Wolf of Terror

Kamazaki's body pummeled back as she writhed around to and fro with excruciating pain, screaming with blood-curdling agony. She instinctively held onto where her left eye had been stabbed into and it was now dressed in deep, fresh blood. It was overflowing from the socket as the breath quickened with pain, pain and more pain.

Her entire body surged with unexplainable pain. She couldn't think. She couldn't act. Her lower part of her shirt had been ripped, but the wound beneath due to the slash was deep. Coughing and frothing, she finally lay still, but her agony did not stop. It felt like everywhere was burning, and she now consciously felt that she was laying in a very small leak of her own blood.

- It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurtssss!!!

Shizaki immediately righted himself and stared in horror.

The wolf seemed to be of nearly his own height. Its eyes were bright scarlet red, and its body was ghastly black.

{"They're harmless…right?"}

{"To humans…yes. That's why we use them for different things, like transport or Mythical Beast Contracts."}

It didn't make sense.

- Why…? Why? Why!?

...Why?

This was impossible. They never attacked people based on their free will. They had been at peace with citizens for many several years.

Shizaki was gripped by fear. He just couldn't move. The wolf now stood on all fours after the collision and bared its metallic-like fangs at Shizaki. And then-

On its skin…several other eyes opened.

The skin had opened with blood and what seemed like mucus was secreted from the corners, and several other large eyes all over the wolf's body formed. They all contained a red iris with a black pupil.

They were all trained on Shizaki.

He couldn't speak or act. It was like a wave of complete terror had hit him, and he had just lay motionless.

Only an empty shell of the young man named Daizen Shizaki remained.

As it slowly drew closer to Shizaki, its pupils got smaller and more vicious…

"Haaah…s…..stop….haah."

"-!"

Kamazaki hissed at the creature and tried to get up amidst the pain, but slumped back down with blood covering the entire right side of her face. Her left eye had been slit open, and unbearable pain continued as she groaned and whimpered. The noise alerted the rest of the eyes on the wolf's body as they all synchronously turned to her. Finally, the wolf itself faced her, and was now fully focused on her.

"Shi…..haaah…"

She tried to call out to Shizaki despite having to excessively inhale and exhale from the excruciating pain. Shizaki looked at her, still unable to do anything.

"R…..un...haah. Run…please.."

She clenched the skin close to her left eye socket.

It was then that the figure of Daizen Shizaki stood up. 

The vessel came back to life.

He darted forwards, not backwards. 

He ran ahead, he didn't run away.

Sure, he was anything but composed, or determined. He was scared for his life. Many would have called him a fool in this situation. But still…

All eyes of the wolf of terror immediately noticed his moving presence. It turned and charged toward him, the speed making their distance between each other close to zero in nearly an instant.

- ...What the hell am I doing…?

Shizaki thought this as the claws and fangs were within striking distance. With a nervous frown, the perspiring boy made his move. His eyes began to glow from his usual light purple to a ethereal white, signalling the activation of his Magic Affinity.

(A Few Hours Before…

"The name that I have given my Affinity of Wind is [Turbulence]. I have the ability to create pressurised wind from any part of my body."

On the topic of introducing their special power, Shizaki declared this, but noticed confused faces from some others sitting around the campsite fire.

Finally, Kamazaki and King spoke.

"Tur…boo…lence…? What does that mean?"

"It's the first time that I've heard of such a name as well."

"O-Oh, well…I read that it was a term that the Savior of the world used while she was here more than four hundred years ago."

"Ah, I also read in history books that she used to be an incredibly interesting individual who introduced a lot of weird words from her so-called hometown. So, what did Turbulence mean?"

Neo asked him this question with curiosity, and Shizaki answered:

"To my understanding, it means a powerful shake, if it was something connected to wind. Therefore, I made that word my own while wanting to give honor to her for victory in the Grand Vendetta, before she disappeared from our world."

)

- …What the actual hell am I doing?

Stretching his right arm to the right side of his body, he used his usual fractional power of his Affinity of Wind - [Turbulence] to blast a small pressurized wind from the right side of his body. The force pushed his body to the left side just in time to barely avoid the strike, and the wolf sprawled onto the ground. 

Raising his left leg just a little to the left of his body, he used another blast of wind from the sole of his feet to right himself and braced his landing. He immediately turned and waited for another strike from his attacker.

- WHAT IS GOING ON, AND WHY AM I NOT RUNNING AWAY!?

"Why…aren't you…"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't leave you here, Kamazaki-san!!"

Shizaki kept his back to Kamazaki, who trembled in fright. She was a bit of a distance behind him now, but she was still in the same position.

His shining white eyes quickly wavered to where she was lying down. Close to her was a small bed of yellow, four-leafed plants in abundance beside her.

Shizaki turned back in caution, but began speaking.

"There's Haze Flowers next to you. Take one and squeeze them on your damaged socket."

"Ack…huh..?"

"They apparently contain mana that helps with closing wounds, or so I heard. It won't heal your eye, though, but I don't want you to lose too much blood and die on me…please…"

Would she really die if she lost too much blood there, though? He couldn't tell.

The wolf had gotten up now, and its eyes all glared at him in rage. It growled, but the growl now sounded like something close to a roar, taking Shizaki's breath of confidence away in a flash and startling him into stopping his activation of magic.

The wolf lunged forward again, faster than the first attack. He couldn't dodge in time.

- -hk, move, idiot.

He stepped back, frozen, but then forced himself to move forward, with a flash of anger displayed on his face.

- Move, Shizaki!!

He rushed forward, and with a swing of both arms into the ground, [Turbulence] once again activated, and the force of the wind sent his body upwards. With a flip and a half-spin into the air, he instantaneously propelled himself downwards with wind and slammed his two feet into the wolf's neck as his body weight pulverized the animal into the earth below.

He could only generate a small burst of wind at a time, but it was still powerful if used well.

"Now!"

Noticing the wolf gravely injured but still trying to get up, he gripped its body tightly with both arms, and with all his might--

"You'll pay…..for HURTING HER!!!"

-- He immediately swung the body against a nearby tree. With the help of a burst of wind from his palms helping to push the body forward, he swung and struck the head of the Timberwolf on the base.

A loud "CRACK" rang out, and Shizaki scampered from the body, his heart beating wildly. All of the eyes on the skin turned dark and black, their pupils growing big and dull, covering the entire sockets with blood.

The body simply laid there, motionless, as the wolf's neck had apparently been cracked open by the sheer destructive force.

Shizaki looked around and eventually found Kamazaki sitting up, still covering her eye, breathing heavily, and still obviously in severe pain, but she had taken his advice. No blood was flowing from her socket anymore, and surely none from her chest and abdomen.

"Do you…have a…cloth?"

"Ah, yeah, I always keep one in my right pocket to dampen with water and wipe wounds from time to time. Here you go."

He got up and retrieved a small white cloth from his pocket for her. After expressing her thanks, Kamazaki wiped off the blood from her face and arms, took a small elastic band that she had gotten and tried to tie the folded cloth to the back of her head in a knot, making an eyepatch. 

"It's alright, I'll do it for you. "

Noticing that she was struggling while biting down on her lips in severe pain, Shizaki took over.

It took about a few seconds, but an eyepatch was finally formed.

"Horrible time to ask, but…how are you feeling, Kamazaki-san…?"

"Haaaah…it…hurts like hell…the wounds are closed, but the pain is still there. It feels like it's on literal fucking fire."

Shizaki held her waist as he tried hoisting her up to walk. He averted his eyes, and bit his lips in frustration.

"Back there, you pushed me out of the way, saving me from the attack, and got badly hurt in the process…I-"

"Don't…apologize…dummy. You saved me too…even when I told you to…run…"

"I wasn't planning on leaving you behind. But still…forgive me."

"Don't sweat it…let's get…outta here."

"Right."

Thankfully, the footprints were still slightly visible, and they hadn't gone far from them during the attack. With a severely injured Kamazaki next to him. Shizaki guided her as they both walked on.

Still, even though he had just defeated a threat, Shizaki couldn't help but feel useless. His alertness was at an all time low in that situation and if he had been just a bit more cautious, he could have saved Kamazaki before she was attacked.

- Damn it…

Again. Once again, he was the one at fault. In his mind, he had Kamazaki injured while saving him, losing her left eye in the process. He had nearly caused an innocent girl's death.

- Useless. Stupid, useless dumbass.

That's what he had constantly called himself in his mind before, and he found himself saying it again. Everyone in his village has been right all along and once again, another evidence was found for it.

A sigh escaped Shizaki, clearly a distressed one. He glanced at the red-haired girl, who would occasionally blurt out "Ow!" or, "O-Ouch! That hurt!" while trying to slightly touch her right eye socket.

- A Timberwolf that attacks out of its own free will? It wasn't common or rare, it was impossible…unless…

No, he couldn't think of that possibility just yet. There was no evidence for that.

- But maybe-

Both Shizaki and Kamazaki stopped. They had heard something.

Not a rustle in the bushes, not footsteps, not the call of a bird…

Something entirely new.

A howl. No, rather, more than one.

Howling Timberwolves. The sound emanated into the landscape with an eerie echo that made them both feel a chilling sensation within.

"Howling…?"

"Damn it…they're planning…to hunt…we need to hurry, Kamazaki-san."

"E-Eh, what's going on!?"

Shizaki turned tense.

"They can smell the blood of the dead members of their pack…If they're anything like that one we just encountered…"

"We have to get outta here…now."

Before Shizaki could make a decision, however-

"You're kidding…"

Kamazaki looked at him with a slight sense of fear, but Shizaki simply kept his gaze behind her.

"Wha-What is it!?"

"Can you run?"

"No! I-I can't! Not with this pain! Why!? Tell..me!"

"I'll lift you up and carry you. Whatever you do, don't look back."

"O-Oh God…"

He had to take a risk. Try to follow the trail back as fast as he can, which was nearly impossible, or just run for it without any regard to their past footsteps. The previous trail was extremely faint now anyway, so they had to take the latter risk.

As Shizaki took one last look backwards, on what seemed like the horizon point, he could see them.

Beyond the thick foliage, trees, bushes and tall grass, were extremely small, red dots of light advancing closer. 

Those red eyes.

They had already picked up the scent of the killer of their member from such a large distance.

Picking up the frightened Kamazaki, Shizaki grunted as he decided to bear the weight of the woman, and go forward with all his might.

Could he do it?

- Only one way to find out. Lend me your strength, Gariah, wherever you are…

And with that, he burst forward.

The race between life and death began.

-----------------------------------------

(Chapter 12: Wolf of Terror.)