Chapter 9: The Wolf of Ariti

Lasers streaked across the bridge as the sailors scattered from the barricade.

Behind them, the hulking metal giant roared triumphantly, sword raised high. In his other hand, the screeching captain choked, flailing about.

A stray laser slammed into the chest of a pirate, ricocheting off into the ceiling. Another burnt into the side of a sailor and he screamed, falling to the ground.

“Let… me… down!” Captain Harvey choked, hands hammering on the steel that held him aloft. His face was bright red from asphyxiation.

“As you wish, swine,” the warrior replied.

In one explosive movement, he pivoted forward, smashing Harvey into the floor. Yan could hear a sickening crunch as the captain smashed through a dining chair.

Harvey twitched once, and was still.

As chaos reigned, something tinkled across the floor.

It was an opaque cylinder no larger than a coffee mug.

The object slid the last few feet to stop at the feet of a pirate hidden behind a long control panel.

The woman, just darting up from cover to fire at a target, ducked back down. Her eyes alighted on the canister.

Written across the front were the words: “Canary P1 Antipersonnel”.

Her eyes widened. “Grenade!”

The three pirates around her turned to look.

Then, the grenade detonated.

A wave of shrapnel burst outwards, rending clothes and flesh alike. One sliced through the woman’s jugular and she dropped.

Blood sprayed across the controls.

In the wake of the shrapnel, a cloud of ultra-high temperature plasma cascaded outwards, expanding, boiling and killing.

Flesh bubbled and sloughed away from bones. Electronics fizzed and popped. The steel around the impact point vaporised. A torrent of searing heat blasted outwards and the three remaining pirates caught in its radius died instantly.

They never even had the time to scream.

As the superheated gas rose, the displaced oxygen poured back into the space left behind. What remained of the pirates combusted, the flames leaping high into the air.

The intercom crackled to life with an automated message. “Alert! Fire detected on bridge. Sprinklers activated.”

Immediately, the overhead sprinklers kicked in, unleashing a wave of foam across the chamber. One of the pirates roared in pain as froth sprayed into his eyes.

He stumbled backwards and a laser sliced clean through his skull. The man collapsed without another sound.

Target eliminated, Luke immediately unleashed a stream of lasers at the next.

The remaining pirates dived for cover from the new threat, even as a concentrated burst of lasers tore right through the chest of another.

“Take them down!” Yan bellowed, charging in through the open hatch. Everything was covered in a layer of rapidly dissolving foam. She forced the stench of cooked flesh from her mind.

Sensing the turning tide, a scattered cheer rose from the surviving defenders.

With a hiss of air from his power armour, the Wolf wheeled around to face Yan. She saw his helmet move, his eyes probably surveying the battlefield.

“Pathetic.”

A sailor came a little too close and he struck, his blade slicing clean through the man’s arm. Electricity danced through the hapless sailor and he collapsed, twitching wildly.

Yan rushed forward, sliding the last few feet to strike the Wolf across his right knee. Her knife clanged off, jarring her arm.

Side-stepping around the hulking giant, she cursed aloud. The joints were usually the weak spots of the armour. If her knife could not penetrate, it spelt trouble.

But there was more she could try.

A laser slammed into her shield as one of the two remaining pirates trained his gun on her. But she ignored him, bringing her blade around to strike at the back of the giant’s knee.

Predicting her move, the Wolf stepped forward. His giant stride brought him clear of her strike and he kicked backwards with his other leg.

Yan backpaddled.

The steel sledgehammer of a limb missed her by a hair’s breadth.

With another hiss, her opponent wheeled around, trapping her against the barricade that the defenders had built. Lasers slammed into his armour, searing into the steel.

Yan was starting to suspect that this beast was invulnerable.

Through the gap between his legs, she saw that her squad had poured into the bridge. Luke ducked a wild swing from a wide-eyed pirate and slammed his rifle into the man’s skull.

The pirate went out like a light.

“Bah! You’re pathetic, all of you! We are the hunters! We will not fall to the weak!” The Wolf roared. His sword rocketed forward, faster than Yan would have thought possible.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It was only by pure luck that she managed to sway aside. His sword crackled through the air above her, passing clean through her shield.

She could feel her hair stand on end.

One swipe from that, no matter where, and she would be dead.

“Run, little girl, run!” He roared, bringing his sword around for another strike.

Seeing an opening, she dove forward, trying to get around him - and a palm of steel slammed into her side. She flew through the air and crashed into the wall before tumbling to the ground.

Something cracked in her chest.

Pain shot through her side as she tried to get to her feet. A few of her ribs had most likely been broken.

Breathing hurt.

Had her ribs pierced her lungs?

She fell back down.

“Take this, you steel monster!” Yan looked up. That was Neon’s voice.

He was standing in the blasted-open doorway, tossing a grenade up and down in one hand. Then, he flung it across the room.

Even before the grenade landed, the giant spun around. With the speed of a striking snake, he kicked it right back.

Neon let out a wild screech and dived out into the corridor.

There was a blast and a scream.

“I love it when you lot scream. That’s what prey should do,” The Wolf roared with laughter as he turned back towards Yan, lasers burning into his back. The sailors were concentrating fire on the beast.

But he did not falter. His sword lanced towards Yan. She tried to twist aside but her body would not comply.

Death flew towards her.

Then, there was a blinding flash of light. The blare of a horn tore through the room. Her opponent stumbled aside, roaring in rage.

Blinking the spots away from her vision, Yan saw melted metal all the way down the right side of the Wolf’s power armour.

Across the bridge, Luke lowered his rifle. The air in front of him was distorted from the heat of his shot.

Yan recalled what the guard had said about the BAR-16. He had unleashed all the cells in his cartridge on that single burst.

For a moment, a hush fell over the battlefield.

Then, Luke started ejecting spent cells.

“Aim for the eyes!” He bellowed.

The remaining defenders tried to comply as the metal beast turned and charged towards Luke. However, hitting the tiny viewport on this moving beast was easier said than done.

“You scum! You will pay for this! I will rip you apart!” The Wolf thundered.

Yan could feel the pain in his voice. That blast had cooked him even through his armour.

She had to get up. But her body was not listening. The world was starting to recede, the sounds of battle dimming.

Was this it? What could she do?

Wait. What about the Quick-Heal patches?

Numb fingers reached for her holster only to find it buttoned shut. She fumbled around but it was impossible to open in her current state.

Through her hazing vision, she saw the Wolf skewer a sailor and then fling his convulsing corpse aside.

The ground shook from the force of the giant’s steps.

“Die… Die… Die…” Yan was sure that he was shouting but the shouts sounded like they came from underwater.

If only she could use [Telekinesis]. From that snippet of her past she still possessed, she knew that it was a basic spell. She should have chosen Magic Initiate during the last level up.

Hold on. Had she already levelled up again?

Sierra!

“Severe damage detected in thoracic region. Hi, ImYan, please administer critical first aid immediately.”

I’m trying! I need to level up!

There was a brief pause. To Yan, it felt like an eternity.

Then, she heard that whirling in her eye. “Congratulations! You have reached Level 3!”

The ability selection screen appeared in her vision. It was superimposed over the Wolf as he batted Luke’s gun aside. The lightning blade flashed, narrowly missing Luke’s head.

There were only two abilities she could choose from:

image [https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/4/patreon-media/p/post/134930885/44e232b5cec446e68d0f70e050125893/e30%3D/1.png?token-hash=5zAUhYcK6W9JPARHFSwmMl9aPoTMIXlPjmaB4zFyJvo%3D&token-time=1754784000]

Magic Initiate!

The selection screen vanished. Her eye clicked and launched into a rapid disclaimer, “Prior to commencement, I’m legally obligated to inform you that -”

I accept! Just do it!

“Initiating level-up procedures.”

There was a brief zap across the entirety of her brain. Then, three textboxes appeared in her vision in rapid succession:

“Spell unlocked: Tier 1 - [Lesser Illusion]”

“Spell unlocked: Tier 1 - [Magic Bolt]”

“Spell unlocked: Tier 1 - [Telekinesis]”

Where once she would have had to guess, she now knew that all were basic spells that normally required only a mage’s own innate mana pool to function. Even [Drain] was much higher tier.

Magic Initiate was working.

Regardless of the spells’ tiers, she could work with them. Her mind might be dulling but she could still think.

Reaching deep into herself, she saw it. That roiling, ethereal pool of her own life force. Her mana. She had a moment of consternation. The pool was wide and deep but the mana only took up a small layer at the very bottom, like a drained lake.

It was as if her inner life force had shrivelled and dried up. There was only enough mana to cast maybe four Tier 1 spells.

Shaking that confusion aside, Yan reached into her mana pool, pulled out a strand of glistening blue and willed it to follow her bidding.

[Telekinesis]

There was movement in her holster and a little package wiggled out of the gap between the lid and container.

It levitated up Yan’s body and then, tore itself open. As the wrapper fell, the patch within slapped itself onto her neck.

The feeling of cool liquid against bare skin. The prick of a needle.

Her thoughts cleared. Her vision sharpened. There was movement in her chest as she felt her broken ribs pull away from her punctured lungs. Her organs mended.

Then, it stopped.

Yan could feel the last of the green liquid fade away into her body.

Her ribs were still broken. Pain continued to thrum through her body. One Quick-Heal patch could only do so much.

There was a cry of pain and Yan looked up.

The Wolf was turned towards her, an open hand flying towards Luke. The guard was trying to back away but with his injured leg, he was not quick enough. Laughing, the warrior’s hand clamped around Luke’s neck.

Effortlessly, he hoisted the struggling guard into the air.

“Finally. When will you prey learn to lie down and die? My job would be so much simpler.”

Yan stumbled to her feet. There was no time for the other patch.

Drawing on all her remaining mana, she pulled out three [Magic Bolts]. They coalesced around her head, whirling so quickly that they formed a blue halo.

Then, with a sigh of parting air, they surged forward.

Yan knew that [Magic Bolts] were probably no more powerful than a shot from a laser pistol. But, if they had one thing going for them, it was that they usually flew true.

As she watched, the bolts crashed right into the metal giant’s viewport. The first cracked the reinforced glass. The second smashed it into a thousand pieces.

The last streaked through the parting shards and slammed right into the Wolf’s eyes.

There was a wordless roar of pain. The warrior stumbled back, hands flying to his face. Luke slipped from his fingers.

The steel beast tottered for a moment.

Then, he collapsed onto his back with a resounding crash. His sword clattered to the ground, the electricity fizzling out.

Silence reigned for a moment before a ragged cheer rose from the surviving defenders.

Yan swayed on her feet. The innate mana of a mage was their life force and, needless to say, it was never a good idea to drain your mana pool.

Mages did not usually die from spellcasting, however. The act of casting a spell always reflexively preserved the tiniest bit of life force. At that point, the mage usually slipped into a coma until their mana reached usual levels.

But at least the battle was over.

The big, bad Wolf had fallen.

Through the glass viewport of the bridge, she could see the endless black void of space.

A sharp, hawkish vessel dropped into view, white-hot flames trailing from its engines. Her eyes were blurring. She could not make out much detail but it could only be the pirate ship.

For the second time in as many minutes, she could feel her mind receding. Only, this time, there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Captain, travel drive’s back online!” The voice came from far away, laden with static as if from a radio.

“La - Lads! Prepare for a ram! Full burn ahead! Give those Voidspawn pirates what for!” That was Captain Harvey’s voice. He was actually alive, albeit gasping with pain.

Through her fading senses, Yan could feel the ship lurch forward.

She felt the strength leave her body.

And the void rushed forward to meet her.