In one of the many alleys of the capital, a kid that couldn't be older than 12 who has a grey hair and blue eyes, was standing in the middle of 4 dead bodies with their blood covering him. Opposite to him at the entrance of the alley stood a figure clad all in black and was staring at him in silence, the hood covering his head tilted slightly from left to right as if taking in the sight Infront of him.
A tense silence followed until Ryder stumbled to his feet and took a step back. He could feel his energy and strength draining from his body by the second and in few minutes he won't be able to able to move let alone defend himself and since he has no idea what the dark figure intentions were he decided it's better to make a run for it.
But before he took another step, a wall of flames appeared behind him blocking his escape route. Usually normal flames would at most give him some light burns and now that his bloodline has awakened normal flames weren't a threat to him but something felt off about these flames, there color was a darker shade of red and a sinister aura was emiting from them, he could try rushing through but something told him that it won't end with just few burn marks.
The rain did seemed to evaporate before it can touch it and he tried to extinguish by controling the ice but it had minimal effect on it, so taking a deep breath he turned aroun and devoted his full focus on the mysterious figure Infront of him, while gathering his energy and calling Fenrir to ask for help as he waited for the figure to make the first move.
The figure seemed content to watch Ryder make his preparations and just stood there but when it seemed that Ryder won't move unless he did so, the figure streched a hand covered with a black lacy glove from underneath the cloak and took said glove off, revealing a slender hand with a pale smooth skin and elegant fingers.
Ryder's eye widened slightly as he didn't think that the mysterious figure was a woman but he stayed alert and didn't lower his guard, especially when the woman moved towards the notebook guy's corpse and ripped the icy dagger from his back using the other hand still covered with the same glove before bringing it close to her face not minding the blood and inspecting it in great detail.
"Fine work, the balance is good and it's quite sturdy, all in all, not perfect but not bad either. But i wonder, how good is it against the heat?" The woman voice despite being gentle was quite clear and captivating, evoking a sense of calmness that was alarming at the moment.
After she finished speaking, the woman grabbed the dagger with her other hand and in less than 5 seconds it started sizzling and not long after it evaporated into nothing.
"Fascinating, who are you really?" The woman spoke with the same gentle voice but Ryder could detect surprise and a hint of happiness in it, like she found the answer to something that has been troubling her for a long while.
Ryder has no intention to stay to find out what she wanted, if she can do that to his dagger with her bare hand, he didn't want to imagine what she can do to him, so while manifesting another dagger in his unbroken hand and as his eyes started to glow and the world started to lose all color, he lunged at the woman with a stab to her chest, but the woman sidestepped and easily dodged the attack.
Not giving up, Ryder followed her closely and went for few more attacks, slashes and stabs in a rabid succession, but the woman didn't retaliate once and seemed content to just leisurely dodge his attacks, but after a while of futile attemps and just when Ryder was wondering whether he should make a run for it, he heard the woman give out a small sight before dodging a wide swing and trying to sweep his legs from beneath him.
Ryder could see all this happening in his colorless world on a slower pace so the moment he saw her crouch down he knew what she was planning to do and jumped while planning to bring his dagger down on her, but the moment he was in the air, Ryder only saw a blur of movement and then something struck his chest and he was slammed into the wall of the building. The impact was jarring and Ryder's already bruised bones was abused even further and he started coughing up blood.
Ryder's body started falling to the ground but another blur filled his vision and he was held by the neck in an iron grip and was slammed once more against the wall. The woman drew closer and while her face still shrouded by the shadows of the hood her eyes were not.
A pair of blood red eyes were staring at him with such intensity that it left him breathless, it was as if she was looking straight at his soul. there was no killing intent, no anger, they just shone with intelligence and dignity that it was hard to meet her eyes, but the moment he thought about breaking eye contact with her, the same maddening urge that made him slaughter the guys from before came back, but this time it didn't ask blood, didn't urge him to kill. It just forced him to stare back at her with defiance and he could feel a growl brewing inside his chest that he couldn't control. He didn't understand what was happening but he could tell it has something to do with the changes caused by the awakening.
The grip on his neck tightened a bit more bringing him back to reality, the women held him be her gloved hand and he could feel the material against his skin, weirdly enough the glove felt scaly as if it was made of a snake's hide, but he didn't get to ponder much about it as he saw the woman bring her bare hand close to his face, so he kept staring directly at her while preparing himself for the worse and expecting the many kinds of torture that will soon fol-
Poke...poke...poke
"Huh....." A bewildered voice escaped Ryder lips as he felt the woman poking at his cheek.
Poke.....poke...poke
She was hesitant at first but the more the she did it, the more confident she got and she started doing it faster and Ryder started to notice her eyes lightning up in joy that left him stunned and unsure what's going on. Then she seemed to hesitate for a moment before she suddenly started pinching his cheek and pulling at it in different directions with wonder in her eyes.
Ryder had some mixed feelings about this, he expected to be burnt but while her skin felt hot, scalding even he found it bearable enough that he can feel how soft and elegant fingers her fingers were.
But suddenly, the women eyes seemed to narrow in pain and her body started to tremble and an evil aura started to emit from her, the fingers that was touching him started getting hotter and the woman started to shake her head left and right, Ryder didn't know what was going on with her but he was going to take advantage of it, so without a sound he opened his mouth wide and two sharp canine extended before he bit the hand that was touching him.
The woman hissed and throw him to the ground before she started advancing towards him while dark flames started covering her body, her footsteps leaving burnt marks on the ground and the killing intent that has been absent all this while started to manifest around her creating a pressure that made it difficult for Ryder to breath.
"No,no,no,no,NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HURT HIM!" The women suddenly fell to her knees and started screaming and shouting in desperation.
Ryder quickly pulled himself to his feet and winced as his body protested to the sudden movement, when he noticed the woman writhing on the ground he took the chance to run away as fast as he could and didn't look back.
After few minutes, the women pulled a blue bottle from her cloak and took a blue pill that looked like it was made of piece of crystal and with a shaken hand brought it to her mouth and swallowed it then a blue aura started to emit from her body, pushing away the dark flames and he shaking body started to calm down again until it stopped completely and she was left panting under the heavy rain.
"The episodes are getting worse...." Sighed the women as she looked at the blue bottle in her hand before turning to the direction that Ryder ran to.
***********
Outside of a rundown home, soaked by the rain stood Ryder while panting the ice covering his broken hand has long fallen and the his pupils and teeth returned to normal, the only evidence of his awakening was the grey hair that was sticking to his face right now, he didn't know how long he has ran or how did he manage to reach the orphanage, but he did it anyway. With his body aching all over and his vision blurring, he extended his hand to knock on the door but stiffened mid way through, all the things that happened tonight made him forgot his original purpose and now, there is no way he could get the medicine his siblings and aunt needed.
Ryder hang his head as he brought his healthy hand to hold his broken one, while a feeling of shame and failure filled his body, he couldn't bring himself to knock on their door. Now his siblings might not endure the night and it would be his fault, so instead of facing his failure and his shame, he decided to run away. So he turned his back to the orphanage and started to walk away, he didn't know where he was going but he knew he couldn't stay here.
"...Ryder ?" A weak and old voice called out to him, before he heard the rusty hinges of the door creaking open, causing Ryder to stiffen and stop in his tracks.
Looking behind him, he saw the shape on an old woman with a wrinkled skin and a white hair, green eyes and a slightly hunched back. She was standing at the doorway, holding a candle in one hand and her walking cane in the other, she stared at him in doubt at first before her eyes widened in realization before it took in the battered state he was in.
"RYDER! Where have youn been? What happened to you? AND WHERE THE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!!!" Lara moved too fast for someone of her age and reached Ryde side under and started inspecting him, not paying any heed to the rain or the blood that filled Ryder's body.
"GET INSIDE. NOW!!!" The tone she used left no room for arguments and Ryder winced because he knew she was gonna chew him a new one and found himself moving toward the house without letting out a single peep.
After they got inside, Lara guided Ryder to the bath and told him to wash himself while she brought him some dry clothes, it took him a while because of his broken arm but he eventually managed to wash himself and changed into some dry clothes that was left to him at the door.
Moving out of the door, the house was unusually calm, everyone was sleeping but he could also hear some laboured breathing and some weak coughs coming from the little kids. With guilt stabbing at his heart, Ryder moved toward the kitchen and he saw Lara sitting there on a table with which had to steaming cups on it.
"Sit!" Commanded Lara in a stern voice as she gestures toward a chair which Ryder silently took carefully as he tried to subtly move his broken arm in a more comfortable position.
But he wasn't subtle enough as Lara gave it a stern look and went to rummange through the kitchen before coming back with, two sticks, some rope and a piece of close, before she knelt next to Ryder and started fixing his arm in a makeshift splint.
"So are you gonna tell me what happened?"
Lara asked in a gentle voice but Ryder could hear the worry and anxiety in her voice, as she gently worked at his arm trying to cause him as little pain as possible. Ryder felt warmth seeping into his body chasing away the dark thoughts that has been occupying his mind since the moment his bloodline has awakend and after everything that has happened tonight he finally felt at peace.
Drip.....drip.....drip
"I am sorry..*sob*.i am so sorry..*sob*...." It felt like a dam has been broken, as tears started spilling from his eyes like a downfall and Ryder broke down sobbing on the chair as he kept repeating he was sorry, over and over, now he understood he wasn't afraid of facing his failure or shame, he was afraid of seeing the disappointment on his aunt face and he couldn't bring himself to face her.
"Shhhhhh, it's okay. It's okay, i know you did your best and it's not your fault" Ryder felt her holding him close and whispering these words into his ear before forcing him to look her way.
"But if you ever try to run away again, i will never forgive you."
Seeing the loving look in her eyes and feeling the gentleness and the warmth she was emitting brought more tears to his eyes and he buried his face in her chest and kept on crying.
" there, there, let it all out. You don't have to tell me anything, you just have to come home safely, you hear me?" Feeling him nodding against her Lara let out a sigh of relief as she kept rubbing his back and soothing him, glancing outside the window across the street Lara thought she saw someone across the building staring at them but she blinked and the figure was gone.
Shaking her head, she focused once more on Ryder, while wondering what happened to her sweet little boy.
************
In an unknown location, in an underground caveran. There was a crystal clear lake, that seemed to glow slightly despite there being no light in the cave, thanks to some pearls that was emitting a white glow, casting the cave in gigantic shadows.
"It seems Fenrir has awakened, does that mean he has found his successor?" A voice in the shadows rumbled as it echoed inside the cavern
"Unlikely, we exterminated his kind and the bearers of his blessing. The spell was never guaranteed to lock him forever." Another voice answered in denial.
"We should have killed him when we had the chance, now that he is all alone he is more dangerous than ever." Sounded another voice filled with regret.
"Why are you all even afraid of in the first place, he spent a thousand year frozen in his own ice, he may have been strongest king back then but now ? I doubt he rank in the top 50." A younger more spirited voice asked not understanding the issue.
A pregnant silence followed for a few seconds before a voice filled with disain rumbled across the room.
"I never understood the humans saying ' the new calf doesn't fear the tiger' until now. You say he isn't ranked in top 50, Fenrir's species wasn't one that produced kings in the FIRST PLACE! And yet he became the strongest king. Do you know why we named him Predator of the kings ? He didn't get stronger by age or by natural resources, no. he got stronger by fighting and beating stronger opponents. Back then for the sake of beating the corruption he only hunted killed demonic beasts, but after what we did? No one is safe anymore."
"You must be exaggerating, how many king is out there? There are hundreds of kings. And you telling me he is gonna hunt all of them?" Another voice asked in disbelief.
"...he is right. Because we aren't even his target, he is after the demon god." A soft more feminine voice stated.
Suddenly everyone stopped talking and stayed silence in disbelief.
"You can't be serious....."
"The demon god? He is after that demon god?!! That's no Hunt, that's a suicide!!!"
"I was there, i saw the look in is eyes when he saw it for the first time, he wasn't frozen in fear or trembling from shock, he was excited that he found the ultimate prey." The female voice was filled with certainty as she recounted what she saw.
" so we need to come up with a way to deal with him, because he will hunt everyone for us before aiming for the demon god. Fenrir only cared about two things and we took one of them, so wether it's out of revenge or instinct, he will come for us." An older voice filled with wisdom and the vestiges of time echoed across the caveran.
************
In a snowy forest, a giant ape missing one of his arms was running for his life across the forest with a look of terror on it's face, looking behind him, there was nothing there but it didn't dare to relax, but it did nothing to help him the reaper of death chasing him as a blur of grey tackled him to the groud before a the smell of blood and a dying scream of the ape king filled the forest.