I crouched behind the gnarled roots, my pulse hammering against my ribs. The clearing erupted with voices - Imperial Guards barking orders, metal scraping against leather as swords cleared scabbards. Through gaps in the roots, I caught glimpses of polished armor glinting in the filtered sunlight.
My fingers dug into the damp earth. Each guard prowled the perimeter, weapons drawn, scanning for threats. The steel of their blades flashed with deadly purpose. I could end them - the power surging through my veins screamed for release. But the thought of blood staining this forest, of taking lives as my first act of power... it sat wrong in my gut.
"The barrier's down," one guard said. "Whatever was trapped here could be anywhere."
"Spread out," another ordered. "Search every shadow."
Boots crunched closer to my hiding spot. I held my breath as a guard passed within arm's reach, his sword tip dragging a line through fallen leaves. The darkness inside me stirred, hungry for violence. But I forced it down. I wouldn't start my path with senseless death.
The nearest guard took another step toward my position. His breath came in short bursts, fear evident in every movement. The tension crackled between us like lightning waiting to strike.
I'd spent my life running, hiding, surviving on scraps. But that ended today. I was done being prey.
With deliberate movements, I reached for the clasp of my worn cloak. The rough fabric slid from my shoulders, pooling at my feet. I straightened, letting them see what I'd become - no longer a frightened boy, but something far more dangerous.
"Leave this place." My voice started as a whisper but grew with each word, rolling through the clearing like thunder. "I don't have time to waste on weaklings."
I watched the guard's eyes widen, fear replacing his stoic demeanor. He leaped back, steel singing as he drew his blade. The forest rang with the sound of weapons being unsheathed - ten more guards falling into formation around their leader, creating a half-moon of gleaming steel.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The lead guard's voice wavered beneath his attempt at authority.
I fixed my gaze on him, letting a dark smile play across my lips. "I guess you must be the leader." The words dripped with disdain.
The air grew heavy, like the moment before a storm breaks. "I will give you all a way to survive: bow down to me and leave, and I will let you live." Power coursed through me as I made my proclamation, each syllable charged with the promise of violence.
"You think we'll bow to you?" A guard's voice cracked with rage and disbelief.
Their leader thrust his sword forward. "Follow my lead! Kill him!"
They charged as one, boots thundering against the forest floor. The darkness inside me unfurled like wings, and time seemed to slow. My body moved with impossible speed, crossing the space between us before they could blink.
I drove my hand through the first guard's chest, feeling ribs snap like twigs. His eyes went wide with shock as I yanked my arm free, taking his heart with it. The organ pulsed once in my grip before I crushed it.
Blood painted the leaves crimson as I spun, catching another guard's sword between my fingers. The blade shattered like glass. I grabbed his throat, feeling the flutter of his pulse against my palm. His feet kicked uselessly as I lifted him skyward.
"You should have chosen differently," I whispered, before ripping his head from his shoulders. The wet crack echoed through the trees.
Two more rushed me from opposite sides. I dropped into a crouch, letting their blades pass overhead. Rising, I caught one guard's arm and used his momentum to drive his sword through his companion's throat. Before he could scream, I snapped his neck with a casual twist.
The remaining guards faltered, their courage evaporating as they watched their comrades fall. The leader backpedaled, his blade trembling. "What are you?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I vanished from his sight, reappearing behind their group. My hands became claws, ripping through armor and flesh with equal ease. Screams filled the clearing as I tore them apart, reveling in my newfound power.
One guard tried to flee. I caught him by his hair, yanking him off his feet. "Please," he sobbed, "spare me..."
Blood dripped from my fingers as I smiled down at him. "Too late for that."
My hand plunged into his chest, fingers wrapping around his spine. With a single pull, I tore him in half, his scream cut short as life left his eyes.
The leader was last, crawling backward through the gore that had been his men. His sword lay forgotten in the grass, his hands raised in supplication. "Wait! I'll serve you! I'll do anything!"
I stalked toward him, savoring his terror. His armor rattled as he shook, tears cutting clean trails through the blood on his face. This was power - real power. Not the hollow authority of uniforms and titles, but the pure dominion of strength over weakness.
"You had your chance," I said, reaching for him. "Now, you'll serve as an example."
His screams joined the chorus of his fallen men, echoing through the forest until silence reigned once more.
I stood in the clearing, my breath steady despite the carnage surrounding me. Blood dripped from my fingers, each drop hitting the forest floor with a quiet finality. The metallic scent filled my nostrils, mixed with the earthy smell of disturbed soil and crushed vegetation.
My gaze swept over the broken bodies. Limbs twisted at impossible angles, armor split and crushed, faces frozen in their final moments of terror. The guard captain's corpse lay at my feet, his chest cavity a ruined mess of bone and tissue. His eyes, still wide with fear, stared unseeing at the canopy above.
I flexed my hands, marveling at how natural it felt. The power coursing through my veins sang with satisfaction, urging me to continue, to seek out more victims. But I had work to do. Ravencross awaited.
"Your first kill." Zarthus's voice whispered from my shadow. "How does it feel?"
"Like nothing." I wiped my hands on a clean patch of grass. "They were insects, nothing more."
The demon's laughter echoed in my mind. "Good. Mercy is a weakness you can't afford."
A cool breeze swept through the clearing, carrying the copper-sweet smell of death. I picked my way through the battlefield, stepping over severed limbs and crushed helmets. My boots left bloody footprints in their wake, each step marking my path forward.
The sun caught the polished surface of a fallen sword. I paused, catching my reflection in the blade. My face had changed - sharper, harder. Dark veins spider-webbed beneath my skin, pulsing with newfound power. My eyes held an otherworldly gleam, like black diamonds catching light.
"Look at what you've become," I murmured, nudging the sword with my toe. "No longer the weak child they could push around."
The weapon spun, reflecting fractured images of the devastation around me. Pieces of armor glinted through the grass like fallen stars. A guard's hand still clutched his sword, fingers locked in death's grip. His ring caught the light - a wedding band, perhaps. Once, that might have meant something to me.
I turned away, orienting myself toward Ravencross. The city waited beyond the forest's edge, its towers barely visible through the trees. The same city that had cast me out, treated me like garbage. Now I would return, not as a beggar, but as something they would learn to fear.
My foot caught on something soft. A guard's pack had spilled open, its contents scattered across blood-stained leaves. A letter peeked out, the parchment stained red at the corners. Personal effects of dead men - meaningless trinkets that once held value to their owners.
"Remnants of their pathetic lives," Zarthus commented. "Leave them to rot."
I kicked the pack aside. These men had chosen their fate when they drew their weapons. Their deaths served a purpose - the first steps toward my destiny. Their families would mourn, but that was no concern of mine. The world had never shown me mercy; why should I offer any in return?
A crow landed on a nearby branch, drawn by the smell of death. It cocked its head, regarding me with beady eyes before hopping down to investigate the feast laid before it. More would come soon, nature's cleanup crew arriving to erase the evidence of my handiwork.
My shadow stretched long across the ground as I moved toward the forest's edge. Behind me, the clearing grew quiet save for the rustle of crow wings and the soft thud of my footsteps. The bodies of the Imperial Guards lay where they fell, their blood seeping into the earth, feeding the roots of ancient trees that had witnessed countless deaths before.
I paused at the forest's threshold, where shadow met sunlight. Ravencross's spires rose in the distance, its walls a promise of challenges to come. The power within me stirred, eager for more violence, more destruction. But patience would serve me better than brute force - for now.
With one last glance at the carnage behind me, I stepped out of the forest. The guards' deaths marked the beginning, nothing more. Their sacrifice would be forgotten, lost among the countless lives I would take on my path to power. They were simply the first to learn what I had become - and what I was capable of.
I moved forward, leaving the clearing and its dead behind. The weight of my new power settled around me like a cloak, comfortable and familiar as if I'd worn it all my life. Each step took me closer to Ravencross.