Yellow eyes were the only thing Arin saw before he tried to react. He leapt away, landing on the wet ground. The creature was silent and its presence disappeared as soon as he got onto his feet. He scanned his surroundings like he had been taught and held onto his spear.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Arin's breathing steadied and the nerves shook by his adrenaline faded. The loud rain faded into the background as the creature reformed. It rushed at him, forcing the emerald eyes to raise his spear upwards to block.
Snap!
The creature disappeared once again, leaving Arin without a spear. He didn't curse nor did he make a sound. He readjusted himself and the creature found this weird. Arin wasn't acting like the rest of the humans it had come across in many, many years. They feared the creature but this one… This one had a strange determination in his eyes.
The creature leapt out from the shadows and Arin turned, blocking its sharp claws with his broken spear. The weight of the creature pushed Arin down onto the ground and close together could he see what was in front of him.
A black furred creature with yellow eyes and whiskers. Sharp teeth with warm saliva spilled from its teeth with a strange energy radiating to the side. What was in front of Arin was a horrific tale told by hunters to scare the young ones. The Shadow Panther had decided to make Arin its prey.
The Shadow Panther let out a roar out to paralyze its target. It had shown just enough of itself to scare Arin before the kill. The Shadow Panther liked it when humans screamed and it loved the taste that came afterwards
Just as it was about to bite Arin, something strange happened. A strange feeling erupted out of Arin and in a quick moment, the Shadow Panther stopped.
'What's happening…?' Arin wondered. The Shadow Panther was about to kill him and then it just… stopped! He tried to steady his breathing but the fear in him was too much.
"Come on…" Arin whispered. "Calm down." He took a moment to catch his breath and studied the infamous Shadow Panther closer. He had heard so many stories from Elders and his father about the Shadow Panther.
It was one of the few creatures in this section of the Verdantwilde Plains that most people were scared of. Thornwood residents didn't go out at night and didn't wander too far off the beaten path because of it. Yellow eyes with shadows that followed wherever it went. Day would turn to night and the paranoia would set in.
It was strange though. Despite knowing this, Arin couldn't help but satiate his curiosity in a moment of life and death. He let go of the broken spear in his left hand and reached out for the Shadow Panther.
"I-it's alright." Arin smiled. "I won't hurt you. I didn't mean to run into you. I-I'm actually trying to find some people. H-have you seen them?"
The Shadow Panther growled, attempting to bite Arin's hand but it stopped short of it. Why couldn't it do what it wanted? Could the human in front of it be someone special?
A strange light washed over Arin. In the darkness, a small light appeared on the tips of his fingertips. The Shadow Panther's body began to light up and it tried to shake it off.
What was happening to it?
It studied the human that slowly rose and offered his hand to the Beast. It could feel the human's kindness. It could feel the human's worry. The human was right in what it said.
"Please, help me. I need to save my friends before they die." Arin begged the Shadow Panther. He connected his hand with the Shadow Panther's face and felt it. The surge of energy that was building inside of him pushed outwards, breaking the darkness around them.
The sound of rain fell, again and the shadows disappeared.
There, in front of Arin, stood the Shadow Panther. It was soaked in the rain and looked at Arin as if waiting for him to say something.
"What just happened?" Arin asked. He pulled his hand back and looked at it then the Shadow Panther. "Did something happen?"
The Shadow Panther answered with a small purr. It turned, revealing its split tail. It was at least seven feet tall with at least a third of its length being its split tail. It started to slowly move forward, stopping and looking at Arin as if it was beckoning him to come.
"You want me to come?" Arin asked standing up. He looked down at his broken spear and then followed the panther.
Following the panther, Arin figured out a couple things about it. While it was primarily all black, there were a few points one its body that was yellow. It's split tail had rings of yellow and its muddy paws were yellow. Shadows clung to the panther as it picked up speed and led the way.
Arin wondered where the panther was taking him, but something was telling Arin, he was leading him to his the others.
The screams grew louder as thunder erupted. The smell of iron mixed with fire masked the area in a strong pungent smell. The Shadow Panther stopped and turned to look at Arin.
"Over there?" Arin asked. The Shadow Panther nodded its head, perfectly understanding him. "Alright, thank you."
Arin moved past the Shadow Panther and forwards. It didn't take him long to see packs on the floor and the first victim. Alex was torn apart and unmoving. Arin leaned downwards and felt for a pulse.
It was weak.
"Please let the others be alive." Arin whispered. He continued forward, hearing another scream erupt much closer. He sprinted and pushed through the thick foliage to find the hunting group scattered about with Vee being held up by a strange creature.
It was large, gray and fat. It held Vee with one hand and a large wooden club in the other. It had a single eye as it squeezed Vee's neck.
"Vee!" Arin shouted rushing forward. He grabbed the nearest spear and didn't hesitate to jam it into the creature's side. He watched the spear snap in half. The creature swatted Arin to the side, sending him flying into a tree.
The air in his lungs vanished as he struggled to suck a breath. A scream erupted from the right as the earth shook. Goriath bunched his fists together and launched it at the creature. The rocks slammed against the creature, forcing it to stumble forward and loosened its grip on Vee.
"Let her go!" Goriath roared. The earth bent to his will and he released another attack. The gray creature slammed its wooden club against the stone magic, crumbling it to dust. Goriath roared as he flew threw the smoke and raised a punch and hit the creature.
The gray creature punted Goriath into a tree, splitting it in half as he hit a second tree with a loud crash!
"Goriath!" Arin shouted. He stood up and rushed forward.
"Get out of there! You're going to die!" Jacob, one of the other hunters, yelled.
Arin ignored Jacob's shouts and felt a surge of energy inside of him build. A roar erupted from behind Arin and the Shadow Panther leapt out, slashing the gray creature with ease.
The gray creature roared, releasing Vee.
Vee gasped for air, letting out a flurry of coughs as she barely could see in front of her. The gray creature stumbled closer to her, raising its foot to crush her.
'Is this it?' Vee cried. 'Am I going to die?'
"No!" Arin rushed to Vee, feeling the muscles in his body expand. He flashed forward, leaping onto Vee and tackling her away from the gray creature's foot.
"A-Arin?" Vee spoke his name weakly. She looked at him with fearful eyes. "How did you… Your eyes."
Arin's eyes pulsed yellow as he turned and looked at the gray creature. He began to move away from Vee, who grabbed him in protest.
"The Ogre will kill you! We should run!" Vee shouted.
"Don't worry." Arin looked at her from over his shoulder. He let a smile out before moving towards the ogre. "I'll kill him." Shadow energy erupted from Arin and the Shadow Panther moved in with him. The two picked up speed, attacking the ogre from two different sides.
Arin balled his hands into fist and punched the ogre. The ogre raised its wooden club to block and Arin's fist flew through it with ease. The wood splintered, raining down onto him as he moved in for another punch. The punch sank into the fat ogre's belly, reverberating with shadow energy and tearing at him.
At the same time, the Shadow Panther raked the ogre's back with strikes. The ogre roared in pain as it spun, hitting Arin and missing the panther as it shrank into darkness. The ogre stumbled, feasting its eyes on Vee and rushing for her.
Vee screeched as she closed her eyes and threw her hands up. A loud crash noise came from in front of her and when she peeked, she saw Arin standing in front of her. Red blood spilled onto the ground. Her voice quaked as she tried to understand what was happening.
"Don't hurt any of them." Arin ripped his hand out of the ogre's chest. He pulled the crushed heart of the ogre and tossed it aside. The ogre stumbled backwards, eye wide open at what had just transpired before slamming onto the ground dead.