The dog Dread growled at Dean once the boy put himself in his way. Upon seeing his pack getting beating that easily by those guys, he didn't rush toward Dean right away. On the contrary, he stopped to run and just walked slowly around the boy, trying to intimidate him with his hoarse and loud growling.
That Dread was just of the 7th generation. In comparison to others, he was still just a puppet, albeit his body wasn't that of a little puppet. However, he wasn't dumb. The intelligence of the Dreads evolved faster at each generation. Due to this fact, he could discern that the group they decided to fight against was too strong to be underestimated.
One thing was for sure: if he could absorb the "Willpower" of one of them, things would be different. They were humans filled with that energy, after all. One of those special ones.
One of those humans had got part of the "Chaos" inside him, making him and his pack weaker, but he could turn the tables if he did everything just right, and just in time to save his father and his other brother.
Dean was trying to keep his base firm, also as his grip on the sword. His eyes were sharp and focused on that Dread as he rounded him, prepared to attack at any time the inexperienced boy.
One of the things that Dean's father always told him was to maintain his cool in front of the enemy. Every opponent that he will fight in his life would take advantage of any weaknesses or hesitation. Because of it, show anxiety and fear was the greatest mistake that one could do at the start of a battle.
Dean was facing the current tormentor of his race, humanity's nemesis, a Dread. When in his ascendance, it was easy to keep courageous and fight against a 5th generation Dread, but now the situation was different.
While the boy was trying to keep his body steady and not show his fear, the Dread leaped toward Dean abruptly.
The boy couldn't follow him with his sword due to the absurd speed of that monster and just didn't get attacked because he threw himself to the side.
'What!? They didn't seem to be so fast from far away! Is it perspective? Or the others are weaker than this one?' He didn't have time to think about it, though. After his first assault, the Dread didn't stop anymore.
That monster, exuding bloodthirst, chased after Dean on the battlefield, attacking with his paws or biting with his serrated teeth. His crimson eyes seemed to shine whenever his attacks neared the boy even more.
Dean couldn't do anything but run around, trying to prevent getting caught. He also waved his sword as he could, trying to brush the enemy away. Nevertheless, the speed of that Dread was too overwhelming for the boy and every part of his body seemed to be a different weapon. His legs seemed like strong springs launching his body to all sides, which made his jumps get surreal.
At that moment, Dean understood something about the Dreads that he never thought of before. He realized that he was fighting a monster that was born to be a killer, to hunt people, to fight for his survival. His instinct was to be a cold-blooded murder.
Nonetheless, Dean was just a human. He had his instincts, he wanted to survive, but he needed to effort to get to the same level of that Dread that probably didn't have too many years more of life than him. Dean wasn't a killer by nature.
The situation worsened once the Dread began to use his "Chaos" to buff his body and increase his strength. Now his claws were sharper than Dean's sword. His skin seemed like thick leather. And, as if that wasn't enough, his speed increased even more.
Until now, Dean was able to defend himself with his sword and, sometimes, counterattack desperately. But he stood no chance against the Dread's speed now.
The boy let his mind panic completely, which lead him to just run away absentmindedly. He didn't see anything around, he wasn't paying attention to the fight that was happening around him, his vision seemed to be a tunnel.
The Dread finally could reach him, but this time, instead of the light scratches he gave on Dean, that attack landed fully.
The boy felt the sharp claws of the Dread cutting his back, making him fall to the ground.
Dean covered his head and shrunk his body, tears flowing out of his eyes. He was expecting that the real pain was still about to start, but he just heard the Dread growling. The attacks, though, never came.
He opened his eyes slowly and saw that a chain made of Petroleum-metal was attached to the Dread's body, preventing him to move further and reach Dean. Whenever he tried to advance, it got tighter, as if the chain was a snake.
From far away, with a headless Dread's corpse laid on the ground beside him, Rick was holding the other extreme of the chain.
He wasn't looking at the monster that he chained, but at Dean. His tired look was one of disappointment as well.
"Just as I thought, it will be difficult to turn someone as naive as you into a real warrior." A pulse of his "Willpower" ran across the chain, enveloping the Dread's body.
That frightening dog suddenly seemed aloof for a moment. However, no apparent harm was made.
Right after, the chain let go of his body and Rick shouted:
"Go away, scum. And just stop when you start to die from starving and exhaustion." And that beast, surprisingly, followed his orders, running away from there.
Rick got beside Dean, who was still shocked while on the ground. As if it had life, the chain was attaching to his body again.
"Listen here, brat. This is not your dreamland refuge, ok? That's the outside world. If you don't set your mind to kill before being killed, to dominate before being dominated, you will end up lying down under someone's foot. Did I make myself clear?"
The boy nodded slowly. Those words were like a strong punch to his jaw.
"Stand from the ground and go make some medication with Hector. Then, help to bury these bodies. These corpses can't stay exposed on the surface, or else it will attract other Dreads."