Living in the wilds had surely toughened the girl over the sixteen years he'd raised her. However, it had far from prepared the young one for the scene of the men raping and killing women and children. The event triggered the blood. Damn the blood of her kin!
Glancing at his ward for the dozenth time Guise felt a twinge only she and that fox Yuhina elicited from him. The lass was broken-hearted. The shadow folk had long crossed the border of the two worlds. Her power had driven them thus far.
"Little one it takes two days to travel to the interior of the wilds so I'll speak of your past life before you fell into my care."
His words jarred her to attention. The cat continued forward. There was no stopping, he'd divulge her past on the move. Surely they would come, like cockroaches or the plague where there were few, many more would follow behind.
"Deidre, climb atop my back, we are going to leave the wilds for a time."
Without a word, she jumped atop his back. Picking up the pace the cat began speaking.
"Most of your kind have no magic. Most live their lives simply, however, powerful families force the majority to war. War is the nature of a human. Several centuries ago these families began to search relics of long-ago civilizations to grow their strength and find it they did. They pulled out entities from other worlds, separate planes of existence, that do not belong here, pulled is a light a phrase, the humans violently ripped these creatures from their homes. They were dissected, eviscerated, dismantled in all ways until humans found a way to fasten them as weapons."
Guise abruptly stopped speaking, a buried fury welled in him. Memories of another time flooded his mind. Inhaling sharply he continued,
"They fastened out worlders to them, to their very blood. They made tools of them and the creatures became a completely different existence. Through each generation of humans, they passed into the blood of the new line. With each new line, the creature in the blood evolves. New abilities arise, new strengths, new tools. Yours, in particular, is the strongest. Your bloodline over the last several centuries was the most revered. Until infighting eventually destroyed your great family."
Guise felt his heart twinge again. He could not tell her how big a part of her family had been in his past. How hated and beloved they were to the shifter.
"Your blood holds the memory of your family's demise and for that it is unpredictable. Your blood creature has made an appearance twice on this world. The first when you were a newborn and the second at the boundary."
"It was at the time your relatives were being massacred. The blood awoke to protect its kin inside of your relatives. From the letters left by your nanny, you are the strongest ever seen in a generation. You have the power of the shadow Aeraebus. A fallen deity of this world, an emperor of the shadow realm."
"Many of his brethren met there final moments then, his fury could be felt even in the shadow realm, sadly his infantile host could not support nor bear the burden of Aeraebus' power, it was killing you. The shadow emperor was forced into dormancy to keep you alive. Child, you've no idea the danger you are in with that monster sleeping in your veins."
Deidre seemed to stir. Softly the questions began,
"Who is my family?"
"The house Paladin is your namesake. A Grand Duchess of house Paladin is your title....and your name is Roseletha Edemia Paladin, however, your mother who was of a simple background called you, Deidre, after her grandmother."
"Are all my family dead?"
"No, some relatives remain alive. Whom they are I know not. Your nanny was vague with that information. Some Paladin remains, however, their blood has been forced into dormancy, and they into a life of slavery."
Deidre fell silent once more. Her mind was reeling from it all. Looking about them the forest had grown denser. Nearing the central forest was normally a delightful experience but the shadows had vacated the forest. Sadness crept into the young girl's heart.
"Guise... why you, your not kin to me, what reason have you to rear a human child, the very people you hate?"
Breathing in the cat replied honestly,
"I owed a favor to your nanny. It was a favor long overdue, so I accepted. I raised you as I would have raised my own children. How I would have raised them had Yuhina given me a chance."
"Yuhina?"
"Another time foolish girl, I may be a surrogate father but I still hold the title father, and this father bids you leave it alone."
Deidre chuckled, it seems the old cat was still keeping secrets. The two came upon an opening in the trees, the area was circular and dim, light was unable to shine through the canopy, but there was a calming feeling. Guise stopped dead center and wiggled the girl off of him.
"Deidre, listen the shadow realm is vastly different than this world. Hold unto me until we reach through to the other side, trust nothing that you see, variant shadows lurk in the path over. Keep your eyes closed till I say it's safe."
Guise began muttering a foreign tongue, instantly the atmosphere became electric, noises began to echo through the trees. Guise began to sing then, it was hauntingly beautiful. The deep timbre of his voice reverberated against the trees, while goose pimples formed on her arms and legs. So focused on the lullaby, the girl failed to sense the human man flit across the circle, sword drawn in a killing stance.
The weapon connected with her shoulder, pain flared from the wretched spot. Snarling the man tried to wrench the sword from Deidre's shoulder but the blade had lodged itself into the bone. A scream managed to find its way out of her throat. Once more the man yanked at the sword, just as he removed the blade, massive teeth chomped down on the attacker's head.
Deidre watched in shock as the teeth clamped harder puncturing holes in the skin, the man hit the large cat everywhere he could but the futility of it was evident. Guise slowly crushed the man's head in his mouth. Blood poured into the would-be assassin's eyes, which bulged from the vice, the screams quieted into low incoherent moans. To great a pressure the skull shattered and the head collapsed into itself. The man went lump and Guise released the body, it fell in a grotesque heap, the head completely mangled.
Deidre had witnessed the slow killing move. The cat had purposely crushed the man's
head as slow as he could. Guise had always claimed he was a monster that delighted in the kill, her surrogate father stood over the body of his victim purring, blood and saliva dripped from the snout, Deidre watched bits of meat fall slowly in a string of drool.
Unable to process the severity of it all Deidre succumbed to the shock and pain, falling unconscious to the ground.