The Hellwolf turned its head to look at Florian, who had frozen. He had hit the beast with all of his might, using the power of gravity to guide his mace, and even that hadn’t scratched the monster’s golden scales. Theo tried to stand, but the other wolf was on top of him before he could take even a single step.

Florian knew that he didn’t have time. He let loose a fierce battle cry.

Charging at the wolf above Theo, Florian all but ignored the Hellwolf closer to him. The monster over Theo looked at him and …did not move at all. Again, the mace bounced off the scales without having harmed the creature. The pair of Hellwolves howled, almost as if they were amused by the display.

He couldn’t ease off the attack. As soon as he did, Florian knew that they’d finish Theo, who was writhing on the ground, clutching his shoulder. The monsters toyed with him, punching him around as if he were a ball of yarn to a cat.

But they grew bored. Sensing that the circumstances had suddenly changed, Florian turned his head to see one of the wolves leap at him, maw wide open. Florian swung his mace upwards, failing to draw blood but succeeding in forcefully closing the Hellwolf’s maw. Instead of colliding directly with him, the wolf flew past him. Florian swiveled, jamming the metal length of the mace in the second wolf’s mouth, holding it away from him.

“Help!” Florian cried out, hoping that Theo would come to his rescue with some kind of fantasy magic. There was no response. Not even a whimper of pain came from Theo’s direction. Instead, the only sound he could hear was the distant sobbing of children.

He was alone. There would be no one to save him this time.

That realization gave him greater strength. With an adrenaline-fueled effort, Florian shoved the Hellwolf away, swinging his mace back around until it collided with the other beast, which had by now recovered and returned to the battle.

Slammed into the ground, the beast didn’t take long to get up, leaving Florian directly in between two very upset and powerful Hellwolves. While the garden-variety Hellwolf appeared to be pretty intelligent, these two seemed to be even more so. Florian doubted they’d let him continue to single them out. They’d try to end it here.

Florian felt time slow. The cool night air whipped at his hair and launched leaves into the sky, slightly blocking the light from the Moon. It was nothing abnormal, but Florian knew that if he had a chance, it would be to do the unimaginable. Florian imagined a thin film of mana around his mace.

The wolves leapt at him.

Florian willed his dream into reality.

The ground lit up in a blue hue. Florian took his mace and struck at the wolf attacking him from the front, the weapon this time shattering the scales right around the beast’s front, right shoulder. Howling, the wolf pressed its attack while the other latched onto Florian’s own shoulder.

Florian felt the mana around his mace threaten to recede back into the environment, the pain making his thoughts hazy. But he held fast to his image, using the mace to continue bashing at the wolf in front of him as he did his best to rid himself of the monster that had attached itself to him.

He was finally met with an explosion of black ichor as he bashed the head of the Hellwolf in. The creatures vicious howls had ceased with that, and so Florian turned his attention to the Hellwolf that held onto his shoulder with a vise-like grip. Head pounding, Florian turned his mace against the wolf, stabbing at it with the spikes in an attempt to get it off of him.

It didn’t work. Without the force he could generate by swinging the weapon, not even the man coating could inflict enough damage. Feeling the wolf’s claws bite into his back, Florian decided to take drastic measures. He dropped to the ground, rolling to tear the wolf away from him. It succeeded for the barest of moments, separating him from the monster, but the Hellwolf was quickly almost on top of him again.

It leapt. Florian swung his mace over his head and down onto the wolf’s large snout, breaking the scales and drawing blood. The Hellwolf flew away, and rather than colliding with Florian, it collided with the ground in a massive thump. Florian followed the creature, bringing his weapon down on it again and again, waiting for the moment when it, too, would give.

Eventually, the wolf just stopped moving, the body of the creature lying in a pool of its own blood. Florian stumbled backwards, having succeeded against all the odds. His mace went back to normal, but his head felt like it had nearly been split in twain.

And then, oblivion.

When he woke, it was light out and he was sitting propped up against the wall of the house. Joe was looking at him with concern that melted the moment Florian opened his eyes.

“Thank goodness you’re awake, Mr. Florian! It’s been a couple days already, and Mr. Theodosius said that there was nothing we could do to wake you up except hope,” Joe explained, the words tumbling out of the twelve-year-old’s mouth. Florian tussled the kid’s hair, two days, huh?

Theo walked into the room, looking at Florian with a strange glint in his eyes. “Thank you for your help, Florian. Congratulations on casting your first spell,” Theo said, not a single barb contained in those precious couple of sentences. That was a first ever since Theo had learned the English language.

“All in a day’s work. Now, if the two of you don’t mind, I still feel sluggish and want to take a quick power nap,” Florian lay back against the wall, closing his eyes. His head still hurt something fierce, but it wasn’t nearly so bad as it had been. When he went to sleep, it was the first time in a long time that no nightmares had haunted him. Instead, he dreamt of his family and the time that he had convinced his parents to take him to the local wax museum against their better judgement. Maybe it was a nightmare, after all.