Shadow, Light

The party advanced amidst eerie silence, the ominous feeling around them seemed to intensify, the air becoming harder to breathe, fear of the unknown pressuring them invisibly.

As if to add to the atmosphere, the group's ranger whispered.

"Guys, I hate to say it but..."

As the other three held their breath waiting for her to continue, she said the words they were afraid of.

"I think we are not alone."

As soon as they heard that, the group tightened the formation even more, almost bunching up.

The party kept glancing around, trying to find the source of the ominous atmosphere, all without results. They did, however, feel a tingle on the back of their necks, sixth sense screaming of danger. 

They were being watched. They were being hunted.

All of a sudden, feeling something, Ian screamed.

"STACY, WATCH OUT!"

While Stacy had her back protected by having it turned to the center of the group's formation, she didn't notice a particularly dense part of a tree's shadow... Part from it, and lunge towards her.

Though thanks to Ian who sensed an abnormality in surrounding mana, she gained the barest of moments to react.

Within that split second she turned toward her left, seeing a pair of crimson eyes rapidly closing in, burning their gaze into her.

Stacy instinctually protected her chest and throat by bringing up a left arm, having no time to move the sword in defense.

As soon as that seemingly slowed-down moment ended, the time continued, showing the result of their actions.

A dark shadow bit into Stacy's left arm, and with its enormous size, it tackled her to the ground, tearing her away from the formation.

"Stacy!"

The team reacted quickly, Anna being the first to do so. She unleashed the arrow that was loaded in her crossbow towards the attacker.

The arrow followed her precise aim toward the target's neck. The shadow's eyes darted toward the incoming projectile, and it then let go of Stacy, jumping away from danger.

It was then blasted away further by Ian's hastily gathered blast of mana. As it rolled over a few times, it stood back up, giving the party an opportunity to finally look at its' appearance.

What attacked them seemed to be four-legged creature with a pair of eyes that were akin to burning coals amidst the darkness. It was nearly two meters tall, dwarfing each person in the group.

"...Is that... A wolf?"

Johann muttered in confusion, as it was hard to tell because the fur of the monster seemed to absorb the very light around, blending in with the darkness. Only a black silhouette of the beast could be seen.

The beast did not stay in one place for long though, as if feeling that it was at a disadvantage, it dashed towards the shadows of the treeline, melding into them.

The party reacted just as quickly, moving towards Stacy who was getting back up on her feet. Ian then asked with concern.

"Hey, you good? How bad is it? Need a heal? You..."

He was, however, interrupted.

"Quit your yappin', I can take this much... I guess."

Stacy rebuked, however after glancing at her left arm, the armor of which was torn up, showing a rather severe bleeding wound.

"Save yer mana for now, bookboy, don't want you fainting right now."

Ian nodded, reluctantly, as his mana might be more needed to survive the battle in the first place.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to swing hard anytime soon though."

The group then reestablished the formation, now watching the shadows, and listening to sounds around them.

As they cautiously stood, being ready to defend, they were once again warned, this time by Anna.

"Ian, above!"

A mass of shadow lunged from a branch of a nearby tree, jumping down towards the vulnerable-looking mage. Ian however, seemed to have noticed the attack before Anna did, and his mana was gathered by the time he was warned.

Raising his head towards the wolf, he blasted it out and upwards.

The shadow, clearly not anticipating being counterattacked, was blasted backward, drawing an arc through the air. It then landed with a yelp, clearly more hurt this time.

The wolf then stood up, snarling, both frustrated in failed ambushes and furious at the prey which fought back.

"Welp, bookboy, it seems that you royally pissed that thing off."

Ian only gulped at Stacy's remark, continuing to preemptively gather mana.

The wolf, as if understanding that the ambush tactic wouldn't work, dashed toward the group directly, leaving a trail of shadow-like smoke behind it.

Seeing the incoming beast, Johann came forward with his shield, planting it into the ground, ready to repel it. Not slowing down, the wolf crashed into the shield, bringing forth powerful momentum along with it.

Johann grunted as a seemingly unstoppable force crashed into him, pushing him back, the shield leaving a groove on the ground. The leader of the group did not fall.

As for the beast, it retreated backward after an unsuccessful charge, leaving a deep claw mark on said shield in the process.

"...What a heavy fucker."

Johann muttered so, as he didn't have the slightest opportunity to counter that charge with his mace.

The wolf then switched targets yet again after briefly circling the group, measuring them with its eyes. This time, it rushed toward Anna which was the furthest from Johann, being protected by Stacy instead.

"Don't even think of it-"

The monster rushed past the swordswoman, deftly avoiding the downward swing, dodging to the side, and kicking off of her, toward Anna.

In the meantime the ranger fired a shot, which struck true this time, into the wolf's neck, the wound however was shallow, not stopping the charge.

The next thing she saw was the jaws closing in toward her, clamping down on her shoulder.

"Anna, no!"

Anna screamed, never having such pain before. Amidst the pain, however, she managed to pull out a dagger from the sheath and plunged it into the vulnerable eye of the beast.

The wolf let her go in pain, and she fell to the ground. The disoriented wolf was then struck by a piercing attack of Stacy's blade, driving it further backward.

As the attacking beast was occupied, the mage and healer of the group ran up to Anna, and kneeled next to her, who was gasping in pain, coughing up blood. He then started the healing process, shouting various things.

"Damnit, hold on!.. I told you to be careful... Damnit. Blood in a lung, luckily the artery isn't damaged..."

Luckily for Anna, her wounds were severe but not completely lethal. If the wolf aimed for the neck, she would be already dead.

While Ian was preoccupied with healing, Stacy managed to pierce and slash the beast, forcing it to retreat, wounded.

"Boss! I think Anna is down for the count!"

Johann, who was already near Stacy and watching the wolf then said.

"Use Wolf-type boss strategy C!"

Said strategy meant to pursue the heavily wounded target, not giving it a chance to counterattack.

So, Stacy and Johann rushed in toward the black wolf, starting the attack. As the wolf was losing blood from multiple long slash wounds, it was noticeably slower, being unable to retreat into the shadows.

It wouldn't just let itself be attacked though, as it bit into Johann's shield, then pulling it back with an enormous force, forcing Johann to let go.

However, this presented an opening, which Johann didn't miss. He executed a heavy attack with his mace, it smashed into the side of the Wolf's jaw, damaging it with an audible *crack*.

 Stacy followed from the other side, slashing downward, leaving a wound on the other side of the wolf's face.

The beast then staggered backward, however as it quickly came to its senses, it dodged the next attacks to its full capacity, sustaining multiple more wounds in the process, but leaving a nasty claw mark, which pierced through the thickness of his chestplate. The armor did its job, with Johann himself sustaining a minor scratch to his body.

What the beast did next was unexpected though, as it let out a painful howl into the air. The humans did not understand the meaning of this action, continuing the attack, unaware of a shimmer of light that moved closer to them.

As Stacy moved in for yet another slash with a broadsword, a shimmering figure materialized at her side, leaving her wide-eyed as it bit down into her already-wounded left forearm.

She was unable to react when jaws covered in white fur clamped down with a force greater than a hydraulic press. They clamped down and pulled.

Still in shock, she watched as her left forearm was torn away, blood flying through the air. She watched as the beast jumped away with her left forearm in its mouth. She watched as a white wolf with yellow eyes chewed on it and spat it out as if it were a toy.

As she came back to her senses, pain flooded her, but she fought through it, dropping her sword, ripping away a piece of her shirt, and tying it tightly above the elbow to stop the bleeding. All this was done in less than 10 seconds.

Stacy then shouted out through her teeth.

"Urgh.. There's a second one! Pull back!"

Johann, noticing the predicament, retreated backward toward Anna and Ian along with Stacy, regrouping. Their group was now at a clear disadvantage.

They were outpowered and outmaneuvered. Who would expect that there was a monster just as strong hiding, not participating in the attack until its own kind was heavily wounded? Biding it's time until they let down their guard.

"Damn it all... Plan... There's no plan! Protect Anna and Ian, let's hope we get out of this somehow."

Johann at first wanted to strategize, however he wasn't given any time to think as the pair of wolves was already rushing to them from two sides. Although the black wolf was wounded and weakened, the white one was fresh and full of strength, while the entire party of four sustained some injuries.

Still, all they could do was defend.

Johann engaged the white wolf, while near-crippled Stacy defended against the black one.

They were at a clear disadvantage, if this went on, they would all die here. It would take a single mistake to die, and it would take a miracle to get out alive.

And a miracle came.

Stacy was fighting the black beast, which was avoiding her attacks, and attacking with it's claws. While it did not manage to wound her severely, she had multiple new scratches on her torso from a few near-death dodges.

However, as the ove-eyed wolf yet again attacked her, a blast of mana swept past, staggering the beast. Stacy didn't miss the opportunity she was given, and slashed upward at the exposed neck, slashing it open.

As the wolf was staggering in place, Stacy raised her heavy sword.

"Take this you bitch!"

She then plunged said sword into the already pierced eye, piercing beyond it, and into the brain. The wolf then stiffened and fell over. It was dead.

She then roared out in victory, which caused the white wolf which was at a stalemate with Johann turn its head toward her. As it noticed the dead wolf at her feet, it let out an enraged growl, as it ignored Johann which landed a hit when it was distracted. The wolf then ran toward Stacy.

However, just as it was charging toward her, an arrow flew toward its side and deeply pierced into its neck, followed by yet another blast of mana, which knocked it off its feet.

Meanwhile, the corpse of the black wolf seemed to disintegrate, turning into shadows and evaporating into the air at the same time. However left behind was a pitch-black crystal, of the same color as the fur of the beast.

Stacy noticed it, and she grabbed it before returning to Anna and Ian as quickly as she could. The ranger was considerably healed up and her shoulder bandaged, already proven to be in condition to shoot arrows.

Meanwhile, Ian was pale, with cold sweat running down his face, as if he was about to faint.

Johann quickly made it back as well, and looking over the worn and torn group, he gave the order.

"On your feet, we're getting out of here!"