Tjorval’s sacrifice gave us the much-needed time to escape the final lycan. It took three hours before we lost its tail. When we finally decided to stop, everyone, including myself were teetering on the brink of exhaustion. Almost everyone was sporting new wounds. Some are worse than others. Bjorn got clawed in the face by one of the wargs earlier in the day. Two jagged wounds marked the side of his face. There was a somber silence consuming the campsite. I sat on a log trying to catch my breath. When someone’s shadow blocked the light from the fire. Magnus stood above me with fury in his eyes. Before I could speak, a fist connected straight with my jaw. Knocking me off the log.

  The hit stung, but I could do nothing but accept it. I could have blocked the blow, but what would be the point? At least this way, he could let out some frustration. I got back up to my feet, looking straight into Magnus’s eyes. “Are you done?” The fury in his eyes was replaced by a deep tiredness. His silence said more than words ever could.

  Looking out at my party. I saw that the exhaustion was mirrored in all of their eyes. Gone was the naive excitement of entering the shard. In its place was the sad reality of life. Everything came at a cost. Sometimes that cost is more than you were willing to pay. They all just wanted to finish this shard. To exit this nightmare and finally go home. The only exception was the two brothers, Magnus and Bjorn. I could see a familiar anger in their eyes. They were angry at the lycan that killed their friend. Angry at me for leaving him behind, but more so angry at the world that allowed this to happen.

  It took another two days before everyone was ready to face the final lycan. They all hungered for blood, for the chance to avenge their friend. Their bloodlust was but a fraction of my own. Conviction and fury became one as we set out on our final crusade of this shard. Some of them gripped their weapons so tight that their knuckles turned white. Yet after a few hours of walking, even their conviction began to dwindle. Before it could reach a point of melancholy. We heard the rumble of footsteps in the distance. Having long since gotten used to the lack of sound in the forest. The noise was like thunder announcing the presence of the lightning to come.

  No words were needed as the part got into position. Bjorn stood by my side, hammer in hand. While Magnus took the right and Mordial took the left. Lieber was at the back of the group, bow at the ready with an arrow already nocked. We walked slowly and cautiously until we saw it. The beast that has been plaguing my party members' dreams for the last two nights. To call the lycan a giant would have been an understatement. The beast was a behemoth, even dwarfing my 7 ft 5 frame. It was like a mountain of muscle and fur.

  Its black coat of fur was riddled with scars, giving it quite the imposing presence. Its muscles rippled as it tensed. Its head rose in the air as it caught our scent. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end while gazing at this monstrous beast. A primal fear threatened to consume me when our eyes met. Like a deer gazing into the eyes of a lion. The feeling was all-consuming. A surge of defiant wrath pushed away the fear, breaking whatever ability brought it forth. My party members did not fare any better. They just stood there, their eyes hazed over as the fear threatened to devour them. The lycan did not remain idle, walking closer with slow, deliberate steps.

  If this creature would not take this fight seriously, then so be it. Mana coursed through my veins, activating Blink. I appeared to the beasts left, my nodachi poised for a strike to its shoulder. The lycan’s size was clearly not a hindrance to its speed. It blocked the blow with barely any effort. The collision pushed me back by a few meters. The situation was far worse than I had anticipated. I could not depend on the assistance of my party members. I could only act as a wall between the lycan and my team. Right as my feet landed on the ground, I was already moving again. A lightning bolt struck the lycan in its face, temporarily blinding it.

  Another blink brought me in front of the beast. I was playing a dangerous game by relying so much on my skills. The edge of my blade sank into the tough hide of the beast's stomach. The beast was infuriated by the wound; its retaliation came quicker than I anticipated. The lycan kicked me back directly towards a boulder. I felt something crack when I landed. While trying to catch my breath. My eyes traveled to my incapacitated party members. Only to see Bjorn shake himself free from the hold of fear. Confusion was displayed clearly on his face.

  “Bjorn, you take care of them. I’ll hold the big guy back for now.” I only got a nod in response, but it was enough.

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  With a final exasperated sigh, I forced the prana to course through my veins, strengthening me further. The excretion brought forth a minor coughing fit. A timer had officially been placed on the fight. Yet I did not care. What did it matter how long the fight goes on if we all die in the end?

  The lycan did not charge. That alone sent a chill down my spine. It circled me instead, slow and deliberate, each step shaking the earth beneath its weight. Its eyes never left me. Not once. This was not a beast testing its prey. This was a predator gauging how long it would take to kill me. I adjusted my footing, keeping my blade between us, forcing my breath into a steady rhythm despite the pain radiating from my ribs. Every inhale felt shallow. Every exhale burned.

  Then it moved. I barely had time to react before its claw swept toward me. Blink saved my life by a fraction of a second, but the displacement tore at my already strained mana. I reappeared behind it, my vision swimming, and brought my nodachi down with everything I had. Blood flew as the blade skidded into its hide, failing to bite deep enough. The lycan snarled, not in pain, but in irritation.

  Its tail slammed into me like a battering ram. I hit the ground hard, skidding through dirt and broken roots. Something in my shoulder screamed in protest as I rolled to a stop. The taste of blood filled my mouth. But I forced myself upright anyway, even as my body protested the command. The hunger surged violently in my chest, louder than it had ever been. It demanded blood. Demanded more. Anger and frustration coalesced into an all-consuming rage.

  For the first time, I did not push it down. Red energy bled from my skin as I rose, my vision narrowing, my heartbeat thunderous in my ears. The lycan paused again, head tilting slightly, as if curious. I met its gaze and bared my teeth.

  “If you want me,” I muttered, tightening my grip on the hilt, “then come get me, bastard.” A bloody grin split my lips as the hunger consumed me.

  I stepped forward, lightning crawling along my blade, fully aware that this fight would end one of two ways.

  Either I would rise victorious, or I would fall. Forgotten in the annals of time. Rage, hunger, and an insatiable madness consumed me. Urging me forward, steel met claw as my nodachi struck. The beast thought itself safe after blocking my blow, how foolish. The lightning shot out of the blade directly into its left eye. The bastard was blinded; the irony was not lost on me. But this was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. I spun on my left leg, while the right repositioned, allowing me a small retreat.

  The lycan roared, a sound that split the forest like a landslide. It lashed out blindly, claws tearing through bark and stone alike. One strike caught me across the chest before I could blink away. Pain exploded outward, hot and absolute, and I was sent tumbling through the underbrush. My back slammed into a tree hard enough to make my vision blur.

  I laughed. The sound was raw, broken, but it was real. Blood ran freely now, soaking into my clothes, feeding the hunger clawing at my mind. I pushed myself upright, legs trembling, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. The lycan turned toward the sound, its ruined eye leaking black ichor, its breathing heavy and uneven. I needed more. My mana was running low, and my current pace was not sustainable. The fire of defiance burned brightly in my chest as I thought of any possible advantage. The strength provided by prana was also coming dangerously close to its end. But that's when it hit me. Aura, if prana were the essence of life. Then mana was the power that fueled the external abilities. While Aura worked on the internal.

  How did I not think of this before? Either way, it did not matter. I pushed the aura into my muscles, strengthening myself even further. I surged forward again, lightning screaming as it wrapped around my blade. This time, I did not aim to wound. I aimed to cripple. Steel bit deep into its knee, and the beast howled as one massive leg buckled. The ground shook as it fell to one side, fury replacing arrogance. The aura-fed blood drinker as it drank hungrily. My cells demanded more, but I had nothing left to give. My vision was tinged red as a berserker haze clouded my mind.

  Nothing in life comes without cost. And the strength given to me by the skill was no exception. My mind became focused on a single thing. To watch this bastard bleed. I lunged forward with reckless abandon. The nodachi became an extension of my body when lashing out at the lycan. The beast tried to kick me, instead of completely avoiding the blow. I repositioned so that it would hit my arm. I heard a sickening crunch as the blow broke my arm. The pain was like a dull irritation at the back of my mind. But it allowed me to push through its defenses and strike with a lightning bolt using the last of my mana. The heated nodachi cut through its thick hide, leaving a deep gash on its chest. The blade could not withstand the pressur,e causing it to break in half.

  The lycan retaliated by smacking me away like an annoying fly. From the corner of my vision, I saw movement. Bjorn charged. His hammer came down like judgment itself, slamming into the lycan’s exposed skull with a crack that echoed through the forest. Magnus followed from the flank, blade buried to the hilt in its neck, screaming in righteous anger as he struck again and again. Arrows thudded into its torso from behind, Lieber’s hands shaking but steady enough to draw his bow. The lycan fought like something that refused to die.

  Even as its strength waned, it lashed out one final time, claws catching Magnus across the side of his face and throwing him aside like a broken doll. That was enough. The hunger surged fully free, drowning out everything else. I stepped in close, ignoring the pain, ignoring the screams, and drove my broken nodachi straight through its skull. The world went silent. When the body finally stilled, I stood there panting, surrounded by blood and ruin, my hands trembling as the madness slowly receded. The victory felt hollow. And far too expensive.

  We had killed the beast. But the shard had taken its due.