Aphena raised a brow, prompting him to continue.
"They're… adapting to my shots. It's as if they are some sort of hive mind. The more I keep shooting, the less I hit."
She frowned. "Just keep firing, we'll handle the rest."
The trees blocked Kody and the others from getting a clear view of what they were going up against. But that would soon change.
The howling of numerous monsters filled the previously quiet forest. The ground vibrated under their sturdy feet as the battle crept towards them at a fast pace.
Then they no longer needed to wait; the first creature leapt through branches, attacking the spearhead of the group.
Everyone got a clear view of what they were fighting then.
It should have been a wolf, but it wasn't. Its fur was replaced with scales, blood red scales.
The creature's eyes were red, ready to drip blood. There was a pair of small flesh wings on its back that served no real purpose.
The group upfront didn't panic. Beside Aphena, the pale lady removed her hands from her robe.
They were completely red, and blood kept dripping from her fingertips. The dripping blood, however, didn't fall to the ground; it simply floated in the air, unconcerned with gravity.
She pointed at the wolf with her crimson claw-like nails. And in that moment, all the floating drops of blood shot out with a terrible speed. They hit the wolf squarely, leaving it with numerous holes in its body.
But there was no time to celebrate. Two more leapt forward and attacked them.
The pale lady, once more, pointed out her fingers and the blood shot out and dealt with both of them.
But when four more appeared, she was immediately overwhelmed. She could only kill a single one before another wolf appeared before her and swiped its claws to shred her apart.
She couldn't escape fast enough, but she didn't have to. Aphena moved in a blur that Kody couldn't keep track of. Standing between the two, she parried the wolf's attack then delivered hers in the next second, cleanly decapitating the animal.
Kody gulped; he couldn't keep up with people like this so he just stayed behind Dagon and observed the battlefield.
Aphena used the same attack on the second wolf who was within range. But she missed, as the wolf twisted its body in an unnatural manner. Her dagger brushed against its scales and drew some blood.
Her forehead creased, but she didn't stop moving. Pushing herself forward, she covered the distance between them and her second dagger impaled it.
The daggers in her hands never rested, as her body swayed with ethereal precision. Her movements were graceful, like a serene dance of dagger and beauty. It was entrancing and if not for the red wolf that was about to attack him, Kody would've let himself watch it.
Dagon held his great sword in one hand while maintaining eye contact with this monster that had tried to ambush them.
It wasn't the only one, many of the wolves were avoiding the spearhead of the formation as Aphena kept reaping their life.
Kody had long relieved himself of the luggage, placing it against a tree. He took out a hunting knife from his pocket. It was badly crafted, but that was the only thing he had to at least try to protect himself.
The ground under his feet suddenly trembled as Dagon shot himself forward. The wolf didn't have enough time to react before the great sword shattered its skull.
Keeping the momentum, he swung towards another wolf. It couldn't avoid the hit and died on impact.
The third wolf immediately ran back to create some distance.
It was no match for this giant and its mates were still some distance away. That was when it noticed the scrawny boy from the corner of its eye.
It ran towards him, unwilling to go down alone.
"Shit." Kody didn't waste a single second before running. Maneuvering his way through the trees he tried to keep a distance from the creature. But when he turned back he noticed it was already dead: nailed into a tree by Dagon's great sword.
Letting out a sigh, Kody walked back to Dagon's side. The wolves stopped attacking them after that and focused on breaking other parts of the formation.
Up ahead, Aphena's blades were coated in blood as she and the pale lady maintained the barricade.
Still, they weren't able to stop everything.
A few wolves had gotten past them forcing Thorin to switch his bow for a short sword. He was now holding his ground against two scaled wolves.
Gilmore was swinging his axes in a frenzy, cutting down anything that got too close.
A dark shadow flashed occasionally, taking the lives of a few wolves.
Dishon wasn't in sight.
Contrary to Kody's expectations the battle seemed to be getting harder as time passed. More wolves were getting past the two ladies; Thorin seemed to be losing; Gilmore's axe head was cracked and the dark shadows could hardly kill a single wolf each time it flashed.
Aphena also noticed this as she shouted, "Everyone, change your fighting style."
They obeyed her orders, switching their fighting style for a more aggressive or gentler style.
Still, things weren't going so smoothly. Aphena frowned, but there was nothing she could do except continue fighting.
One of the wolves got past them again, but this time it attacked Rufus who was a non-combatant. But that didn't mean he was powerless.
He stepped to the side in an agile motion and touched the head of the rage-filled animal.
All its movements stopped immediately as its body twitched on the floor and foam spilled from its mouth. The animal soon stopped moving entirely.
Everyone was too busy to care about the next person's problem, even Dagon had now been occupied by a few wolves that seemed to always know his next move. Kody, however, wasn't occupied by anything.
That was why when Rufus touched the animal, he noticed something.
Up in the sky, a wolf with fully developed wings had glitched into existence. It trashed its head as if in great pain. And when it calmed down, it was concealed once more.
But now that Kody had seen it he couldn't unsee it.
It was a very clear patch in the sky, almost like a glitch. Whatever it was and why it hadn't joined the battle wasn't Kody's concern. All he knew was that it needed to die.
He ran towards Dagon, who just finished killing a wolf, and said, "Something's up there."
Dagon shook the blood off his sword and raised a brow at the boy who was waving his arm at him
"What do you mean by that?"
"Up there." he pointed at the patch. "Something is hiding there."
Dagon followed his finger and looked at the sky, but even after a while he couldn't see anything.
He shook his head and said, "Just stay put kid."
But just as he was about to find his next prey, Kody noticed Rufus touch another wolf.
"Look."
He frowned. If not for Aphena's words, he would definitely ignore this kid.
Still, Dagon looked at the sky expecting it to be clear, but to his surprise, he saw something.
The wolf was bigger than the ones on the ground and its wings were fully developed. It flickered into existence for only a second, but now that he had seen it, he couldn't unsee it.
He squinted his eyes, then said to Kody, "Step back, kid."
Kody didn't know what he planned to do, but he did as he was told.
Dagon then whispered, "Usage: Six months."
The great sword started glowing as everyone was distracted by his changed aura.
Holding the sword by its blade, he took an immaculate stance.
After a deep breath, he threw his sword into the sky. The shockwave destroyed the ground beneath his feet and the trees around him lost their leaves. Kody, too, was pushed back, but he quickly regained himself.
Aphena had stopped fighting and simply stared at Dagon's great sword, slicing its way into the sky at an insane speed.
The others didn't have that luxury and kept fighting off the monsters.
The wolf in the sky, gave up its concealment when it noticed the attack. It tried to fly away and get out of the weapons range. But with a flick of Dagon's wrist, the sword changed directions and hit the flying wolf squarely in its chest.
[Author's note: Kindly add this book to your library if you haven't, and thanks for reading :D]