PoV Darius

-Father, -Nick said, looking at me uncertainly. -Can I go for a walk in the forest?

-What? Forest?- I looked at him questioningly, but quickly looked away. Nick never wanted to leave the castle. Mainly he just took my books and read them. And when he tried... once he wanted to learn how to shoot a bow. It was been terrible, and after I told him off, he stopped.

-The forest in the north- Murad pointed to the side. -We want to go for a walk in the wild and hunt.

Will he finally leave out the castle? Even from the city? I won't have to see him, it's... no. I can't think like that. He's my son. Not a killer.

I gave Nick a surreptitious glance. A silhouette appeared behind him. This is his mother. My conso... concubine

«Killer!» I heard a voice in my head, saying, demanding to kill him. My son, who caused her death. I... can't do this. And then I realized that I had been silent for too long. Not completely calmed down, not looking at Nick, I said in as soft a voice as I could manage

-Hmm. If you want to leave, go ahead. I'll provide the people. Come back in a month. Everything will be ready in a few days. Now get out of my sight! -It wasn't soft. * Sigh*, at least it came out without a puddening. Maybe in one day, I will be able to speak normally, without looking into his eyes

Nick turned and left the room with Murad. Although I didn't look at his face, I can assume that he is sad.

My heart sank. I want to love and care for him. But every time I see not a son, but the reason of her death. No matter how hard I try, I can't control myself around him. And if I look him in the face, the urge to yell comes naturally.

Maybe after he's been outside for a month and I'm alone in the castle, I can finally get through this?

…

A few days later, we went to the forest. With us is a squad of hunters chosen by Darius. There were about 10 of them. Everyone, according to him, has experience in hunting and will help Nick in hunting.

We'll have to deal with them as we get closer.

-Listen, Murad. Maybe you can finally tell me why we should go here?

-I can't. Wait a bit.

-...good.

The journey will take I think 2 days. All the animals under my control have already been prepared. We'll deal with them at the right time.

…

-Watch out, there are wolf tracks. Quite fresh. I think they have left somewhere a couple of hours ago. The ranger said, looking at the wolf's trail. - We should already look for a place where we will set up camp.

-You're right. Young Lord, do you have any objections?

-No. I'm already exhausted. What day is it already?

- Third. I think we can start hunting tomorrow. Now we deep in the forest,

-Okay.

The hunters quickly split into two squads. One set up tents and the other watched the surroundings. I went over to Nick and whispered to him

-The time has come, we must now take care of them so that we are not pursued.

Nick looked at me blankly and said

-What are you talking about?- I grabbed Nick's hand and looked at the leader of the group.

-We are going away for a while.

-It's not safe here. One of us will go with you.

-We're not far.

-We're still responsible for your safety. -With that, he signaled to one of the hunters. He nodded and said

-I'll go with you. Don't be afraid that I will blab, even if I am tortured, I will be dumb as a fish.

It looks like we'll have to deal with it.

-Alright. Let's go.

…

PoV Hunter

As soon as the children were far away, I looked at my friend and asked.

-Listen, maybe we should try to blackmail the Lord with his child?

-Don't even think about it. Darius will find you.

-It's the border forest. With the money, we'll escape to the divided kingdoms. We'll buy a nice place to live there and everything will be fine.

My friend began to think about it. After I answered

-Let's wait a little longer and think it over. It is better not to act in a hurry.

-As you wish.

-*Howl! *

-Wolves! It's the wolves! -Everyone immediately took up their weapons and began to prepare for battle.

-Damn it! Those kids are gone! What'll we do?

-We'll deal with the wolves and then start the search! First, we need to survive!-

The wolves began to slowly enter our field of vision. 1, 2, 4, 8... I counted about 20. What a big pack! They must be led by a really strong Alpha wolf!

The archers started shooting at them. Some fell dead immediately, others even despite the wound continued to run. It's like they don't care about their lives!

-Where's their Leader? If we kill him, we may survive.

-I don't see him!

-Me too!

And so the chaotic battle began. The wolves kept coming and coming. It was as if several packs were united against us

…

We moved about 100 meters away from the camp. Here the hunter could not resist asking.

-Where are you going? I noticed their bear tracks. We'd better get back to camp.

-Just a moment. Wait. What is it? I tore off my arm as I spoke. I quickly turned her into a lump of meat.

-Hm? -The hunter looked at the lump of meat with interest. -I don't remember seeing any such animals here. And it doesn't look like it's mutant meat. - And then a snake came out of the lump of meat and bit the hunter in the shoulder.

-What the?! -Nick was startled and recoiled. I caught him in time, or he would have fallen.

-Damn it! It's a venomous snake! Let's go to the camp quickly!- He grabbed us and wanted to go, but at that moment my waiting wolf jumped on him and quickly bit off his neck. The hindering factor neutralized.

-Aaaa! -Nick wanted to run away, but I grabbed him and said

-Don't panic. -At that moment, two more wolves came out of the forest.

-We need to run!

-Stop! Don't panic. -I started to calm Nick down. The wolves, in turn, crouched down beside us. - We sit on them and go. We'll get there quickly

-...how? Are you... able to control them?

-You will soon understand everything.

Nick was speechless, looking like he was seriously thinking about something.

…

PoV Nick

What the hell is happening in front of me? Murad can control animals? Since when and how? Is he an evil spirit? No, there are no spirits that can control animals.

I'm riding a wolf for the first time in my life. The fur is very soft and pleasant. I just need to hold on tight, it knows the way. In front of me on a wolf rides Murad.

Soon we came to the cave. Before the cave's entrance, it was easy to see the trail of a bear's paw. Maybe he controls it, too? Probably.

-Are we here?

-Yes. We go in. -Murad calmly entered the cave. I followed him uncertainly.

PoV Nick

What the hell is happening in front of me? Murad can control animals? Since when and how? Is he an evil spirit? No, there are no spirits that can control animals.

I'm riding a wolf for the first time in my life. The fur is very soft and pleasant. I just need to hold on tight, it knows the way. In front of me on a wolf rides Murad.

Soon we came to the cave. Before the cave's entrance, it was easy to see the trail of a bear's paw. Maybe he controls it, too? Probably.

-Are we here?

-Yes. We go in. -Murad calmly entered the cave. I followed him uncertainly.

After entering the cave, this appeared in front of me. A nest of flesh. A very fitting description. It had a lot of eyes that looked at me. Wolf's, bear's, crow's, human's, and many other animals eyes stared at me. I wanted to run away. As far away from it as possible.

As I turned, Murad grabbed me. He said

-Meet, it's me. -Murad pointed to the Nest. -He and I are one mind. We prefer to call it the Head or the Main Body. He's the one who keeps me in touch with the other family members.

I stared at Murad in disbelief. Are he and this is the same being?

-How is that possible?

-Look at this.

At that moment, a wolf entered the cave with the body of that hunter. The wolf handed the body to the nest, and it stretched out a tentacle and swallowed the body. A few moments later, it spat out another, smaller body. The seemingly dead body stood up. This is... Murad?!

Two Murad were now looking at me.

-See? He can create anything it consumes.

-It means... you were swallowed up and you became this?

-No. I had absorbed the body and using his form. The original owner has been absorbed by me a long time ago.

-Y-you, will you do the same to me?

-No of course. You'll be the same in the nest. Only you will get a connection with the nest. With me. We will become kindred spirits. Then I can trust you completely and I will not hide anything from you.

Should I trust him? Can I refuse? Looking back, I don't know what to do. He's almost the only one I can trust. Of course, I understand that is partly because he is my only friend and because I am impulsive due to my age. I'm sure it will affect my whole life.

But, I decided it already at that time.

-I.. what do I need to do?

-Just come over and let me consume you.

I'm... scared. I need to make a huge effort to even move one leg. It gets harder and harder with every step. Countless thoughts swarmed through my mind. Will Murad keep his word? Should I run away?

Gradually. Step by step, I approached the nest. The nest's eyes were watching me closely, but there was no hint that it wanted to do anything. Finally, I came within arm's reach. When I touched the nest, I felt it begin to suck my hand weakly.

Gathering my strength, I turned back and plopped down on the nest with all my weight.

-*Slap *- After a loud slap, the nest began to slowly consume me. Murad was looking at me. I was completely sucked into the nest. I felt something hit me in the head and my consciousness began to lose itself.

But before I lost consciousness, I felt the pain as my body began to disintegrate and be absorbed. Even though it was only for a moment, the pain was intense. Fortunately, it was a very short moment and I quickly lost consciousness