura combined with the ghostly cyan glow of the glowworms.

"Do not ask me if you can keep it because if you are going to that's going to come out of your share of Bitma if it wrecks the store," Keith said, chewing on another chunk of warm meat.

"But can we, mom? Pleaaasee?" said Enteico, mimicking a spoiled 12-year-old.

"You know you shouldn't get attached to those things," Keith told Enteico.

"But why? They're not trying to hurt anyone. They're just some innocent puppers."

"Look, just try not to make the mom mad, ok? I'm really not in the mood to be eaten. At least, not in that context…"

"There are kids here," Enteico said, covering a pup's ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant SEX. LIKE INTERCOURSE. WITH TOUCHING AND LOTS OF TONGUE." Keith said, the sarcastic tone in his voice drawing a light chuckle from Enteico.

Enteico felt a pleasant chill up his spine.

Keith watched as Enteico had way too much fun playing with the pups, sighing as one of the pups shuffled under Keith's hand which prompted Keith to scratch its head.

Keith watched the wolf keep a keen eye on its children with Enteico, before staring at Keith. The wolf had a certain look in its eyes as it looked once again at the group of pups climbing atop a laughing Enteico and then looked back at Keith.

Keith nodded at the wolf.

The wall of the cave blasted open, scattering dust and stone everywhere as the giant wolf took up a defensive position to protect its children. Keith and Enteico stood next to the wolf, ready to protect the scared pups that were now hiding behind the mound of treasure.

From the dust cloud emerged a squadron of fully armored villagers, with Psoli at the front of the group with his Omada Platoon.

"Of all the dungeon freaks in here, you two are by far the ugliest," Psoli said, his greatsword resting on his shoulder.

The entire squadron drew their weapons as they saw the giant wolf towering over them. There were a few more people in the back that didn't have any weapons hoping to swipe something from the loot once the raiders had done all the work.

"Wait, Psoli. This thing isn't dangerous. She's just…" Enteico started before Psoli cut him off.

"Good, then that makes getting its loot a whole lot easier." Psoli gave the signal for the platoon to strike.

As the platoon and a bunch of other raiders attacked the wolf, it barely flinched at attacks that should have been able to level an entire building. Enteico and Keith took cover since they realized there was very little they could do as each attack sent out massive shockwaves that rattled their bones.

Despite all that, the wolf looked unfazed in its armor of silver with streaks of hauntingly beautiful shades of black. What was even stranger was that it made no move to retaliate at all, simply stuck in a fixed state like a majestic statue.

The sheer understanding that not even the current onslaught of attacks with all of its might and force could match the strength of the giant beast was overpowering.

It was so distracting that Keith and Enteico didn't notice a man slipping past them to the area where the pups were hiding.

"Argh! Get over here, you little mutt." The man yelled grabbing a pup forcefully by the neck, eliciting a whine from the little wolf.

Time seemed to slow down as Enteico watched the mother's ears prick up at the sound and she slowly turned around towards the man with a growl that rumbled across the dungeon.

Enteico noticed that Keith was about to rush to help, but faltered in his steps as he looked at the crowd behind the platoon. Enteico had no time to wait for his explanation, so he grabbed an old shield lying around and rushed to stop any bloodshed.

The man quickly dropped the pup and held his hands up in surrender. Unfortunately, the mother had made its decision and in the next instant a streamlined streak of fire shot out from her mouth, incinerating the man instantly and burning the dungeon wall behind him.

This death spurred another flurry of even stronger attacks from the villagers and some cries of fury. The Omada Platoon moved in closer with Psoli launching a massive swipe with his greatsword that collided with the wolf. She barely reacted, swatting away the hulking knight like he was nothing more than an insect.

Enteico got back onto his feet and braced himself for another shockwave as the two clashed again. The wolf visibly got annoyed and erupted flames to push back the Platoon. All except for one. It was Liliana, the mage who Enteico once called a friend.

She circled her hands into a figure eight and muttered something, causing the flames to push away from her with a force somewhat akin to magnetic repulsion.

Enteico rushed in, panting and ignoring the low whine in his ears, desperate to stop the wolf as it charged another fire stream from its mouth.

"STOP!"

Enteico managed to block the fireball with his shield, destroying it and knocking him onto the ground next to Liliana. The wolf was distracted by Psoli attacking her once again, before immediately getting thrashed by the wolf's tail like a gigantic whip.

"You ok?" Enteico asked her, shaking the grogginess from his head.

Liliana nodded. Enteico grabbed her spear and prepared to face off against the wolf when he suddenly felt inexplicably heavy, almost as if gravity had become stronger and was draining his body of strength by just standing up.

Damn it. Higher level.

He could barely stand straight let alone hold Liliana's spear. The arm that was burned from the acid started to ache once more from the force of deflecting the fireball with the shield. His clothes and skin were singed from the flames.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith subtly stick out his leg to trip a charging Psoli, the armor pulling him to the ground due to his loss of stability.

Enteico didn't want to fight. They were innocent. They didn't deserve this.

He dropped the spear.

He didn't know what he expected to happen. He couldn't fight. Even if he wanted to, an entire squadron couldn't hurt the wolf. How was he supposed to fight? To do anything?

The wolf rumbled closer and Enteico felt her breathing above him. He was prepared for the end. Keith could probably handle himself a lot better than Enteico. He was actually great at something, unlike Enteico.

Enteico was always good at everything, but never actually great at something. Always barely hitting the mark, escaping by the skin of his teeth and always just barely surviving.

He hated it. Hated being so painfully mediocre, so bland and so average.

Instead of feeling the hard puncture of teeth, he felt soft fur slowly wrapping him, comforting him. Looking up, Enteico saw the wolf lose its battle-hardened state, its fur flowing normally instead of clustering together like armor. He barely managed to catch a glimpse of its two red eyes before one turned back to blue.

Enteico smiled with relief, turning to Liliana.

"See? She won't hurt you." He said, putting his hand on top of the beast's giant nose.

Liliana stared at Enteico, silently observing the beast in front of her.

Enteico heard the sound of a passage opening. He recognized the slow whine of moving stone before the sounds of the outside world began to reach them. It seemed that it wasn't necessary to kill the beast to leave this dungeon.

Enteico sighed with relief as he smiled at the mother looking for her pups, who came running out.

The next thing he felt was being knocked over.

Liliana had pushed him away and had cast a restraining command over the wolf, holding it in place and preventing any phase transformations, which rendered it unable to armor up with its fur.

"DO IT NOW!" Liliana yelled, straining from the effort of holding the beast in place.

Enteico realized all too late as to what had happened in a matter of seconds.

The mother's head was cut off by Psoli, rolling onto Enteico's feet.

His face was covered in blood as it sprouted from the wolf's neck, the metallic taste seeping into his mouth.

Enteico screamed as he stared into the lifeless eyes of the wolf, her once colorful orbs now devoid of any sign of life. Frozen in place as grief overtook him, Enteico clawed his face trying to wipe off the blood.

A tiny whine startled him.

A pup had crawled onto his hand, bloody with flesh and fur torn off.

The cluster of villagers who had entered through the now open dungeon with sacks and weapons trampled over Enteico to get to the wolf's corpse. Someone wrenched the pup away from Enteico and a group swarmed to fight over the remains of the tiny animal, cutting off limbs and removing organs after slicing open its stomach.

Enteico retched as he saw the crowd hacking and slicing open the mother, intestines and entrails spilling out. His nose was clogged with the smell of vomit while his ears heard nothing but the sickening sound of metal on flesh, forcefully tearing apart a now soulless body.

The ringing in his ears kept growing and drowned out all noise around him with Keith's voice among them as he searched for Enteico.

Enteico couldn't close his eyes and the horrifying images were burned into his head.

Cutting off a pup's head and splitting it open.

Skinning their fur.

Gouging out her eyes.

Like vultures wandering a lifeless desert, they picked the bodies clean and stashed whatever treasure or body parts they could get their hands on, even picking the bones clean.

Slowly, as the crowd began to leave, packing whatever they obtained into their sacks or bags and containers, smiling with blood on their hands and faces.

Enteico stayed kneeling on the ground clutching a brutally skinned and cut pup in his hands. One of its eyes was still intact while the other was missing. Enteico applied whatever healing potion he had left onto the wolf with shaking hands, pleading and begging silently for it all to be a dream.

Ultimately, all the potion was able to do was draw out a tiny whine making it desperately cling onto the thin thread of life it had managed to regain. It tossed and turned, falling out of Enteico's hands and then hit the ground letting out another pained whine from its mangled body.

"Enteico, stop."

Keith held back Enteico's hand as he tried to apply more from the vial with his finger. He watched his friend slowly lose the will to heal the pup, nodding while being crouched over like a person broken from inside, Enteico's body and clothes caked with blood. Enteico slowly left the body next to the others with the ache in his chest crushing him.

Eventually, the bodies began to disintegrate and left behind small items in their place, except in the case of the giant wolf, as it dropped a golden bejeweled sword.

Psoli walked over and collected the sword, swinging it around for a while before he had to drop it due to its weight. The platoon celebrated, with Psoli wrapping his arm around a smiling Liliana. Enteico and Keith took the remaining items and left them in the den the pups came out of.

"We can't even bury them."

Keith looked at his friend, the lump in his throat growing at the sight of seeing Enteico in so much grief. Unable to offer any words, they bowed in respect and walked away in silence.

As they entered the main area, Psoli and Liliana were imitating themselves moments before their victory, slaughtering the wolf with a mighty swing from Psoli's greatsword.

Another member of the platoon went forward with his imitation of the conquest before tripping on a rock, falling flat on his face. The platoon erupted into laughter as Liliana clutched her stomach laughing.

Laughing.

Enteico approached the platoon with an anxious Keith. The laughing died down as they saw the duo approaching them. "Beat it already, you runts. I've had my fill of beating up things for today. Come by tomorrow and I'm sure I can arrange something." Psoli looked at his reflection on his new sword.

But for once, Enteico's glare wasn't directed at Psoli.

"Why'd you do it?"

Liliana looked at Enteico with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?"

"You heard the dungeon opening up, just like I did. You saw that she was just trying to protect her children, just like I saw. You knew she wasn't dangerous…"

Enteico looked at her with a look of pure malice, tears streaking down his face.

"…so why did you do it?"

Liliana chuckled nervously as the Platoon took a step backwards due to the sheer intensity of Enteico's glare. "The usual. Money, gear and s…stuff. Look, Enteico, don't make this a big deal. If you're really that upset about it then I…I can give you a share of the loot."

She rummaged through her inventory and pulled out two orbs in a container.

One of them blue.

One of them red.

Enteico threw a punch that sent Liliana sprawling onto the ground. He pinned her down and started raining down blows, her arms protecting her face. He no longer knew what he was doing as anger and fury took over the logical side of his brain.

The intense pain of his burned arm was now a dull ache compared to the spreading through his chest. It didn't even matter anymore. One of his fists connected with her ribs and broke them, making her howl in pain.

The Platoon finally managed to pull Enteico off Liliana, throwing him onto a rock near the den where a small cluster of trinkets laid, along with some weapons. Enteico grabbed a sword embedded into the rock, the weapon sending a surge of energy coursing into his hand.

"You killed them!" Enteico screamed.

"THEY WERE INNOCENT! You…I could've…” Enteico stood awkwardly, his shoulders slumped over as he spoke, his voice becoming nothing more than a dull, strained and unhinged murmur.

In a flash, he charged towards the platoon in a blinding fit of rage with his sword raised over his head ready to strike.

In the next instant, he felt arms around his neck, choking him as he flailed around attempting to escape the hold.

He felt the last traces of his anger ebbing away as the corners of his vision turned white.

His arms wrapped behind him in a last-ditch attempt to break free and land an attack, but the grip around him was too strong.

As he ceased to struggle, the noise inside his head finally stopped.