My body was exhausted, and I finally slumped down.

“Har! Finally done with the resistance, eh? Damn witch! You had us sweating for no reason!” The disgusting excuse of a man boasted triumphantly.

“Uh… B-boss… We should… l-leave…” The lanky man began whimpering.

“Yeah, yeah! Right after I’m done with this one!”

“N-no, I mean… now!!” He screamed, pointing into the mist.

Before the grouchy guard could respond, an enormous wolf-like creature burst through the white veil. It targeted the man’s neck with incredible precision, ripping it open in a rain of blood instantly. The ravenous beast wasted no time in tearing through the cloth of his outfit, ripping the man into a mess without letting him make a single noise.

“IT’S THE CURSE!!! IT’S THE CURSEEE!!!” Screaming, the bony man began running away, hiding behind the cage I was in.

The enormous wolf-beast smashed right into the carriage with enough force to send it flying. The man behind it got his leg crushed underneath its weight.

“NO! NO! PLEASE NO!!! PLEASE!! NOOOO!!” The trapped victim screamed as the beast slowly walked over to him. It was clearly intelligent enough to understand there was no need to chase after trapped prey.

My head was aching as I slowly got up. I hit my forehead on one of the bars, causing it to bleed slightly.

Everything was a blur.

The massive canine was lazily ripping apart the man’s limbs while he was screaming. It almost looked like the beast was reveling in his suffering. It was a haunting sight, only distorted in its horror by my adrenaline running wild.

 The quiet whimpers of the man died down rapidly, while my world was still spinning a bit.

Some of the rustier bars of the cage I was trapped in had broken by the impact, allowing me to climb out.

As the wolf was done with its current meal, it seemed like my turn was up next.

I grabbed a broken, rusty bar to use as my only weapon. It was obvious enough running was futile, as the beast was large enough to catch up to me with a light trot. Fighting was the only way out of this.

Somehow, my body felt like it was full of energy despite my vision being slightly blurry. I’m guessing it was the adrenaline working in overdrive. I stared at the growling beast a small distance away from me. It was slightly obscured by the mist, only its glowing eyes piercing through fully.

The size of the living horror made it all too clear I’d have to hit some really vital spot to be able to do any damage to it. In fact, I was somewhat confident the wolf wouldn’t die even if I hit it really well with the worn-out piece of iron I had. It was the size of a dagger at best and was corroded by rust to the point of crumbling at the touch.

But… something about this felt off. Presently, I couldn’t put my finger on it at all, but I felt like something was missing.

Standing on this battlefield of mist, the beast drew closer. As it came fully into sight, it felt as if a wall of air hit me.

An enormous force of an unholy nature stood before me, and it was clear I was nothing but a piece of meat to it. My hopes, my dreams… Nothing meant anything here. In nature, only the strong live… and I was weak.

And yet… I couldn’t help but grin. A shaky, lunatic grin was slowly spreading across my face. I was probably growing insane… But realizing what was missing from this whole scenario somehow filled me with an incredible sense of power.

Fear mixed with excitement, elation, hope and defiance. I was terrified, and yet. I had no choice.

For the first time in my life, I had enough power to fight for control.

A control over my own life, a high privilege not everyone is born with. I wasn’t going to let go of this opportunity. Not now, not anymore. I was given a second chance, be it by magic, or by a God’s will, I didn’t care.

I was given a new life, so I had to do anything I could think of to keep it.

For some reason, this felt like a turning point. The moist air of the swamp felt still. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as the beast began a wild rush toward me.

At that moment, I inhaled as much air as I could, then letting out the mightiest roar one can expect out of a scrawny dried-up woman.

Instead of trying to use the rusty spike as a weapon, I jabbed it into my own bleeding arm. To my surprise and shock, the upper parts of the arm still had some feeling left in it. The pain was beyond anything I had ever felt before. Every nerve ending screeching in agony as the filthy metal ripped through my soft flesh. The rusty steel was sturdy enough to cut through my skin with ease, allowing me to carve a magical sigil into my own body.

The beast was upon me, lunging into the air, ready to rip through my neck. I hoisted up my bleeding arm with my still functioning one, screaming. The faint glimmers in the air had grown more noticeable.

Light began amassing, my entire arm started to sparkle with the glow and then suddenly, a shaky, uneven burst of fire shot out of my palm, searing my entire arm into a burnt crisp.

If the pain from cutting the sigil on my arm was miserable, this one was immeasurable. My throat was sore from the bestial scream I let out as my limb dried up and turned black, beginning to crumble as sparks flew everywhere.

The fire formed into a more solid fireball, blasting out into the maw of the beast alongside the crackling and undulating air.

With a horrified howl of pain, the beast lit up like a firework, something exploding deep inside it. It began coughing black burnt blood as it staggered along by the momentum of its rush, stumbling past me.

The stench of burnt flesh was ever present.

Not just mine, but also that of the monster. Its lifeless corpse rested before me, smoke rising from its mouth and nostrils.

The glimmer of life had left its ferocious eyes…

I was still alive. Somehow.

Never in my life had I had the privilege of choice. All I could do was lay in bed and accept everything coming my way. My only escape from it was death, but not here.

Not in this world. In here, even if my choice came with a price, I could still choose to live.

My arm was gone, there was no feeling in it at all. As I wandered through the swamp, my dried up and burnt body part was slowly disintegrating into an ashen trail behind me.

Before heading onward, I spent what felt like an eternity sitting in the swamp, staring at the burnt wolf, even though I’m sure in reality I only stayed there for a few minutes. 

 None of it felt even remotely real. 

And yet, the stinging from my burnt arm kept reminding me of the reality and gravity of the situation.