My muscles tensed as I stepped forward, my voice low and dangerous. “You think you’re scary, horns? You’ve got no idea what you’re dealing with.”
Krampus’ fiery-red eyes narrowed, locking onto me as a feral grin spread across his bloodied face. His claws flexed, curling into fists at his sides. “Careful, mortal,” he growled, the sound more animal than human. “I warned you.”
“You warned me?” I snarled back, my voice barely recognizable, edged with a growl of my own. “You’re skulking around in the woods like a monster from a cheap fairy tale. You’re pathetic.”
The words hung in the air like a challenge, and Krampus’ grin twisted into something darker. He leaned forward, hismassive horns gleaming in the faint light. “You should’ve stayed quiet,” he hissed, his voice low and dripping with menace. “You have too much demon blood to punish. You’ll be my next meal.”
My body coiled, the primal part of me roaring to the surface, daring him to make the first move. My breath came faster, my pulse pounding in my ears, but I didn’t back down. I couldn’t. This wasn’t about control anymore. It was instinct, raw and unrelenting.
Krampus growled again, his claws twitching. For a moment, the two of us stood frozen, a heartbeat away from violence. I could feel the others behind me, tense and waiting, but this fight was mine.
The tension snapped like a string pulled too tight. I didn’t hesitate, pulling the throwing star from my belt and launching it at Krampus. The blade sliced through the air and struck true, embedding itself in his shoulder with a sickening thud.
He roared, the sound shaking the trees and sending a shiver down my spine. His fiery eyes blazed with fury as he reached up, claws curling around the star. With a vicious yank, he pulled it free, blood dripping down his dark skin and steaming against the snow. “You dare?” he bellowed, his voice echoing like thunder. “You’ll regret that.”
Before I could respond, he charged. I barely dodged in time, rolling to the side as his claws swiped inches from where I’d been standing.
“Go for his legs!” Aurora shouted, her blade gleaming as she lunged toward him. Nishi followed, her daggers flashing in the feeble light.
Krampus twisted, his movements unnaturally fast for his size. He ducked Aurora’s swing and spun, slamming one hoof into the ground to knock Nishi off balance. She stumbled but recovered quickly, cursing under her breath.
“Eve!” I shouted, dodging another swipe of Krampus’ claws. “Now would be a good time!”
Eve raised her hands, her magic swirling in bright, crackling waves. She hurled a bolt of energy at him, and for a second, I thought it would connect. But as the spell struck his chest, it fizzled out, absorbed into his skin like water on a sponge.
“What the—?” Eve muttered, already summoning another spell.
Krampus snarled, baring his teeth. “Fools,” he growled. “Your tricks won’t work on me.”
Eve’s hands dropped slightly, her brow furrowing in frustration. “He’s got some kind of magic immunity,” she said, her voice sharp.
“Great,” I muttered, circling Krampus as Aurora and Nishi flanked him. “That’s just what we needed.”
Krampus’ focus, however, didn’t waver. His blazing eyes stayed locked on me, as though I’d somehow become his sole target. He lunged again, faster than I anticipated, and I barely managed to block him with the hilt of my blade. The force of his attack sent me skidding backward, my boots crunching against the snow.
“Stay down,” he hissed, his voice dripping with menace. “You’ll only make this worse for yourself.”
I gritted my teeth, gripping my blade tighter. “Yeah, well, I’ve always been bad at following orders.”
I didn’t give Krampus time to recover. Pulling two more throwing stars from my belt, I hurled them at him, each one slicing through the air and striking true. One buried itself in his side, the other in his chest. Before he could react, Nishi followed suit, her stars flashing as they found their mark.
Krampus let out a deafening roar, blood streaming down his torso, staining the snow again in angry streaks of red. He staggered for a moment, his fiery eyes blazing with fury as hesnarled at us. But even with his monstrous strength, the four blades lodged in his body were too much. His blood flowed faster than his body could heal, and I could see the cracks in his confidence. He ripped them out, but he was gushing blood.
With a guttural growl, he spun on his hooves and dashed into the trees, his massive frame surprisingly agile as he disappeared into the shadows.
“After him!” I shouted, taking off after him with the others close behind.
The chase was chaotic, the sound of his hooves pounding against the frozen ground echoing through the woods. He was faster than I’d imagined, his powerful strides carrying him over the uneven terrain like it was nothing. Branches whipped at my face as I pushed forward, my lungs burning with the effort to keep up.
We ran as fast as we could, the snow crunching underfoot, but Krampus was a blur in the distance, his dark shape weaving through the trees like a shadow come to life. He was bleeding heavily—I could see the dark streaks on the snow where he’d passed—but his speed was relentless, and with every second he pulled farther ahead.
A few moments later, we burst onto a narrow trail, skidding to a halt. The sound of his hooves had vanished, leaving only the rustling of the wind through the branches.
“Where the hell is he?” I muttered, scanning the trail desperately.
In the distance, I saw movement. A lone hiker trudging along the path, bundled up in a heavy coat and oblivious to the chaos that had just unfolded. But there was no sign of Krampus. There were no hoofprints in the snow or snapping branches to indicate where he’d gone. It was like he’d vanished into thin air.
Aurora stepped up beside me, her breath coming in short bursts. “How the hell did he get away so fast?”
