♧ First Blood ♧
I woke with a start.
Something had changed.
The woods weren't quiet anymore. They were still. Even the wind had stopped, like it was holding its breath. Shadows moved different now, slow, creeping in toward me like they knew something I didn't. The dying embers of my campfire barely gave off heat, just flickers of orange that warned more than they warmed.
Then I heard it, a low, guttural growl.
Not close.
Not far.
Tracking me.
I rose slowly, gripping my broken sword. The blade was chipped and dull, the tip shattered during the goblin skirmish two days ago. It wasn't much, but it was still metal. Still something between me and death.
The growl again, closer this time.
I scanned the dark.
There.
Eyes, glowing like dying coals, locked onto me through the trees. The ash-wolf stepped into view. Its body wasn't made of fur, it was smoke, soot, moving like wind but heavy like stone. Every step it took left a burning print that faded in seconds.
This wasn't like the others.
This one wasn't wandering.
It was hunting me.
I stepped back, slow and careful. Every nerve in me screamed to run. But the second I turned, it lunged.
I threw myself to the side. Its claws tore through the space I'd just left, gouging a trench into the earth. It was fast, too fast. And smart. Its eyes weren't wild. They were focused. Calculating.
I bolted.
The forest blurred around me, brambles slicing my arms, roots grabbing at my feet. My breath came ragged. Every bruise and ache screamed at once. I couldn't fight this thing head-on. Not with a busted blade and half my strength.
But I remembered the terrain.
A drop nearby. Fallen logs. A ravine where old hunter traps still rusted beneath the dirt.
I ran for it.
The ash-wolf followed, silent, deadly. Its presence was a pressure at my back.
Faster.
I jumped over a fallen tree, slid down a muddy slope. My boots barely found traction. The ground wanted to swallow me. But the wolf? It moved like it owned the forest.
I reached the ravine and found one of the old snares, half-buried in wet leaves. I wrapped it around a tree trunk, then scattered debris over a spike trap just ahead. It wasn't perfect.
Just enough.
The wolf leapt.
I dropped and rolled. Its body flew overhead, massive and soundless.
It landed, its front paw slamming into the hidden trap.
Snap.
The metal clamped shut with a crunch that echoed. The ash-wolf let out a howl, sharp and broken, something too human hiding in the sound.
I didn't wait.
I charged, blade in both hands, and drove it into its flank. Once. Twice.
It didn't fall.
Smoke poured from its wounds. Its form rippled, twitching violently. With a furious twist, it broke the snare and flung its weight sideways. I hit a tree hard, ribs lit up with white-hot pain.
The sword slipped from my hands.
I gasped.
Then it leapt again.
I rolled just in time. The trunk exploded into splinters where I'd been.
I crawled, hands slick with mud and blood. My fingers found a shard of the broken blade, half-buried beneath the leaves.
I turned.
The ash-wolf limped toward me, its glowing eyes now dull.
Not clear, pale, sad.
It looked at me like it knew. Like it remembered something I didn't. That stare, it froze me. Just for a second.
It wasn't just a monster.
It had been something once. Someone.
Maybe this was what happened to demon souls that didn't come back right.
It stepped closer, dragging the trap.
And I hesitated.
Because it wasn't growling.
Because it looked at me like it understood.
Because I didn't want to do this.
But I had to.
I screamed, crushed the doubt, and rammed the shard into its throat.
It let out a low sound, not a growl.
A sigh.
Its body unraveled into smoke, piece by piece, curling away like ash on wind.
I stumbled back, panting, shaking.
Only the eyes stayed behind for a moment.
Still watching me.
Still sad.
Then gone.
Silence.
The wind returned.
A soft whisper of flame and light flickered in the air before me.
[Ash-Wolf's Heart acquired.]
[Temporary Strength Boost unlocked.]
I stared, empty.
The warmth that spread through me felt wrong. Like it didn't belong. My limbs felt lighter, stronger but it didn't feel like a victory.
It felt like I'd lost something.
At my feet, the ash curled into a small black heart. It pulsed once before sinking into my skin.
That strength? It was the wolf's.
And now it was mine.
But I felt the cost.
I slumped against the tree. My ribs screamed. Old wounds throbbed. My hands ached from gripping steel too tight for too long.
I looked around, at the clearing, the broken trap, the scarred ground.
This world didn't fight fair.
The monsters weren't mindless.
Not all of them.
The ash-wolf had been something once. Something proud. Maybe a warrior. Maybe a demon. Maybe more.
But not this.
Something twisted it.
Corrupted it.
And maybe that was the same thing that was happening to me.
I stared at my hands, they didn't tremble.
I wasn't sure if that was strength… or if I was just going numb.
But I knew one thing now:
No more hesitation.
If I was going to survive, if I was going to rise, I had to be willing to end whatever stood in my way.
Even if it looked at me with sorrow.
Even if it once had a name.
Even if it reminded me of myself.
I picked up the blade shard. It was barely a weapon. But I'd fix it. Sharpen it. Make it mine.
The first real fight was done.
And I wasn't the same anymore.