Wolves leapt towards him from every direction, all snapping jaws and slobbering fangs, but Yu Chen was already moving as he dodged out of the way of the beasts. He’d long since learned not to stay in one place, lest he become easy prey himself.

  A pained yelp sounded out from behind him.

  Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder he saw an arc of red blood go spraying through the air as Sun Yuan landed a vicious slash to a wolf’s side. The boy’s face was pale, but he fought with the same grace he sparred with, moving with a quiet intensity as he revolved his saber through tight arcs, keeping the spirit beasts at bay.

  A wolf dashed in low towards Yu Chen, attacking while he was distracted, but he let out a cold snort, lashing out with a kick that sent the wolf rolling. A mighty howl rang out, reverberating through his bones. He snapped his head up, seeing the black wolf staring down at him with pure malevolence, letting out a low growl as it leapt from the rock on a collision course with Yu Chen. He took half a step back, his eyes widening as the powerful creature soared through the air.

  The wolf was suddenly flung off course as a small hammer, glowing with thick lines of runic script, flew through the air and slammed into its side. It landed with a hard tumble, rolling across the ground before springing back to its feet and turning its mismatched gaze onto Yan Ziqi.

  Its hackles rose as it observed the older boy, another growl beginning to build in the back of its throat, but it cut off as more artifacts came flying its way. Hammers, pliers, tongs and more smashed down upon its ebony hide, surrounding it in a maelstrom of chaotic energy.

  The wolf let loose a howl of rage as the attacks battered it, sending a pulse of invisible energy radiating across the clearing, causing artifacts to fall to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

  Leaping forward, the wolf raced towards Yan Ziqi before the boy could recover.

  Yu Chen didn’t see what happened next. A group of wolves had encircled him, cutting him off from the others. He dodged the first one that leapt towards him, snapping its jaws, and delivered a powerful kick to the second that leapt over the first. It tumbled across the clearing before unsteadily standing back up on quivering legs.

  The third came his way and he moved, avoiding its strike. He realized too late that he’d been tricked, as a wolf he hadn’t seen locked its jaws around his arm and gave it a wild shake. Yu Chen let out a curse, his eyes taking on a wild look as he glared down at the beast.

  It couldn’t pierce his robes despite trying its best, and attempted to let go. Yu Chen moved with it as it pulled back, practically shoving his arm down its throat to hold it in place. Lifting his other arm, he drove a heavy fist into the side of its head before it could recover. He struck it three times in quick succession, punching until something gave and it fell to the forest floor, blood leaking from its skull.

  Yu Chen stepped over it as the light slowly drained from its eyes.

  Yelps of rage rose up, and two more wolves slammed into his back, bowling him over. More piled atop him, scrabbling at him with hard claws, and Yu Chen desperately threw his arms up to keep their gnashing jaws away from his flesh.

  A flash of indignation and rage shot through his bond, Lan She striking out before he could react. She shot out of his robes, sinking a pair of venomous fangs into the neck of one of the beasts and sending it rolling backwards, yelping in pain.

  The beasts tore at him, and his heart began to thump, his blood rising as they viciously nipped at his flesh, tugging and clawing and worrying at his robes but unable to break through the fine weave protecting him. Thankfully, Lan She’s attack had given him some space to breathe. He had enough room to reach up and grab a beast by the scruff of the neck, using his formidable strength to toss it away as he fought tooth and nail to get back to his feet.

  His blood practically sang in his ears, and he felt refreshed, despite the circumstances. Letting out a furious roar of his own, he sent wolves tumbling away as he surged upwards, regaining his footing.

  He turned to look for Lan She, eyes alight with a furious rage.

  The first wolf she had struck was already dead, or near enough, its eyes had rolled into the back of its head and foam frothed in its mouth as it lay there convulsing on the forest floor. Lan She hadn’t stopped there - she’d already locked her fangs into another, her lithe body flailing in the air as the wolf ran around in circles, trying to dislodge her.

  Yu Chen’s eyes flashed as he watched another wolf run up behind, opening its jaws as it snapped at her tail. An outraged shout escaped his lips as he cycled his movement technique to its maximum extent, taking two short steps to cross the distance. He twisted, lashing out with a side kick that sent the beast to the ground with an audible crack.

  The wolf let out a piteous whine as it lay on the floor, unable to move, but Yu Chen only gave it a cold glance as he smashed a foot down, ending its life.

  He looked over, watching as the wolf Lan She had been riding collapsed to the ground.

  Yu Chen moved, snatching her up as the other wolves approached, but he quickly whirled around as he heard a pained shout sound out behind him.

  Sun Yuan had managed to hold his own so far, creating a cage of steel around him as he twirled his saber through complicated patterns. They’d eventually caught up to him however, and he fell to the ground as the surrounding wolves leapt forward and began savagely mauling him.

  Yu Chen didn’t hesitate, leaping across the clearing to help his friend whose pained cries rang into the sky. He flung his arm out as he approached, sending Lan She shooting forth to claim her third victim. Yu Chen arrived half a heartbeat behind her, laying about him with wild blows that sent wolves flying across the clearing.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Can you stand?” He called down, as he stood over his friend who lay in a pool of blood, whimpering in pain.

  Yu Chen glanced around, warily eyes the wolves as they regrouped, circling around them in a tight formation.

  “I think so.” Sun Yuan said, his voice laced with agony. He used one hand to push himself up onto wavering feet, looking around the clearing with a grim eye.

  He bled from all over. He’d used his arms to block the wolves, but his robes didn’t offer the same protection Yu Chen’s did, leaving them a mess of scratches and bitemarks. One of his pants legs was turning red at a concerning rate, and a flap of open skin hung from his forehead; a gaping wound that left the boy half blinded with all the blood pouring out of it. He maintained a firm grip on his saber despite this, and his mouth was curled into a vicious scowl. He was no longer as ashen as before, his own blood having risen, and his eyes were filled with rage as he observed the remaining wolves around them.

  Their standoff was interrupted by a terrific crash, and Yu Chen looked around to see the black wolf stagger to its feet.

  A powerful attack had sent it flying into the rocky outcropping, leaving behind a broken crater in the massive stone jutting from the forest floor. The white wolf let out a low whine from atop the rock as she looked down at them in concern. The black wolf ignored her, meeting Yan Ziqi’s gaze with two mismatched eyes, each burning with a palpable fury.

  Yan Ziqi’s bloodied face was twisted into a terrible scowl as he confronted the wolf. The thin band holding his hair back had snapped, sending dark strands flying up, dancing in the terrifying aura radiating from him. His robes whipped back and forth in a nonexistent wind as the tools of his trade spun in a perfect circle behind his back, each one an artifact crackling with repressed power.

  The sharp, metallic smell of blood hung in the air, thick and heavy like the silence between the two enemies. The two young boys and the wolves alike froze, transfixed as they waited to see what would occur next.

  The black wolf made the first move, his red eye flashing as it suddenly glowed with an intense light that steadily increased in strength. Crimson lines began to creep across the beast’s flesh, like red hot lines of magma peeking out between obsidian cracks.

  It threw back its head and howled as it leapt forward, its form blurring as it crossed the ground with a speed that dizzied Yu Chen. Yan Ziqi hurriedly reacted, rotating his artifacts into a shield which the beast crashed into with a mighty bang. Artifacts flew out in every direction, but they quickly recovered, flying back to block the enraged beast once again.

  Yan Ziqi’s face had gone white, his brow furrowed in concentration as he fought to control all of his many objects at once, moving them to attack and deflect the wolf pressing forward with a berserker’s rage.

  Yu Chen paled as he watched Yan Ziqi pedal backwards, narrowly avoiding an attack from the wolf as it moved with blinding speed, smashing through all the defenses the artificer could throw up.

  The wolf's one red eye must have been a sign of a bloodline technique, a rare and powerful ability that only certain spirit beasts ever possessed. If that was true the danger in this fight had just skyrocketed, and he began to worry about whether they’d survive.

  Yan Ziqi’s face tightened, turning into a rictus of rage and frustration as he was forced to retreat.

  “Enough!” He finally shouted as he viciously bit his thumb and waved it around, sending blood flying across the clearing. The air fell still, and even the leaves on the trees around them ceased their rustling as the artificer activated a secret technique of his own. His aura rose up, soaring more furiously than ever before as it rose high enough to pierce the canopy above them.

  Yan Ziqi flung out an arm, and for a brief moment it appeared as though a single steel wing had materialized out of nowhere, his floating armory appearing behind him. Powerful weapons of every shape and size hung from the thin crescent of steel that swept towards the sky in a graceful arc, any one of which would be a worthy companion for a Foundation Establishment expert.

  “Ravage.”

  Yan Ziqi practically spit the word out, grinding his teeth as he said it.

  Powerful daggers fell from the steel crescent like feathers, each one radiating a wicked energy as they spun up into a vicious vortex, surrounding the beast and swallowing it whole.

  The daggers found flesh, and howls of pain rang out from the center of the tornado as the whirling blades sliced the poor wolf to shreds.

  It’s over.

  Something strange occurred as the thought crossed his mind. Yu Chen frowned, staring closer at the whirling tornado of death. An odd, silvery light had formed at its cente-

  Another howl rose up from the center of the storm, but this time it sounded neither angry nor pained. Somehow it was more soulful, a melancholic sound of yearning and loss that cut right to the core of Yu Chen.

  The boy fell to his knees, blinking in confusion as he raised a hand to grasp at his chest. He ached from the inside, as though something had reached into him and swiped a cruel claw across the very essence of his being.

  He watched in stupefaction as the daggers fell out of the sky one by one, landing with a soft thud on the carpeted floor of the forest around them.

  It took a force of will to turn his head to the side, where he found that Sun Yuan had also collapsed nearby. His knuckles were white as he clawed at the dirt, lying nearly supine upon the ground, and tears dripped from eyes that were filled with an intense sense of pain and loss.

  Yan Ziqi stumbled nearby, but managed to stay on his feet, holding his forehead as he wavered back and forth. A thin trickle of blood poured out of his nose, backlash from a technique that’d been forcibly broken.

  Yu Chen turned, seeing the wolf regarding them. A complicated but regal expression crossed its face, and this time it was the one silver eye that was alight. The crimson one had faded, leaving the eye dull and lifeless, but the other had become bright enough for two. The rage seemed to have left it, and a mournful expression crossed its face as it strode forward, intent on finishing the job.

  Not one, but two.

  A grim chuckle escaped his lips, and he didn’t even bother to curse his luck. What were the chances that a Stage Two beast had awakened two bloodline techniques? There was no doubt the beast would reach Stage Three one day, ruling over the entire island.

  They’d just had the misfortune to cross it. Yu Chen clenched his fist as he watched death approach.

  A bolt of blue lightning appeared, striking the black wolf without warning. It let out a pained yelp as it was sent tumbling across the forest floor, smoke rising from its fur. Two more bolts struck in quick succession, each one sending wolves flying as explosions of dirt and rock showered the clearing. Only afterwards did the noise come, a loud crack rolling over the clearing to signal the violence that had already occurred.

  The remaining wolves broke and ran, fleeing in panic from the strange attacks, even as their leader rolled back to its feet. It regarded them for half a second, its gaze unwilling, but the panicked barks of its mate won over in the end, sending it retreating with the rest.

  Yu Chen let out a low sigh of relief as he looked around, seeing three arrows buried deep in the dirt, their ends nocked with strange feathers he’d never before seen.