[THIRD-PARTY POV]
Ulrike didn't stop growling at the kids, and each time, his growls were louder, filling the quiet night.
The kids, scared out of their wits, ran in different directions, which didn't even help, because they didn't have night vision, and they were also barely thirteen years old. Their screams were loud, as they ran away from the thick part of the forest.
They were running towards the light, as would anyone in their situation.
Of course, they expected that they would find help where there was light, but they were disappointed when they reached the very gates of the werewolf kingdom. Acrod, a world they had been warned over and again not to walk into or even look at twice but did they even have an option anyway?
"Help!! Pleasee!" the kids screamed and Ulrike just smiled at them, before picking one of them with his claws. They looked so tiny in his paws that he almost felt stupid for being scared of the kids.
Here they were, looking helpless fear written all over their faces.
Ulrike should have felt something, relief that he was finally going to get over his fear of children, but he didn't feel anything.
For a man who was scarred and even worse, scared of kids, he couldn't help but remember the beautiful boy with blue eyes he had once met in the southern forest. The boy whose parents had been murdered by Udrad.
He couldn't help but reminisce the harsh realities that the young boy had gone through. Ulrike was so close to giving up the mission and comforting the kids, but his ideas were cut short when a louder growl was heard behind him.
The beast of the midlands had shown up.
The beast of the midlands was not a myth.
He was as real as any creature could get.
At that moment, the clouds began clearing and the moonlight shone on him, the animal that wasn't giving people peace. Ulrike was in shock when he turned back, unsure of what he had expected. Sure, people had their own ideas about the beast but this right here was the man of the myths.
He was bigger than the myths.
He looked wilder than the myths, judging by his silver eyes that kept flicking between blue, gold, and silver. It was crazy how this was what they had been waiting for.
The child Ulrike had been holding in his arms was petrified and was clearly never going to come to the midlands ever again.
However, Ulrike gently set him down, allowing the young child to run towards the gate of Acrod. The one gate that had remained closed on the even though they were just children who needed help.
One thing that the beast of the midlands had believed in, was that kids needed to be loved. No matter what their race was or even how they behaved, no matter how naughty they got, the children have blessed by the moon goddess and it was unrealistic to not be appreciative of a gift so rare.
"Kids, no!" The beast growled irritatedly as he stared down Ulrike, his voice shocking the man. It was a familiar voice, one that he knew by heart.
Ulrike momentarily forgot about what he wanted to do, and even what the mission was. He wanted to ask the beast how he had been doing, and what he had been up to, all these years. He had so many questions.
He had heard rumors that the beast of the midlands never spoke to anyone. No one had ever heard his voice and right now, the man had just spoken, revealing who he was to Ulrike. Maybe the beast was glad to see an old friend, that is if they could even call each other that.
Maybe this was luck, or maybe the beast was going to be at Ulrike to a pulp. There was a knowing smirk on the beast's face, almost like this was just a game for him, and that Ulrike would be another pawn, but then it all faded when Ulrike regained his composure.
The hound was confused as to whether he needed to talk to his friend, or he needed to request him to stop the hunt for people who harmed kids. This beast was all the answers they needed. Ulrike understood why the beast f the midlands was saving kids, and frankly, he couldn't blame him.
However, no matter what he had learned today, Ulrike knew there were a bunch of people out there, watching and with sharp hearing that needed to know the beast and what his voice sounded like.
His voice would help them identify the beast some other day, but Ulrike wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to give him up just like that.
It had been fifteen years.
Fifteen long years and he was going to keep his promise to the kid he had seen then. He was going to keep his promise to the young boy that had been betrayed. He didn't care that the beast was murdering people. Hell, if he needed a hand, Ulrike was more than willing to give him a hand.
However, here and now, he needed to play his part. He needed to trigger his friend. He needed to make it believable, and just like the old times, they looked at each other, sharing the look they always shared all those years, with the beast letting Ulrike see his beautiful blue eyes.
That was all the assurance Ulrike needed to know that his friend remembered him, and that was also the reminder that they had factions to play make-believe for.
"Sorry mate, but you're gonna have t be a little louder than that" Ulrike said as the beast just smirked, like this was going to be more than fun for him, and maybe it was because his response was instant.
The beast took one more look at Ulrike, before swinging his claw at his friend so hard that Ulrike was sent toward the gates of Acrod. They both knew this would hurt, but they were prepared, maybe for old time's sake.
At the speed with which he was sent away, he was headed straight for the kids, and once again, the helpless kids watched in horror as a new reality was born. This was the day that they would all disappear, squished by the body of a beast they didn't even know.
Damn, Ulrike was so big in his true form.
It didn't help that he had been standing on twos when he had been conversing, or rather trying to converse with the beast of the midlands. Their conversation hadn't been heard, or rater, the faction leaders had just heard Ulrike's voice when he responded to the beast.
They had been so close and yet none of them had managed to hear what the beast had said, wow.
However before Ulrike could hit the gates, before the children could breathe their last, the beast of the midlands had reached the gates and kicked Ulrike toward the opposite direction, the sound of the hound's bones breaking, filling up the quiet night, and triggering the night animals.