Turning a man into a beast is easy. It just requires grief and rage.

~Dagda, the All-Father, Chief of the Gods

“It has been many years since the stench of a human has entered this beast’s nostrils. If I’d known I was about to have visitors, I’d have tidied the place up a bit.”

Crow had to bite his tongue from bursting out in nervous laughter. He knew the beast had discovered him, but also felt confident enough to escape. “It is a bit messy, but sometimes it’s better to remember our enemies than to hide them away. This shows both respect for the opponent and affirmation that they truly died. Leaving enemies alive is wearisome.”

Silence.

Bahahahahaha!

“Your sharp wit and honeyed tongue—ha! Come forward, I promise I will do you no harm. I may be a monster, but I never break my word.” The strange being called out, and Crow moved forward. There was a tingle of something happening that he'd associated with his Three-Headed Crow status.

A humanoid squatted at the back of the dwelling—if he could call it that. It had so much red, flabby flesh that Crow wasn’t totally sure what he was staring at. If Crow wanted to associate it with anything, it looked like an obese red demon.

“You are a little pup. How in the hell did you get down here?” The demon asked, but then followed up just as quickly with another question. “Have you discovered what I am?”

“I have not. But I am not from this world, and if something like you exists in my world, then I’ve never seen or read about it. Or it was a truth buried long ago.”

“I am a Beast of Carnage. Other names are Dullahan, Rage Beast, Blood Fiend, Demon Flesh Wargod—my favorite one, actually.” The beast shifted, and a large metal chain rattled as it tumbled to the ground. They anchored one end to a black cube that was easily five meters squared. Even with all his research, Crow had never seen or heard of a material like the cube. They connected the other end of the chain to a collar around the beast’s waist, which was also made of that same material.

“I know what a Dullahan is, but you don’t look like one. Aren’t you supposed to be headless and carry a whip made of human spines?” Crow said, staring at this beast, but its head was definitely on its neck.

“This?” The fat demon unraveled a whip that mysteriously appeared in his hand. “It is a dragon’s spine, which is better than human ones. And this will answer your other question.”

The demon grabbed his own hair and pulled upward. A sickening squelch followed it as the head came free from his neck. Seeing Crow’s horrified face, the head chuckled, but the sound came from his throat. Shortly after, he placed his head back on his body, and the seam between head and neck sealed almost instantly.

“So they… captured you?” Crow asked.

“Wouldn’t go that far. I kept my word. I ripped the head off the dragon that killed my children. Slaughtered everyone that stood in my way and tore down that king’s kingdom. I let him feel the same anguish as I destroyed every one of his clutches and destroyed his bloodline. Foolish dragon knew I’d come but hadn’t expected that.”

“So why are you here, then?”

“That dragon was a cunning bastard and set a trap. A formation I’d never seen before nearly took my life, but his luck failed him. I gripped his skull and ripped out his spine. Not even those gods could take my prize from me,” He said as he waved around the bone ship. “However, it took all my strength to end him. It left me weak and vulnerable—ready and willing to die. After that, the dragons came and took me away without needing to fight. I kept my word.”

Crow could only stare at this Beast of Carnage with a mix of awe and fear. The demon explained his situation without flinching or batting at aye at his predicament—he didn’t even fear reprisal for his actions.

“Was the kingdom was full of humans?” Crow asked, thinking of that destroyed village Nin had brought him previously. She said her father killed all those humans, and it might be true.

“It was a mix, but mostly humans. Dragons enslave humans and have some enmity toward your kind.” The demon laughed uproariously. “Which is why seeing you take their trial has brought me no end of joy. They are probably only now realizing that humans have entered their trial and are losing their minds. Fucking bastards. You being here is like throwing shit into their eyes.”

His laughter was shaking the entire cavern, and bones from his pile shifted and clattered as they tumbled down to the floor.

“I understand why you hate dragons, but do you really not harbor any ill will toward me?” Crow asked because he had sensed no hostility at all, which left him a little uneasy. Beasts and humans were natural enemies.

“Naw, we have no enmity. I’m not at war with you, so hurting you is pointless. Besides, it may not look it, but I was once human, and now I eat them—sorry, tasteless joke… Nothing?”

Crow was horrified at the jokes and the fact that he smiled at the charismatic beast. “I—”

“Relax, kid. Just toying with you. But I was really human once. That dragon stole everything from me, but there are even more sinister enemies out there. Overcome with grief, my cultivation deviated. In my rampage, I consumed a demon’s heart. After that, the bloodlust took me, and I had one goal, to kill that fucking Lightning Star—stupid name, and now a dead one.”

*It really is him. He is the reason dragons went into hiding. He killed dozens of clutches trying to find Lightning Star. It was the first human capable of such a thing, and it caused our people to fear. He single-handedly humbled the dragon gods and stripped them of their arrogance. He is both a curse and a blessing to our people. Ever since he arrived, we have continued to consolidate our strength and mastered the ability to humanize.*

“Is that baby dragon with you explaining things now?”

“Uh… that. Yes.” Crow didn’t feel he should hide it, and the man was clearly not guessing.

“I really like your decisive nature. You remind me of myself before I lost my sanity and became this thing you see before you. Now I’m too afraid to die and too afraid to live. What a conundrum, eh?”

“Do you want me to free you?”

“Ha! Free me? Kid, this material is Dragonstone, and they forged it in the hottest fires of the Dragon-kind. I don’t know if it was originally stone or metal, but they’ve used their heat to condense it. This condenses the material repeatedly until the material is so dense that not even I can budge or break it. It would probably take a thousand years of cultivating before you could move one link of this chain… ”

“A simple no would have sufficed,” Crow muttered, and the demon roared with laughter.

“I don’t doubt your intentions, but it is probably best that you leave me in this prison. My sanity is fleeting, and my bloodlust is too powerful. However, meeting me today is your good fortune!”

“Why do you say that, senior?” Crow asked respectfully.

“Now, now. None of that. It’s your luck because it’s been… maybe a thousand or more years since I’ve last talked to anyone. Based on what I heard earlier, you have at least two days before you need to return. Give me those two days and keep this old demon company. In return, I’ll give you a Vortex Pin full of good stuff I’ve accumulated down here over the years. It includes my legacy, the one before I lost my shit.”

“What is a Vortex Pin?” Crow asked. He was wondering why Nin remained so quiet, but he’d talk to her later. There was a story here.

“It’s a spatial storage device, but it is ancient, and I doubt many know how to create them anymore. These pins are… not pleasant to receive. Because it binds its inventory to your soul, it can expand as your Source does. Plus, there are well over a thousand coins in here, enough to finish this trial.”

“This object would leave with me when I leave the trial?”

“You got it, kid. As a Draoidh, you should be familiar with Shields. The storage built into a Shield was based on these Vortex Pins, but Shields are inferior. Although I have to stab it into your heart, and it can be an awful experience, the benefits aren’t small. What do you say? Come have a chat with me for a few days, and I’ll give this to you right now. But you must also leave me half of your Frigid Nightmare Mushrooms.”

*Nin?*

*Agree. The Dragon Gods didn’t kill him because, despite his brutal nature, he kept his word. Once the dragon who killed his family died, he stopped his slaughter. Make him vow to do you no harm.*

“I’ll agree on one condition. You vow you mean me and mine no harm in any form.”

“Aside from the Vortex Pin, which will harm you, I so vow. Let the gods bear witness.” The demon swore an oath. Crow dragged a bone as thick as a tree toward the beast and sat upon it. “Before we chat, let me give you this because you’ll need a few hours of recovery. It’ll hurt… a lot. But I promise it won’t kill you. If you reject it, that is your loss, understand?”

“I do. Let’s begin.”

“First, let me use a bit of power to hide you from the viewing eyes—”

“No need. I’m unfated.”

“Oh? No wonder you made your way down here. I thought their formations had failed, but it turns out they just couldn’t manipulate your fate. Ha! Those old dragons would piss themselves if they knew a human like you came here. Still, it is best if you don’t let others know you’ve gained this item. There are very few spatial items that bind to the soul.” The beast sent out a small blast of power, and the token on his chest dimmed once more. “Good, here we go.”

A needle appeared in the demon’s hand, and on the pointed side, the silver metal gleamed with ethereal light, while the other end had a small crystal stud. Even someone as weak as him could sense the ancient power that flowed within the item, and as it hovered close to his chest, the beast smiled.

“I’ve removed my connection to it. Now you push your soul mark on to it.” Crow did as he was told. A soul mark was one of the easiest things to do, but the soul had to be strong enough to bind it. This mark was also how the item became Soul-Linked.

Some items like mundane weapons were not very good receptors, and binding them used so much soul power it could kill a person. Worse than that, if a Soul-Linked item shattered, the owner’s soul would suffer serious harm. It was not common for someone to bind mundane objects, but the high risk came with big rewards. Mundane items that are incubated within the soul have a chance of becoming powerful, heaven-defying tools. It was risky, and failure could mean death.

Some of the god-like figures within the Druid Order would act as soul incubators for their clans. It could take centuries for an item to become worthy of high-level figures. Still, at a certain level of cultivation, a few hundred years was nothing. This method of creating rare treasures was called Soul Tempering.

Crow was unsure what level this Vortex Pin had achieved, but based on the feeling he had from it, he knew it was a better item than anything the Maddox clan owned. Once he completed the imprint, the needle shot forward and pierced into his chest with little to no hindrance. It wasn’t until it reached Crow’s heart that it met resistance, but not because his heart was special. Rather, because it tried to enter his Soulscape directly, Crow’s natural resistances pushed back. Crow winced as he felt his soul tear slightly, but it was bearable pain, and after a while, it was almost pleasant. Compared to suffering through Soul Burn for months, this small amount of pain was almost laughable.

The Dullahan watched the entire process with interest. Crow barely reacted to the pain and hadn’t rejected the needle. It was only after he used his perception to monitor the kid’s body that he finally showed some shock and maybe a hint of fear. His demon-like eyes narrowed as they focused on the black flames inside Crow’s body.

A few hours went by… Crow completed the merge and slowly opened his eyes.