The middle wolf crouched low, its head dipped, violet eyes locked on me. A guttural growl rumbled from deep in its chest.

  The other two began to circle.

  One to the left. One to the right.

  They moved with practiced precision. Their paws silent against the blood-slick floorboards, their breath misting in the cold air as it ghosted through the shattered doorframe.

  I adjusted my grip on the sabre. My fingers were slick, either from sweat or blood. I couldn’t tell anymore.

  Wei Lin was beside me, sabre raised, mirroring my stance. His mouth was tight. A shallow cut on his cheek leaked a thin line of blood.

  Then the middle wolf snapped forward.

  Just a step. Just a test. Its jaws clacked shut on nothing but air.

  That was all the smaller one needed.

  It darted in from my left, fast and low, a streak of pale fur. I twisted with it, already expecting the lunge. My sabre came down in a hard arc, the edge catching it clean across the ribs. The blade bit deep. The creature howled, staggering, but that’s when a weight slammed into my back.

  I was too slow to brace. The force knocked me clean off my feet and into the wounded wolf. We hit the floor in a tangle of limbs and snarls. The larger wolf was already on top of me. Its jaws closed on the back of my neck, teeth puncturing flesh.

  Pain exploded behind my eyes. My limbs spasmed.

  And then—

  Skill Activated: Last Stand

  Conditions met. Emergency override engaged. Boosting physical output. Suppressing pain response.

  The fog snapped back like a broken string.

  I twisted hard, adrenaline surging. My sabre reversed in my hand, blade angled upward. I drove it behind me, through fur and muscle and bone. The wolf shrieked and tore away, blood trailing in an arc as it backed off, yowling.

  But I wasn’t clear yet.

  The smaller wolf I’d struck earlier was still alive and angry. Its claws raked across my exposed side, opening a fresh wound that burned like fire. I rolled hard, kicking off the ground and dragging myself to my feet, teeth clenched against the ringing in my skull.

  My blood painted the floor. Thick and dark.

  The edges of my vision pulsed.

  But Last Stand kept me moving.

  I caught a flash of Wei Lin in the corner of my eye. He was locked with the third wolf, dodging and weaving, his sabre carving shallow arcs.

  I turned back.

  The larger wolf had circled again. Its face was half-shredded where I’d stabbed it, one eye dangling uselessly from its socket. It snarled and lunged, and I met it with a roar of my own.

  My sabre swung across its face in a diagonal slash, cutting deep into the exposed side of its head. Its dangling eye was cut off. Blood sprayed and beast reeled but didn’t go down.

  I followed through with my momentum.

  I brought the blade around in a tight upward arc as I twisted. Last Stand giving my muscles strength I didn’t have on my own. And I buried the sabre deep into its neck. Right where the jaw met its neck.

  The beast’s legs gave out.

  It hit the ground like a sack of meat, thrashing.

  I turned.

  Wei Lin shouted something. I barely heard him.

  He was on one knee, the last wolf lunging at him.

  He struck first.

  His sabre went up, right through the open jaws.

  Steel punched through flesh and shattered teeth.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  The wolf’s own momentum drove it onto the blade.

  It collapsed, impaled, with the blade sticking out the back of its head.

  Wei Lin fell backward, panting.

  We locked eyes.

  He nodded, breathing hard.

  My stomach sank. I twisted to see where the littler wolf was.

  I scanned the room, eyes darting past broken furniture and blood-soaked walls.

  Then I heard it.

  A low growl.

  Not aimed at me.

  At the back of the room—behind the curtain.

  No.

  I took a step forward. My leg buckled.

  Pain lanced through me. My knees hit the ground.

  The world tilted sideways.

  “Fang Wu!” Wei Lin’s voice cut through the haze.

  But I couldn’t answer.

  All I saw, through the pulsing dark, was that curtain.

  Half-lifted. A pale tail disappearing behind it.

  I forced myself to move. She couldn’t die. Not yet.

  Wei Lin caught my gaze.

  Even through the fog in my eyes, I saw him tense. His whole body jolted like he’d just remembered something vital.

  He was on his feet in an instant, bolting through the curtain.

  I heard a shout. Then a loud crash.

  The blood pooling down my back was hot, thick, and constant. Last Stand was still suppressing the pain, fighting to keep me moving, but it wasn’t enough. I could feel the drain. I was bleeding out.

  I dug my sabre into the ground, using it like a crutch. My arms shook, but I forced myself up inch by inch until I stood on one leg.

  My right foot was mangled. Torn meat and shattered bone. Even with the pain dulled, every ounce of pressure made the world tilt sideways.

  But I heard the fighting beyond the curtain.

  I heard Wei Lin’s voice—desperate, cracking.

  I gritted my teeth. Grabbed the hilt until my knuckles turned white.

  And limped forward.

  The curtain parted under my hand, and the room beyond spun into view.

  Wei Lin knelt between the last wolf and his mother’s frail body, sabre raised in both hands. Blood poured from a wound on his thigh, forming a dark, wet pool beneath him. But he didn’t flinch.

  He was bracing himself. One knee down. Guard up.

  The wolf snarled.

  Then it charged.

  Wei Lin steadied himself.

  But at the last second, the beast didn’t go for him.

  Its paws hit the wall with a crack. It launched upward, using the surface as a platform and twisted mid-air toward the bed.

  Toward his ma.

  Everything in me froze.

  No—

  I moved.

  I didn’t feel my foot hit the ground. Didn’t feel the torn muscles or shattered bones. I sprinted, dragging my weight behind me. Wei Lin turned in horror, helpless.

  I reached for my belt.

  My fingers closed around the hilt of the broken dagger.

  I drew it in a single motion and threw it like I’d done a hundred times in training.

  It spun once.

  Twice.

  Then sank into the wolf’s throat.

  The beast crashed onto the bed, yelping, momentum ruined. It rolled once, legs twitching—and I was already on it.

  I roared.

  My sabre plunged down into its chest. The blade slid deep into the ribs, hitting something hard and stopping cold.

  The wolf didn’t move again.

  Wei Lin was beside me a second later, his breath ragged.

  He looked down and froze. I followed his gaze.

  His mother lay there, still.

  Her blanket had been pulled back in the struggle. Her eyes were half open, glazed over.

  And her throat…

  Her throat was gone. Blood was pulsing out of the open wound.

  Wei Lin crumbled.

  He fell to his knees beside her, letting his sabre fall from his hand. His shoulders shook. He reached for her but pulled back at the last second like touching her now might undo something final.

  A strangled sound escaped him.

  Then he broke.

  Fell over her body and sobbed.

  My sabre clattered to the ground as I lowered myself, the last of my strength bleeding out with the silence.

  Last Stand flickered.

  My vision darkened.

  And for a long moment, I didn’t know if I was still breathing.

  I didn’t even notice the golden Qi entering my body or the system notifications.

  I looked at Wei Lin, he wasn’t moving.

  He stayed slumped over his mother’s body, shoulders shaking, hands curled into the soaked bedding beneath her. Blood ran freely from his stomach, dark and heavy, soaking through the cloth and dripping onto the floor in a slow, steady rhythm.

  I didn’t notice it at first.

  Not until I saw the red pooling beneath him.

  I took a step forward. My foot dragged.

  He looked up.

  His face was pale, eyes dull with pain and grief. His mouth opened, cracked and dry, and he stared at me.

  “You… you let this happen.”

  Then his eyes rolled back.

  He crumpled.

  I caught him before he hit the ground, his full weight collapsing against me.

  I almost let us both fall. My arms were shaking, blood still pouring from my side. The world tilted and swam, and the cabin spun in my vision.

  But I didn’t let go.

  I pulled him close and rose with a groan, one arm looped under his shoulder, the other under his legs.

  Pain flashed like lightning up my spine. My shredded ankle buckled. The gash on the back of my neck burned every time I breathed.

  But I stood.

  And I walked.

  Step by step, we left the ruins of that cabin behind.

  The night was still and cold, the forest hushed and heavy. Every branch creaked. Every gust of wind cut through me like glass.

  I couldn’t tell if the howling I heard behind us was real or just my mind unraveling.

  Wei Lin’s weight was heavy, dragging me down with every step.

  His voice rung in my mind. “You let this happen.” It replayed constantly as I put one foot in front of the other.

  The blood loss was getting to me. My hands were numb. My breath came shallow. But I didn’t stop.

  “You still owe me fish,” I rasped. “And you said we’d go back to the forest, remember? Bastard.”

  I stumbled, nearly taking us both down.

  Thirty minutes to Fallen Mist.

  I didn’t remember most of it.

  Only the taste of blood in my mouth.

  The sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

  The way the weight of Wei Lin’s body nearly broke me every step.

  But I made it.

  Just as the first hints of morning light broke across the paddies, I saw the wooden fence marking the edge of the village.

  A figure stood at the gate.

  Carrying linens. Moving slow. Until she saw us.

  “Fang Wu?” Lian Rui’s voice was soft, uncertain.

  I tried to say something.

  Anything.

  But all that came out was a broken exhale and a splatter of blood.

  She dropped everything and ran.

  I took one more step.

  Then another.

  My leg gave out.

  We collapsed in the dirt.

  The last thing I saw was her face coming into view, as the darkness finally took me.

  Follow or Review and help me get on to the home page.