The Carrion Mother began to lope forward, gaining speed with every stride that shook the cobblestones beneath her massive paws.

  Without a word, Lia's bodyguard swept her into his arms as though she weighed nothing at all.

  "What? No—put me down!" She thrashed against his grip, but he'd already vaulted back into the saddle in one fluid motion.

  The horse reared beneath them, hooves skittering on the cobblestones. The bodyguard snapped a crystal hanging at his neck, and blue light crackled down his legs into the horse's flanks. The beast bolted instantly, speed doubling in a blur of motion as it tore back through the village and away from the threat.

  Must be nice, John thought distantly, watching them disappear.

  The Carrion Mother charged toward him, both mouths gaping wide to reveal rows of stained teeth. Ropes of dark mucus dripped from her jaws onto the stones below.

  John's heart pounded hard enough that he could feel it in his throat. The beast was closing fast, eating up the distance between them with terrifying speed.

  "It's all right," he whispered to himself, tightening his grip on Moonfang. "I know you."

  He dumped every point he had into Dexterity and Endurance, feeling the surge hit him just as the Mother lunged forward with enough force to shatter stone. John rolled clear before she could flatten him, coming up with Moonfang already swinging. The blade slashed across her foreleg and dark blood sprayed in an arc.

  She barely slowed.

  He kept moving, staying mobile, refusing to let her pin him down. Dodge, punish, dodge again. Each move executed with the precision of countless repetitions, muscle memory taking over where conscious thought would be too slow.

  Jaws snapped at empty air. Claws swung in deadly arcs that missed by inches. John's grin was wild and he could feel his heart racing, but his hands stayed steady on the blade. He drove the beast into the sequence he knew by heart, the same deadly rhythm he'd practiced through hundreds of runs in another life.

  The wounds he inflicted barely slowed her down. Moonfang glowed fiercely as it bit into her hide again and again, but John could feel the gap in their levels like a physical weight. He was dodging attacks by inches now, close enough to feel the wind of each near-miss. One solid hit and it would all be over. His lungs burned with the effort and sweat stung his eyes, blurring his vision.

  If he didn't end this quickly, his second death would make the first look pleasant by comparison.

  Then came a sharp invocation that cut through the chaos.

  "Aloras Grace!"

  Soft warmth spread across John's back like sunlight breaking through clouds. His limbs suddenly felt weightless, tireless. The ache of exhaustion that had been building in his muscles melted away as if it had never existed.

  He risked a glance over his shoulder. Lia had returned, her fine robes now streaked with mud and torn at the hem. Her bodyguard was closing fast behind her with his sword already drawn and fear etched clearly on his weathered face.

  The Carrion Mother's burning yellow eyes locked onto Lia with predatory focus. The glow of magic surrounding the girl made her stand out like a beacon in the darkness. With a guttural roar that echoed off the village buildings, the beast abandoned John entirely and charged straight for the easier prey.

  Panic spiked hot and sharp in John's chest. He swung desperately, Moonfang cutting deep into the Mother's flank, but the wound didn't slow the beast at all. She thundered past him with single-minded purpose, both jaws gaping wide.

  Lia froze in place, her eyes wide with sudden terror.

  Then her bodyguard moved with the speed that only enhanced magic could grant.

  He shot forward in a blur of blue light that left afterimages. His shield came up and slammed into the Carrion Mother's chest with the sound of a thunderclap, like a truck hitting a stone wall at full speed.

  The impact stopped her charge dead in its tracks. The massive creature actually staggered backward several steps, thrown completely off-balance by the sheer overwhelming force of the blow.

  John didn't hesitate or waste the opening. He lunged low, bringing Moonfang around in a vicious arc aimed at the beast's legs. Tendons snapped like overstressed strings as the blade cut deep enough to scrape bone. Blood sprayed across John's face, hot and reeking, as the monster howled in rage and pain. Her massive frame pitched forward, crashing into the mud hard enough to shake the ground.

  The earth trembled from the impact. Her jaws snapped blindly, so close that the air itself seemed to split from the force of it. Rancid hot breath washed over John in a wave, the stench so overwhelming it got all the way down the back of his throat and made him want to gag.

  "Keep the pressure on her!" Garren bellowed, already moving in with his longsword raised high. The blade came down in a vicious arc that carved a deep line across the Mother's flank, and she roared in pain and escalating fury.

  John was already moving before the sound faded, Moonfang seeking out gaps in her defense with practiced efficiency. A slash across the foreleg, more tendons severing with wet snaps that made his stomach turn. The Mother's leg buckled beneath her weight.

  She thrashed wildly in response, massive body writhing. One enormous paw swung out in a wide, desperate arc. Garren got his shield up in time, but even so the force of the blow still sent him flying backward. He hit the ground hard, armor clanging loudly against the cobblestones.

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

  "Garren!" Lia's voice cracked with panic and fear.

  She raised both hands quickly, words in an ancient language spilling from her lips in a rush. A dome of golden light sprang into existence around Garren's prone form just as the Mother slammed her full weight into it. The barrier held firm, rippling like disturbed water as it absorbed the tremendous impact, giving Garren just enough time to roll clear of her reach.

  John staggered as the speed buff finally wore off, feeling suddenly heavy and slow. But he forced himself to dart in anyway for another slash across the creature's shoulder. Sparks flew as Moonfang's glowing runes bit deep into corrupted flesh.

  "Die already!" Garren roared, charging back into the fray with renewed determination. He slammed his battered shield into the beast's jaw with bone-jarring force, staggering her for just a heartbeat. John didn't waste the precious opening. He slashed hard across her other leg, feeling the blade bite deep.

  The Carrion Mother bellowed, her cry echoing off the buildings. She was crippled now, both legs damaged and barely supporting her massive bulk. But she was still lethal, still moving with terrifying power despite her wounds.

  Then John saw it, the slightest twitch of her shoulders, a tell he'd seen a hundred times before. His memory screamed at him with the pattern he'd died to so many times. "DODGE LEFT!"

  Garren didn't question the warning or hesitate. He threw himself left without thinking just as the Mother's jaws slammed down with crushing force exactly where he'd been standing a heartbeat before. Her teeth sheared through the cobblestones like they were butter, leaving deep gouges in the solid stone. Garren's eyes went wide at how close that had been, but he was already swinging again, aiming for the beast's exposed neck.

  Lia's magic flared once more, brighter this time. Her knees were shaking with the effort and her face had gone pale, but she raised her voice again in determination. More light poured into John like liquid strength. His fatigue melted away again, his limbs suddenly moving with that same incredible enhanced speed.

  The Carrion Mother's growl dropped lower, becoming a rumble that was felt more than heard. It vibrated deep in John's chest, resonating in his bones. Her twin maws snapped toward him viciously, strings of black saliva whipping through the air like wet ropes.

  He ducked beneath the strike with inches to spare, rolled forward through the mud, and brought Moonfang up in a brutal upward arc. The blade carved through the beast's throat in one clean motion, the glowing runes along its length flaring white-hot with power.

  The monster reeled backward, blood fountaining from the massive wound in dark spurts.

  But she didn't fall.

  Her massive frame swayed dangerously, black blood sheeting down her chest in rivers. But somehow her legs locked and held her weight. Her mouths split wide in defiance, and the roar that erupted from deep in her chest shook the very stones beneath John's feet. The sound was primal and terrible, clawing at his skull and setting his teeth painfully on edge.

  She lunged forward with desperate fury.

  John threw himself sideways, feeling the rough cobbles scrape hard against his shoulder. Her jaws snapped shut with terrible force exactly where his head had been just a moment before. The wind from the strike whipped his hair back and he could feel how close it had been.

  Too close. Way too close.

  He rolled quickly to his feet, Moonfang already coming up for another swing. But the beast pivoted to face him with terrifying speed despite all her wounds. One massive paw slammed down into the ground right beside him, claws gouging deep trenches into the stone. The impact sent shock waves through his legs, nearly knocking him off balance.

  "Why won't you die!" Garren shouted from across the battlefield, circling around to try to flank the creature. His shield was visibly dented now and his breathing came ragged and harsh.

  John didn't answer, too focused on the fight. His mind raced frantically through the encounter's patterns, trying desperately to recall the exact kill sequence from the game. The throat wound should have triggered the collapse animation. That's how it always worked before.

  But the Mother just kept moving, kept attacking with undiminished fury.

  Garren shot forward once more, his whole body suddenly engulfed in crackling blue light. He crashed into the Carrion Mother's side just as she was planting her forelegs to lunge at John again. The massive creature reeled backward from the enhanced impact, her enormous body actually lifting clear off the ground for a moment.

  John's eyes narrowed as everything suddenly clicked into place. He saw the opening between her twin skulls that he'd been waiting for. That fragile hollow ridge that was only revealed when she fell to her side at just the right angle.

  A tiny window of opportunity that lasted maybe two seconds. He'd died to missing this exact moment a hundred times in the game.

  "Now or never," he hissed through gritted teeth.

  He sprinted forward and up her flank as the beast toppled sideways, using her own body as a ramp. Garren shouted something—probably a warning—but John kept going, his shoes slipping and sliding on the slime-covered hide as he scrambled higher.

  The tiny hollow between her skulls gleamed wet in the pale moonlight, pulsing faintly with what remained of the monster's fury and life force.

  John raised Moonfang high overhead with both hands gripping the hilt and drove it straight down with every ounce of strength he had left.

  The enchanted steel punched through skull and brain with a wet, sickening crack that he felt more than heard. The creature convulsed violently beneath him, both sets of jaws snapping uselessly in one final, silent scream. Blood and thick ichor sprayed upward in a geyser, coating John completely from head to toe in gore.

  Carrion Mother defeated.

  [Level Up!] x8

  [Experience Siphoned to Unique Title!]

  [Experience Siphoned to Unique Title!]

  [Titles Gained!]

  [Skills Gained!]

  For a long, breathless moment, no one moved. John lay sprawled across the corpse, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Moonfang was still buried to the hilt in the beast's skull.

  Then the villagers erupted in ragged, disbelieving cheers. Shouting prayers of thanksgiving to whatever gods they worshipped. Men dropped to their knees, laughing in relief. Some sobbed with their heads in their hands.

  Lia swayed where she stood, her face pale and clearly exhausted from channeling so much magic. Her bodyguard ran immediately to her side to support her, but her eyes never left John. She stared at him as though she were witnessing the birth of a legend.

  "You..." Her voice shook with emotion. "You really killed it."

  John yanked Moonfang free from the corpse with some effort, dark ichor dripping steadily off the blade. His arms trembled from exhaustion and his breath still came in ragged gasps that burned his lungs. But when he looked down at himself, he didn't have a single scratch on him.

  He met her wide eyes steadily.

  "Yeah," he rasped, his voice rough. "Guess I did."