The Two-headed Wolf

Haze spun around quickly trying to locate where the sound came from. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword as he pivoted.

The low grating sound came again.

"Elena!", Haze called, there was no response.

"Elena if this turns out to be a prank i'll kill you!", Hades yelled again but there was no response.

The grating sound stopped and was replaced with a growl. Haze realized it came from his right side and turned there.

The growling sound continued to get louder and Haze pulled out his sword, he raised it, ready to strike.

Two glowing circles appeared in the dark bush and Haze held his sword firm, he knew they were the eyes of what ever beast was making the noise.

The circles began to grow closer and closer to Haze, then the two circles became four.

There's two of them?! Haze thought in alarm. " can't fight two beasts at once, i'll surely die.

Haze then remembered his ring and rubbed it affectionately.

At least I won't die as long as I have this on, so it's just a little pain. He thought to himself.

Not like that was any better but anything was preferable to dying right?

The two beasts stepped out of the bush fully and Haze realized with some shock that the two beasts were in fact, one.

Before him stood a wolf, giant by all means, it's thick legs were framed with claws that were six inches long each. It's body was a firm hard muscle and it rippled as it walked, but most astonishing was it head, or heads.

The beast had two heads attached to its neck in place of one and the two heads seemed independent of each other. The heads snarled are Haze and he gulped.

At least it's just one animal not two, I can still take one myself, Haze thought.

He raised his sword and waited for the wolf to attack him. At the sight of the glinting metal, the wolf growled fiercely and attacked Haze.

Haze still felt the super strength and speed he got from killing the spider-king, even though he couldn't explain how or why. He dodged the wolf with this speed, moving out of the way just in time.

Phew! That wolf is fast, He thought to himself. I almost didn't get out of the way in time.

He turned around and with a smirk, he said to the wolf.

"Is that all you've got pup?"

Haze didn't know if the wolf understood what it said or not but the two heads of the wolf growled in anger and they snapped their huge teeth. Haze was unfazed however.

"Come on then, show me how angry you are", He taunted.

The wolf rushed at him and Haze stepped to the side to avoid the bite, he then struck at the wolf's head.

The wolf leaped away but not before part of the sword met it's head, and it started to bleed a little.

The two heads were furious now and snarled in anger. The wolf launched itself at Haze. Haze ducked under and sliced its belly with his sword, a deep cut appeared under the wolf's belly and it bled profusely but the wolf didn't show any signs of slowing down.

It rushed at Haze and this time, Haze wasn't fast enough to escape, it's fangs sunk deep into his arm and Haze yelled in agony.

His sword dropped uselessly from his arm and his vision began to blur.

Have I been poisoned? Does his bite contain venom? Haze thought as he began to get more lightheaded.

I can't go down, I can't let it win, Haze gritted his teeth and looked around for his sword, it lay just a few inches away from him, he strained to pick it, his whole body was on fire and the wolf's two heads were still biting into his arm.

He eventually reached the sword, with great effort, he picked it up, raised it and drove it straight into the wolf's neck.

The two heads let out pitiful whines and they released his arm. The wolf stumbled back and crumpled to a heap, it jerked a couple of times before it stopped moving completely.

[Mission completed]

[Reward: +10 Exp]

[1 kill made]

[+2 status points]

I won! Haze thought. He looked around and the path he took on his way had returned. He looked up and saw a female figure approaching him.

"Elena", He croaked excitedly. "I killed the beast".

Then he fell unconscious.

When Haze woke up, the first thing he saw was a face peering down at him. He jerked up and in the process bumped his nose into the face.

Pain shot through his head and he fell back down.

"Ouch!", A female voice exclaimed. "Why'd you do that you fool?"

He recognized that voice, her name was Elena and she had followed him to this forest to find the Queen of witches. He sat up slowly and rubbed his head, he had met a monster and he killed it but it bit him and he passed out.

Haze quickly checked his arm but there was no bite mark or scar, it had healed up completely.

"What happened when I passed out?", He asked Elena.

She sat opposite him. "I carried you back here, where it's safe and waited till you came back", She paused for a while. "You didn't faint, you died...or almost did".

Haze nodded, understanding filling his eyes. "My immortality brought me back".

Elena nodded. "It doesn't make sense. Immortality shouldn't work like that, it shouldn't have brought you back so fast, you should have been in transit for a long time before your body slowly gets rid of the toxins".

Haze knew he couldn't tell her about the ring so he just nodded. "I guess I'm different".

"I guess", She replied.

Haze rose to his feet. "Well, it's time to continue our journey, we've wasted too much time already".

"Slow down, you just woke up, you need strength", Elena replied. "You need to eat", She dug in her bag and gave Haze a roll of roasted meat.

Haze accepted it and sat down. He quietly ate the food, pondering what he just learnt. A question suddenly popped in his mind.

"Can a demigod ever become as strong as a god?"

Elena shook her head. "Even if by some means you manage to acquire enough power to rival them, the power will slowly start to consume your soul till you die".

Of course the gods will put in rules that keep them invincible, He thought bitterly. In that moment, he felt a slight resentment towards the gods that put restrictions on the powers of demigods, that confined his father Hades to the underworld.

"You sound disappointed, were you planning to rival the gods?", Elena asked quizzically.

Haze shook his head.

"Let me warn you, the gods are cruel beings that will do anything to preserve their powers. If they ever see you as a threat, they won't stop till you're nothing but dust. Don't think about crossing them!", Elena warned.

Haze said nothing, but continued to chew his food.