“Rendok!” one of them stood up from the fire and called into the forest. “Did you get lost? Get back here!”

  The big guy who seemed to be their leader—I’ll call him Scar—stepped away from the tree he had been leaning against. He didn’t say anything but there was a harsh look in his eyes.

  “Belra, wait!” The one I had marked said as he also got up from the ground. “S-Something may have happened.”

  “Something happened, alright,” Belra said. “He drank more than any of us. Bastard probably passed out while he was pissing.” With that he started walking into the woods.

  “Wait, what if it was a monster?” the marked one said, quickly coming after his ally and grabbing his shoulder before he disappeared from the safety of their campfire.

  He knocked his hand away. “Here? Oh, there are monsters but—”

  “He’s right,” Scar said, reaching behind his back and drawing a long curved sword. “Think of Gierna and Roshka. We should be alert.” Then he bellowed into the forest. “Rendok! Say something now!”

  There was no response.

  “We should get back to the Direwings,” the marked one said. “It is just a short walk where the tree coverage thins, and we can whistle for them.”

  “Ha!” Belra laughed. “The slightest sign of trouble and you wish to run…” He got a more serious look in his eyes. “If a monster got Rendok, then we should go kill it.”

  “But there are not supposed to be such monsters in this part of the forest!” he insisted. “It’s something else, it’s—”

  Scar walked over and slapped him over the back of his head. He then placed his own mask on his face and said, “Thol! Don’t speak as a coward. Now, i believe you are right. There is something out there. I’m sure of it. So put on your damn masks. We stick together, and we hunt. First, search for Rendok.”

  Scar’s serious tone even silence the confident one and the two searched the ground for their masks and weapons and put them on. Those two simply wielded spears, which were a bit easier to fight against than a sword, and only the marked one—Thol—had one of those shock poles.

  Perfect. I was going to go for you first anyway.

  I wondered if it was thanks to my mark that he sounded so fearful. I’m sure many of these red masks feigned confidence, it did not seem like a culture of people who tolerated weakness very well. But was the mark alone enough to break down those defences and let him show his fear?

  The three began to trek into the woods, Thol pulling out his shock pole and lighting it so they had some light to see by.

  Me and Lily followed, prowling after them.

  “Rendok went in this direction,” Thol said, leading the way, though I could see how the shock pole slightly shook in his hand.

  They made it to where Lily and I had killed him, but walked right past where we had hidden his body.

  I carefully watched for an opening. I felt confident I could take Thol down with a single hit. Between Veil of Shadows and Apex Ambush, one good shot at his neck would be enough to at the very least take him out of the fight. Even if I didn’t achieve a killing blow with that, I could quickly disspear back into the shadows while Lily distracted them, then double back and pick him off with Soul Rend. Actually, that would be the ideal scenario.

  Scar is what concerned me, though. I didn’t want to make my move while he was in striking distance of his ally.

  We had been through so much over these days and nights surviving in the caves. We have kiled so many red masks, but now with victory in sight, I couldn’t let overconfidence make me complacent. I had made that mistake against Roshka, and he turned out to be quite a hard fight. This Scar guy could be similarly powerful, and their swords were quite dangerous.

  “Damn it! Where is he?” Belra cursed, then yelled again. “Rendok! Rendok! Where are you!?”

  “Enough.” Scar said calmly. “If he could answer, he would have by now. He has likely been dragged off.”

  Watching Thol through Death Mark, I could clearly see how he gulped in fear at that declaration.

  “Maybe we ought to split up,” Belra offered. “Better chance at finding the monster’s trail that way, I’d say.”

  Oh yes, please do!

  Scar seemed to think about this for a moment then shook his head. “No. Whatever it is, it must have stealth skills.” His eyes seemed to scan the dark woods around them. “It could even be watching us right now…”

  His eyes seemed to settle in my direction, but I thought nothing of it until he suddenly burst forward.

  I yipped a warning to Lily. “Look out!”

  His sword then lit on fire, flames suddenly flashing over it and trailing backwards as it cut forward. It’s light tore away the darkness that protected us as I dodged to the side, avoiding the blade but feeling the flames singe my fur.

  Lily had dodged in the other direction and we now stood on either side of the man. He remained poised to attack, the fire from his sword giving him plenty of light to see by as he examined both of us.

  “That’s quite an evolution. It seems Valrok was more correct about you Hell Hounds than even he realized.”

  I growled at him, paws digging into the earth as I weighed out how to attack. He was fast, and though I had gained some mana back I still had to be careful to keep enough available for a Soul Rend.

  His two allies were soon at his side, weapons poised, Belra two-handing his spear, Thol with a spear and a shock pole in each hand. “What’s with these levels?” Thol gasped, his hands still clearly shaking. “These are not the ones we were sent here to capture, is it?”

  “Unless another pack of Hell Hounds moved out of the depths, it must be,” Scar said. “No matter. If there are more than these two, we will capture them as well… but that one…” He pointed his sword at me. “Kill it. It’s too dangerous. But make sure the smaller one lives.” He then made a slight head movement and charged at me, Belra falling into step beside him, while Thol charged at Lily.

  I pivoted backwards, barely avoiding the flaming sword, then Scar lifted it two-handed above his head and slashed down. A wave of flame shot forward that I was not expecting, and I dodge too slow, the wall of fire cutting across my flank and burning me. I yelp in surprise and made a retreat. Lily did the same with her own persuer, both of us going in opposite directions to separate them.

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  Another fire wave came at me, this one horizontal and impossible to dodge completely. I dove under it, feeling it rake across my back and burn through my fur and right down to my flesh. As I turned to try a counter attack, Belra was on me. I did a hop-dodge, and clenched my jaws on the pole of his spear then tried to rip it from his hands. He held firm, only getting moved a step, but then Scar was on me, swinging his sword down.

  I let go and pivoted, the very tip of the flaming blade catching my side and burning my flesh beneath, but I then jumped forward and took a hard nip at his side before retreating. Armor got in the way of my lower fangs and the upper fangs only tore clothing.

  There was no time for a Cripple Bite, and I didn’t want to waste mana unless I was sure I’d break a limb, so I arced a circle around them and made a temporary retreat.

  I could see Thol’s glowing silhouette through the trees, and in my mind’s eye I saw as he swung his spear this way and that, clearly struggling to get a hit off on Lily as she confused him with her trickster moves. Then he winced in pain and blood burst from his side in my mind’s eye.

  Nice going Lily!

  More importantly, Lily had kited him far away from these other two. I’d have to just keep them busy until Lily whittled him down enough, then I would use my speed to disengage from this fight and finish Thol off before they could catch up—preferabbly with a Soul Rend.

  Scar advanced with measured steps, firelight dancing across his armor, Belra mirroring his movements as they branched out, trying to get on either side of me. They were trying to herd me. These guys were clearly disciplined.

  Annoying.

  I kept moving, staying just outside their reach and used a {Marrow Sense} to check for weak points. Belra’s skeleton was mostly green with a slight yellow tint. Scar’s was perfectly green and I suspected a single Crippling Bite wouldn’t snap a limb on either of them.

  Scar swung his sword again, sending out a wave of flames that I easily dodged with having some distance, but it scorched the undergrowth of the forest, his previous attacks already engulfing our battlefield in flames.

  I had no shadows I could hide in now, so confusing them with Veil of Shadows was out. At the rate the flames were spreading through the forest, I could imagine the whole blaze growing into a wildfire if this went on too long.

  Scar rushed again with incredible speed, it must have been a skill. I dove to the side of him, considered a chomp at his leg, but retreated behind his back—then Belra was there. I barely avoided the spear and chomped his arm, making him scream, then I ran again, disappeared behind a tree and then reversed my direction as Scar followed.

  He growled in frustration as he was out of position and tried to turn, but my doggy movements were faster and I dove at his ankle.

  {Crippling Bite}!

  It was an awkward angle to swing his sword, so after I gave a good twist that was mostly protected by his shin guard, I retreated again. Just before Marrow Sense wore off, I saw the bones under that armor turn slightly yellow.

  One more of those, I thought. Belra might be easier to break a limb, but even if I can’t break Scar’s leg he’s the faster one so I at least need to try slowing him down. Then I’ll help Lily who—

  In my mind’s eye I saw Thol scream again as he dropped his shock pole and clutched his arm, blood spraying from a new wound. He was almost ready for me.

  Scar sent another horizontal wave at me, this one too low to dodge under. I tried going over it instead, but it still burned my back paws. I winced and landed awkwardly, the side of my head hitting the ground before I scrambled back to my feet. But not fast enough to avoid Belra’s next attack as his spear plunged into my side. I reflexively let out a yelp of pain and ran. At least it didn’t catch my leg. I just hoped Soul Rend healed me a little more than the first one I used it on once I got that far.

  But first—I found an unscorched area of the forest to dip behind a tree. Scar didn’t follow me like last time, aware of how quickly I could switch my tactics if he lost sight for even a second. That hesitation did give me some distance, but distance wasn’t that great against this guy as another horizontal wave of flame came gliding across the forest floor.

  This time, I quickly spotted a large fallen branch which I kicked off of and got a precious extra foot of hight and managed to bound over the flames. Now I was running right at Scar in a head-on attack he wasn’t ready for.

  He tried to sweep his blade down at me. I pivoted, feeling the flames rake across my muzzle but avoided the blade then dove in—{Crippling Bite}!

  My jaws clenched around his armored shin, I twisted, and still with no clear snapping of bone. But as I made my retreat I glanced back just long enough to see him try to take a step forward but fall to his knee with a growl of frustration. Not broken, as he stood again a moment later, but if I were to use another Crippling Bite, I was sure that would do the trick.

  However, he was already going for a healing potion.

  That’s fine, I thought, I’ll be back for you.

  I darted away from Scar and Belra, not even pretending to keep their attention anymore. Scar shouted, “Thol! It’s coming for you!”

  In my mind’s eye I saw Thol running, limping, occasionally slowing just enough to wave his shock pole desperately at Lily whom I could not track in my mind's eye, but she clearly never gave him more than a few moments of peace.

  Give Chase kicked in, and speed surged through my limbs as I tore through the underbrush, branches snapping against my sides, embers floating through the air like angry fireflies. I burst into the clearing where Lily had driven Thol, just in time to see him stumble backward.

  Lily circled him, low and smooth, eyes like purple streaks of light as she feinted left, then right. Thol tried to scramble away, dragging one leg uselessly, his breath coming out in broken sobs.

  “No—no, stay back!” he screamed, “Stay—”

  I pounced, lifting a paw and slashing it forward as it turned ghostly with blue smoke pouring off of it.

  {Soul Rend}!

  My claw raked into his chest, his body jerked, and when I pulled it out he fell limb.

  Prey Eliminated - Lvl 15 Homo Sapien - Bloody Peaks Tribe

  Experience Gained!

  Essence Extracted

  225 health restored

  136 mana restored

  150 Stamina restored

  +12 to all attributes

  Nice! That was 15 extra to all of my attributes now, and the gains on my vitals were way higher than last time as well! Maybe because this one wasn’t quite as close to death’s door as the last one, who would have likely bled out soon with or without Soul Rend finishing him.

  And since poor Thol didn’t see me coming, Apex Ambush did its thing—Death Mark switched to another of the two remaining red masks.

  Belra, unfortunately, not Scar, and he was… running.

  Damn it! He’s trying to get back to the Direwings! Actually, that’s okay, he’s probably going ahead of Scar now, so that means they are separate and I can pick him off then come back for the final boss.

  Lily came into step beside me as I got moving, chasing down my marked prey. His silhouette standing out in the darkness before me, every panicked breath and stumble through the pitch-black forest clear in my mind's eye.

  But it seemed Scar wasn’t going to make things as easy as I had hoped…

  A massive wall of fire suddenly erupted from the ground a bit ahead of us. Me and Lily both skidded to a stop and my eyes widened in shock as I watched the wall form. I looked left and right—the flames were dense, nearly touching the tops of the trees. There was no way around it. It completely blocked our path!

  Unlike the waves Scar had been shooting at me, this one did not disburse, it remained towering over us and roaring powerfully.

  Then, a silhouette appeared in the flames, the man stepping through the wall as if it were a curtain, mask off and sword held at his side. There was furry etched into his scarred face, smoke and embers raising from his armor as the ends of his clothing burned.

  In his other hand, there was something that looked like a healing potion, except it was purple and swirling with tiny red stars that looked like mana particles.

  “You damn Hell Hounds!” he roared. “How many of my tribesmen have you beasts killed!?”

  I let out a low growl, wishing I could vocalize my thought: A lot… but not as many as I plan to before I have my family back!

  He tore the cork from the bottle and downed it in a quick gulp.

  Was it just a more powerful healing potion? But he wasn’t that injurred so—

  Suddenly his entire body hitched, and he clenched his teeth as if in pain. My eyes widened as his muscles—now visible beneath his burning clothing—seemed to bulk out and grow larger, thick veins rippling across his biceps and forearms as his skin seeming to stretch tight over his flesh.

  He then gripped his sword with both hands and roared at us, his eyes taking on an ember glow as if his pupils had erupted in flame and he pointed his flaming blade at us. “I, Kenshaw of the Bloody Peaks Tribe, blessed with fire by the Almighty Above, swear before this night ends—I shall have your heads!”