267 Face Your Fate

The werebear let out a baritone roar and charged towards the Alpha. He took on the werebear head-on. With an uppercut, Darric cracked the bottom jaw of the werebear. He could hear the crack and splintering of the bone from the impact of his attack. 

But he did not see the claws of the werebear that came from the side. With one full swipe, the werebear slashed down on Darric's side. He did not have time to dodge it. The sharpened claws of the werebear tore through his clothing and dug deep into the side of his ribs. 

"Argh!" Darric grunted in pain as he put distance between him and the werebear. 

The Alpha dropped down one knee as he accessed the wound. Three clawed marks on the side of ribs. How could he be so careless? Darric had hoped his attack would put out the werebear in an instant. But clearly, the yearning for vengeance was greater than the injury the werebear sustained. 

With its jaw dangling out of alignment, the werebear was in agony. Its face had been beaten in by what looked like a regular human. But its body was still pumped with adrenaline from the hunt, the fight. The werebear scanned the surrounding for his prey. But injuries to his face had caused his eyesight to suffer. 

He could barely make out the shapes in front of him. With a broken nose, all it could smell was the blood. But the werebear was not about to give up either. The werebear pushed its front legs off the ground, standing on its hind legs before letting out another blood-curdling roar. 

With momentum, it thumped back onto the ground and charged forward. Since it could barely see where it was going, the werebear charged straight into a tall sturdy oak tree. The beast successfully cracked the rest of its skull and dropped dead. 

Darric heaved a sigh of relief, with a grin on his face. He had sidestepped when he got away from the werebear, so he was not in its path of destruction. But the impact of the werebear's charged attack was strong enough to splinter the trunk of the oak tree. 

As the trunk began to break off and slant, Darric quickly realised that it was about to fall on his pack. 

Despite the intense pain on his ribs, he whistled and shouted, "MOVE!"

Every member of his pack heard their Alpha's call. They quickly moved away from the oak tree as it began to fall. Beta Bertuf was so engrossed in his fight with a werebear that he refused to move away from the fight. 

He wielded a great axe with two hands, sending it down on the werebear who dared to approach him. When Bertuf finally noticed the looming shadow coming from above him, he was ready to dash. 

But the werebear he had just cleaved clawed on his leg, refusing to let go. The Beta lifted his great axe into the air and yelled a warcry as he swung the axe down on the werebear's claws. He severed the werebear's arm with one swing. 

"Bertuf!" Darric called out. 

The Alpha gritted his teeth through the pain and dashed forward. If he had just been slower by the fraction of a second, both of them would have been crushed under the weight of the falling oak trunk. 

Bertuf dropped his great axe the moment he realised his Alpha had saved his life. 

"Darric!" Bertuf exclaimed. 

The pungent smell of blood oozing from his wounds was enough to inform Bertuf something wasn't right. As soon as he saw the gaping claw marks on Darric's ribs, he flinched. He had failed as the Beta to protect the Alpha. 

But the battle was not over yet. As the other members of the pack surrounded their Alpha and Beta, the remaining werebears circled around them. 

Up in the air, Vy had caught hold of Lycster who was about to fly off to spy on the other three werebears seemingly watching from a distance. 

"Sis let go of me! I'm going to go see who those people are. You and Aether-"

"Lycster! It's too dangerous," Vy cut him off anxiously.

He was just a child! He needed to be protected and cared for. Not running off to spy on the enemy. Lycster was a little annoyed that his sister was babying him now when she had previously encouraged him to be independent and fight for himself. What changed?

But their conversation would have to wait, as the werewolves were in need of assistance. 

"Leave those three be. We need to go and help Darric and his pack."

-Aether, I'm going to need your help.- Vy said to her Familiar. 

-You can take it on alone. It would make for good practice.- 

Vy descended upon the werebears. Since she had come from above, none of them saw her coming. She landed straight onto one of the werebears, crushing its spine as she landed. The remaining beasts immediately turned their attention to her. 

Speed was on her side, as she whizzed through each werebear, slashing them with her energy dagger. None of them stood a chance against her. With only a handful of them left, the werebears banded their strength together. 

With less space for Vy to manoeuvre, she was not able to get away as swiftly. One of the werebears grabbed hold of one of her tails, while another held onto her arm. But none of this mattered to her. 

With a click of her fingers, a blaze of flame spiralled around her body. As it danced and circled around her, the werebears let go swiftly in fear of being burnt. But the flame did not let them go either. 

The flame travelled across Vy's body and tails and lit the bears on fire. As soon as the blue flame burnt their fur and into their skin, the bears roared out in pain. Some tried to roll on the ground to put it out. 

But none of that worked for this was fire fueled by magic. Vy had full control over the flames as it spread across the body of the werebears. In the state of panic, the werebears lost their formation, giving Vy space to move swiftly once more. 

Although her energy dagger was effective in a close-range attack, Vy realised she needed a little more distance between them. When she saw Bertuf's great axe, she decided to borrow it from him. Up above, in the trees, Lycster decided to make himself useful. 

He took out his one-handed crossbow and aimed at the werebears. Their large size made them easy targets. He launched his first three arrows into the air. But the hide of the werebear he aimed at was too thick for his arrows to pierce through.