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the monstrous Wolf lifted me high off the ground by his
knives—I could only imagine the wonderful shadow we cast
upon the wall.
The hunter’s enormous strength rivaled my own, but
I was filled with restless dream and would not be dressed
in beasts, no matter how high the honor. I forced the blade
in my hand into my shoulder and reached back to revive
my father. My dark benefactor roared to life, descending
deeply into the patchwork hunter’s shoulder. Hide fell to his
knees, releasing me from his blades, and I returned to the
ground. We drew up in front of each other, two monsters
from a glorious nightmare, and for a brief moment the call
of a ravening dream remitted its claim upon us. We could
barely remember the strange stars that led us to this twisted
city of madness, but the hunger beyond the world was soon
renewed, and the distance between us shrank.
I returned my father to his rest. Not to be outdone by
the hunter’s earlier display of strength, I seized my quarry
about his neck as we grappled, and stole him from the earth.
I heaved him into his display of skin-changers, many of
whom were modeled with their blades held out in front of
their stiffened corpses. The hunter slammed into the waiting
wall of knives, his recent victims marshaling one final attack
from beyond the grave. The terrible Wolf rose from the pile
of monsters, hurling one of the demonic mannequins at me.
I easily weathered the half-hearted attack, but Hide was
already recovering from my assault.
I charged, driving my shoulder into his stomach. Taking
him from his feet, I smashed him through tables, benches,
man-monsters, and four-legged beast-men. His back crashed
hard against the stone wall, jarring his knives from his hands.
Before I could complement my attack, the hunter knotted his
fists and rained them down upon my back. I brought my own
fist swinging upward, cracking Hide’s jaw and throwing his
bulk to the side.

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