Morning arrived with the smell of soup.
Grey stirred first.
The small wolf lifted his head from the corner of the room, nose twitching. Warm steam drifted through the wooden cabin, carrying the scent of herbs and slow-cooked broth. His tail began to sway before he was even fully awake.
He padded toward the kitchen.
Red Hood stood by the stove, two wooden bowls resting in her hands. Strands of blonde hair framed her face, faint shadows beneath her eyes that hadn’t been there days ago.
“You’re awake,” she said softly. “Want one?”
Grey’s tail wagged harder.
She set a bowl down in front of him. Steam rose between them.
“Eat. We’re heading out after this.”
Grey didn’t need to be told twice. He devoured the soup eagerly, tongue scraping the wood clean.
Red Hood watched him in silence.
Her gaze lingered.
There was something different about her these past few days.
Grey felt it—but didn’t understand it.
Sometimes, when she thought he wasn’t looking, her breathing would change. Slower. Heavier. Like she was listening to something far away.
Or something close.
The sun had risen fully by the time they stepped outside.
The forest greeted them with damp air and the scent of moss. Dew clung to leaves. The world felt quiet—too quiet.
Red Hood adjusted the straps on her blade.
They didn’t speak.
They didn’t need to.
They didn’t walk far before the trees thinned.
There.
The orc outpost.
Crude wooden spikes. A dying fire pit. Bones scattered carelessly.
Three orcs stood guard.
Red Hood crouched behind thick brush, studying them carefully.
One small. One average.
One wrong.
“Grey,” she whispered, eyes never leaving the clearing. “Take the small one. Just distract it. I’ll handle the rest.”
Grey’s tail flicked once in agreement.
They waited.
Time stretched.
The orcs grew lazy.
And then—
Red Hood moved.
She fell from the branches like a descending blade.
Steel flashed.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
One orc’s head separated cleanly from its body, expression frozen in confusion.
The body dropped a second later.
At the same time, Grey burst from the bushes, teeth sinking into another orc’s calf. The creature roared and swung wildly, but Grey was already gone, darting between roots and brush, drawing it away.
Then—
The third orc stepped forward.
It wasn’t normal.
Its body was larger, muscles unnaturally swollen beneath thick green skin. Veins pulsed dark beneath the surface.
Its eyes locked onto Red Hood.
It inhaled—
And screamed.
The sound wasn’t just loud.
It was force.
The air itself seemed to tremble.
Red Hood’s body froze mid-step.
Her ears rang violently.
Her muscles locked.
Behind her—
Grey yelped.
The distracted orc had caught him mid-leap and slammed him into stone.
The crack echoed through the clearing.
Grey’s body went limp.
Blood stained the dirt.
Something inside Red Hood fractured.
She turned—
Too late.
The large orc’s fist collided with her ribs.
Her body flew, crashing through brush before skidding violently across earth.
For a moment, there was no sound.
No breath.
No movement.
Her vision blurred.
Her fingers twitched uselessly.
Warm liquid filled her mouth.
Blood.
Then—
Through fading sight—
She saw it.
The large orc raising its weapon over Grey’s unmoving body.
The world narrowed into a single point.
Heat surged through her veins.
Her wounds pulsed.
Skin pulled itself together with sickening precision.
Bone ground against bone—
Then snapped back into alignment.
A wet, cracking sound filled the clearing as fractured ribs reformed.
Her jaw, hanging wrong, jerked sharply back into place.
Steam slipped from between her teeth.
Her eyes opened.
Red.
Not glowing.
Not blazing.
Just wrong.
She stood.
The forest seemed to exhale.
In a blink, she was there—between Grey and death.
Steel met flesh.
The orc’s arm fell before its blade struck the ground.
Blood sprayed across her face.
She didn’t blink.
She moved again.
Her knife carved across its throat—
Too shallow.
The blade was dull.
The orc roared in fury and struck her again.
She crashed into a tree hard enough to split bark.
Her jaw shattered on impact.
For a split second it hung crooked—
Then reformed with a violent snap.
Steam rose again.
She stood.
Still.
Calm.
Watching.
The orc hesitated.
That hesitation killed it.
She vanished into the trees.
Branch to branch.
Silent.
Gone.
The orc spun in confusion—
Then a shadow dropped behind it.
This time she committed fully.
Momentum.
Weight.
All of it.
The blade plunged deep into its neck.
Not clean.
But deep enough.
The orc staggered, choking on its own blood.
It tried to run.
Three steps.
Collapsed.
Red Hood approached slowly.
Finished it.
Silence returned.
No birds.
No wind.
Only the smell of blood.
She stood over the corpse for a long time.
Breathing heavily.
Then—
Without hesitation—
She knelt.
Her hand slid into the still-warm cavity of the orc’s chest.
Steam curled around her wrist.
Her fingers closed around something slick.
She pulled.
Dark.
Wet.
Beating faintly.
Her breathing changed.
For a moment, she simply stared at it.
Her throat tightened.
Something deep inside her stirred—
Not hunger alone.
Recognition.
She brought it to her mouth.
The taste flooded her senses.
Iron.
Rot.
Heat.
Her body trembled—
Then steadied.
The violent heat inside her veins dulled.
Not gone.
Never gone.
Just quieter.
Far away—
Something shifted.
A faint metallic echo.
Like tension loosening.
Like—
A chain under strain.
Grey’s vision returned slowly.
Everything hurt.
His body refused to move.
Through blurred sight—
He saw her.
Standing in the clearing.
Blood covering her face.
Unmoving.
Behind her—
For just a second—
Something stood.
Tall.
Still.
Its shape distorted by shadow.
Eyes burning crimson in the shade.
Watching.
Waiting.
Grey blinked.
It was gone.
Red Hood turned suddenly.
Her eyes were normal again.
She rushed to his side.
“Grey—”
Her voice trembled.
She lifted him carefully.
Too carefully.
He felt fragile in her arms.
Too fragile.
Guilt weighed heavier than blood.
Back home, she cleaned him in silence.
Washed the blood from his fur.
Wrapped him in bandages with trembling hands.
By nightfall, she sat beside him in candlelight.
The room felt smaller than usual.
“You almost died,” she whispered.
Her voice sounded younger than it should.
Minutes passed.
An hour.
Then—
Grey stirred.
He forced himself up, legs shaking violently.
One step.
Two.
He reached her—
And collapsed into her lap.
Asleep.
Red Hood froze.
Then—
A fragile smile formed.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
She held him close.
“Thank you, Grey.”
Outside, the forest remained silent.
But deep inside her—
Something shifted.
Far beneath thought.
Far beneath flesh.
A single chain trembled.
And somewhere in the dark—
It cracked.
