Praxoril. A magnificent world filled with wonders, magic, and gods. Life here is harmonious and simple but only for those who can carve out their own peace.
Life was never simple for non-human races. On the continent called Sarxis, it was simply hellish. Here, the non-human races are mercilessly subjugated and have the pleasure of experiencing, firsthand, the depths of cruelty that humans are capable of.
Open acts of malice and depravity towards non-humans are but the opening to a most twisted play. It is in the night where humans lay bare their evil. In the alleys, and narrow roads. In the forests, and mountain paths. It is there that you hear the suffering of those that look different, through no fault of their own.
Innocence is a truly fragile thing. Glance away for even a second, and it may forever be lost. In the dark forests of Sarxis? Innocence has long been cut out.
Third person POV
"Run Onnea! Do not look back my child!!" urged a weak and aged voice of an old man.
The howling of monsters and clashing of steel almost drowning out the desperate shout. His weary form is battered and mutilated beyond recognition, yet he remains stalwart. Desperately he clings on, if only for a few more seconds.
A girl, seemingly no older than 16, could do nothing but watch as the old man helplessly endured wound after wound on his body.
"NO! PLEASE STOP!"
She screamed with all the force her lungs could muster.
Yet her anguished plea of mercy was answered only by the cackling of beasts.
With one final strike, the old man's legs could no longer hold and he is thrown to her feet.
The old man lies bloody and beaten yet still he begs "Please don't do th--GRK" and is forcibly cut off as a sword pierces his throat and into the ground.
A handsome young human gazes upon his handiwork and calmly says: "You elves always make the funniest sounds". With blood pouring from his throat, the old elf looks to the little girl and despairs when he sees her rooted to the ground by vines. 'A nature magi?! It can't be!' he thinks.
He notices now that there were 5 more humans behind the young man. Slavers. They laugh and sneer as if they were hyenas that caught their prey. He tries to reach for the little elf with his remaining strength and the girl does the same, yet a boot stomps down with brutal force and ends a kind soul.
CRUNCH! The sound echoes and is akin to a child stepping onto a dying leaf. Onnea freezes and the scene is forever seared into her soul. The bravery of the old elf's final stand, and the ease in which his skull caved.
The scene and sound stretches endlessly in her mind, it is there in that moment, where her mind snaps and fractures. "AHHH I'LL KILL YOU!! WHYYYYY?!!" screaming with a force and fury that belies her size, Onnea looks to the young man with murder in her eyes. She claws and tears at the vines, wishing she could gouge his throat out with her teeth.
The young man simply knocks her out with the hilt of his sword, still slick with the old elf's blood.
"Yikes, she's a feisty one. That's good. The buyer will pay good coin for her. We'll be drinking for days HAHAHA!" says a middle aged human stepping out from behind a tree as he heals the girl of any cuts or scrapes she might have acquired from her struggle.
From his attire one can conclude that he is a nature magi, powerful wielders of the forces of nature and not often on the side of evil. Humans, however, have a penchant for duplicity. It is an itch that cannot be satisfied and here it is manifested quite clearly.
"Do something as insignificant as this and they always lose their minds. They truly are a low and disgusting race." sneers the young man as he wipes the blood on his blade onto the girl's dress.
"Tsk I've got filth on me." The young man spits and turns to the recent corpse and aggressively stomps on it eliciting laughter from the other slavers. After meticulously ensuring that cerebral fluid and viscera no longer clung to the underside of his boot he turns to the druid.
"Hendrick, undo the vines and get the others to help me move the product. We might get a bonus if we arrive early." orders the young man, looking vexed.
"Alright Dex, but you owe me a pint and one of those tavern wenches HAHAHA!" says the druid with a faraway look in his eyes and a wretched smile on his lips as he unbinds the girl.
"Only if you give the old corpse a good kick. This waste of space made this whole ordeal tiring. Why resist when you can't do a thing? These filthy maggots should just lay down and die when looking upon their betters." the young man sighs and laments the energy he has unjustly lost.
The druid rears his leg back and laughs "Hah that's easy. Here I come, booze and bi--GAAHHH!!"
A wet crunch is heard as a menacing hook attached to an iron chain pierces through the druid's leg. Sinew and bone is forcibly torn and crushed as the druid screams in agony.
With the iron chain going taut, a massive force pulls back on the druids leg and the full grown man in question flies into the darkness of the forest.
"DEX!! HEL--" *KKRSHIIIIIIK*
The druid's cry for help is cut short by a wet tearing sound, and silence once again dominated the forest. Dex stood there, rooted, in mind numbing fear. He clutches his sword and tries his best to calm himself.
The other slavers form a circle and nervously look for the source of their current situation. A minute goes by and the forest is eerily still. It is only then that Dex remembers to breathe.
As he inhales, a dark silhouette flies out and knocks him down before his mind can react. "HIEEEKK NOOOO--Ah? Hendrick?! Thank the gods you're alright! Wh--" he doesn't finish his sentence as Hendrick looks at him with a vacant gaze and with his lower half completely missing.
Dex tries to scream but something catches his eye and forces his throat shut. In the distance he spots a large looming shadow moving ever closer. However, that's not what draws his attention. He is drawn to two glowing golden orbs of light in, what he assumes to be, the being's eyes. They glow with an overwhelming power and Dex knew, in that moment, that he is to be judged for his actions.
The 5 slavers lose their nerve and one of them breaks rank to rush the behemoth. "Die monster!!" shouted the slaver, mustering every ounce of courage.
With startling speed and a *CRUNCH*, the slaver is driven to the ground with a brutal blow of the behemoth's fist.
Skull fragments and brain matter fly out and find their way onto the surrounding plants. The earth shakes and the slavers become unbalanced.
With a powerful push of its legs the figure propels itself into the night sky and unclasps a massive great axe from its back.
*BOOOOOOM*
Before the slavers can recover, the being slams into the ground and sends out a shockwave along with chunks of earth that impact them and liquify their internal organs leaving messy piles of scattered flesh in the aftermath.
The being sharply turns to Dex and he no longer holds his screams back. "AHHHH NOO stay away from me!!" He runs away faster than he has ever ran before and for a few seconds he believes himself to be safe.
That is, until a hook bursts through his shoulder, and drags him to the ground.
"GAAHHH, MY SHOULDER!! FUC-"
He doesn't finish as his body tenses in crippling fear, and freezes as he meets the gaze of the monstrous being that slaughtered his men.
The earth trembled with each step taken. The moonlight finally shines its light upon the assailant and reveals a truly imposing figure.
Skin covered in runic circuits, broad shoulders, heavily muscled, and utterly gigantic. In his right hand is a massive Greataxe humming with ambient energy. His golden eyes bore down heavily onto Dex, the young man found himself unable to look up at the being.
The being simply stares at Dex with undisguised contempt.
After what felt like years, Dex musters the will to look up. "Plea--GUUUHK!" With a single arm, the large man lifts Dex by the throat and a deep voice that could intimidate a mountain sounded out.
"Why is a mere beast speaking? It should howl and moan as beasts do. Like so".
The large being holds one of Dex's arms and the night is filled with harrowing screams of unspeakable pain.
Throughout the night the dreadful howling of a beast kept nearby villages awake. For what seemed like hours, terrifying inhuman screeching persisted.
"pLeaThe...EnD...mE..." Dex pleaded with his now broken form. Arms and legs missing, this thing would never walk the earth again. The large man ignores him and asks "Who commissioned this job? Answer me and you'll be granted a swift end".
"it...waTh coUnt...UtgaRd...kedAn...pleAthe...END ME..." Dex mutters with torn lips and in between pained gasps.
The Goliath ignores the whimpering thing and tosses him to the ground. He looks to the young elf laying on the floor and rumbles.
"Get up girl".
The howling of a tortured man can rouse even the gods, the girl awoke long ago and even found comfort in the young man's suffering. Going so far as to compare them to lullabies that her grandfather used to sing to her.
Slowly she stands and looks to the Goliath with fear and gratitude. A confusing contrast of emotions for one so young, yet she stows these feelings to the back of her mind and what replaces it can only be described as primal rage.
She approaches the mutilated torso and steadily her gait becomes akin to a predator. She thinks of what he has done, and made a decision right there and then.
"WuuUuuuUu...pleath..."
Onnea stands over Dex's mutilated form and stomps repeatedly on his head. "why.....whY...WHY...WHYYYY???!!!" *THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *CRACK*
She screams and, fueled by her rage, lifts a relatively large stone. She brings the stone down with a brutal force. *SQUEEELCH* Only mush remained where a head once rested.
Onnea stands and looks upon her work. She looks at her grandfather's corpse, and then she simply faints.
The Goliath catches her and makes his way to the nearest non-human village to seek medical help. The villagers were understandably cowed at the sight of such a large man and almost took up arms to defend their village. However, at the sight of the little girl, they rush to her aid.
After making sure that the girl would be well, physically at least, the Goliath starts making his way to the Kingdom of Kedan. Not three steps from the village entrance, he hears unsteady footsteps approaching from behind him and there he finds Onnea being helped by a villager.
"Sir, may I please...have your name so I can...repay...this debt."
She struggles to form the words in her exhaustion but does so with a straight back and serious face.
If one were to gaze into her eyes, one can find that there is a look now of vengeance and hatred, of rage and brutality. The innocence of this girl is forever lost.
The Goliath looks to her for a second and turns away. Onnea is disappointed yet undeterred and moves to catch up to him, but she hears his response and it shakes the very air around them.
"I am Thorgar Earthshaker Drelagona"
Thorgar allows the gravity of his declaration to settle and looks to the girl once more.
"Innocence no longer has a place on Sarxis child. There is only one thing that will allow you to live freely."
With a titanic heave, Thorgar throws his axe towards a hill and decimates it.
"Power. Close your heart to their screams and cruelty. Then you will find that they are simply monsters to be cut down".
Thorgar walks away and holds his hand out, and not a second later his Greataxe flies back and lands firmly on his palm.
Onnea does her best to capture every detail of Thorgar's form. His honey brown skin embellished with runic circuits. The runic patterns on his left forearm that look like chains. His sheer size. And most importantly, his glowing red eyes.
With fierce determination she vows to never be weak again. She stares at Thorgar until he disappears back into the forest.
In a clearing where blood and bone are strewn about. A hooded figure kneels to inspect the area. They touch the crater and examine the only intact corpse. Noting the gaping hole on its shoulder and the lack of a head, they hum in thought.
They mutter an incantation and, after a few seconds, look towards a direction with magic swirling in their eyes.
.
.
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"Interesting".
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END