Vivid Stars Online

The plasma bolt blew past me a few feet to my right. A loud yelp heralded its impact, showing that Linnea had hit something even if it wasn’t lethal. For a moment afterward, everything was silent, then I heard a deep, resounding howl coming from beyond the flames.

I’d almost expected that they would just flee when faced with shots coming from behind our barrier, however, I’d clearly underestimated how bloodthirsty they were. Instead, shadowy forms charged up to the edge of the fire, pacing back and forth.

One stood upright, almost nine feet tall and bulky to match. It growled and yipped at the others as if it were a general commanding its troops. From the way they responded, that might in fact be an apt comparison.

With them so close, I pulled up my watch, confident that whatever had been affecting my range wouldn’t be a concern. Sure enough, it listed eight Dire Wolves and one Great Wolf in front of us. While I wanted to pull up its information, I didn’t dare take my eyes off them for more than a few moments.

Then Linnea fired again, and the bolt destroyed one of the normal wolves’ heads. This threw them into a frenzy as they ran back and forth, looking for a way through. While the fire was only a few feet high, none of them braved the jump over.

Instead, they ran to the water on my left, where the sandbank faced the greater lake. The first wolves approached carefully as if worried by the dark water. Then the tall one arrived and forced them onwards with growls and slaps from its clawed hands.

Another shot rang out, striking one of the hesitant ones in the chest. This seemed to push the rest over the edge, and they dove into the water and began swimming.

She’s trying to thin out the pack, I realized as Linnea continued to fire on the smaller wolves in the water. While the big one might be the most dangerous, that won’t matter if we get overrun by the others.

While it was a sensible strategy, I had a bad feeling that it would result in me fighting the large one on my own.

I moved to intercept as five of the Dire wolves reached the shore, leaving one of their kind dead in the water. Sure enough, however, as soon as I did so, the Great Wolf burst from the water and lunged at me.

While I was able to stumble backward out of its way, that left room for the Dire Wolves to get past. The Great Wolf howled, a deep, terrifying sound filled with bloodlust. The other Beasts responded by charging off down the sandbank, even as Linnea killed another of them.

Sorry, Linnea, I thought as I squared off with the boss. You’re going to have to deal with that lot on your own. I’ve got my hands full here.

She seemed to have the same idea, as I could just make out her shouting over the din. “Hold off the big guy! I'll deal with the small fry!”

That would be easier said than done, however, I had no choice, I had to act. I lifted my pistol as it was turning, firing a pair of shots into its side.

It howled with pain yet wasn’t slowed in the slightest as it lept a dozen feet toward me. I screamed at the terrifying sight, desperately trying to dodge sideways to avoid it.

I almost made it; however, I wasn’t fast enough in the end. It skidded past me as it landed, tearing its claws through my left arm. If I hadn’t dodged right, I’d have been out of the fight right there. As it was, I didn’t need that arm to use my gun.

While the pain was still agonizing, I’d become used to being injured over the last week and a bit. It would take more than a little pain to take me out of the fight, and I was confident that with my Toughness stat, I had some time before blood loss would be an issue.

I pushed past the pain and fired again, hitting it on the opposite side from the last time. I was beginning to notice that while it was horrifyingly fast in a straight line, its turning speed was much worse.

It wasn’t as bad as the Great Bear I’d fought before, but it was enough to give me at least a minor advantage. As the only sign of weakness I’d been able to spot, it was the one I was going to exploit.

The Beast charged again as it turned, this time rushing toward me while staying on the ground. I cursed as I tried to dodge, a task that was far harder when it wasn’t in the air.

It seemed the Beast was smarter than I’d thought, it wasn’t about to just let me fall into a pattern. I once again managed a partial dodge, taking a raking hit on my upper chest.

Still, it gave me another opening, and this time I tried for a single, well-aimed shot. I held my breath, steadied my aim, and fired. My shot flew through the night air, striking true against the side of its head.

This got much more of a reaction as the Great Wolf screamed in agony, batting at the side of its head with its paws. This only spread the plasma onto them, burning away at its hands.

It turned with murder in its eyes, this time advancing toward me at a steady trot. There was going to be no dodging it this time.

Its slow advance gave me time, however, and I lined up another shot. It was hard to hold my ground as it stalked toward me, however, I managed it. Just as it reached a few feet away, I pulled the trigger, taking it straight between the eyes.

Even that wasn’t enough to put the Beast down, only blind it. It charged forwards, wildly swinging its claws. I was unable to react in time and it bowled me over, landing several hits on my chest.

I lay stunned for a second as the creature swung over my head, apparently unaware that I had fallen. I took full advantage of this by rolling backward and away. Once free, I pulled myself up and jogged off to get a little distance.

As I went, I noticed something odd about the Dire Wolf floating in the lake. The surrounding water was roiling, and it looked to be sinking into the depths. It was such a bizarre sight I almost forgot the Beast behind me, only to remember as it howled in rage.

Jerked back to the fight, I turned to see it sniffing at the air. While it could no longer see, it could still use its other senses to find me. Time to finish this Beast, I thought grimly as I felt the blood running from my wounds.

It was clear that the Great Wolf had at least as much Toughness as I did, if I wasn’t careful I would be the one to fall first. Emboldened by that thought, I pushed past the pain and exhaustion to bring my gun up once more.

The Beast loped towards me with a slow but steady gait, sniffing the air as it came. I responded with a wild volley of fire, no longer caring about accuracy. My shots struck it across its shoulders and chest, leaving burning craters.

It slowed further, screaming at each hit but never faltering. I stepped back once while continuing to fire, then again. My foot hit the water, and I cursed as I realized I’d run out of room.

I could either try to dodge sideways or attempt to finish the fight.

In my exhaustion, I decided to chance it, continuing to fire until the last second. By this point, the wolf’s arms were hanging limp at its side, its once dangerous claws out of commission.

Instead, it charged with its fanged mouth open, ready to tear my head off. I stared at it head-on before firing straight down its throat. Even that didn’t stop it, I fired a second time, and it still came.

Almost out of time, I made a desperate gamble. I shoved my arm forwards, practically pushing the gun down its throat as I kept firing. It was shuddering with every shot, barely able to stand, yet it still swallowed my arm and bit down on my shoulder.

The pain was immense, yet I ignored it and fired one last time. With my arm so far down its throat, this seemed to be the final straw, and the Beast slumped to the ground, taking me with it.

I collapsed, groaning, and tried to pull my arm from its maw. With a bit of tugging, I got free. My pistol didn’t. It was still stuck inside the wolf, I’d have to cut the damn thing open to get it out.

All I wanted to do was lie there till things started feeling better, unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury. Since Linnea hadn’t started helping with my fight, I could only assume she was having trouble with the last of the wolves.

I’d seen how much difficulty she had when one had gotten close two days ago, this time she was facing four of them. So instead of passing out, I pulled myself to my feet with a groan.

My right shoulder was killing me, however, my arm itself had come out mostly intact. I doubted that I’d be able to raise it very high, but I could still swing a knife. Confident that I could at least help, I drew my dagger and began a tired jog down the sandbank.

It was dark this far from the fire and I could barely see a few feet in front of me. Luckily the sandbar narrowed as it went further out, it was unlikely that I’d miss her even with my limited vision.

I passed one, then two dead wolves as I went, yet I saw no other sign of her. By the time I found the third corpse I was getting worried, there wasn’t much of the sandbar left.

Then I heard a scream in front of me, human and full of pain. I forced myself to pick up the pace as I raced toward the very end edge of the sandbar. There I saw a figure on the ground being ravaged by a wolf.

It was Linnea, trying to push the wolf off her even as it bit deep into her side. I lunged the last few feet, swinging the dagger in front of me. It hit the wolf on the side of the head, causing it to release her with a startled yelp.

It lept sideways, avoiding my follow-up strike, before turning to circle me. I glanced down at Linnea, only to see her feebly pulling off her pack. From the amount of blood, I figured she needed to patch herself up before she bled out.

I honestly felt only a little better, I was growing woozier by the minute. Still, I couldn’t stop her, not when we were so close to winning. There was no way I’d be able to live with myself if I let the last wolf take us both out.

I focused on the wolf, slowly turning as it circled. Blood ran from a deep cut on the side of its head and I knew it couldn’t afford to wait long. This would come down to a single, final confrontation.

Sure enough, it lunged a second later, staying low to keep out of range of my dagger. Rather than trying to run or dodge, I crouched down, bringing my weapon back into play.

I stabbed forward, taking it straight in the eye as it charged. It collapsed without even a sound, dead instantly.

It was finally over and I fell backward with a groan, too exhausted to even move.

Linnea’s voice sounded out from just behind me, filling me with relief despite how shaky it was. “You alive over there?”

“Barely,“ I laughed, then groaned as it aggravated my chest wounds. “You OK?

“I’ll live,“ she responded before crawling over to me. “Though I won’t be able to say the same about you if we don’t get those wounds treated. How are you even still alive?” She finished, sounding incredulous.

I only groaned in response, unsure if I could even move after that last fight. Luckily Linnea seemed to understand as she began spraying my wounds with sealant one by one.

“At least it’s finally over,“ I sighed as she closed the last of them.

Her voice wavered as she responded, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

I could vaguely see her pointing over my prone body, back towards the land. Worried by her tone, I forced myself into a sitting position so I could follow her gesture.

Even from here, I could see our wall of flames standing out easily against the darkness. And in the middle of the flames was a gap, like the fire had gone out.

As I continued watching I realized that was wrong, the fire hadn’t died down, something was blocking it. A massive, shadowy shape stood there, outlined against the fire.

“Oh, come on,” I sighed in exhaustion. It seemed this mission wasn’t quite over yet.