Wendigo (I)

Snow could feel the tense atmosphere. The different groups were silently working as they finished up the much-needed traps.

She knew that today was going to be one of those endless nights of pure adrenaline and stress. Her body was unable to sit still as she paced back and forth.

The silence didn't help her or the others as many were anxiously waiting for the Wendigo to come. She had hoped that they hadn't turned towards the small makeshift village that they had created.

Mr. Everrett was conversing with the other Players and Red, showing them the layout of the plan. Dairen, on the other hand, kept peeking over towards Snow.

She couldn't help but feel the prickling of his worried gaze. It took a bit out of her to not shout out towards him, telling him she was okay. Instead, she patiently waited until the small meeting was over.

Before she could even walk over, Dairen took the initiative to come to her. He spoke, "Hey, Snow."

"Yes?" Wondering what was on his mind for his gaze seemed to be muffled with something that he wanted to say.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"I believe so." It wasn't that she wasn't scared, but all of her emotions were thrown out the window, almost as if she couldn't feel anymore.

"That's good." Dairen's shoulder slumped, giving him a more relaxed expression. "I was a bit worried you would be scared." He dryly chuckled, which sound more like a low grunt than a laugh.

"Nope." Snow replied back, "All that stress. Is gone. Just blank in mind right now."

"Odd, but okay."

Snow didn't give too much thought of what Dairen had said. Instead, she cast her gaze off towards the distance of where the Wendigo was going to come from.

It was a dim view from the overcast, behind the small pass of the mountain where they were going to funnel in the monsters. The bloated trees behind the cliffs were deathly silent as no animals or bugs sung.

For a moment, Snow thought the silence would continue forever until she heard the rumbling of the tree branches breaking. Her head darted towards the side as she squinted.

At first, it was a small movement, almost unnoticeable. Time slowly crawled by, but the steps and the breaking of trees echoed slowly as if it was teasing them of their approach. She could already hear the cackling hyena-like laughter from the Hellhounds, goading them that they were coming for them.

Everybody was in position, silently waiting. Many who had fought against the Wendigo were gripped in fear, for they understood how powerless they were against such coming tide.

Eventually, the Hellhounds howled in excitement, bursting out from the trees and coming down the long stretch of open land. When their nose picked up the scent of humans before them, they became even more excited at the thought of plentiful prey.

The streams of Hellhounds weren't just a small pack, but over a five hundred rushed through the narrow pass.

Snow gasped at the number of Hellhounds rushing towards them. She had thought it was going to be just a handful of them like the first guardian: the Dullahan, Raz. Instead, what welcomed them was a small army. They came closer and closer until suddenly a red flare went up to signal to begin the attack.

A loud rumbling sound of noise broke out from one of the rocky ledges. People began pushing the broken boulders as it tumbled down towards the Hellhound in a ravenous thunder.

For a moment, Snow could feel under her feet a small earthquake as she watched the deafening blow of a landslide take out a third of the Hellhounds below. They barked and yelp in surprise at the unexpected attack, but many dodge and slip away from being crushed.

This time, Red step forward. Snow screamed, "attack!"

A flurry of magic flew through the air, coming downwards into a pelting rain. Another third of the Hellhounds were crushed.

More rocks and magic flew through the air, creating devastation and cheers.

"This is easier than I thought." One of the Players jovially spoke as he pushed another massive boulder with his teammate. "At the rate, I'm leveling, I'll be level 10 and have my very first class."

The girl next to him rolled her eyes, taking his levels as a joke. "You're below level 10? How the hell did you even get in here in the first place? Don't you know, this dungeon is for level 10 and up?"

"Well, I came here with a friend to power level. I paid to have someone help me out." He chuckled.

Snow, who was nearby, couldn't help but feel a bit flabbergasted at their nonchalant attitude of power leveling in a dungeon. Maybe she was wrong in thinking that the Players had a hint of tension, but instead, they were all just leisurely playing around in the hopes to level.

"But, you know, this game is too realistic." The man half-heartedly chuckled. "I can't get this weird feeling of fear welling up in me, you know."

"Well, you're just overthinking it." The girl laughed. "We'll be done with the boss monster fast. Look at how easily they are dying. I'm not even sure if my friend who escaped from it really said they were terrible beings to watch out for."

The man agreed. They continued to chatter amongst each other leisurely as the tension between the groups lessened. Even Snow felt a bit of excitement rising up from her core, telling her that everything was going to be alright.

It didn't take long before the sound of the explosion erupted around them as more landslides were created in succession.

But just as quickly as those fleeting feelings came, it was washed away when the boulders that were thrown down at the Hellhounds were suddenly returned back at them with full force. It wasn't just one or two, but many as large boulders peppered the sky, crashing into the very power that was pushing the rocks.

Screams of horror echoed throughout the cliff as people were squashed.

Snow looked towards the distance, confused at where the sudden throw of rocks came from. Emerging out of the forest was the Wendigo as it casually stepped out. It's jagged antler and mane shook, squatting down as its muscles strained it picked up another piece of boulder to throw.

The Wendigo threw it straight at Snow's area.

Alarmed, Snow ran as fast as her feet allowed her, sprinting as far away from the oncoming boulder. With a heart-pounding tremor, the boulder created an ugly indentation into the side of the cliff, taking a bit of it away as it rolled back down to the ground. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Mike's rough voice broke out through the panic air, "Dodge the boulder and attack!" He rushed down to meet the leftover Hellhounds in place. The other Players followed as Mr. Everrett gave the nod as the Hunters ran down to assist.

Compared to what they had to deal with before, they were less than fifty Hellhounds left. A swarm of excited Players and Hunters rushed downwards in like a tidal wave. The healers and most mages stayed a reasonable distance back, casting their magic to assist the front whenever they could.

Snow, on the other hand, with her group of strong Hunters, rushed towards the Wendigo, Tamaki, and Mr. Everrett was leading the charge head-on as they cut their way in through the frenzied Hellhounds.

Luckily for her, Snow didn't have to resort to cutting anything. Mr. Everrett and Tamaki protected her from even coming near. They took the Hellhound fast and efficiently, zig-zagging through the crowds as they met head-on with the Wendigo.

Tommy was the first to square off, and trade blows like a maniac.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." Tommy yelled quickly in excitement, swinging his fist. A massive blur of lines of fire erupted, leaving behind a smoke. "Give me your best shot!"

With a loud bang, fist collided against the rock as it shattered the boulder into pieces. Red Aura, like energy, covered his body like a shield, protecting and buffering him from the oncoming attacks.

Taken aback by the sheer force from Tommy's assault, it momentarily stepped back in alarm.

Tommy didn't relent his hits. Instead, he joyfully fought with a maniacally smile plastered on its lips.

Snow knew that Tommy was a fighting junkie, the more he relished in pain, the more excited and wild he became. The other name that Tommy was called was the Berserker.

At first, the Wendigo was pushed back; which brought hope to many people who were watching it from afar. Even Snow was glad that Tommy was here assisting in this fight as well as cursed at him for not being awake during the last battle. If he was not stupidly knocked unconscious from letting his guards down, he probably would have wiped the Dullahan into the ground without much effort.

Luckily, he was here now, pushing the Wendigo like it was some cheap punching bag. When Mr. Everrett and Tamaki arrived to assist, the Wendigo didn't seem to know what to do. It sweated from pure pressure that the three had given off.

Snow magic swirled around her, assisting wherever she can. Her light magic energy darted in like a snake, creating small flashes to temporarily blind the Wendigo's eyes.

Two more B level Hunters joined in; Jasmine, an expert hunter, and Jacob, the Red Flower Nation's magician. Both were one of the tops of the line, Hunter and Magician, that they could spare during the rough time.

Being pushed around, the Wendigo burst out a terrible roar, bursting the eardrums of the unsuspecting lower level Hunters and Players as they all cringed in pain.