Killing a Wendigo

I walked past the dead imp and took a step deeper into the wood. My dagger was still in my hand, and I held it up as I moved carefully through the thicket. My heart was beating from anticipation as I pushed onward, but I did not let the silence fool me. Just because I didn't hear anything, didn't mean I was safe. If anything, the quiet was more deadly and deceiving, since it could fool someone into thinking everything was going to be alright.

I continued to move, with my blade raised to eye level. I could feel my blood pumping through me, and I kept my eyes on alert. I was in survival mode right now, alone in the black woods, deep into territory I knew almost nothing about.

Eventually, I came across a deep pit, and I peered down and stared into its abyss. I could make out the bottom, but it was a pretty good drop. If I hadn't been on high alert, that would have been a nasty fall.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I stepped around the gaping chasm.

"That was a close one."

As I continued on, I wondered if I was going to find anything at all. I'd been walking for at least an hour, and so far, I wasn't finding anything, and I was growing impatient.

Just as I thought I wasn't going to find anything, there was a low rumbling sound that came from my right side. I stood my ground and tightly gripped the hilt of the dagger as I pointed it in the direction of the noise.

Then I caught a pair of glowing yellow eyes staring right at me. They were so bright they illuminated everything around me, and I remained still as a gaunt, skeleton-like creature crawled from the darkness.

Its legs were hunched over, and it bared its long, yellow teeth at me. Its skin was sallow and decaying, and it almost resembled a human corpse. It smelled rotten, too, like dead rotting meat left in the heat for too long. My eyes stung as it neared me, but I had to fight off the unbearable stench.

The humanoid beast took another step forward, and I kept my blade pointed at the creature as I waited for it to attack. This thing looked as if it could be faster than the centaur, due to its slimmer figure, so I stared into its eyes and dared it to move forward.

I stood my ground and wondered how the hell I was going to overpower this beast. Then, as I met its dark, fathomless eyes, I remembered the pit I'd come across in the forest earlier.

I could lure this bastard back there and trap it.

"Come on," I taunted. "Come here, you ugly mother fucker."

The creature curled its lips back and exposed more rotting, daggersharp teeth. It moved slowly as if it was trying to determine what kind of prey or threat I was, so I pointed my weapon at it and readied myself.

The beast must have grown impatient because it finally lowered itself as close to the ground as possible, and I knew it was getting ready to leap at me.

So, I bolted toward the pit, and I didn't bother to look back. I knew the beast was chasing me because I could hear it snarl and crash through the underbrush on my heels. My heart hammered against my sternum as I ran for my life, and I sprinted practically blind through the dark woods. I had a decent sense of direction, though, and I eventually saw the pit in front of me.

The yawning black hole grew closer and closer, and as soon as I was close enough, I swerved to the right, completely out of the creature's way.

The beast couldn't stop itself in time, and it tumbled down into the hole with a loud yelp followed by a bone-crunching thud.

I laid there panting in the leaves for a moment before I pushed myself back to my feet. Then I inched over to the pit, and when I peered down, I cast the illumination spell to get a better look at the beast.

Its dark, soulless eyes were bulging out of its bony, humanoid face, and it wildly snapped its massive, prolonged jaw at me. The monster looked like a mix between a wolverine and a dangerously thin human being. Whatever it was, it wasn't trying to rise from the ground, and that's when I noticed there was something sticking through its torso. Its raw, peeling, and sickly green skin was gleaming with red blood that slowly pooled around the object, and when I looked a little closer, I finally saw what it was.

The beast had been impaled on a branch.

Most people would have left the creature to die on its own, but I knew I needed its blood. The more powerful the creature, the more potent the blood spell would be, after all.

So, like a madman, I gripped my dagger a little tighter, leapt into the hole, and landed on top of the creature with a thud. I dug my heels into the beast's stomach, and it tried to move its neck closer to snap at my leg, but it was unable to get any closer to me.

For now, at least, but I wasn't about to give it a second chance. Without thinking, I brought my blade downward and stabbed the monster in the chest with all the force I could muster.

As my dagger sliced into the creature's skin, it wailed louder than anything I'd ever heard before. Warm blood gushed out unto my hand, and the beast tried to wiggle away, but it tore its flesh as it tried to pry itself from the branch.

I briefly wondered why this thing wasn't immediately turning into ash like the centaur. Perhaps the dagger didn't work on all creatures? Or maybe it took longer for the dagger's power to take effect, especially if the creature was more powerful.

Either way, a blade was a blade, so I pulled my arm back and stabbed the creature again, and this time, I shoved the dagger deeper and deeper into its flesh until I hit bone.

The beast's agonized cries bounced off the trees and caused a murder of crows to fly out into the night. I glanced up and watched as they ascended upwards, and a heavy silence filled the air. Then I looked back down at the monster and slowly pulled out my blade. Its yellow eyes were faintly moving back and forth, and I watched as the life drained out of them.

I inhaled sharply and stared down at the dying monster. Dark blood trickled down its skin, and then, the thing took one long, final breath before it began to shrink and turn slowly into dust.

I sighed with relief, but then I heard another rustling sound coming from above me, and when I looked back up, all four witches were staring curiously at me from the lip of the pit.

"Satan's fury," Morgana whispered with wide blue eyes. "You killed a wendigo?"

"I guess so," I breathed.

I stepped on the dead wendigo and jumped as high as I could to reach a dangling vine that hung above me. I managed to grab onto it and then climbed it like a rope.

When I was finally out of that fucking hole, I looked back at my dagger as the thick blood continued to drip off the blade. I knew I needed to collect the precious blood before it all dripped away, so I reached into my cloak pocket to retrieve my vial, but there were only shards of glass inside. I pricked my finger on the edge of a piece and cursed under my breath.

It must have shattered when I jumped out of the wendigo's way earlier.

"Does anyone have an extra vial by any chance?" I asked.

"Maybe … " Blair looked down at her robe and pulled out an empty glass vial. Then she twirled it in her fingers before she looked back at me, as if she was silently contemplating whether she should give it to me or keep it.

"Come on," I growled as I held out my hand.

"Fine," she finally sighed as she handed it to me.

"Thanks," I said, and I was mildly surprised at her generosity.

Blair cocked her head at me, and then she rose up on her toes to whisper in my ear.

"This makes us even."

Her breath sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, but I shook it off. I needed to collect this blood, so I let it drip from the blade and into the vial. It was a dark, almost blackish liquid, and it looked like I had enough to concoct the sacrificial spell.

"Well," Faye huffed once I sealed the vial with a cork, "we should probably head back now."

We all nodded in agreement, and I stared at the women's bloodsplattered cloaks as we headed back to the castle.

"So, what did you all manage to get?" I asked.

At first, no one said a word, and I wondered why until Morgana turned to face me slowly, and her blue eyes dropped to the ground.

"A leprechaun," she finally whispered.

"A fairy," Faye answered with her eyes also lowered.

Everyone then stopped in their tracks and turned to Rin, who then crossed her arms.

"Fine, I'll tell you!" the black-haired witch snapped. "I got … a … gnome."

The girls snickered, and I tried not to laugh. Rin looked like she could hold her own, so I supposed most of us were expecting her to hunt down something significantly larger, like a werewolf or a griffin.

"Stop laughing," she hissed at all of us. "It's not like the rest of you managed to kill something more powerful."

"Neon killed a wendigo," Blair pointed out as we moved on ahead.

"And that's what makes the situation even more humiliating," Rin growled. "A man showed all of us up. He shouldn't even be at

D.A."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. These witches just wouldn't accept the fact that I was excelling at this.

"Look, as far as I know, it's not a fucking competition," I said. "The point was for us to kill something in these woods, right? We did that. So, now, the most important thing is that we pass this Blood Magic quiz tomorrow."

The witches all stopped in their tracks and quietly nodded, but some of them crossed their arms in defeat and looked in other directions as they avoided eye contact with me.

"Whatever," Rin finally said. "Let's just get back inside before something that none of us can handle manages to find us."

"Agreed." I nodded. "Follow me."

"Why should we follow you?" Faye demanded with her arms still crossed. "Maybe we should stay behind and let you go alone since you seem so fucking confident."

"Because I killed the wendigo, the centaur, and the onikuma," I replied with a smirk. "Can any of you say the same?"

"We know of two of those for certain," Rin snarled. "Who knows if the onikuma is true."

"You can ask Yennefer, but whatever," I sighed, since I was running out of patience. "I'm going back, you can join me if you want to, or you can stay out here and take your own chances. I don't fucking care."

I was sick and tired of these women giving me a tough time when I was just doing everything I was supposed to do. In all honesty, I knew they were just jealous that I, a male outsider, was showing them up.

The girls all looked at each other as if they were all silently agreeing that the best course of action was to follow me back to the castle.

"Fine, let's go," Rin said with her eyes downcast.

"Finally," I grumbled as I led the way back to the castle.

It took us about an hour and a half before we were back on the grounds. Once we were inside, we all headed back to the main hall.

"Let's all get to bed," Faye suggested as she pulled down her hood. "We have a big day tomorrow and should probably grab a couple hours of rest."

We all agreed and muttered our goodbyes.

I headed back to my own bedroom, took out the vial, and studied it by the dying candlelight. The blood was a bluish-black color and was bubbling.

"Strange," I said before I set it down on the table by my textbook.

Since I smelled like gore and raw meat, I decided to take a bath before I climbed into bed. Once I was cleaned up, and inside the covers, though, I had trouble falling asleep, because all I could do was think about the quiz tomorrow. I felt confident but also slightly nervous about the outcome.

I knew these witches would do anything in their power to see me fail, but I wasn't prepared to go out without a fight.

After an hour or so of tossing and turning, I finally managed to fall asleep, and when I woke up, I was refreshed and ready to get down to the classroom and prove myself.

Yennefer and the others would see just how determined I was to get through this. I would ace this fucking quiz, just like I would ace the final exam.

I had to. The only other option was death, and I would fight tooth and nail to see this to the very end.