The Eternal Blade Saga Book 2, Chapter 19: In the Face of Corruption

“It doesn’t look right,” Quint pointed out, his voice uneasy, “not even for a corrupted wolf. It’s too large, too much ice.”

My experience with the corrupted beasts in the Shiverpeaks was limited, so I really couldn’t say whether or not this wolf looked right. Much like how the elder dragon Zhaitan had influence over Orr in the south, creating its army of the undead, the elder ice dragon Jormag had power over the north. I had heard stories of how Jormag’s corruption took hold of unsuspecting creatures and changed them into his image. His Icebrood they were often referred to as. Never had I seen one so close before.

Ears back, Clarkus let out a fearsome roar and beat his chest with a closed fist. “Who cares how it looks. I’m not going to let this overgrown dog keep us cornered!”

“Clarkus, wait,” I called after him, but it was too late. He was already wildly charging towards the corrupted wolf.

The beast did not shy away from meeting the aggressive display coming its way. It lowered itself, and as it crouched down, the wolf still stood a few feet over even the tallest of us. It dug its long claws into the frozen ground, and in the dim light, I could see its muscles flex just as the creature leapt towards Clarkus, his paws outwardly stretched to strike. With his greatsword poised, the charr warrior collided with the wolf, slicing into one of its paws with his blade before getting knocked back toward us. He landed on the ground with a gruff growl.

Alena ran to him, her golem and two bone minions following quickly at her heels. Having taken on the characteristics of the environment from which they were born, their bones and sinew glistened in the dim torch light. They stood guard as Alena offered to help, but Clarkus waved her off.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled. With a groan and a wince, he pushed himself up to a crouch and then paused as he composed himself.

With a snarl, the wolf suddenly turned from Clarkus and focused on me and Quint. Its ears folded flat against its ice-crowned head as it bared its large teeth once again, a warning before another attack. I swallowed hard. As its towering size loomed over us, I couldn’t help but worry that our chances of getting out of the cavern alive were incredibly slim. But I couldn’t just give up now. There was too much at stake, and I needed to see it all to the end. Holding onto my axe with a white-knuckled grip, I braced myself for an attack, summoning up every bit of determination I had.

“We need to take it down,” Quint urged as he readied another arrow, this time aimed at the wolf’s head. “If we can cripple it, should make it easier to kill it.”

I nodded. “Quickly. It’ll tear us to shreds in this small space if we let it.”

With a wild look in the wolf’s eyes, it lunged towards me and Quint. My heart leapt into my throat as I watched its paw, which was larger than my own head, swipe at me. I steadied my axe to block the attack, but the force still knocked me onto my back. Colliding with the frozen ground, a sharp pain radiated throughout my entire back, but despite the aching, I rolled out of the way of another swipe from the wolf’s paw. My breath caught in my lungs and I was overcome with a sudden urge to run, fueled by my racing heart. I coughed hard, forcing out the air I was holding in my lungs. A roar startled me and I scrambled to my hands and knees, watchful for another attack, but then I suddenly realized Quint was on his back next to me, his bow still in hand. He winced as he rolled to his side and sat up.

“I got it,” he said with a pained smile.

I looked over to find the great beast shaking its head violently, as if it was trying to dislodge something from its eye. It rubbed furiously at it with a paw, wining and growling. With its attention no longer on us, I took the opportunity to compose myself and quickly got to my feet. The aches and pains seemed to be spreading now and if we survived this, I would definitely be feeling it all in the morning.

Readying to fight, I adjusted the grip on my axe. I noted something slippery under my hand and upon inspection, I spied smudges of red and traced the source back to a deep scratch on my arm. I spat a sharp curse. The wolf must have wounded me when it knocked me backward. It didn’t matter though. Who knew how long of a window Quint gave us with his crippling shot.

“Now’s our chance,” I said, wiping the blood from my hand on my leggings. “Let’s go!”

“Go get ‘im, Gordo!” Alena commanded and her golem set into an unearthly sprint, its path leading directly toward the wolf’s front leg. Her two smaller bone minions ran after their larger brother, unable to keep up with it, but that didn’t stop them from continuing on. With its club-like hands, the large necrotic golem began striking at the wolf’s front paw, but only succeeded in making the creature angrier.

Growling, the wolf swatted at Alena’s golem, sending it flying back against the far cavern wall. The Byrnes’ jumped as it landed at their feet and startled by its presence, Lord Aedan gave it a kick, muttering something under his breath.

“Hey, leave him alone,” Alena cried as she ran after Gordo. Her brow set in a deep scowl and she bared her sharp, little teeth as she waved her staff in the Byrnes’ direction. “He’s only trying to help. Not his fault he got punted in your direction.”

As she saw to her golem, the fight continued on with the rest of us. Clarkus readied to charge again, this time under the cover of a barrage of arrows, which Quint loosed as soon as he saw the charr ready to enter battle again. The mighty warrior dug his hind-claws into the frozen ground before setting off into a sprint. I followed quickly behind, struggling with my pommel’s grip, made slippery by my own blood.

With a final shake, the wolf opened its eyes and turned its attention to us just as Clarkus and I reached striking distance. The beast’s mighty jaws snapped at the charr as he thrust his blade upwards towards the wolf’s chest, cutting into the barrier of ice matted to its fur.  He swung again and this time, cut through the ice and into the beast’s flesh. The charr boasted a triumphant roar, but his celebration was cut short as the corrupted wolf lunged and locked its mighty jaws onto his arm.

The charr warrior let out a pained roar that I could feel rumble deep in my chest. His greatsword clattered to the ground as he struggled to pull his arm free from the wolf’s jaws, and when he was unsuccessful, he resorted to swift punches to the beast’s muzzle to try to get the beast to open up.

Reacting on instinct, I ran to my friend’s side, my axe raised and readied to strike. With all the fury I could muster, I brought my weapon down hard on the wolf’s shoulder and shattered some of the ice matted there. To my surprise, my attack didn’t seem to have any effect on the beast’s focus. It kept its jaws tightly shut on Clarkus’ arm, shaking it every so often with a guttural growl.

“Get this damn dog off of me!” the charr cried out as he landed another punch against the wolf. Ice shattered with every moment of contact.

I kept attacking, working my way through the thick ice that was acting as a shield to the beast’s skin while Quint’s arrows sailed close by, striking the wolf in the shoulder. I could feel the slight rush of air as a few sailed by my cheek.

At its feet, Alena’s minions had regrouped and were now biting and slashing at the beast’s front legs. Shards of ice went flying with every strike, some at my face, but I paid them no mind. I was determined to free my friend from the wolf’s grasp, even if I had to hack the beast into pieces. With one more swing of my axe, I chipped the last of the ice away and made contact with its flesh. In a fit of anger, I screamed and twisted my blade, widening the wound to let its blood flow.

ROAR!

Enraged, the corrupted wolf let go of Clarkus’ arm and turned sharply toward me, its jaws open and poised to bite. I uttered a surprised cry as I brought up my axe to try to block the wolf’s attack. I was barely successful. Even though I managed to prevent its long, sharp teeth from tearing me apart, the force from contact with the creature pushed me hard onto my back. Before I could get up, the great beast had its paw on me, holding me down while its sharp claws dug into the ground mere inches from my head. The weight on my chest was excruciating, and breathing was a struggle. I tried swinging my axe at its ankle, but my reach was too short. I panicked. No matter how hard I fought, I could not escape and I was starting to feel lightheaded.

“I think that’s enough.”

Everything suddenly went still and I didn’t seem to interest the wolf anymore. Thankfully it shifted its weight, letting its paw up a little. I took a deep breath in and let it out, glad for the small reprieve, but that reprieve also worried me.

“Um, Nienna?” I heard Alena call for me. I craned my neck, looking for the little Asura.

Back against the far wall, Lord Aedan Byrne was holding Alena by her collar, lifting her up until she was on her toes. Her minions surrounded her at a distance, biting and snapping at the air, but Alena kept a hand up, commanding them to hold their position. At her throat, the highborn lord held his sword, tapping the flat side at the underside of her chin. At his side, Lady Eira stood holding something tightly in her hands. She had a satisfied smile on her lips that made my heart sink and my skin crawl.

“Make sure to keep those pets of yours back, asura, or your friends will become food for our pet,” Lady Eira said. “And the rest of you better behave as well, otherwise you’ll meet the same fate.”

“What is this?” Quint demanded as he showed his hands in an act of acquiescence. His bow rested on the ground at his feet.

“Y-you did all this,” I said, my voice tightening as all became clear. We had been betrayed by the ones we thought we were saving. I raised my axe in their direction, my hand trembling with rage, but it slipped from my grip. The handle had become too slippery from the blood dripping from my wound. “You brought this beast here. You killed those people. To what end?”

“Collateral damage was expected in the first phase of testing,” Lord Aedan replied coldly. “It was a necessary part in this process.”

“Testing?” Alena cried out as she looked up at them incredulously. “This isn’t testing. This is soulless murder!”

Scowling, Lord Aedan tightened his hold on Alena, lifting her fully off the ground and brought the sharp edge of his blade against her neck, drawing a thin line of blood. The asura immediately froze and uttered a frightened shriek.

“Let her go!” Clarkus roared as he cradled his injured arm against his broad chest. His bracer had been severely dented and the linen under-wraps were now stained red. He winced and his ears drooped when he tried to remove the piece of armor, but the pain was too much and he gave up.

The highborn lord scoffed. “Mindless warriors–you charr are good for that at least. Useless when it comes to higher thinking.”

The direct insult elicited a deep growl from the charr and he bared his teeth as he stared the highborns down. The thick fur on his neck raised. “Put her down or I’ll show you just how mindless I can be.”

“Clarkus,” Quint warned as he motioned for him to calm down.

“What do you want?” I demanded, still pushing against the wolf’s paw, but it wouldn’t budge. I let out a grumble, and feeling that any action was useless at this point, I stopped to save my energy. “What is all this about?”

“I thought that was obvious, Lady Nienna,” Lady Eira said as she casually sauntered towards me. Quint started to move to block her path, but the highborn merely raised a delicate eyebrow and smirked. “Don’t get in my way,” she said, tapping a concealed item in her hand.

With Quint blocking my eyeline, I couldn’t see what object she had, but there was something about it that peaked my interest. My gut feeling was trying to convince me it was important.

With a graceful wave of the lady’s hand, the wolf shifted its weight again and swung a mighty paw at Quint, sending him airborne a few feet before he landed hard on the ground with a groan. An unsettling feeling of helplessness overcame me as I lay trapped beneath the wolf’s paw, unable to help any of my friends, and I hated the emotion. I glared at the highborn woman who now knelt down at my side. Her golden ringlets spilled over her shoulders as she bent over to study me.

Her eyes were filled with curiosity. “You know, you’re quite interesting, Lady Nienna,” she began. “All the stories I’ve heard— I have so many questions.”

“Eira, we need to go,” Lord Aedan urged. “You’ll have time to prod her with questions later.”

I furrowed my brow, confused. “Later?”

“Yes.” the highborn woman brightened. “You’re coming with us.”