MACE

The forest blurred into a tunnel of shadow and whipping branches, a gauntlet I tore through with reckless abandon. My human lungs burned like bellows pumping fire, the residual poison in my blood protesting every explosive stride, but I fed the pain to my wolf. Fenris devoured it, converting agony into a raw, predatory fuel that pushed my body beyond its breaking point.

Beside me, Cassandra was a streak of grim determination, her magic flickering in violet trails around her boots, artificially enhancing her speed to match my partial shift. We didn't speak. The air between us was heavy with the unspoken weight of what we had left behind...