I woke, rising before a wilting lamp with only the memory of the pain that had consumed me. When I rang the bell as Or'do commanded, it produced grim, disheartening silence; I needed something that at this moment I lacked, perhaps the power came from slaying creatures of the Darkness. For now, I was alone.

Once more I battered a path through the swarm, until again I faced the Werewolves -a name that materialized in my mind as I studied their hunched, mottled forms- with equal parts trepidation and sanity devouring bloodlust. This time, as the first lunged, I anticipated its feint, and when its true attack came -a swipe of its formidable paw- I ducked beneath the outstretched hand, snapping my halberd back into its smaller form and plunging its ragged blade through the monster's taut abdomen. Muscle snapped with sickening twangs like sundered harpstrings, and its foul blood stained me as it vomited the warmth of its life into the cold air, and collapsed.

Its comrade was not cowed by this display, and merely lunged with gleaming teeth bared and talons striking sparks from the earth. I pivoted aside, slashing its flank and in the same motion lengthening the ax. When it turned, it hadn't time to widen its eyes in shock, before my halberd plunged between those luminous almonds, and tore apart that which lay beyond. Steam unfurled its soft, ashen wings and took flight from its open jaws as the monster toppled aside, laying motionless and suddenly seaming no longer a twisted creature, but a mere pup slaughtered in a rage as psychopathic as it was misplaced.