Just moments before Lola’s desperate run from Russel, he was left with the two oni. His mind, his true, human mind, was buried under a mountain it seemed. A mountain of raw animal instinct as overwhelming as a hurricane. Every time he tried to resurface or get to some semblance of control, that animal shoved him back down. It was like drowning in an ocean and every single time he managed to break through to precious air, a clawed hand shoved him back under. The sensation was suffocating to say the least and just one of the many reasons why he never went this far over to the wolf side of his nature. He despised feeling his control being ripped away from him. Others of his kind, he knew, seemed to prefer it that way but he was definitely not one of them.

Buried under the weight of the wolf’s mind on top of his, he only got glimpses here and there of what was actually happening. His body moved so quickly, it was disorienting. The first part of the fight had gone pretty much the way he thought it would when he first transformed. A lot of death and flying body parts. The last part, however, with the two oni remaining seemed to be dragging on.

That wasn’t completely out of the norm. Oni were strong, fast, and extremely deadly fighters. The two left lived up to their reputation.

And Russel could feel how much that was pissing off the wolf.

Its anger was a solid thing where he was. Underneath the surface and struggling so hard just to get back some kind of control, that anger kept slamming into him. It was one reason why he kept getting pushed deeper and deeper beneath the wolf.

How could he fight back against something so strong?

He really didn’t know, even though he was a werewolf and all of this had been taught to him at a young age by his father. Often in extremely harsh and ruthless situations. But out of all his brothers, Russel was the only that had never let the wolf take complete control. Or, more accurately, had never fully gone over like he did now. He had come extremely close on more than one occasion but fear had held him back.

Now, fear had sent him tumbling right over that precipice inside his head. Not fear for himself but fear for someone else. Someone he…

Before the rest of that thought could be finished, another wave of blind rage slammed into him and he was sent under again.

Flashes of the fight were drifting through more frequently. One of the oni had sliced off his left paw. The flash of pain was what sent the animalistic beast side of him into an even more psychotic, rage-fueled berserker frenzy.

The werewolf itself quickly started to heal and regrow its missing paw but not before he swung the stump into the side of one oni’s head. It took the blow, managing to block it with the flat of its sword, but the blow was still a crushing one. It tried to grind its feet into the ground and block the blow, but it was too strong. The oni was sent flying and tumbling across the ground until it fetched up against a thin, birch tree. The trunk snapped in half and the top part fell to the ground with a crash. Bones cracked and one of its arms hung uselessly. Its kage no ken, or shadow sword, lay broken in two pieces which should have been impossible.

It did not feel fear. It did not even feel pain really. So instead of running, it got back up to finish the fight. It knew it would not win, but its honor demanded it either win or die trying. Its comrade, the other oni, had a similar drive.

It got back to its feet and nearly crumpled. One of its legs had been broken and now its foot faced the wrong way. It stumbled and lurched forward. The smooth, easy grace it had before was gone now. There was nothing it could do about that though. It made do. Before getting back up, it grabbed the hilt of its shattered sword. There was still enough of a blade left to fight with. It held the broken blade and prepared for the end, one way or the other.

It struck out but the wolf’s speed was incredible. This time, the oni couldn’t so much as put a scratch on the monster.