The final wolf and James had a few more exchanges, each compounding on the last leaving him out of breath. The wolf, the far more cautious of the two had only let James graze it, chipping away at its reserves and it had not come cheap. There were fresh wounds on his right shoulder, his back, and his left leg, each slowly closing back up, his clothing a mess, tattered in places, missing in others.

The blood loss made him feel heady, impatient, like the longer this went on the bigger chance he had of failing. The wolf seemed to feel the same way, as it was inching closer to him, circling, looking for a weakness to exploit so that it could end this mess itself.

These wolves did not give up when cornered, and James had to admire it. They saw him as food, and he saw them as a way to get stronger, all was laid on the table. The beast, having waited long enough, let loose a low snarl before jumping at him, no longer trying to wear down its prey, instead aiming for the throat. An arm came up, steel guard catching the mouth of the beast before it got to close. Metal rod followed, held a few feet back from the tip, the end slammed into the skull of the beast, finishing the fight.

You have dealt 25 [Blunt] damage to Wild Wolf(3)

Wild Wolf has perished

Congratulations! You have learned the Skill [Blunt Weapons]

The beast had fallen to the ground, limp, and James was left standing, looking down on his foe with a begrudging respect. It was a simple, but vicious animal. His chest rising and falling in a deep rhythmic pace, he was exhausted, having no choice but to use that metal rod as a form of support, the fight taking far more from him than he thought.

Yet, despite the pain in his body, exhilaration was running through his veins, a smile from ear to ear. Man and beast had fought, and though beast took its dues, man had come out on top. A loud echoing laugh suddenly freed itself from his throat, it was boisterous, deep, something coming from within the pit of his stomach.

"That could've ended badly", another understatement from the teen. He had always been like this, despite his parents trying their best to drill it out of him. James had no impulse control. The only thing that held him back in his daily life was a constant reminder that his freedom was at stake if he did something too stupid.

"You've got a lot of anger in you child and no control of it." It was sultry, feminine, yet sent a shiver of danger down his spine. It did not come from any one direction, even jerking head left, then right, the source eluded him. Instead, it felt like it was swallowing him whole. A moment came to pass before a slow chuckle encroached the clearing. To James it felt like his whole body was vibrating, yet no sooner than it started it was gone again. The voice replacing the silence, "That lack of control will one day do you in."

His heart had been thumping since the first word hit his ears, and at this point it was starting to hurt. It felt like at any moment it would rip free from his chest, face flushed, sweat drenching his back, and his throat far too dry, Why is my body not working? Trying to understand it seemed useless. The confused expression and reddened cheeks was enough for the voice to catch him off guard again, however, "Fear is natural. Fear of the unknown is an instinct that goes beyond boundaries, even a wild beast is wary of things it can't understand. Do you even know what that piece of metal you're using like a club is?"

It felt mocking, the hand on that metal rod tightened more, inner turmoil laid bare. There was a surge of anger inside, rising to the top of his emotions, just barely held back, and yet, something deep inside began to whisper. It told him of his impending death, losing any semblance he had left of himself, a deep seated sense of dread. That realization shook him, his thoughts in disarray, My whole body is telling me to run... but it feels. It feels like if I move.... If I move I'll be disappear before my feet leave the ground. Its right..

The end James feared did not come, however, and just like that, the whispers stopped. A realization. The voice was not mocking him. There was no malice. It was lecturing him. Like a parent would their child on their fear of the dark. The hairs on the back of his neck shot up, then he heard something hitting dirt behind him, the reaction to which was to whirl around almost tumbling to the ground as he did so.

What stood in front of him was not human. Standing over six feet tall, it had deep black hooves with legs that looked wrong, like someone had taken the backside of a goat and had it distorted, lengthened. Formfitting brown leather was wrapped around thick bulging thighs just above the second joint, leather doing little to hide the power in those limbs. James felt he would be ran down if he tried to flee.

Eyes continuing to travel up met a bit of a paunch at the waist, stomach though not large, was still rounded against the leather covering it, like someone that enjoys copious amounts of food. The upper body seemed almost flat in comparison, leather ending just at the shoulders covering up vitals. The beasts arms on the other hand, made James shiver again. A test in strength would have been an act of futility, he was gnarled rope, this beast from the shoulders to the hands was liked corded steel visibly bulging against white furred flesh, a snake waiting to strike. The arms were long, elbow too far back, yet still tame compared to its lower half. Each finger ended in dull rounded points, no doubt capable of rending flesh despite that.

Amused so far at the reaction it was getting from James, the beast spoke up again, "You should be careful how you look at someone, you might give a poor woman all the wrong ideas~", that voice was like velvet, and as if to emphasize it, hands were let free starting from thighs, up over stomach, across chest, before finally disappearing behind her neck. The position did put what little assets she had on display, jutting the leather out a bit, but it was obvious she was more power than bombshell.

Having followed along he finally looked up transfixed by her face. The legs and arms had been weird, but the head threw him for a loop. It was human, at least, far closer to human than he had expected. Two thick horns took the place of her eyebrows, coming out from either side only to curl back behind her head ending in points just under almost elven ears covered in earrings. Above the horns long white hair was braided, coming down behind them and disappearing along her back.

The rest of her face could only be described as beautiful, pale white skin a contrast to the deep black lips smiling at him. She was enjoying this, more so as those lips parted some showing the razor sharp teeth underneath getting another chill down his spine. The reaction set her to laughing again, that palpable fear tightening its grip on him.

James felt his spine was curving on its own, like his body wanted to throw itself to her feet and beg forgiveness, but he held, just barely, trembling the whole time, "Hooooh? You've got some willpower in you." Just like that the pressure lifted, causing James to stumble forwards on his knees breathing deeply before he realized. It was like night and day, she still felt dangerous, but it was no longer like he was looking death in the eye, "Not many pups at your level would be able to resist, its admirable. Useless. But admirable."

A few long steps had her standing right in front of James, looming over him, sunset colored eyes with cross like pupils piercing his own, almost as if they were searching for his innermost secrets, "I've decided, from this point on you belong to me, at least until I get bored anyhow." Clawed hands clapped together, obviously excited that a new plaything had been found. Wait... belong to you? The hell is with that! Dumbfounded James tried to reply, yet, found he could only eek one out, voice shaky, "I-I don't even know who you are? Or what you're doing here?"

The beast merely tilted her head, as if confused, "That doesn't matter does it? You'll call me Master, and I'll call you apprentice. It'll be fun~" Another soft chuckle sent a thrill through his body, "As for why I am here? That." A clawed finger was pointed to the metal rod James had in his hands.

Refusing to elaborate further, she turned on a hoof and began walking away from him back into the woods. James could only watch as she got further away, a small goat tail peeking out between the two pieces of armor she had on. Not feeling his presence, she paused, calling back, "Come on then you don't leave a woman waiting~" Something about that voice forced him back to his feet, trudging forwards.

The two walked without speaking for a long distance, the only sounds two pairs of limbs, both drastically different, going through the leaves and debris of the forest, and the soft humming of the creature in front of James. She was an enigma to him, feeling one part comforting, one part tantalizing, and one part chilling to his core. He did not know where to put her, and it was frustrating him to no end to the point he was fidgeting with each step.

The woman in question seemed oblivious to the plight of the teen behind her, walking with a clear goal in mind, one that James did not understand. Finally he broke the silence, voice more calm than it had been before, "Where are we going?" She stopped, looking back over her shoulder at him, that head of hers tilting again, "Im leading us to the nearest village, should only be a little further. Unless you'd rather stay out here in the wilderness? I promise I'll keep you warm~"

That voice held promises of things he could not quite understand, but the undertone still unsettled him enough to shake his head. James swore there was a bit of a pout before she faced forward and continued once more, humming picking back up.