Aaron slowly stopped his spell. This was weird.

  It was eerily quiet.

  As Aaron looked around, he found nothing. No bird flew above his head, no animal sounds could be heard, and the wind was dormant.

  Even his senses didn’t detect any spells. It was as if the world had just stopped.

  Only Aaron himself could be heard: his boots as they hit the ground, his labored breath, or his weapon as he used it as a crutch.

  He needed to get out of here. He wasn’t in any shape or form to fight. His left leg hurt like hell, he was exhausted, and he wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep.

  But what about the wolves? He still hadn’t collected the proof that he had slain them.

  “Shit…” Aaron mumbled as he thought. What if it was nothing? What if the fight just scared the other animals into hiding? He would lose the much-needed money.

  But what if it was a beast? Maybe the thing the wolves fought in that clearing? After all, it had injured them. Or it was the wolf he had heard before? If it was that, he didn’t stand a chance.

  He should be more panicked; he knew that, but he was just so tired. The fight had been much harder than he had thought it would be.

  Aaron didn’t think that he would have a chance either way if the beast was already close enough. Fleeing wouldn’t be possible with his leg, let alone fighting. He could only hope that this was nothing.

  Hiding might also be possible, but an animal strong enough to scare others into hiding would also be able to find Aaron, he was sure.

  With nothing else to consider, Aaron made his way down into the pit. While he erased the spikes in his way, Aaron went to the first wolf.

  While this one didn’t have much magic, he still bound it to himself. He needed to quickly regenerate his magic if he wanted to think about defending himself should an animal attack.

  After he finished, he took his small dagger to cut off the ears. While he could sell the cadaver back at Belnes, he wouldn’t be able to transport it there, let alone the others.

  He moved through the pit, collecting the ears, replenishing his magic. When he was finally done with Fucker Two, he saw it.

  It sat just at the corner of the pit, looking down on Aaron.

  “Oh no,” Aaron whispered as he just stood there, sweat dripping down his back. It was as if he was petrified.

  The wolf, as it turned out, was almost twice the size of Fucker Two. Its eyes almost seemed to glow in a yellowish hue while its fur took on a much darker shade than its counterparts.

  The wolf’s tail slowly moved from one side to the other; it almost seemed like it was amused. That is, unless one saw its eyes. They were filled with a silent fury Aaron had rarely ever seen before, a fury only a mother could have.

  It was at that time Aaron finally understood. Sibill was right; he should have picked another mission.

  The dwarf turned to run. Where to, he didn’t know. It was an instinctual response, like prey choosing to run when it came across a predator. It still didn’t matter as he hadn’t even made five steps with his hurt leg before he heard that harrowing howl.

  It sounded just like the one he had heard when he was chased. It also had the same effect. Aaron froze just as he was about to take the next step. At least Aaron could still think, though it wasn’t as helpful now. He tried to form a spell, but it didn’t work. It was as if his mental images escaped him.

  He heard a loud thud. Aaron supposed that it must be the large wolf landing in the pit, though he couldn’t confirm his thesis as he faced the other way.

  Aaron tried to run, limp, crawl, or do whatever he could to get away from here, but he couldn’t. He shouldn’t have stayed here, even if that monster would have caught up anyway. Fuck the money; he could have started again someplace else. He should have taken Richy’s offer and disappeared.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  A squish, then another. Aaron started to have feelings in his fingertips again. The next squishing sound. These had to be footsteps, he was sure. She was coming closer.

  Aaron almost cried, but he couldn’t, even if he wanted to. His hands and toes could be felt again.

  The next squish was even closer. She was playing with him, like she took pleasure in his suffering. Though he supposed she would. After all, he had presumably just killed off her sons and daughters.

  “Fuuuuuck,” Aaron said while noticing he could move his mouth again. As he tried for the tenth time to form a spell, it finally worked. Although it went against his flight response, he didn’t use a spell immediately. It wouldn’t help while he wasn’t yet able to move.

  After another set of steps, it stopped. Aaron could feel her hot breath as it reached his shoulders. A sudden shudder went through his body. He was cold; his sweat had drenched all of his clothes.

  For just a moment, time seemed to come to a stop. Aaron exhaled slowly, inhaled sharply, and moved. First on his right leg and then his left one. Stepping on it was accompanied by searing pain traveling through his body. It was still better than the alternative.

  A big paw crashed into the floor where he had been standing just a second ago.

  Aaron finally used the spell he had prepared before. Using Rock Shield, a large stone shield shot out from the ground. It covered a thick line from one side of the pit to the island in the middle. Aaron hoped that this would keep the wolf occupied at least for a tiny bit.

  It wouldn’t be able to just jump over it, as it hopefully didn’t know where spikes still stood. Although it could just jump out of the pit and wait there, he hoped that it wouldn’t do that. The only thing that gave him any hope in that regard was that it had come down before to attack him with its own paws.

  As he made his way over to the closest wall while evading the earthen spikes, his questions were answered by a loud crash. The animal had decided to just push a hole into his wall. He didn’t want to even think about the strength this implied.

  He knew that he didn’t have time to slowly climb the wall or use his Shaping Earth to create steps. He took a deep breath and concentrated. This was going to hurt so bad. Just as the animal was about to pounce, the floor under Aaron moved.

  Because Shaping Earth would move the rocks too slowly, Aaron had forgone that spell for his much quicker spell Rock Shield. While it cost much more and could only create cubic shapes, it was much quicker.

  The cube under Aaron shot up so quickly that it catapulted him through the air. He had almost lost footing but was able to righten himself.

  As Aaron looked back down, he saw the wolf crash into the cube he had just used.

  But Aaron’s luck didn’t last long. Aaron hadn’t used this trick often, and as such, in his hurry, misjudged the amount of magic he would need to reach the surface.

  One, then two, and finally almost three meters were between the forest ground and him before he began his descent.

  He couldn’t do much more than pray as he fell.

  A crack was heard throughout the clearing. Aaron could have sworn that it was just as loud as when the wall had been broken. Then the pain hit, and all Aaron could do was scream.

  It took a while for Aaron to regain his bearings again, and when he did, he almost laughed and cried at the same time. In front of him stood the wolf, calmly observing him.

  “Fuck! Just fucking kill me already! It can’t do anything with this piece of shit leg anyway! JUST DO IT!” Aaron’s throat almost gave out towards the end.

  The deep anger was still deeply rooted in the wolf’s eyes. It created a sound that almost seemed like a laugh. How that was even possible, Aaron didn’t know.

  Just as quickly as it began, it stopped again. The mother, dubbed Fucker Three, stared into Aaron's eyes and then did something Aaron was sure he wouldn’t ever forget in his life, no matter how short that would be.

  She talked.

  “F- Fu- Fuck.”

  The hair on Aaron’s neck stood on end. Did he just really hear that? The air around Aaron was bound with a spell he didn’t recognize. It didn’t even look remotely like any other he had ever sensed.

  Still, it didn’t really matter as he was about to die. The closer Aaron got to his death, the calmer he seemed to grow. Even the pain of his left leg seemed to lessen. Though he supposed it might have also been from the blood loss; it was quite a bit after all.

  With his eyelids growing heavier, he could only watch as Fucker Three finally decided that he had served whatever purpose she thought he had.

  A blink. She leaned down with her jaw wide open. Another blink. The wolf was gone.

  At least until Aaron turned his way sideways. There, he could see the wolf fight something. It was some kind of bird, though it was gigantic.

  Many different spells were used. Though what kind of spells, Aaron wasn’t sure. He couldn’t really think much anymore.

  The dwarf just lay there until he heard something on his left. Was he about to be taken out by a random animal that used the distraction to score food for itself?

  “Heh…” a weak laugh escaped his lips. It would be quite funny now that he thought about it.

  But as he turned his way the other way, he saw something quite unexpected.

  A human. Or no, an elf. He could see the big ears poking out from under her, as she was clearly a woman, shoulder-length red hair. She seemed a bit stressed as she slowly made her way towards Aaron.

  It seemed so serene, which was a stark contrast to the bloody fight that was taking place on the other side.

  As she finally reached him, she whispered something. Aaron couldn’t understand her. Maybe she talked in a foreign language?

  The elf repeated herself, seemingly expecting him to answer.

  It was increasingly harder for Aaron to concentrate on her. As he tried to formulate a response, the woman sighed, looked over to the fight that was happening, and began to rummage through a pouch.

  The last thing Aaron took note of was the vial with a green fluid inside that she dangled above his head, then everything went dark.