It was a rather sombre procession that made its way down the dirt road. Hood had been growing increasingly twitchy and irritable in the days since the group left Bergwaldsbach, and jumped at every noise from the surrounding woods. Ulrik wasn’t much better company, his thoughts heavy with his newfound responsibility and how he might avoid having to act on it. Even the trees around them seemed to share their foul mood, their branches hanging dark and heavy, blocking much of the meagre sunlight that made it through the heavy clouds and shrouding the travellers in deep shadow. Only Lumpy seemed to take the whole thing in stride. He was well used to his owner’s dark moods and ambled calmly after her, occasionally stopping to munch on a stray weed or gnaw on a particularly edible-looking piece of bark. There was a snap of a branch in the distance, and Hood’s head snapped up once more. But this time, her eyes narrowed dangerously and she scented the air. “Wolf!” she snapped. “Is it close?” Ulrik asked, worried. “Not yet, but it’s heading this way.” With that, she brought her thumb to her mouth and ripped it open, her sharp teeth easily cutting into the skin. Working quickly, she smeared a circle of blood onto the ground around Lumpy and tossed her pack in before erecting a ward, the circle and everything in it vanishing from her sight. “Get ready.” She hissed to Ulrik. “It’s getting close.” Ulrik barely had time raise his axe in a guard position before the demon came barrelling through the woods, saliva dripping from its maw as it ran. It wasn’t large for a demon, being barely over three feet tall and six long. Its skin clung to its ribs like it had been starved, and madness and hunger gleamed in its eyes. Not hesitating for a second, the wolf leapt at Hood with a snarl and easily broke through her one handed guard, batting the sword out of her hand as it bore her to the ground. Hood growled angrily and managed to slam her fist into the beast’s throat, winding it. Before it could catch its breath, Ulrik’s axe slammed into its side, crushing much of its ribcage and lifting it off the ground. It landed on the mossy ground with a crunch, but it was soon back on its feet, limping and wheezing but far from dead. As Hood got back on her feet, the demon howled in pain and rage and leapt to attack her companion, snapping and clawing furiously. Ulrik did his best to hold his own as Hood retrieved her blade, but the furious wolf was both faster and stronger, and it wasn’t long before it had knocked his axe out of the way and clawed a deep, bleeding gash in his side… And Hood saw red. As a haze of rage and murderous intent overtook her, Hood flung her sword at the beast. It barely clipped the creature, but it brought its attention away from Ulrik, and Hood was quick to capitalize on its momentary pause. With a roar, she lunged at the beast and bore it to the ground, her hand clawing at the demon’s eyes and face as she went for its throat. Biting into the creature’s neck, she pulled and tore until she was rewarded by a wet ripping noise as its skin gave way. Spitting out the chunk of fur and skin, she began ripping and tearing at its exposed flesh, the taste of blood filling her mouth as she gorged herself on the meat of her dying foe. The demon’s blood burning in her throat and her own pounding in her ears, she cast her head about with a snarl, seeking more prey… Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head, and the world went black. Waking up through a haze of pain and confusion, Hood found herself sitting tied to a tree, barely able to move her arm. Her head was pounding in agony, it was hard to think and her vision was blurry. Probably a concussion, she decided… That’s when the nausea hit her. She couldn’t double over since she was tied to a tree, so all she could do was vomit large, bloody chunks of flesh all over her front and into her lap. As bile and demon blood burned in her mouth, her memories of the battle came rushing back. She had lost it, somehow, and then… If she hadn’t already thrown everything up, she’d do so now. As it was, she dry-heaved a few times as she remembered the feeling of the still-living demon’s flesh between her jaws… As she started to calm down, she heard footsteps coming from nearby. Looking over, she saw Ulrik walking towards her. His side was heavily bandaged and he had a cautious look about him, one hand holding a bottle of water and the other a hunting knife. “Are you back with us now?” ”I think so.” “Good. I didn’t look forward to braining you with the back of my axe again.” “Oh, is that what you did? Quick thinking.” Ulrik shrugged and pulled out a bottle of water, helping Hood rinse out her mouth and then drink. She was happy to get the taste of blood and vomit out of her mouth, and getting some water down even seemed to take the edge off the headache a bit. “So, are you going to untie me at some point?” “Ask me again in the morning, if you still have your wits then.” “Probably a wise idea.” She squirmed a bit. “You should probably tighten these. It wouldn’t take me more than an hour or so to get out of them.” Ulrik nodded, and Hood sat back against the trunk as he tightened the ropes that held her in place. He even used some iron pegs and a few bits of wire to staple her legs to the ground, which earned him an approving nod from Hood. As he stood up to leave, she called out to him. “Ulrik?” “Yes?” “You did well. Thank you.” “Good night, Hood.” Leaning her head back against the tree, Hood tried to relax. She wasn’t having much success, however, and the events of the fight kept replaying over and over in her head. If Ulrik hadn’t been there to stop her, who knows what she might have done… She just sat there for a long time, her dark thoughts spinning in her aching head and the reek of gore and bile assaulting her nose. But as the night wore on even that wasn’t enough to fight her rising exhaustion, and slowly, fitfully, she drifted off to sleep.