Although he put on a brave face, Nicholas had no real plan. The monstrous figure loomed over him, easily twice his height, its long claws glinting faintly in the dim red light. The creature's wiry frame radiated a terrifying strength, each movement fluid and precise, like a predator toying with its prey.
'This thing's fast. Strong too. And I bet those claws aren't just for show.'
Still, he'd be damned if he let it see the fear gripping his chest.
Nicholas tightened his grip on the dagger, the hilt slick from his sweat. He summoned his darkness, letting it coil around him like a protective shroud.
'I just need to survive. Distract it long enough for help to show up.'
The creature tilted its head, the deer skull's hollow eyes staring straight through him. "Do you truly believe you can challenge me, child?" it asked, its voice unnervingly calm and smooth.
"Challenge? Nah," Nicholas shot back, forcing a smirk he didn't feel. "I'm here to win."
Without waiting for a response, he lunged forward, his dagger flashing in a tight arc aimed at the creature's torso. It moved impossibly fast, its claws swiping through the air in retaliation. Nicholas twisted mid-strike, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp talons, but the sheer force of the swing sent a gust of air that knocked him off balance.
'Damn it, it's faster than I thought.'
The creature didn't relent, stepping forward with eerie grace. Nicholas rolled to the side, narrowly dodging another swipe, and retaliated with a burst of dark tendrils aimed at the creature's legs. The tendrils coiled around its ankles, attempting to trip it, but the thing simply tore through them with its claws as if they were paper.
Nicholas rolled away again as he dodged the creature's stomp. What do I do? he wondered. Flames didn't work, tendrils didn't work, and his weapon made of Darkium didn't work either. He needed to think of something new to create, but what?
Maybe… just maybe he could try burning it from the inside. The creature was fast, but he was able to follow its movements with his eyes. He threw his dagger at its torso, but the creature deflected the weapon, sending it flying. Nicholas gritted his teeth, focusing on the dagger. I command you… he thought with urgency, willing the weapon to fly back to its intended target.
The dagger stopped mid-air and reversed course, slamming into the creature's abdomen. The beast barely reacted, its massive frame shrugging off the hit. However, Nicholas's lips curled into a determined grin. "But that's fine," he growled, extending his hand in a finger-gun motion aimed at the embedded dagger. "Burn."
The dagger ignited in an explosion of blue and black flames, engulfing the creature in a roiling inferno. The flames clung to its body like a living thing, licking hungrily at its flesh. Nicholas held his breath, hoping for the sound of its agonized screams, but the beast remained silent, rolling furiously on the ground to extinguish the fire.
"Stubborn thing," Nicholas muttered. The creature's movements were slower now, its charred skin crackling with each twitch. Yet its eyes burned with unrelenting malice, and it surged toward him again, claws gleaming in the dim light.
Nicholas scrambled to his feet, creating a barrier of Darkium just as the creature's claws raked toward him again. The barrier cracked under the blow's force, but it barely held.
"Clever," the creature said, almost mockingly. "But futile."
Nicholas growled, frustration mounting. 'I can't win in a straight fight. Need to outsmart it.'
Focusing on the ground beneath the creature, Nicholas spread a patch of darkness that grew like an inky stain. The creature hesitated for a split second, its claws pausing mid-swing.
That was all Nicholas needed.
The shadow erupted into a dome of thick, swirling fog. Taking advantage of the creature's confusion, Nicholas reshaped his dagger into a longer blade and struck, severing one of the creature's legs in a single, fluid motion.
The leg hit the ground with a dull thud, but the monster didn't even flinch. Instead, it reached out with its elongated arm, grabbing Nicholas with freakish strength.
"An appetizer is in order," it said, its jagged teeth glinting in the dim light.
Before Nicholas could react, it sank its teeth into the flesh between his neck and shoulder.
A scream tore from his throat, raw and agonized, as the creature ripped away a small chunk of flesh. The pain was blinding, his entire body wracked with agony as he heard the thing chewing.
Then, suddenly, the creature grimaced and spat the flesh to the ground. It flung Nicholas aside like a discarded toy.
"Hah! What a disgusting taste," it sneered. It's head tilted, as if in thought. "Yet… it feels strangely nostalgic. You… you are a child of dark."
Nicholas barely registered its words, too consumed by the searing pain in his shoulder. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his clothes and pooling in his mask, smearing across his face with every desperate breath.
He clutched at the wound, his vision swimming. 'I can't pass out now. Not here. Not like this.'
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to his knees, one hand still pressed to his shoulder as the creature loomed over him. Its antlers scraped the top of the tent, and the air around it felt heavy, oppressive, and suffocating.
But Nicholas wasn't done yet.
He clutched his wound with his left hand while raising his right, summoning a dagger into his grip once more. The blade trembled as much from his exhaustion as from the rage surging through him. He intended to fight until the bitter end.
Before he could lunge, the creature raised a hand, palm outward, signaling him to stop.
"There is no reason for us to fight here, my kin."
The words froze Nicholas in place.
What..? What the hell did that… wendigo-thing just say?
His breath hitched, blood still pooling in his mouth. Gritting his teeth, he dismissed his mask which turned into black smoke. The blood spilled from his face, splattering the ground beneath him.
His legs wobbled, barely able to hold his weight, and then gave out. He dropped to his knees, the wet, sickening sensation of the blood beneath him making him glance down.
A pool of his own blood spread outward, reflecting a faint and grotesque image of himself. His face was smeared with red, his eyes wide with exhaustion and fury.
He shuddered, bile rising in his throat before he doubled over, vomiting onto the bloodied ground.
Sick. Disgusted. Enraged. Furious.
"As if…" Nicholas growled, his voice hoarse but laced with venom. "As if I'm your kin, you fucking monster!"
The wendigo cocked its head to the side, its deer skull casting long, ominous shadows in the dim red light.
"Are you unaware of your origins, child of dark?" it asked, genuine confusion coloring its tone.
Nicholas's lips curled into a snarl, his teeth bared despite his trembling. "I'm human, you... you wendigo-thing."
The creature tilted its head further, the gesture unsettlingly birdlike, before straightening. Calmly, it bent down, picked up its severed leg, and reattached it with unnatural ease. The limb fused seamlessly as if it had never been severed.
Then, slowly and deliberately, the creature began walking toward him, its lanky form radiating an air of quiet menace.
"Ah… wendigo," it mused, almost to itself. "I haven't heard that name in ages." It stopped a few steps away, its towering figure casting Nicholas in its shadow. "You may call me that if it pleases you, child of dark. My name matters very little. But make no mistake… we are kin."
Nicholas flinched, his grip tightening on the dagger. The blade wavered, but his anger refused to wane.
"I'm nothing like you," he spat, his voice shaking with both fury and the toll of his injuries.
The wendigo crouched, its hollow, eerie gaze locking onto his.
"You may believe that," it said, its voice almost pitying. "But your blood does not lie." It leaned closer, and Nicholas could feel its cold breath, like the frost of a winter's night. "You are my kin. We are monsters of the dark."
Nicholas felt his stomach twist again, but he swallowed back the bile. His vision blurred with rage and fatigue, yet he refused to lower his dagger.
The wendigo continued, its voice now softer, as if coaxing a child. "Do you not wonder, child? Why the darkness answers your call? Why it bends to your will?" It gestured to the dagger in Nicholas's trembling hand. "At first, I thought you were a mere human, but you are, in fact, a monster like myself. Yet you reject it so… That made me wonder if you were perhaps a monster from the new fog. Yet your soul… it is old. You must have come from the same fog as I."
Nicholas scowled, barely grasping the meaning behind the creature's words. Instead, he focused on mending his wound with darkness, using the same crude technique he'd used exactly one week ago. The black mist hovered around the injury, attempting to staunch the flow of blood, though the strain left him lightheaded.
"Fog…?" Nicholas asked, his voice low and cautious. "You mean the Black Fog in the Sahara Desert?"
The wendigo nodded slowly, its hollow gaze fixed on him. "Yes. That is indeed the new fog."
"They said monsters resided in the Swart Rook… Those monsters are like you?"
"Not all of them," the wendigo replied, its tone almost amused. "See how neither of us are alike, yet we both come from the same place?"
Nicholas clenched his teeth, summoning the mask to his face once more. Its weight was a comfort, a barrier between him and this nightmare. "Stop saying I'm one of you, dammit! I'm human! I've been alive for fifteen—almost sixteen—years. The Swart Rook formed on a completely different continent than the one I was born on!"
Silence fell between them. The wendigo tilted its head, as though contemplating something profound. "Strange… how very strange. But that does not matter at the moment." It straightened, its towering frame casting a shadow over Nicholas. "What matters is your intent now."
Nicholas smirked beneath his mask, though his body screamed in protest. "Isn't it obvious? I kill you and get hailed as a hero."
The wendigo shook its head, a faint sound of disappointment escaping it. "How utterly predictable. Despite being a monster, you have chosen to side with humans. In time, you will realize that is a grave mistake."
Before Nicholas could respond, the creature's foot lashed out, striking him square in the chest. The force sent him skidding backward, his body crashing into a pile of debris. Pain exploded in his ribs, but he forced himself to his feet, breathing heavily.
With trembling fingers, he forged a metal plate over his wound, using the darkness to bind it tight. It was crude, but it would have to do.
'I need a plan. Something clever. Something that can hold it off.'
The wendigo didn't relent, its skeletal claws gleaming as it advanced with an almost leisurely menace. Nicholas hurled another burst of dark tendrils at its feet, desperate to stall its approach, but the creature shredded them with effortless precision.
"You will learn soon, child," it said, its voice like a knife gliding over stone, smooth yet grating. "How futile your defiance truly is. Do you think me unique? I am but a shadow of what lies beneath, one among countless others. In the deepest corners of this Earth, a legion of nightmares stirs—beasts far greater, far more monstrous than I. Even as we speak, thousands of your kind are being torn apart, their screams swallowed by the dark. Would it not be easier... sweeter... to embrace what you are and join us?"
The wendigo lashed out with a claw, slicing through Nicholas's back. He staggered forward, fresh blood spilling in a crimson torrent. The pain was excruciating, yet he clenched his jaw, refusing to give the monster the satisfaction of hearing him scream.
Then, like a knife to his sanity, music filled the air. The haunting sound of children singing—a choir, their voices high and lilting—echoed through the darkness. It was a lullaby, its melody sweet but deeply unnerving, each word dripping with an unnatural distortion.
Nicholas gritted his teeth, the song burrowing into his mind like a parasite. As if this place couldn't get any creepier! he thought bitterly, his every nerve on edge.
"For now," the wendigo continued, its tone darkening into something almost reverent, "the newborns remain in the fog, cradled by its embrace, learning to endure the torment of this world. They are fragile now, huddling from the Sun's feeble rays, but that will not last. Soon, they will conquer their fear—shed their weakness-like skin. And when they emerge, ravenous and unyielding, this fragile world you know will be devoured. The Sun itself will dim in terror. The age of humanity will be nothing more than ash, blown away by utter destruction."
Nicholas's breath caught in his throat. The weight of the wendigo's words pressed down on him like a crushing force. Yet, even as fear clawed at his heart, he tightened his grip on his dagger. Not while I'm still breathing.
"Let me just ask you one thing. What do you plan on doing with the captives? Kill them?" Nicholas asked while glaring at the foul thing.
The Wendigo looked thoughtful for a moment. "Kill? That would be such a waste. I'll eat half and sell the other as slaves or something along those lines. Frankly, spending so much time here has taught me humans are a special kind of monsters of their own."
Then, the sounds of gunshots and fireworks erupted in the distance, shattering the dreadful tension.
The wendigo narrowed its hollow eyes, tilting its head slightly. "...What have you done?"
Nicholas smirked, his confidence returning with the cacophony of explosions. The sound of fireworks drowned out the haunting melody that had been clawing at his sanity. Relief surged through him, and for the first time, his smirk was genuine.
"I sided with humanity," he said, his voice steady, the smirk widening beneath his mask.