The Wolf

"Great, not again," Brett sighed and turned to see what it would be this time.

Camdon stood behind them, growling, eyes narrowed. His hair stood straight up on his head, and as they watched his eyes started glowing a dull red. Fangs like needles schiiiikked into place where normal human teeth should have been. Camdon's chest narrowed and bulged grotesquely, claws extended from fingers, and fur rippled across his skin.

"You should have said something before," Brett said, cracking his knuckles and settling into a more defensive posture. "We could have taken this outside." Brett glanced over his shoulder, where Levi was scrambling back out of the cage of sports equipment. "Stay back Levi."

"I got your back," Levi answered, completely ignoring his advice. He dragged a hockey stick out from the supply room, eyes shining with excitement.

"Dude, you can't handle this," Brett turned slightly, focusing his attention on Levi. In that moment the wolf-Camdon was rushing him.

Camdon was now a totally transformed monster. He ran on all fours, with great curving talons instead of nails. Saliva dripped from his toothy maw, and his pointed black ears were pressed tight to his skull.

Brett was ready. His pulse quickened in excitement. He dropped to the floor, letting Camdon sail over him. The monster just missed, and Brett caught at the back paws before it had time to react, yanking it forward. Heaving the wolf-like creature now bigger than a tiger, he smashed it into the ground, cracking the linoleum flooring.

It was back on its feet in a second, teeth firmly bared in Brett's direction. The beast now favored one front paw. Its hackles raised, the thing that had looked like a boy only minutes before cut loose with a shivery, hungry hum, like the grumble of a diesel truck on steroids. They circled each other slowly, each looking for an opening.

That's when Levi came up from behind and swatted the monster wolf over the head with the hockey stick. Probably not the smartest decision he'd made in his life.

Camdon howled and swiped at him, breaking the hockey stick in two. Levi stumbled away, a comic terror pasting his face.

Brett leaped forward as the beast sprang for Levi's throat, just barely managing to pull the creature off of the smaller teen. He strained to keep the thing contained, Levi yelling and screaming to get it off of him, muscles straining as it struggled forward.

The wolf thing turned, teeth snapping, and grazed Brett's arm. Its claws scraped gouges across his chest.

A moment later they were all tumbling, twisting, falling down onto a branch of the Tree.

That's how Brett always thought of the strange gold-green twilight of leaf-litter and rough bark. He'd been here several times before, always just before or during a fight with some kind of monster. What made this visit different is that this time someone else had come along as well.

A moment after Brett and the Camdon wolf, Levi hit the ground, groaning.

Brett barely had time to worry about that. Almost before he could get to his feet the wolf was on top of him, snapping, scraping, clawing. Its jaws slobbered and bent forward, snapping inches from Brett's face. It twisted and bit down, hard, on Brett's arm, shaking him.

Brett gritted his teeth to keep from howling. He felt wet warmth in his arm, but managed to block out most of the pain. Rage tinged the edges of his vision red, and a feeling of invincibility engulfed him. A second later he gripped the wolf-things throat, injuries forgotten, and roared at it. The thing yipped back. Yanking it off his arm, Brett surged to his feet and tossed the beast away, all in one motion.

It thudded into a tree and lay still for a moment, stunned. The monster tried to regain its feet, wobbling, and then fell down, whimpering.

Brett ran over to Levi. "Are you alright? What did you think you were doing?" He yelled.

Levi stood shakily on his feet. "I'm alright."

"You won't be," the monster snarled, the worlds strangely twisted from its unnatural lips. "I'm merely the first. Soon my brothers will come for you, and they will tell others. The spawn of the dead gods shall not live." The creature hacked blood.

Brett broke off a branch of the tree, body trembling with adrenaline. As the creature made one final, halfhearted rush in their direction, Brett speared it through the chest. It shuddered once, and lay still.

"You killed him," Levi whispered, shocked.