Unwilling

Running for over half a mile I curse loudly as I notice that they are herding us to a waterfall almost a mile out, what kind of intelligent hunter are we dealing with?

"It's a dead end!" I screamed back to Isla. Slowing down but not stopping I started spreading my mana to its limit while maintaining my grenades.

"This way!" I start to sprint towards the northeast, mana pulsing throughout my body and Isla struggling to keep up but after having tasted freedom she would rather die than be a captive again.

We are about to reach the line of beasts running at us from the east I have my grenades hover high above our heads as soon as we get within thirty yards, I verify the beast, it's a pack of wolves all clad in thick white mana.

I drop a grenade and break through their line.

The explosion was much larger than I anticipated, and we almost got caught in it.

Over ten wolves were thrown back pieces of flesh dropping and filling the air with a pink mist, I didn't check to verify the damage.

Sensing the pack closing in on us I continue running until I reach a slope surrounded by mountains on both ends leading to the valley below the waterfall.

I stop Isla the moment we are passed the slope, it is too high for them to jump down on us from the top of the hill and the passage is too narrow for more than five to make it in at a time.

I use mana to tighten up the passageway with large boulders and rocks.

I carve a space to only allow one or two at a time through, turning to look at Isla I took the short sword from her.

"If you see me fall and die here don't turn back and keep running west don't EVER go back east".

Not even waiting for a reply I turn to see the pack coming down the slope.

It looked like a sea of milky white. All the wolves had milky white fur along with two tails some even had three.

I take practice swings with the sword and stare at them.

They do not hesitate to come down the hill in droves as I thought they would, getting stopped by the large rocks for a moment but they detoured and came right at me through the center opening I created.

I already have an exoskeleton of mana wrapping around my bones and my brain is being flooded with energy, so much so that it looks like time slowed down.

I scream, unwilling to be killed here and to start all over. Unwilling to live another life, prey for another predator, unwilling to be a pawn of the cosmos being tossed and turned for eternity.

All the emotions that I thought had washed away in the sea of time resurface.

All of the pain, mental and physical, all of the hopelessness and loneliness comes gushing forth into a roar that did not sound like it was coming from a nine-year-old boy and I swung down with my short sword.

They had mana-imbued armor making it hard for me to attack with only my weapon, so I condensed my mana along the short sword slicing through the mana and the wolf-like butter, my sword coming down on its head and exists its chin.

Ducking underneath I ram against its chest pushing it towards the other wolf coming right behind it. I duck underneath its front legs, come around its side and bring down the sword decapitating the wolf behind the first.

I do not relent, maintaining my position right in front of the artificial entrance.

Although it was crude with no swordsmanship training my strong body and flexible limbs along with my heightened senses allow me to move seamlessly until a mountain of bodies fills the entrance with other wolves scampering on top of their fallen brethren to get to me.

When I see that the slope is condensed with wolves pressing against each other to get to us I bring down one of my grenades blowing the wolves in front of me into smithereens, giving myself a much-needed respite.

My arms hang loosely at my side my expression fierce, that's when I spot a wolf twice as big at the rear of the pack with intelligent eyes staring at me.

"Come!" I scream viciously inviting my hunters to the slaughter.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Alpha lets out a loud growl followed by another batch of wolves.

I focus on the battle at hand, my makeshift mountain giving me the tactical advantage of swinging down with the short sword, jumping, and weaving through claws and jaws thirsting to tear me apart.

I get scratched and nicked from my legs to my torso, one even managed to tear their mana-imbued claws through my chest although I also had a mana armor on it still left a gaping wound.

I continue to fight pressing forward but I feel my body slowing down, I must have killed over a hundred so far.

I estimated with my sense which was greatly reduced as I coalesced most of my mana around me for this fight.

As if sensing my fatigue, the wolves begin another wave of attacks feverishly.

I do not hesitate to drop the next two grenades one clearing out the front near me the other aimed at the rear of the pack where the Alpha is still staring biding his time.

Not expecting the detonation, it killed everything within fifteen yards. The alpha didn't see it coming, with the alpha gone the pack loses its momentum but instead of running away they rush towards me abandoning any hesitation.

Without having to split my concentration on maintaining my grenades or scouting for more enemies I lose myself in the battle.

Charging forward I bobbed and weaved swinging, slashing, and thrusting at times when I could not defend myself I pull a head-sized rock and swing it around myself with mana blocking any attacks when I could not parry or dodge I create a well-timed earth spike skewering a wolf in place.

One of the wolves catches me by surprise as it hides behind an attacking wolf I dodge and am met with its bite, I give it my left arm to save my life.

As it bites down on my arm I thrust my short sword through its neck and wrench its jaws, now locked into my arm, open.

I let out a savage war cry, my body fatigued, my mana spent with barely enough to cote my sword I look at my hunters unwilling to be dragged into the dark, my killing intent is so thick at this point it seemed as if I could scoop it up and eat it.

The wolf pack hesitates with some darting right out of there without looking back, as If a dam broke the rest of the wolves started to follow.

They leave as quickly as they came, and about thirty remained my body drenched in blood, my own and my enemy's drips down my shoulder-length brown hair.

The iron-enriched air brought me out of my battle-drunk stupor. I turn around to see Isla a ways away staring at me as I stand atop a mountain of bodies.