Fear washed over Dyreus and Aurora as the magical beast leaked its killing intent as they both stepped back unconsciously.
Once their feet felt the sensation of water drowning them their sanity came back, realizing they lost their minds to fear.
Aurora had gripped Dyreus's hand as a chill went down her spine.
"There shouldn't be any magic beast here! The guards patrol these forests daily and we are only on the outskirts!"
To protect the town folks of Kilerth, the forest was patroled multiple times a day to make sure the outskirts were cleared and to prevent any damage from the magical beasts that wander off too far in.
Dyreus realized the beast in front of him was nowhere in the books he read growing up. The only similarity it had was compared to a wolf called 'Nighteyes', but everything changed when he noticed its glowing red eyes as it stood on its back legs.
"The Nighteyes has extremely dark eyes and always stands on four feet. This is not a normal magical beast!"
As Dyreus and Aurora stood still, feeling the water rushing back and forth, the beast started to slowly walk towards them with a sinister smirk, as if dinner time had long passed.
Dyreus looked around to find any place to run too, but he knew nothing about the beast in front of him. He knew he was fast, but Aurora was not. Neither of them knew how to fight. So he knew there was only one option left.
Believe in his survivability!
Dyreus softly whispers to Aurora, "I will distract the beast, you run to town and grab the guards. They should be able to kill whatever this thing is."
"Huh? You can't be serious? I can't leave you by yourself!"
"Aurora, we both know this beast is not simple and is nowhere in the books we read."
Dyreus looked at the beast with a calming glaze.
"Besides, for some reason, the beast is not all that scary."
After feeling the first rush of killing intent and partially blacking out, his mind quickly started to calm down, the killing intent slowly washing away. It was a very familiar and unfamiliar feeling at the same time, one that couldn't be explained.
Aurora could only feel helpless in the situation before her. She knew she stood little chance against it, let alone help in a fight.
But the one thing she did know...
Was Dyreus healing ability.
Aurora had even tried to do her own research at the town library, looking into various parts of history. While most of the books didn't speak much about the past, she learned about the different descendants the Gods and Demons left behind, and how some of the most powerful families around Elysium hailed from them.
She had even told Dyreus about what she learned and tried to see if he knew anything about his past, but even he knew nothing.
With the realization, she could only pray that he would be fine.
"Please don't die."
With a small nod from Dyrues with his eyes locked on the beast, Aurora quickly ran to the side as Dyreus shot towards the beast.
In a low squat, Dyreus shot forward and tackled the beast back into the forest as Aurora ran back to town.
As Dyreus tumbled across the ground with the beast, he felt sharp claws grip into his back.
Using the momentum, the beast threw Dyreus off him and into a tree.
Upon landing his back against the tree, he exalted all the air out of his lungs. He landed on the ground finding it hard to breathe as he struggled to get back up. His vision was blurry as he looked at the beast getting back up on his two legs.
He felt a wave of freshness on his back as the claw wounds quickly started to heal, his vision becoming clear again.
The two stood a few feet apart as they glazed each other down.
As Dyreus was about to take a step forward, he suddenly saw the beast completely disappear from his vision, and only a second later two clawed hands pierced into his shoulder.
"AHKK"
As the beast picked up Dyreus, it bit down across Dyreus's neck as he screamed out in pain. His voice slowly dying from his neck being crushed as his eyes rolled back into his head.
Out of pure instinct, he fought threw the pain and used his finger to stab the beast's eye.
The beast released Dyrues as a result and howled in pain as it covered its bleeding eye.
Dyreus winced on the ground from the pain. He was quickly left in relief as the feeling came back and started to heal his wounds.
As Dyreus was about to get back up, he heard a deep growl behind him. When he looked back, he saw the beast disappear again, only for it to quickly pick him up by the arm.
With little strength left, he tried to use his other hand to punch the beast's face, but before he even got there, the beast had punched Dyreus right in the middle of his chest.
Dyreus flew off into the forest, as he crashed through multiple trees, only to be stopped as he crashed into a boulder.
He slid down the boulder as he landed on his rear. He felt an immense amount of pain in his right arm, only to look and see his right arm was completely gone. He glimpses in front of him, only to see the beast holding said arm in its hand.
Even with the killing intent being washed out, pure terror could only be seen on Dyrues's face as he watched the beast swallow his arm in one gulp.
Dyreus had a sudden reaction when he started to throw up blood from the earlier punch.
Even with the adrenaline pumping through him, the pain he was feeling was for the first time.
It was all too much for him. He was not mentally strong enough to withstand this, let alone the pain he was feeling. This beast was beyond the strength he could even fathom!
As if he was praying for it to all end quickly, the feeling came back again. He felt his wounds healing again. The pain started to disappear as his breathing became easier.
Tears started to roll down his face, he didn't want this to continue.
This healing was becoming a curse to him!
He felt his right arm tingle as it started to reform, the bones quickly regrowing as tissue and skin followed right after.
His appearance was of only blood, but behind the blood was a body of perfect health, as if no damage was caused in the first place.
Seeing his body whole again, and the pain gone, he felt some relief but realized it was only the beginning.
He saw the beast walking towards him again... only to disappear once more.
Remembering what happened the last two times, he quickly rolled to the side as a clawed hand shot by him and into the boulder.
Upon being struck, the boulder was demolished, only to be left in small pebbles.
Without any second thought, Dyreus got up and ran.
He ran as fast as he could as tears fell down his face.
With only making it a few meters away, he was quickly pinned down by the beast.
Upon being smashed into the ground, he coughed up blood, as he screamed.
The beast turned Dyreus over and grabbed him by the neck. Dyrues tried to fight back as he wiggled around and threw punches at the beast.
With a clean shot to the beast's head, the beast simply turned back and faced him. Dyreus could see his one red eye and bloody other.
With a single movement, the beast ripped off Dyreus's left arm and started to eat it as he watched.
He could only cry out in pain, his voice echoing through the forest.
He could feel the healing kicking back in again, but before his arm even reformed, the beast had already gripped his leg and ripped it off.
Dyreus could only cry in pain, he realized this beast was snacking on him.
By the time his arm had regrowed, the beast ripped off his other leg.
Dyreus's vision was starting to blur from the pain he was feeling.
He could feel his body healing, but then every time a limb healed, the beast would rip off another.
An unknown amount of time had passed, for what felt like an eternity to Dyreus could only be a few minutes in reality.
The beast was filling its stomach with every regrown part it ripped off.
He could feel his healing was starting to slow. It was taking longer for his arms and legs to grow back.
His cries no longer echoed. No scream or plead left his voice anymore. He began to feel himself drift away.
His vision darkened as his last will to live left him.
When the beast noticed the boy was fading off, he decided to end his nice snack and raised its hand. It was saving his heart for its final meal!
As Dyreus was about to close his eyes for the final time, he could hear a small voice.
He did not know where it was coming from, for it only said,
"Throughout a thousand voyages, a single will fights for eternity."