At the sight of her own pet turning against her, it was now Iharu’s turn to utter, “What?” She started screaming incomprehensibly and cussing out Val. “You are going to die for this, you little bitch!”

On cue, Iharu’s muscles started to ripple as she changed form. It was rather appropriate, considering that the She-Wolf had just called her a bitch and was now turning into a dog herself. Dark skin morphed into darker fur. The limbs expanded, as did her entire chest and back. Her head grew to accommodate her new, larger size, complete with ears springing into points and her jaws ripping into gnashing things.

Rather than the cute, mangey wolf pup she had been in childhood, Iharu had turned into some kind of wolf abomination, just a touch smaller than the behemoth. Her front claws pounced onto the ground and a roar belted out of her mouth, louder and deeper than anything the behemoth could have produced.

A raggedy breath blew past Val’s lips. At the present moment, she sure was glad that she had the behemoth on her team instead of Foofy. She moved out of the way so that it could charge and intercept Iharu who lunged.

At the same time, Val had her own furry friend to deal with. Creeping forward, Foofy let a growl rumble from his throat and punctuated it with a snap of his jaws.

“It’s okay, Foofy,” she said, doing her best to mimic her usual voice of praise. “I know that this is not your fault. You are a good boy, Foofy.”

His legs shook as he placed one paw towards her and then another. Dogs had little whites of their eyes available to be seen, but from what she was visible, his eyes had turned red. Foofy looked like he could have been sad and crying or perhaps struggling as he tried to fight Iharu’s will. With her help, maybe he could break free from her control, especially as she was currently preoccupied with the behemoth.

Sending rivulets of Keep the Peace out, Val tried to help him in any way that she could. “Good boy, Foofy,” she whispered soothingly.

A hoarse bark came from his mouth, and he took off in a run straight for her.

“Foofy, no!” Since she was quicker than any mortal dog, Val sidestepped him so that he went sailing by her.

This simple evasion kept them in close proximity to each other. Foofy wheeled around to deliver his next attack.

Backpedaling, Val would have to stay on the defensive so that she did not bring any more harm to Foofy than he had already sustained. Her eyes darted to observe the behemoth in its fight against Iharu.

Eager to receive its master, the behemoth had caught Iharu in midair with a thrust of its tusks.

Unfazed, her claws went for the behemoth’s eyes. All the while, she clung on and snarled through the tusk that had been driven between her ribs.

Roaring in pain and rage, the behemoth thrashed its head and hit Iharu’s wolf body against the ground. Like all of the behemoth’s movements, the ground lurched at the impact. It lifted its head up again and drew Iharu’s body up along with it.

Impaled, Iharu was stuck on its tusk, but that did not deter her. She continued to claw in a frenzy across the behemoth’s face.

Between its tusks, its entire head oozed blood so that neither its fur nor its eyes could be seen. Blood flowed down its nose and dibbled from the end of its snout. At least one eye had been slashed out, if not both eyes entirely blinded.

Flailing around more wildly, the behemoth managed to take Iharu off of its tusk. Her body went sailing through the air where it careened into the nearby trees. The smack did not sound pleasant for her ribs where she had already been stabbed. Nonetheless, Iharu picked herself back up and managed to run.

Though the behemoth had a size and strength advantage, Iharu was lithe and skilled. Her quick movements allowed her to dodge the behemoth’s upward cut with its tusks. Carrying through that movement, she ran underneath it on its blinded side.

A massive leap upturned the behemoth and while its claws floundered in the air, Iharu buried hers into flesh. The underbelly of the behemoth was pierced over and over again. It squealed like a pig as Iharu set herself into another flurry. Spouts of blood speckled the air as Iharu did not cease her onslaught.

With that going on in the corner of her vision, Val continued to dance around Foofy. “Good boy…. No, bad boy!”

Another leap and an attempted bite later, and Val was forced to punch Foofy away. A whimper escaped from him, though he could still recover in a matter of seconds. In contrast to Val’s amicable fight with Foofy, Iharu was slaughtering her behemoth.

No more screeches came from its body. Instead, the behemoth had been transformed into a steaming mass of blood and guts as it lay there on its back, upturned. Some flies already took interest in vast exposure of its innards. The behemoth was dead.

The cackling laugh of a hyena sounded from Iharu in her wolf form. Unable to speak, a savage, throaty sound tore from her throat that was not recognizable as either a growl or howl. A few paces, she backed up and went running again to deal a devasting, downward strike onto the behemoth.

The ribcage cracked and a long crevice ruptured across the center of its chest. On all fours, Iharu broke away flesh and bones. Her head delved deep into the behemoth until she rose back up with a large, red mass of muscle beheld by her claws.

“No,” Val breathed. Doing as Tavras had done before, she grabbed Foofy on his next lunge and threw him to the side. Admittedly, paying attention to her own adversary would be a better alternative, but Val found herself unable to take her eyes away from this.

Please tell her that she was not about to do what she feared.

Iharu lifted the heart above her head. Blood streaked down the muscular lining and dripped from the ripped cords of arteries. These red drops splattered onto her face to further stain her fur. Iharu tilted her head back so that she could open her canine jaws. The entire heart dropped into her mouth whole.

Her bottom jaw moved with a chewing motion. Blood gushed out from her jowls as she ate the heart. Not even five seconds later, she gulped it down. Iharu flashed her attention back to Val with a crooked, open-mouthed smile, complete with blood dripping from her teeth.

“Shit.” That was Val’s only reaction.

More than just an act of senseless brutality, eating the behemoth’s heart enacted a change in Iharu. In the same way that she had shifted from a human to a formidable wolf, her muscles started to bulge again. Her body swelled up until she had grown far bigger than the behemoth had been originally.

As it turned out, Iharu had an ability that strengthened her if she gorged on the heart of her fallen enemies. That was positively lovely. Somehow, Val would have to continue to hold her own in this fight.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Iharu Title: the She-Wolf Rank: Goddess Attributes: beasts Abilities Name Class Description Beast Ally combat, practical - controls terrestrial animals Gorge combat

- strengthens self by feasting on fallen enemies

- the heart is a concentrated conduit of power

Read Intentions cognitive - feel the general inclination of others' desires Transform tactical, combat - a gigantic wolf is the only known, available form Unknown n/a - probably has a lot more abilities