Osric didn't breathe. He stood there, his arms still wrapped tightly around Taren, unable to think. Everything hit him in cold waves: fear, anger, and the sharp relief that cut deeper than he'd ever anticipated.
"You imbecile," he strangled, his voice trembling. His arms relaxed, but his hands remained on Taren's shoulders, holding tightly, as if he were afraid he would disappear again. His breath hitched, and a single, hot tear slid down his cheek before the flood followed.
His shoulders trembled as he pressed his forehead briefly to Taren's. "You swore we'd face it all together." The words were barely a whisper, but they carried the raw ache of a broken promise.
Osric pulled back, his light eyes meeting Taren's, shimmering with grief and something deeper—something harder to name. "I thought you were gone," he admitted, his voice cracking. His fingers trembled as they curled into Taren's shirt, holding him as though grounding himself.
The tears kept coming, but Osric didn't wipe them away. He inhaled sharply, forcing himself to straighten, to steady the trembling that rattled his chest. "But now…" His grip on Taren's shoulder tightened. "Now we'll make it out. Together. No more running. No more cages."
His gaze turned to the tunnel's dark mouth, his jaw tightening as his fingers curled into fists at his sides. "I'll make sure of it," he murmured, the words soft but resolute—a promise, a vow.
The atmosphere of the tunnel shifted with a sudden weight. It was nothing more than cold stone and shadows, the quiet stretching endlessly. But now, the air seemed to press in on him, thick and suffocating. Taren's breath caught in his throat, a cold shiver crawling up his spine. His heart raced, his mind reeling as the walls of the tunnel loomed larger, jagged and unyielding. He turned quickly, desperate for something—anything—familiar. The exit was gone.
There had been a glimmer of light, a hint of freedom, but now. nothing. The dark engulfed it. Taren's chest tightened, his eyes scaring around for an opening that didn't exist. His hands shook as he stared at Osric, his voice strained. "Where'd you get all them weapons? The mask? How'd you pull that off?" The words tumbled out, jumbled with confusion and fear.
Osric came forward and his face grew dark with the first flicker of guilt which passed through his eyes. "I asked Agraj for help," he said softly, words heavy in the stillness of the tunnel.
Taren's head was too jumbled to concentrate on his answer. His eyes drifted back to the creature, still unmoving. The wolf-like creature remained in the same position, not moving at all. It seemed like time had stopped, but then—something else distracted him.
A flickering sensation danced in the air in front of him. Before he could react to it, a translucent red screen appeared, floating between them. Taren's breath caught up, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
______"System Vogari"______
「▪︎Taming Ability Activated ▪︎」
「First Taming Completed!」
「Congratulations! You have successfully tamed your first beast!」 ───────────────────
Taren's heart was pounding in his chest. His hand instinctively shot up to his head as if he could push the absurdity in front of him away. "What in the hell is that? What's goin' on?" His voice trembled with frustration, trying to grasp some form of reality. "Tamin'? A beast? This doesn't make sense.
He laughed—wild, desperate, and half-frustrated. "You're telling me I tamed this thing? You've got to be kiddin'!" His mind spun, his thoughts colliding in chaos. "What the hell is happenin' here?"
Osric stood motionless, his expression unreadable. The words Taren had spoken echoed in the heavy silence. But Osric had no answers, no explanations—only the faint flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
Osric's voice rang out, sharp and urgent. "Taren!!" His hand shot forward in desperation, but Taren didn't react. The tunnel swallowed the sound, leaving only the faint, eerie hum of the atmosphere, stretching the silence between them.
Taren's body convulsed, a harsh shudder racing through him as he leapt upright. His hands reached for his head as if trying to force the mist from his mind. His eyes snapped wildly about, then snapped back to Osric as he opened them wide in horror. "Did you see it? Up in the air? Some kinda red… flickerin' thing?" His voice was unsteady with incredulity."
Osric's brow furrowed, confusion and a touch of exasperation clouding his face. "What are you talking about?" He stepped back, his eyes scanning the space again, still nothing but cold stone and shadows. "You've gone mad, Taren." His voice was firm, but there was something else there—concern, maybe a hint of fear—but he quickly pushed it aside. He had to. "We need to focus. We need to get out of here.
Taren's chest constricted. His breath came in shallow bursts, the world spinning around him. "No! I saw it, Osric! A .somethin'… red and floatin' right there. "There was somethin' written on it, like… Tamin'... Beast or somethin'." His voice shook with frustration. "I dunno what it was, but it was real, I swear!"
Osric shook his head, his doubt creeping in. "You're imagining things, Taren. You've been through too much." He spoke quickly as if trying to convince himself as much as Taren. But a flicker of doubt lingered in his eyes. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Taren stood there, torn. His mind was a muddled mess of confusion and fear. Something had happened—something real—but his thoughts were scattered too badly to make any kind of sense of it. He swallowed hard, trying to push the uncertainty aside. "I saw it," he whispered. "It was damn real…"
The room thickened with an unbreakable sense of tension as Taren's heart skipped a beat. A low, guttural sound tore at the stillness as Taren turned around. His eyes opened in wonder.
The huge wolf—the creature which had at one time seemed a to alive statue, which was starving to death, which couldn't move, its gigantic form stretched across the cold floor—started to rise. Its vast body swayed, muscles flexing through its shaggy fur. Its glazed, vacant eyes shone now with a faint, nearly desperate glimmer. The beast growled—a tired, rumbling growl; its monstrous paws scuffled over the stone floor.
It stumbled forward, its steps slow and uneven, each one bringing it closer to Taren. Despite its size, the creature moved with a strange gentleness, as if exhausted by some unseen force. Its chest heaved, and a low whine escaped its throat, like a plea for something Taren couldn't understand.
Taren took a step back, his heart hammering in his chest. "What the hell…" he whispered, his voice shaking. The wolf's eyes locked onto his, and despite its tiredness, there was something in them—something familiar, something almost human.
Osric, too, was frozen, his eyes wide with shock. He reached out, but the words caught in his throat. "Taren, back!" he warned, shaking as he didn't know whether the beast was a threat or not.
The beast's enormous form loomed before Taren now, standing tall despite the apparent fatigue in its movements. It took another step, then lowered its head, bringing its gaze level with Taren's, eyes filled with an odd mixture of pain and something else—something far more profound.
Taren froze, each muscle of his body screaming to run away, but something cased his stillness. It was as if the creature was holding on to something, a connection that they both didn't understand.