True battle I

Jacob ran along a simple dirt path, passing a dozen cabins similar to his as he did so.

A few minutes later he reached his destination.

What greeted him was hell on earth.

That was his best approximation for the sight before him.

Bodies were strewn about haphazardly, many in multiple pieces. A red mist of crimson life hung in the air as the howls and roars of a variety of beasts rang out.

The scene of carnage was posed at a gathering of houses around a wide dirt road. Many of which seemed similar to the cabin Jacob had woken in, only smaller and with the obvious signs of poor maintenance.

Of course, most of the cabins had collapsed under the beast's attacks, offering no protection to their inhabitants.

Every object, every corpse and every sicking sound formed a picture that would make a cannibal shudder.

Then there was the living.

The beasts. If you could call them that.

They ranged from wolves to bears to giant birds, all of which seemed absolutely determined to rip apart every human in their sight in a mad frenzy.

But the reason he hesitated to call them beasts was not the mad look in their eye that seemed almost human in nature.

It was their mutations, for lack of a better term.

Some had an extra head, or limbs that had no business being part of the creature they were attached to.

For example, a large wolf had a dozen spider legs splintering from its chest. While a bear had the beak of a duck and the tail of a cat.

Many had mutations that gave little benefit to themselves but some… Some had mutations that made them many times more dangerous.

They seemed to stream in from the other end of the dirt road, the forest.

For whatever reason they did not crowd the buildings by coming from the densely packed trees but only seemed to appear from a select opening in the forests edge.

If it weren't for that Jacob doubted the human side would have survived at all.

Speaking of which, the humans were just that. Human.

Some better-armoured ones raised spears and swords, even a few axes against the beasts.

But many more simply cowered, scrambling to get away from the onslaught as they ran from the decimated cabins.

As one of the women ran for her life she happened to trip, falling directly into the path of the spider-wolf hybrid.

The colour drained from her face as she desperately attempted to scramble back to her feet.

Only to despair at the pain radiating from her foot, her ankle was twisted in the fall.

She cast her eyes to the wolf creature, right as it used its many legs to propel itself towards its easy prey.

But a moment before it could make contact.

"G-get back!" A brave silhouette jumped in front of the woman, wielding a simple spear with a flaming end.

The spider-wolf seemed surprised, and even wary towards his new foe.

The spider side of its mind was telling it to fear the flame, while the wolf side merely saw 2 snacks instead of one.

A moment later the wolf noticed the trembling in the knees of the brave young man.

In that moment the beast's simple mind was made up as it lunged at the man.

*BANG*

The sound of a round being fired echoed in a battlefield filled with the clanging of steel and the tearing of flesh.

Silence momentarily blanketed the area as a new element came into play.

The wolf spider's foremost arachnid leg was blasted to pieces mid-pounce, causing it to tumble forward.

"STAB IT BOY!" An order was barked, leaving no room for indecision.

The words seemed to snap the young man out of his stunned state. A mere moment later a small shout left his lips as he pushed all his strength into his arms. Driving the flaming spear into the beast's head.

The spider-wolf died in confusion, it had been moments away from satisfying its insatiable appetite, only for his prey to end his life so easily?

The once momentary silence seemed to stretch, encapsulating the battlefield as the heads of all its participants swivelled to the new participant.

As they did the expressions on the human side changed to relief and even hope.

From the dirt road walked a single man. He was of average height with a slightly athletic build. But that wasn't what brought them solace in their time of need.

It was the familiarity of the features, the authority of his potion, and the experience that was required to hold it.

*BANG*

This time the shot found its mark in the head of a raven the size of two men, felling the beast instantly.

It fell from the sky, crashing into several smaller beasts, killing some and injuring others. Those that escaped without injury did so only by further delaying their charge at the human force.

"WE ARE HUMAN! WE ARE PURE! WE WILL SURVIVE!" The commanding voice rang out through the battlefield once again.

A roar arose as the purists who were fighting felt the tide of battle change in their favour.

Jacob smirked slightly, thinking this might be easier than he thought.