Dorin could do nothing as the effects of Eki's power continued to ravage his body as Eki spasmed underneath him. It was as though he was waiting to be eaten as the beast's blood was pooling all around the two of them.
After a few moments, Eki's red eyes dimmed and his head dropped to the ground.
Dorin didn't want to end the life of his companion, but the string that connected them snapped the moment Eki saw Jerl. Even so, he didn't expect that Eki would turn on him so quickly.
'Luckily I was already prepared to take his life.'
The blood around Dorin surrounded him, creating a dome that blocked out the moonlight. Dorin tried to fight to regain control of his body, but his limbs weren't answering his call.
"So close . . . its life was in my grasp."
Dorin felt a jolt go through his body as he heard the familiar whispering of the shadow. Suddenly he had control over his limbs again, and he noticed that he still held the fang.
Standing up, Dorin tried to run away. Sadly the dome of blood seemed to reach beyond the horizon.
An uncountable number of red eyes opened from above, covering Dorin's vision.
"Escape . . . I see now. You are simply a coward."
Dorin stopped suddenly. The events of his past lives flashing through his mind. Facing Ara and Lonn, bearing the torture of his best friend, his own struggle to survive.
The sky blinked, and the eyes merged into one which floated down towards Dorin.
"Something as powerful as you are has no idea how hard it is to survive when everyone is against you." Dorin turned to face the shadow, which looked at him with a single blazing red eye.
"Let me take over your body, and I will face those who wish to do you harm in your place."
Dorin grit his teeth as he remembered what it was like to be overtaken by the shadow's power. It felt good, but he doubted that his body or mind would be able to last more than a day in that state.
"No."
"My blood has already changed you, child. Soon there will be nothing you can do about it."
Dorin gripped the fang in his hand, and ran at the shadow. Blood rained from the sky, and it burned his skin slightly with each drop.
"A MERE CHILD WISHES TO FIGHT A DEMON?" The demon's body flashed bright red for a moment, revealing its form. It was humanoid, but with a circular mouth with fangs on all sides in the center of its body and a red eye in place of his head.
'A demon, eh?' With each touch of blood Dorin felt his body grow heavier, but with a shout he jumped at the demon, thrusting his fang downward with both hands.
"In-Infinity . . ."
Dorin felt something grab hold of his left arm, and it was suddenly sucked into the mouth of the shadow.
"You carry the end of my hunger. Give it to me."
Dorin tried to take his hand back, but he only felt more of his arm being pulled into the gaping maw.
Dorin's other hand held the fang, and he desperately tried to pierce its giant red eye. The pupil focused on his fang, and it shattered into pieces.
"That ego of yours could only hold a drop of my power. Simply a fragile and hollow bone in the face of a mountain."
Dorin could no longer move his body as the rain continued to beat down on him. He could only wait as more of him was pulled into the demon's mouth.
'NO. I refuse to be devoured.' Dorin moved the only thing that wasn't covered in blood, the hand that was inside of the demon.
"What are you- stop that." Something shifted in Dorin's grasp, and his hand felt drawn to something within the demon.
The demon bit down on Dorin's shoulder, but Dorin continued to root around until he felt a small round bead similar to the marble his ego was made from and grabbed onto it.
"FOOL! WE COULD HAVE CONQUERED THIS WORLD." The demon let go of his arm, and tried to force it out of its body.
Dorin gripped whatever it was as tight as he could, tearing it out of the demon's body as his arm was spat out.
The demon screamed incoherently as its body melted onto Dorin, and he felt its hunger pierce his mind for a moment. His vision went red before blacking out completely.
. . .
Inside the remains of a fanged elk, a cocoon pulsed. It sweat black blood, which devoured the elk before returning to the cocoon.
Once all that was left of the elk was fur and bones, the blood traveled throughout the village in search of nourishment.
The dawn arrived to reveal an empty village, with nothing but the bones of the deceased left in its ashes.