“Well shit.” I muttered, watching the monster try to fold himself through the doorway.

With one final heave of his large muscular shoulders and a growl so low and deep I felt it in my toes the giant wolf pulled itself free. He had to be standing near ten feet, his long pointed ears brushing the rafters even as he hunched over. Fur, blacker than night and streaked with white covered him from head to toe in a thick coat, fading out around his chest and abs. He took a step forward and the floor groaned. One long clawed hand reached out, the muscles flexing and bunching as he moved, and he casually ran his nails over the spines of the books. The other hand held a massive battle axe in an almost casual grip.

I took a step back, my head craned back so I could stare up into those dark melavent eyes. I noticed the black veins also ran along his scellera and when he pulled his lips apart to snarl his gums looked rotten, the stench of decay wafted over me.

“Uhh...Blackpelt?” I asked because who else could it be.

The Alpha growled again, spittle flying from his lips as they vibrated and he took one step forward, the floorboard actually breaking. He opened his maw wide and howled. The books shook in the shelves and I nearly dropped to my knees at the auditory onslaught. I reached up to cover my ears. It was so loud my balance was actually affected and I wobbled.

With an almost contemptuous movement Blackpelt backhanded me. I flew across the room and smacked into the wall hard enough to splinter the wood and cracks spreading out from my point of impact. I hung there for a moment, my vision bouncing all over the place, before I fell to the floor with a soft thump.

My brain is still human and given enough of a thump I can still get knocked out, it’s just really hard. Blackpelt almost did it with a simple backhand. I let out a growl of my own, pushing against the floor as I tried to level myself to my feet. I had to hold onto the wall for support. I don’t think anything was broken though so thank god for small favours.

Balckpelt looked confused to see me alive. His great big head twisted to the side as he observed my hunched form. A tongue, mottled black and pink, snaked out to lick his dry and cracked lips. One of his ears swiveled to the side and I could hear the others outside calling my name. Fuck!

“You don’t look so good,” I said, trying to draw his attention back to me. It sort of worked, his eyes stayed locked on me but his ear kept twitching. “Looks like you got the same weird disease as this plant that tried to eat me earlier. Ugly fucking thing. You don’t look much better, If I’m being honest.”

I pushed off the wall and straightened to my full height, which was woefully unimpressive when compared to the towering slab of muscle that was the Alpha. Orange lines started to streak across my body as I overclocked and my fists clenched. I tucked my chin down and raised my arms, a feral grin every bit as toothy as Balckpelts stretching my mouth wide.

“Come on big boy, show me what an Alpha’s got.”

Wood broke with a resounding crack as he pushed off the floor and swung with his axe. His arms were so long and the weapon so huge that it actually plowed through the books on one bookcase, sending the contents everywhere.

I ducked through the shower of paper and wood, hearing the whistle of the axe blade as it flew over my head. I stepped forward in a low lunge. I needed to get inside his reach and neutralize the threat of that weapon. The Alpha twisted back around at the waist, trying to control the momentum of his swing and I took the opportunity offered. I drilled a straight left into the side of his knee, hoping to buckle it enough that, once added to his twisting momentum, he would fall to the side. No luck. He brought his arms around and dropped the butt of his axe between my shoulder blades and I let out a weeze. The blow driving me to the floor.

Blackpelt didn’t wait for me to recover and instead pulled his foot back before punting me like a ball. There was a crack, loud as a gunshot, and I felt a part of my rib break as I went airborne. I hit the same wall as before but this time I went through. Dust, wood chips, and splinters blew out around me as I went flying into the next room and hit the ground in a ragged roll. I fetched up against the fire pit I’d admired when I first entered the house.

“Alex!”

“Champion!”

Shaking the stars from my vision I looked up at the concerned faces of Nel and Rima. What were they doing here? I coughed out a glob of shiny metallic blood and sat up. Dust rained from my hair and got in my eyes.

“What are you doing in here?” I growled at them. “Get out! RUN!”

I screamed the last part, pushing Rima away from me as I heard the familiar creak and groan of the Alpha approaching. I got to my feet and tore my shirt from my chest. Using it as a rag I wiped the dust and crap from my face and out of my eyes.

Rima and Nel stood frozen, their eyes round as saucers as they looked at the hulking behemoth trying to squeeze through the door and into the main room. I grabbed them both by the shoulder, none to gently, and started pushing them towards the exit.

“You guys need to get gone! He’s been infected just like with the messenger plant thing...only worse.” There was the splintering crack of wood and Blackpelt, obviously tired of trying to squeeze through, just broke the door frame.

“He’s forgotten!” Nel hissed before raising her voice and calling out. “Alpha Blackpelt! My name is Nelzarastorama, I’m apprenticed to Saza of the Brood! You are out of balance with your human side and are suffering from some type of infection. Please let us help you!”

Blackpelt didn’t reply. He just lifted the axe and tested its weight by giving it a few practice swings.

“Out! Out! OUT!” I pushed them through the door and turned in time to see the Alpha lunge across the fire pit, his legs pushing the firewood and furniture aside with complete disregard.

Flaring as much power as I dared I threw myself forward in a shallow spear tackle. A shudder went through me as I made contact with one shin. Like I’ve said before, I’m a heavy fucker and no matter how strong Blackpelt was, I still took his leg out from under him. The whole building shook, dust raining down from the rafters, as the Alpha went sprawling.

Not wasting the opportunity I rolled over, not even getting to my feet, and threw myself onto his back. Grabbing handfuls of the thick matted hair covering his body I climbed up his back towards his head even as he slowly pushed himself upright. I straightened out one hand, aiming my sharpened nails at the spot between his ribs and drove my hand forward with all the power of a piston.

The Alpha made a noise other than a growl or howl for the first time since the beginning of the fight. A low coughing bark. My hand sunk into his back up to my second knuckle before stopping and I frowned. How dense was this fucker! Black blood bubbled out from between my fingers and I smelled the same disgusting stench as the messenger.

With a growl I felt through his body Blackpelt finally gained his feet, my own dangling down near his butt and the free clawed hand rached round and grabbed me by the ankle. With one great heave of his shoulders I went sailing through the air again, a clump of his fur still in my fist.

I clipped my hip on the doorframe as I flew through it and spun awkwardly through the air before landing hard enough to dig a furrow in the earth with my elbow. I stopped with my back propped against Tima’s forelegs and the two Denvii rushed forward to help me up.

I felt something warm and sticky run over my upper lip and brushed it away with the back of my arm. I looked down at the telltale red smear of blood and tried to get a good look at my own nose.

“Champion, are you okay?” Rima asked, his eyes full of concern.

Nel looked like she was about to cry as she patted me down for injuries.

I took stock: Broken nose. Broken ribs. Possible punctured lung. Thrown around like a rag doll. Bruised and battered.

I spat blood to the side and bared my teeth in a grin, my eyes locked on the door to the longhouse. I’d never felt so alive. Sanderson had done a bit too good of a job with my new body and it had been a long time since I’d had a challenging fight.

I let go of my energy, the orange glow fading from my skin, and pushed both Nel and Rima away. With slow deliberate movements I stomped on the ground, testing my footing. Next I ground my heel into the soil. It was soft and malleable, so bracing against a blow would be hard, I’d just slide everywhere and dig up clumps of dirt. Next I twisted my torso and was pleased to see I still had a full range of motion, even with the fucked up ribs, there was a slight twinge of pain but nothing too severe.

I saw a shadow moving in the depths of the house but ignored it. Taking a deep breath I concluded my lung wasn’t punctured which was good, I didn’t want to be coughing up blood for the whole fight. Next and I ran a finger along my nose to see if it was broken and was surprised to feel it wasn’t.

Oh, right. Healing mass conversion. Oops.

The shadow moved into the light streaming through the doorway and I saw the Alpha peer outside at me. I gave him the finger and laughed low in my throat.

“You three need to move away. I can’t guarantee your safety.” I told them. They didn’t move and I rolled my eyes before pushing them from my thoughts. It was fight time and if they got in the way...well I had warned them so I was no longer responsible.

I quickly checked my stats.

My integrity was inching up towards 100% and I still have roughly 17 lbs of stored mass left. My bones are dense and healing the rib must have taken quite a bit of material. Probably had to repair some broken muscle strands and crap too.

My power levels were at 83%, which was better than I had expected.

All in all, I was ready to get to it!

Blackpelt struggled with the door again and I took the time to slowly start walking towards him. I’d have to stay close to him and move fast if I was planning on walking away from this. I didn’t know how well he healed, but if it was anything like the previous Forgotten then I needed to pile on the damage until it outstripped his regen or destroy the brain, zombie style.

The Alpha popped from the doorway and stumbled down the steps. I overclocked as I sprung forward to meet him. The first swing of his axe sailed over my head and I dropped to a knee, my speed dragging me under the blow and I slid in the mud to stop a little behind him. I twisted at the waist, driving a closed fist into the back of his right knee, the joint buckled forward but he didn’t fall.

Blackpelt twisted around and I twisted with him, rolling sideways from my kneeling position, so I once more came up behind him. I threw the same punch to the same knee. He stumbled again and then, with an angry growl, he twisted twisted around faster this time with his axe leading. The blade came down in a diagonal slash but I wasn’t there. I had already rolled to the right and ended up in front of him. Pushing power to my legs, I jumped up and hammered an uppercut into his chin even as his body was brought down with the movement of his own swing. There was a sound like cannon fire and the Alpha staggered back..

So did I. I glanced down and frowned. The skin along my knuckles were split, my own red blood coating the fist, and two of my fingers were bent more than they should have been.

I wasn’t sure if I had damaged myself or him more.

Blackpelt was being careful now. He circled me, the axe held loosely at his side. I turned, keeping him in my field of vision. Something flew over my shoulder and suddenly a spear was impaled in his chest. The piece of wood vibrated as it stuck out of the Alpha and the giant wolf yelped in pain, one large hand curling around the shaft to pull it out. Its beady eyes were fastened over my shoulder.

He had just managed to remove the spear when something else flew over my shoulder and a pouch exploded in the things face. Red powder coated Blackbelts face and the werewolf howled in pain, dropping his axe and forgetting about the spear wound in its chest as it pawed at its eyes.

“Its blind!” Nel called out.

That was all I needed. Still overclocking I sprinted across the distance separating us and launched myself into the air. Twisting at the waist and torquing my whole body to get behind the movement I superman punched the alpha in the snout. It stumbled back with a whimper and I landed on the ground in a roll before springing to my feet and twisting around.

I lashed out at the blinded, injured wolf, my straight stomp connecting with its knee. The power and strength of my legs worked together to do what my fist couldn’t. There was a crack, like a twig breaking, and suddenly the limb was facing the wrong way. Once more the Alpha toppled over.

Tit for tat motherfucker! I ran forward and dropped a kick into its side, my body vibrating with the amount of power I was using. The massive body actually lifted off the ground by a few feet.

“Wooo! High five!” I said, holding up my palm for Rima to slap it. He looked at me funny. Guess they don’t have that here. ‘Nevermind. Wanna pass your sword so I can kill this thing before it regenerates?”

Rima pulled his sword from its sheath and threw it through the air. I caught it by the handle and spun it around, feeling the heft. It was a solid practical weapon and the rough leather grip felt good in my hands. Lifting the blade over my head with both hands I aimed for the Alpha’s neck and swung.

The blade barely did more damage than my hand knife had done. The keen metal edge made it’s way through the thick matted fur but got stuck an inch in. Blackpelt sprung to his feet, madness in his eyes as he reached out for me. I skipped out of reach, thinking furiously for some way to kill the fucker. My eyes landed on the axe in the grass.

My momentary lapse of focus cost me. I was too late to dodge the clawed hand that cleaved into my chest and stomach. I tried to move with the blow to limit the damage but all it did was let me get thrown like a bitch. I hit the ground flat on my back and rolled to my feet, hands coming up to defend against another attack.

Blackpelt wasn’t coming for me though. Apparently he didn’t like the blinding powder because he was bearing down on Nel. I felt panic well up in me. I was too far away to help. She was going to get hurt! Then Tima was there. The giant lizard threw herself bodily into the rampaging Alpha and he actually stopped. She was bigger and heavier than him.

The Alpha raised an arm and brought it down with a crunch. Tima slumped to the side and I had to choke back a scream of rage. Before Blackpelt could do anything more Rima jumped over the still form of his mount. I hoped Tima was okay, She had stopped the charge and given me the time I needed to get what I wanted. The axe.

I struggled to lift it, even overclocking as I was, but I had it and the blade was the same black Bores bone thing as Rima’s spear and that was sharp as hell.

“Rima! Brace!” I yelled, hoping he would understand.

He did. I saw his spider legs widen their stanch and quiver as he hugged Blackpelt and held back the bulk of the Alpha. The spider guardian’s human body was wrapped tightly around the wolf, his face buried in Blackpelts navel. The Alpha tore up his back, green blood splattering through the air in great wide arcs to blend in with the grass, but Rima didn’t let go and the Alpha couldn’t reach Nel.

“Nel! Blind him!” I yelled, stooping low to pick up Rima’s spear with my other hand.

Nel pulled another pouch from her satchel and threw it in the Alpha’s face. This time the powder was black but the wolf still roared with rage. Crouching low, her spider legs unfurling, Nel pulled the knife from her belt and sprung forward. She climbed over her brothers body and twisting around Blackpelts flailing arms, she anchored herself near his head with her multiple legs hooked around his torso and shoulders for stability.

With a ferocity that was almost arousing she drew her dagger up before driving it towards the Alpha’s head. Through sheer luck, the blinded wolf twisted his head at the last millisecond and the blade sunk into the meat of his shoulder and not his skull. Blackpelt howled again, not with the same pitch as before, but still loud enough that I winced, and he started to thrash about.

“Nel!” I yelled out and threw the spear.

In a move so smooth and graceful it seemed choreographed she flung herself off the wolfs head, twisted in the air to catch the spear, twirled it around and drove it through his other shoulder as she fell. All in one fluid movement.

Held in place by Rima, injured by Nel and blinded by powder the Alpha was losing energy and that's when I stopped my run, planted my foot, and twisted. The blade of the axe slid along the ground behind me, following a rising arc from near my left foot all the way round till it dug deep into the Alpha’s back, severing his spine.

He crumpled and with him went Rima, the Denvii was breathing hard through his nose, his eyes wide and distant. His fair skin was covered in his own blood. I took a quick second to give him a pat on the shoulder and mutter “Good work”. His red eyes focused on me long enough for him to nod.

I looked at the Alpha as it clawed at the ground, a long rasping growl bubbled up from its throat as black blood stained the ground around its lower half and filled the air with the smell of decay.

“End it!” Nel said from her place near Tima. She had the lizards head in her lap and was stroking her scaled nose. I hoped that meant she was okay.

Hefting the axe up to rest on my shoulder I stared the Alpha in the eye as I sauntered close.

“You loose.” I whispered, swinging the axe up and around before driving it down, not on the wolfs throat but midway through his face. Less muscle and it was thinner. I had to swing twice before the top of Blackpelts head popped off and his brains slipped out but it got done.

I looked back at the group. Rima had dragged himself over to sit beside Nel and they had their arms around each other. He was looking better already and Tima had her eyes open, her slitted pupil watching me.

Hefting the axe back onto my shoulder I put a foot up on the slain beasts chest and said. “I had it handled.”