We were most of the way back when I missed one note too many and the song fell apart. Angry snarls sounded from the distance. We ran past the pair of spinning spears and crashed against the wagon.

  Elsetha screamed in the distance, a language I didn’t understand. She was still alive? I turned in that direction, ready to go back out. I plucked the first notes of the Tatsu, took a step in the direction of her screaming chant.

  Her voice cracked with desperation and anger. A brilliant flash of energy lit up the night in the distance as her spell reached a crescendo.

  A wave of radiant energy expanded from the explosion, so strong it shook the cart behind us. The flames of the burning carts nearby were momentarily dampened by the rush of energy before raging back into a crackling pyre.

  I pulled up my party menu. Hannah, Arlo, and Elsetha were all listed as deceased. A ten minute timer began counting down over Elsetha’s grayed out name. The other two timers were further along.

  I thought about the item I had used to revive the kitsiho. If I hadn’t used it then, I could use it now to bring one of them back. But could I? In this chaos, this maelstrom of claws, fangs, and death? I shoved the thoughts of what could have been to the back of my mind, focusing on the present.

  “They’re dead,” Abernathy whispered, “all dead.”

  “But we’re alive,” I said.

  “For now!” the elven woman shouted. “Help us! They gather.”

  “Must smell the burned bodies.” One of the men said.

  “Shut your mouth, Banksy,” the elven woman said, “and focus.”

  “Right, sorry madam,” he said.

  “Dumbass,” the other human chimed in.

  “Fuck you,” the other man spat, though I was surprised to hear hints of joviality from his voice amidst the death and fire.

  They positioned themselves on either side of the elven woman, equidistant, without looking to confirm their location in relation to the others. Their eyes and bodies faced outward, an aura of confidence and aggression radiating from their postures and mannerisms. These three were not novices to death’s dance.

  I performed Radiant Winds, completing it at 93% and producing seven large glowing orbs of radiant energy. I stored it in my lute and performed the song again, completing it at 95% as several scaled wolves approached.

  I set the orbs to revolve in a circle overhead, ready to be sent to heal or damage.

  A new creature stepped into the light cast by the burning wagons. While the other scaled wolves were the size of small horses, this was larger than a normal horse. The other scaled wolves fanned out to either side of the newcomer.

  “Fuck,” the elven woman mumbled as the scaled wolves separated and began stalking forward.

  The large beast walked close enough for a nameplate to appear over its glowing yellow eyes.

  Scaled Wolf Alpha.

  I glanced between the scaled wolves, counting fifteen. The alpha made sixteen. They all stood slightly further away than the alpha, glancing between the massive beast and us.

  The alpha stood, head raised in the air as it sniffed, swaying its head from side to side. The entire camp seemed to freeze for a brief moment.

  The alpha tapped its teeth together in rapid succession, producing a series of chittering noises. It lowered its head. The beasts all leapt forward in unison.

  The elven woman slammed her trident’s butt into the ground at the same moment. Sharp fragments of earth erupted from the ground, impaling more than half of the approaching wolves.

  The two men spun their spears in a complex kata, slicing into any wolves that approached. The scaled wolves paused in their assault, startled by the sudden explosion of energy and death.

  The alpha leapt upon one of the men, ignoring the spear he sank into the thick muscle of its neck. It tore large swaths of flesh and bone from the man, who died in silence.

  Tobias sank an arrow into the alpha’s eye, three more bouncing off of the thick scales around its face. The elven woman speared two more wolves with her trident. The remaining man thrust his spear into one of the wolves as another advanced on his blind spot.

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  I sent a few of the radiant orbs into the face of the wolf just before it attacked the man. The damage distracted the wolf, which hissed in pain, long enough for the man to skewer it with his spear.

  I sent the rest of the orbs out, spreading them to hit as many of the wolves as I could and disrupting their coordination. Tobias saw what I was doing and followed the hits with arrows. Roughly half of the shots found their targets.

  A semi-circle of corpses and destruction surrounded us. The alpha and three remaining scaled wolves stalked the edge of the destruction. The elven woman yelled at the alpha scaled wolf, taunting it to attack.

  I tossed a copper coin to the ground and began performing Kinetic Overload. The alpha looked at the elven woman, then at each of us. I was surprised by the intelligence I saw behind the gaze and faltered in my performance.

  It looked past us, crouched down, and leapt at Katarina and Abernathy. The wolf soared over us, clearing twenty feet easily, and snapped at Abernathy as it landed. The other wolves took advantage of the distraction and surged forward.

  I pulled one of the poisoned knives from my inventory and threw it at the Alpha wolf.

  I felt the difference in levels from my throwing skill as the blade left my hand. The last time I had thrown a knife had been during the class exam. This blade was not enchanted as that one had been, but it was loaded with poison and flew true, sinking blade-first into the Alpha’s eye.

  The impact took a portion of its health and threw off its aim, causing the bite it had aimed at Abernathy to miss.

  Abernathy sat next to Katarina, frozen and shaking visible. His wide eyes stared at the mouth of the alpha scaled wolf, inches from his face.

  Katarina lifted herself on one leg and made a complex series of hand motions in quick succession, breathing deeply, before releasing the breath and driving her hand into the eye I had damaged. Her hand moved in a blur, too fast for me to make out.

  She yanked the beasts eye out and fell backwards, narrowly avoiding a blind, enraged snap. The alpha raised its head and howled into the night sky, blood flowing from its ruined eyes.

  I looked around and saw the other wolves fall to expert thrusts of spear and trident. I felt a moment of elation, which was cut short when I noticed Tobias laying in a puddle of expanding blood.

  I rushed over, producing a healing potion and attempting to give it to Tobias. He was unresponsive. I stood and went to perform Radiant Winds, removing all distractions and focusing only on the music, only to realize it had not been a minute since the last time I played it. It was on cooldown.

  I poured another healing potion over him, pulling up the party menu as I did and saw a bare sliver of health jump up and rise to about 25%. It had been close. Seconds.

  I was unable to see the source of the wound, nor did I see Lesh. I looked around just as the blinded alpha slammed into me.

  It wasn’t a direct assault, the wolf was thrashing about and hit me with a shoulder. It felt like being hit by a truck.

  I went flying back, slamming against the cart and landing next to Katarina and Abernathy, dazed. I consumed a healing potion from my quickslot, clearing my thinking and bringing my health back to full.

  Abernathy hadn’t budged. He sat, eyes wide, shaking and staring ahead. Katarina crouched on her remaining leg, helping me up.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. I sat up as the massive beast's tail whooshed over our heads.

  “I’m alive,” I replied. I lifted my lute, momentarily terrified it had been damaged from the impact. It was not.

  “Shit!” Katarina called. I looked over in time to see one of the alpha wolf’s massive, scaled paws land on Tobias with a sickening crunch.

  “NO!” I screamed, standing and running to him. I didn’t pull up the party menu. I knew what I would see.

  The alpha sniffed at the night air, snapping at the elven woman. The elven woman and human man worked together with experienced coordination, jumping in close enough to strike and dodging the claws and maw that flashed about in a fury of scales and blood.

  Their dance lasted only moments as they wore down the beast with perfectly placed jabs. I watched as I cradled Tobias’s limp head, sobbing.

  Too much. It had been too much. Memories of laughter at the inn, of the triumph in the catacombs and against the goblins. So much in such a short amount of time. Not enough time.

  They had all died. Hannah, Arlo, Elsetha, Tobias. Lesh? I looked around in a panic. I didn’t see the small bird. Had he fled? I hoped he had, flying safe and free, far from this waking nightmare.

  “Chanter?” Katarina asked, her voice tinged with concern. “Chanter, he’s gone.”

  I sobbed, releasing Tobias and scooting back to Katarina. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

  “They’re all gone,” I said between sobs.

  “But we aren’t.” Katarina said, laying a cheek on the top of my head. “We aren’t. And you… you and Abernathy… saved me. Thank you.”

  I took a series of deep breaths, pushing away the sorrow and deep sense of loss. She was right. I looked around and saw Abernathy, still in the same frozen position.

  “Abe, it’s going to be alright,” I said. I wasn’t convinced, but maybe speaking it would make it true. He didn’t respond, just continued staring forward and shaking.

  “Well, what are we going to do with this lot?” The human man said.

  I glanced around and saw him and the elven woman walking over.

  “Lost all our cargo.” The elf replied. “Luckily one of the wagons made it. We’ll take’m so the trip won’t be a total waste. Can pick up more cargo on the way. Buyer expects delivery.”

  “What about the one-legged one?" the man asked.

  “Cargo’s cargo.” the elven woman replied.

  “What?” I asked. I saw understanding and fury in Katarina’s eyes before glancing back at the elven woman, who had produced a small pouch.

  She pulled a bit of powder out of the pouch and bent over, blowing it into our faces and murmuring in a language I didn’t understand.

  “You fucking bi—” Katarina began, and the world faded to black.

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