Fuck it, all in.

I crossed the threshold, passing between marked trees.

In time darkness fell, and only a sliver of moon served to light the way. Nerve-racking sounds filled the forest, insects and small animals adding their voices to the moonlit symphony. My own mind contributed to the sound, adding the terror a person can only paint in a silent moment.

But, I had seen ****'s own angel. Her light had peeled away all artifice, and left nothing but a bare soul.

Compared to that, the dark was nothing to be afraid of. Even the eyes that watched me from the dark, accompanied by the scent of a beast, couldn't compare to that woman.

I stopped walking, projecting an air of confidence, and waited.

Dozens of eyes reflected moonlight from the dark, a low growling that sent the stomach turning. Half-a-dozen wolves apparated, as if from shadow, and something followed after. It was like the wolves, in the same way that a housecat was like a tiger. It had to have been thirteen feet from nose to tail and I'd be very surprised if it weighed less than a ton. It was pure white, with a single glowing silver eye. The only thing marring the wonderous beast was a massive scar across one side of it's face, three jagged lines that crossed the pit where the eye had been.

The silver beast let out a howl, and the lesser wolves followed suit. The sound rattled my bones and it took every ounce of will not to stagger back.

But you didn't show weakness to a wolf. I curled my hands, stoking the flickering flame inside me, and roared back. The lesser beasts flinched, and I dug deeper. I lifted a claw, the black talon going cherry red, and gave my most vicious smile. "You want to go?"

The wolves shrank back as my claw grew brighter, unaware of how the flame burned through my energies; it was a little thing, but my skill with the magic was non-existent.

That made me angry.

So weak, so stupid, so clumsy, unskilled and unworthy.

I fed my fury to the flame, and repeated my question.

"You want to go, bitch?!" I shouted it, flame bursting from my shoulders like wings. The grass caught fire, and nearby leaves blackened and fell. I took a step forwards, Flames exploding out from under my hooves. The lesser beasts scattered, and even the white wolf seemed nervous as the fire grew closer.

After a second; after an eternity, the white wolf seemed to realize that I would give as good as I got, that I wasn't worth the trouble. I walked forwards, passing through the veil of flame, and aimed for the smoke I'd smelled earlier. I could hear something like a scream at the edge of my hearing and, honestly, it might have been mine. I heard laughing too and that, I knew, was mine.