Lucas' POV
I feel bad about not warning them beforehand but Thomas kept telling me it was fine, I know it wasn't...Lara's been telling me that they aren't pleased with me just based off the colour of their souls and I can't blame them. Even from young she's been the one to impress people, I've just been the one subjected to being outshined in her shadow. She wasn't lying about her clairvoyance but her emotion reading has fully developed faster than her ability to see auras though, its viewed as the same thing, I'm told they reveal different things. A person's aura flickers between what they feel, a person's soul is who they are at their core and remains unchangeable. Unlike an aura though, a wolf with those abilities needs to stare into someone's eyes, entering an almost trance like state and causing them to lose focus for a second as they get "Get lost" as Lara likes to describe it.
"Any last words guys?" That Percy guy jokingly says as we approach the village, causing Lara to grab onto my arm. "It's okay, I'm here Lara" patting her head and boosting her confidence
"Bad joke, my bad" Percy calls out.
"Dumbass, let's just go straight through, no pit stops" Thomas demands, and so we enter...only to see the state of this place isn't like we imagined.
"Wow when you said Rogue attacks caused them to leave you really meant it didn't you?" Percy openly states while checking out the terrible condition it was in, and he wasn't kidding. There weren't many "houses" left, if you could even call them that to begin with, they were built out of stone and any sturdy materials the villagers found nearby I presume. Still...just stepping foot into this place gives me an ominous chill I can't put my finger on, it just feels like the place itself doesn't want us here in it's own unnatural way.
Walking further in, "Guys! Look at this cool stone" Yasmine calls us over to look at marble covered slate, with the words carved in.
"He...broke...boun-...and committed a s....against the g....s but we forgi-...him as he fre..d us". - Thomas
"O...c...n"
"Is this a grave?" I ask when we all pause after attempting to read whatever's poorly carved here
"I guess so...? Can't be too sure but we should keep mov-" Thomas getting interrupted by an old man who began approaching us, "Ah so you noticed our monument? It's in the memory of our hero, although his mark has now been swallowed up by the sands of time we still try to remember it...all the villages have one in respect of him"
"That's really kind of you guys, I'll remember to pay respects to them all, we were just passing through though" Thomas quickly remembers where we are
"Oh no, stay for some food and rest here if you would like" The old man tries to persuade us.
"No we really need to keep moving, sorry" I try to reason with him and in a whispered tone I listen to Lara, "He knows..."
"Why won't you stay? We just want to cater for our guests. Stay for us" He practically begs.
"Guys, let's just keep going and get through"
We all nod in immediate understanding and I catch a glimpse of him grinning from ear to ear as we begin pacing through the rubble filled graveyard of a village. Some having their chimneys lit up showing there certainly is life here but certainly not making me feel comfortable at the thought. Reaching the edge of the village's opposite gate we take a deep breath knowing how close we were to being in actual danger there..."Why don't I feel Lara grabbing me?" Causing the other three to turn to me wide eyed in realization that we lost her through the turns and bends this horrible place has. "Guys, there's something that's been bothering me the entire time since we got here"
"Huh?" We all sound out as Percy begins to speak
"That smell...it's not just smoke, they're burning something"
My eyebrows begin to scrunch in a fit of rage as I make my way back through the village feeling my eyes shifting in colour like a gear fitting in place, I was ready to harm something. I'll kill everything, I won't let a single piece go untouched. Nearly back at the place we first started at I hear her scream..."LUCAS PLEASE I'M HERE!" her high pitched voice cracking as every word touches a piece of my remaining will, I have nothing else to live for, I have her and only her. Our parents left us to fend for ourselves cause of how she inherited everything and I was "blessed" with the gift of destruction. Fuck these flames.
"LARA CALL TO ME, I'M COMING!" I begin sprinting towards a rough location of her scent, it's clouded cause of all this shitty burning smell but it's here...I know it is. Her silence only solidifying my worst nightmares, faintly hearing the feet of the others behind me. I open a curtain to reveal a sight I wish remained unknown to reality.
"You thought I wouldn't spot a fucking wolf in my village? Silly dumb brats I've lived too long to walk past that shit" that old man from before...carving her up like a steak, her head twisted off and face disfigured...she inherited the gifts and I inherited the actual wolf qualities, it's why she's so slow, it's why she's always held against me for strength, it's why she sleeps next to me...and she's gone.
"Hmmmm she was mighty pretty though HAHA!" Another sick fuck in the corner, groping her remains with no intent of stopping. Percy and his friends just behind me, standing frozen like they're plucked out of time itself, unable to act. I'll act for them.
"Is there actually a goddess or any kind of hero? If so I ask for forgiveness for what I'm about to do."
"You rogues and pretending to be human, HA! BULLSHIT! YOUR EYES BEING HUMAN DON'T MEAN SHIT!" They're speaking over me like I'm the dirt here.
"I'm ready to make this sacrifice" My flesh beginning to peel off my fists, "I don't care anymore" My words as hollow as can be. I was given this gift for a reason, burden? What burden could cast out my need to fight.
"LUCAS!-" Percy's words growing fainter and fainter as I drop to my knees and begin to hunch over into my wolf, my bones snapping one after another, they won't change back after this. And I accept that. My fur burning up with cinders flying into the air, and I accept that. My throat scorched from the blazing sun in my stomach, what was this power meant for if not to kill...I won't wait to learn. Seeing them melt in the sheer presence of me, I want that, their wind pipes blown out like an old fuse, I love that.
-
Yasmine's POV
We rush out the burning building just before it comes down in fragments at a time, turning around and seeing a blazing pillar of heat rise up into the sky. "I'm sorry" I speak out towards the now molten figure of a wolf...still fighting as he jumps building to building, incinerating whatever he touches. It isn't my fault but I never imagined this could of happened and I feel like I'm the one to blame, as future delta I could of been more useful. "YASMINE!" Percy and Thomas call out to me, shaking me from my thoughts as I see Percy's eyes filled with a reflective glint, he's sad. I need to learn what we were born into this world for, why do we have these powers if all they do is harm. He wasn't from the daybreak pack, our normal burdens are to just become overheated to the point where we can barely move...but he knowingly went across that line when he could barely light a glow in his palm.
"We can't just let him go rampant!" Percy tries to go back but I pull him to safety.
"What the fuck do you want us to do Percy? We got his sister was killed cause we were stupid and now he's paying the price for it" Thomas emotionally lashes out in fear
"I...don't" He audibly drops to the hard ground, ready to let his tears loose and I can't blame him.
"We need to get out, he may recognize us but he certainly wouldn't care for harming the nearby villagers" I grab both their hands and begin to charge out, I'm sad I admit that. But I need to get through this for the sake of defending what I have left.