Page 18 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

I let out a shaky breath of my own, glad I was able to pull her out of her momentary panic without drawing too much attention to ourselves. Or so I hope. Gripping the dagger tightly in one hand, I reach for my bow with the other, along with the loose arrow I had resting beside it. Slowly, I rise up onto my left knee, the right bent and braced, ready to propel me into a run if need be.

Another large branch snaps loose from a nearby tree causing our horse to let out a startled whinny. Cursing under my breath, I adjust my grip on the knife so I can nock the arrow, readying my bow to shoot. Quietly as possible, I stand fully and begin slowly making my way towards the animal, intending to put myself between him and whatever is approaching.

Considering I had been expecting it to be another bounty hunter, or perhaps a simple pick-pocket, I admit I find myself rather startled when a beast twice as large as the one I’m hoping to protect chooses that moment to come charging out of the trees, straight for me. And Mariane.

“Fuck!” I exclaim, at the same time Mariane yells, “I’m assuming that’s your signal!”

Letting my arrow fly, I ensure it hits home in the large creature’s shoulder before checking if she has her swords at the ready. As the beast lets out a roar, I can’t help but to smile. She does.

Refocusing all my attention on the monstrous thing that just ambushed us, I quickly run my gaze over it, hoping to verify what the actual fuck it even is. My eyes immediately widen. Oh no.

Two long corkscrewing horns protrude from either side of an unproportionally large head. Its singular eye is mostly hidden by the shaggy fur that covers the majority of its body. Wide mouth filled with sharp jagged teeth. The muscular hind legs it’s using to propel itself forward end in cloven hooves nearly as large as dinner plates. And its forelimbs… There are four, two similar to its hind legs, but slightly smaller. The others are extended out in front of it and are grotesquely deformed arms ending in clawed hands.

A Drithgal…

Well, at least the horse will be fine, these things only crave the taste of humanoids.

Mariane and I both dodge to either side of the beast as it barrels through the remains of the fire, clearly intent on crushing us with its massive hooves. She recovers just in time to slash at the back of one of its hind legs as it passes her, causing it to let out another ear-splitting roar.

Hoping to draw its attention away from her, I toss the dagger I’d had in my hand into the flesh above its tail. Which I can now see is whip-like and has a barbed blade-like protrusion on the end. Lovely.

Rearing up onto its hindlegs, it whirls back towards us, much faster than anything its size should be capable of. My eyes dart down to the ground in search of my quiver, and I thank every god there is that it’s within my reach. I snatch it up right before having to leap out of the way of a clawed hand reaching for my face, likely hoping to rip it off.

Grinning, I back up several more steps and nock another arrow. Instead of following me, the Drithgal snarls and turns back towards the woman who had apparently just driven one of her swords into the thick hide of its left haunch. Using the moment of distraction, I let my arrow fly, hitting the beast behind its right shoulder. Its long tail whips towards me in retaliation and I barely manage to rip one of Rayne’s daggers from its sheath in time to parry it.

“It’s a Drithgal!” I call out, dodging another swipe of its tail before readying yet another arrow. “Their weak spots are behind their shoulders and the center of their chest. But I’d avoid that one if I was you.”

With a snarl loud enough to rival the monster’s, Mariane yells back, “No shit, I’m well aware.”

Well then…

*Allow me,* Aren says, right as my arrow sinks into the beast’s ass.

My grin widens. While I allow them to take control of our right hand, I switch my bow to our left to avoid it getting damaged. Heat begins to gather in our palm and Aren holds it out in front of us, his signature ball of green fire exploding out of our hand and spiraling towards the weak spot of the beast a brief instant later. Unfortunately, the flames do little more than singe its fur.

Shaking out our hand to cool it a bit, I draw another arrow. I’m about to release it when Mariane cries out, knocking all the air from my lungs in the process.

Before I have time to react in any other way, Rayne slips past me and into majority control of our body. Dropping my bow, she rips two of her daggers from their place at our waist and snarls, “My turn.”

Rushing towards the Drithgal, she uses the trunk of a tree it had knocked down to propel herself up onto its back. From this vantage point, I’m able to see Mariane, still standing but with blood trailing down her left arm and the sword she’d been holding in it on the ground by her bare feet. The hands the beast had just been clawing at her with now reach towards us, the intent to get us off its back clear.

Deftly dodging around its razor-like claws, Rayne sinks both of her daggers into the base of its neck before ripping them back out and burying them into the softer flesh of its underarms. The pained scream it lets out in response is loud enough that both Rayne and Mariane have to cover their ears. Luckily, Mariane recovers in time to avoid the hooves attempting to crush her into the dirt and its hands are still busy desperately trying to grapple Rayne. Or well, us.

Of course, crazy bitch that she is, Rayne only laughs gleefully.

A bit surprisingly, Mariane’s laughter joins in as she uses her remaining sword to slash at the creature’s eye. After a moment, she calls out, “Try to get its head up.” With a growl of frustration, she parries the bladed tail that whips towards her. “It's guarding its chest, I can’t get a clean strike.”

“Will do!” Rayne excitedly calls back and I’m suddenly extremely grateful she took over for me.

Gripping the long matted fur along the Drithgal’s back with one hand, she uses the dagger in the other to slice along the top of its head from one horn to the other. As blood begins to bubble up out of the wound, she sinks the blade back into the center of it, dragging it down to the base of the strong shoulders our thighs are currently clinging to.

Another ear-splitting shriek fills the air, and we have to duck out of the way of the creature’s massive horns when it flings its head back, then from side to side. Its bulging and yet still shriveled-up looking arms reach back in an attempt to cover the wound while its front legs buckle, causing it to fall to its knees.

Leaving its chest completely unprotected, as requested.

Mariane lets out an absolutely feral sounding roar and there’s a sickening squelching sound as her blade no doubt strikes true. With one last deep guttural groan, the Drithgal’s head lolls forward, followed by the rest of its massive body as the monstrous beast collapses at her feet. Rayne cackles like a madwoman, waiting until the last possible moment to spring off it to avoid being crushed.

With her “fun” now over, Rayne gives a quick bow to Mariane before surrendering control of our body back to me.