The rain eased into a soft drizzle, tapping against Gabriel's hood as the last echo of laughter faded into the trees.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them moved.

The air still felt wrong, like the fog had taken something with it.

Gabriel lowered his swords only a fraction, his chest rising and falling, with slow, controlled breaths. The glow in his irises dimmed but never fully vanished.

Tess swallowed hard, her grip on her blade trembling. "Gabriel… what was that?"

He didn't answer because he didn't know.

Instead, he listened. To the wind, to the grass bending in the rain, to the trees holding their breath.

Everything was still, too still.

Gabriel finally spoke, voice low. "Stay close."

Tess nodded, stepping behind him as he guided them back towards the horses.

They only took two steps before Gabriel stopped again.

The buzzing in the air had gone, but something else had replaced it.

A silence so heavy he could feel it in his chest.

Tess whispered, "…Gabriel?"

Before turning her gaze forward.

The shapes of the horses came into view.

Lying on their sides, unmoving. Four gaping claw marks etched into each of their bodies, from the neck down to their back legs.

Tess gripped Gabriel's shoulder. "That's a Direwolf."

Standing over the horse's corpses, a beast twice the size of a natural wolf, its shoulders reached Gabriel's neck even while crouched.

Its fur was a ghostly white, matted with rain and streaked with the horse's blood.

Each breath it exhaled revealed muscles coiled beneath its pelt, built for explosive kills.

Its fangs, long as a man's fingers, hung past its lower jaw, dripping thick saliva.

The Direwolf's burning orange eyes were fixed on Gabriel and Tess.

A low growl rumbled from deep in its throat, vibrating through the soaked ground beneath them.

Gabriel removed Tess's hand from his shoulder. He lowered his centre of gravity, pushing his swords out to the sides, challenging the beast.

"Are you stupid? You can't beat that thing." The words slipped out of Tess's mouth involuntarily. "Gabriel, we need to run."

"No… If we run, it will catch us. If you want to get back to Eldenreach, hit it hard and fast."

The beast's growl became louder as its face began to snarl.

"It's going to attack me first, go for its legs first," Gabriel whispered.

Tess's hands gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.

The Direwolf lunged forward, disappearing into a blur of white. Gabriel followed, charging at the beast head-on, full speed.

The wolf launched itself high, jaws wide, aiming to tear into Gabriel's throat. He dropped low, boots skidding across the soaked grass as he attempted to slide beneath its body. The same move he used against the Vampire in the nest.

But the Direwolf wasn't a vampire.

Mid-air, the beast twisted with unnatural agility, slamming its full weight downward.

Gabriel's eyes widened.

A white blur crashed onto him before he could react.

The ground exploded beneath the impact.

A massive paw pinned his chest, claws sinking through cloth and grazing his flesh. His back hit the earth hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

The Direwolf snarled inches away from his face, its burning orange eyes narrowing with savagery.

Gabriel's grip faltered, his ribs groaning under the wolf's weight. He pushed back with both blades, thrusting them into the side of the beast, but the monster didn't budge.

Rain hammered against the wolf's white fur as its jaw dropped towards the former Paladin's throat.

A silver glint cut through the air.

Tess.

She drove the blade deep into the Direwolf's front leg, ripping it free in one motion.

Blood splattered across Gabriel's face as the beast lurched backwards, yelping in pain.

Gabriel took the opportunity to jump up.

The wolf growled, lowered itself into a crouch, preparing to lunge again.

Gabriel lifted his left sword and turned it parallel in front of his body.

Four of his fingers opened on his hilt. The sword was still balanced in his hand on his thumb.

His eyes began glowing, the ominous red reflecting off the Direwolf's fur.

For a heartbeat, the savagery left its eyes.

Gabriel's fingers tightened around the hilt.

He drew in a deep breath and commanded.

"Hold."

Red smoke seeped from his clenched fist, coiling around the beast's limbs like a snake.

Tess's eyes widened.

She had seen him use it before, but never this close. Never near enough to feel the power rolling off it in waves.

Gabriel's arm began to tremble. A thin line of blood started leaking from his nose.

The monstrous wolf thrashed, its muscles began bulging against the red coils, fighting with every ounce of its strength

"Tess… now!" He shouted.

Tess didn't hesitate.

She sprinted forwards, boots splashing through the mud, her blade raised in both hands. The Direwolf thrashed harder as she closed the distance. The red smoke cracking, like a strained rope.

She swung. Aiming for its neck.

The beast whipped its body to the side, avoiding a fatal blow.

The steel bit into the wolf's hind leg.

The Direwolf howled. An ear-splitting, savage sound that shook the earth. Its massive body bucked violently. The red coils began shattering apart as its strength surged.

Gabriel staggered, the backlash slammed into him like a hit from a giant.

His knees buckled. A flashing white light appeared in his eyes.

"Gabriel!" Tess shouted.

The wolf spun on her, snarling, its jaws opening wide.

Tess froze.

The beast lunged.

Gabriel forced a breath into his lungs. His fingers tightened around his swords. His feet dug into the mud.

He dove.

A blur of red and steel.

He intercepted the wolf mid-lunge, slamming his shoulder into its side. The impact sent the Direwolf skidding through the grass, gouging a long trench in the wet earth.

Gabriel didn't settle. He pounced again as the beast was getting to its feet. His blade plunged forward.

The beast, trembling with rage, blood pouring from its wounds, didn't see the former Paladin until it was too late.

A fountain of red burst into the air, mixing with the rain as Gabriel's blade pierced through its head.

The wolf's body collapsed with a heavy thud, sliding lifelessly into the mud.

Rain struck at its fur in a rhythmic tap, washing the blood from Gabriel's blade as he ripped it free.

He staggered.

The adrenaline vanished all at once, leaving his legs weak beneath him. He pressed a hand to his rib, checking if it was broken.

It wasn't, but his breath was still sharp and ragged. The glow in his eyes flickered, then disappeared completely.

Tess rushed to his side, slipping in the mud.

"Gabriel!" Her hands hovered uselessly over him. "Are you injured?"

"I'm fine," he breathed, though his voice cracking. "Make sure it's dead."

Tess glanced at the wolf's lifeless body, its massive skull split clean through."

"It's dead," she whispered. "You killed a Direwolf."

Gabriel didn't answer.

Instead, he stared into the treeline behind the fallen beast.

The fog was gone.

The trees were silent.

Tess followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?"

He tightened his grip on his sword.

"The laughing woman… She was watching."

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