Scene 143 — "Don't Die Here"
The wolf lowered all three heads.
The Traveler stood opposite it.
Blood ran from his arm.
His breathing was heavier now.
The creature had hurt him.
Badly.
Yet neither side retreated.
The elder sister slowly pushed herself upright.
Her legs shook.
Her vision blurred.
The younger girl immediately reached for her.
"Don't."
The elder sister pulled herself free.
Her eyes remained fixed on the Traveler.
He had been a stranger.
Nothing more.
Yet he had stepped between them and the beast.
She couldn't simply watch him die.
She picked up her broken blade.
The Traveler noticed.
His eyes shifted toward her.
"Stay back."
His voice was quiet.
The elder sister tightened her grip.
"You saved us."
A pause.
"Then I'm not leaving you alone."
The Traveler stared at her.
Before he could answer—
the wolf charged.
The elder sister moved first.
She rushed toward its left side.
The wolf's left head snapped toward her.
The Traveler vanished.
The beast's jaws closed on empty air.
The Traveler appeared between them.
His fist slammed into the wolf's muzzle.
The impact turned its head.
The elder sister immediately struck the creature's leg.
Her blade cut through its fur.
The wolf roared.
Its other two heads swung toward them.
"Move!"
The Traveler shoved her aside.
The center head struck him.
He blocked with both arms.
The force drove him backward.
His boots tore through the earth.
The right head attacked.
He twisted away.
Its jaws passed within inches of his face.
The Traveler seized the creature's lower jaw.
His other hand struck beneath its eye.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The beast recoiled.
The elder sister rushed in again.
She struck its hind leg.
The wolf spun violently.
Its tail smashed into her.
She flew sideways.
The Traveler caught her before she hit the ground.
For one brief second—
their eyes met.
"Can you stand?"
She nodded.
"Then stay behind me."
He released her.
The wolf charged again.
This time—
the Traveler charged too.
They collided.
The impact shook the settlement.
The wolf's center head slammed into his shoulder.
His body twisted.
The left head bit toward his side.
He blocked it.
The right head struck from above.
He ducked.
A claw caught his back.
Blood appeared across his clothes.
He staggered.
The wolf pressed forward.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The Traveler gave ground.
But every time the beast created an opening—
he attacked.
A fist beneath the jaw.
An elbow against the neck.
A knee against the ribs.
A strike against the eye.
Nothing was elegant.
Nothing was effortless.
He fought like someone who had forgotten the rules of fighting but remembered one thing perfectly:
survive.
The wolf slammed him into the ground.
The earth cracked.
The Traveler rolled away before the next paw crushed him.
He rose.
The wolf followed.
The elder sister watched him.
He was exhausted.
She could see it.
His breathing had become rough.
His movements were beginning to slow.
But the beast was slowing too.
The Traveler had been learning.
Every attack.
Every angle.
Every movement of those three heads.
He had begun predicting them.
The wolf lunged with the center head.
The Traveler moved before it fully committed.
He slipped underneath.
The left head came next.
He was already moving.
He stepped outside its reach.
The right head followed.
He ducked.
For the first time—
all three attacks missed.
The Traveler appeared beneath the creature's neck.
His fist drove upward.
The wolf's enormous body staggered.
The elder sister stared.
He had found its rhythm.
The wolf roared.
The Traveler raised his head.
His eyes met all six of the beast's.
The monster charged again.
This time—
the Traveler didn't disappear.
He stayed.
He waited.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Until the last possible moment.
Then—
he moved.
The collision shook the valley.
The beast stumbled.
The Traveler stumbled with it.
Neither fell.
Both remained standing.
The elder sister looked between them.
For the first time since the monster arrived—
she realized something terrifying.
The creature wasn't fighting prey anymore.
It was fighting something that refused to become prey.
The Traveler wiped blood from his mouth.
Then stepped forward.
The wolf answered with a growl from all three throats.
And the battle continued.