With a subdued wave of his hand, Jake extinguished the flurry of magic surrounding him. Taking a moment to glance around at the opulent throne room, and it’s still stunned guests, Jake let out a small grunt.

“So, how many do you think we need?” Jake spoke quietly as he flipped a cigarette into his mouth, lighting up the cancerous stick with a flick of his fingers.

Amelia groaned, her head still clutched in her hands. A single bright emerald eye peeked through her fingers and took stock of the room’s occupants. “I’d say we can spare two.” Letting out a sigh, she let her hands drop down, and crossed her arms underneath her chest. “Send them to help out the sisters and Grimkath?”

Jake grunted in affirmation, taking a deep drag and exhaling the toxic smoke with a sigh. “So, Mizu and Biz. I want you two to head back out to the city and help out Quelaag, Quelana and the [Voidlord] with cleaning up the mess. Can you guys do that for me?”

The massive [Penta-Tailed Frost-Bound Fox] at Jake’s side licked his chops and grinned at the entourage in front of him. “I can.” The fox’s voice, an enthralling mix between a soft murmur and growling timbre, grumbled from his throat. “I am upset I won’t be able to help here, but I understand.”

The [Fel-Imp] patted his [Succubus] mount on the head lightly before jumping off of her shoulder and landing lightly onto the massive fox’s back. “I don’t take orders from you, pip-squeak. It was Boss’s idea, and, clearly, I’m the best bet to save the pale-skinned beauties.” Bizyal grinned, his sharp dagger-like teeth flashing below his long nose. Squatting down over Mizutsune’s spine, the imp slapped the foxes side with a cackle. “Let’s go, poochy. Those bastards ain’t going to kill themselves.”

Mizutsune growled, and swung his head back in an attempt to take a bite out of the hitchhiker. “I’m not a pooch, small one, nor am I a mount.”

The imp waved his hand in the air, ignoring the fox’s anger. “Yeah yeah, whatever you say fluffy. Let’s get going. Mush!”

With Mizutsune still growling at the imp on his back, he turned around and sprinted through the broken doorway, streamers of frost and the excited yips of demonic laughter slowly faded away in their wake.

Jake took another drag, and exhaled, turning back to the gathered Elves and Beast-Kin before him. “All right, so where were w-“

A crack of air, a shrieking whistle, and Jake was blown back through the open doorway, the jagged spear that gently impaled itself into his left shoulder carried him back the way that he had come.

Amelia blinked, and turned her eyes towards the female Elf who had just thrown the spear. The Elf, a copper pin depicting twin spears danced as her chest heaved up and down in time with her ragged breaths as her eyes flickered with a red light. Screaming, mixed with liberal use of expletives, echoed through the broken doorway, and Amelia let a bloodthirsty grin grow on her sun-kissed face.

“You know you just pissed us off, right?” Tilting her head to the side until her neck cracked, the Blood Elf’s grin grew into a manic smile. “I’m going to enjoy watching the life fade from your worthless body. You aren’t even strong enough to kill off the ranting villain as he-“

With a scream of rage, the Matron of War interrupted again and launched herself toward Amelia with a thunder clap of displaced air, a jagged spear appearing in her cloth-wrapped hands as if by magic. In the space of a breath, Lianne appeared before the Blood Elf, the jagged spear thrusting towards her throat with blinding speed.

A blur of orange and red light burst forth in front of Amelia, and the Matron of War’s momentum was instantly stopped. Her angular face contorted into agony, and her mouth opened and closed in silent screams. A two foot long blade, the metal seemingly made of solid flame, had appeared from her lower back out of nowhere, and the smell of seared flesh and cloth had begun to emanate from the gaping Elf, her spear escaping from numb hands to clatter to the ground.

With a tilt of its head, the demonic [Wrathguard], who had instantly transposed itself in front of its demonic master too fast for the eye to see, leaned downwards and moved its helmeted head to be level with the dying Matron.

“Please.” The demon’s voice, as deep as the seas and as hard as the mountains, broke across the room like a landslide. “I would ask you to refrain from attacking my Lady.”

With a sharp pull and a twist, the blade of the halberd was yanked out of Lianne, cutting and cauterizing its way through her stomach and intestines on its way out of her body. Losing the support from the weapon, the Matron of War, one of the strongest High Elves of the Dark Woods, collapsed onto the floor in a ragged heap, her face frozen in an anguished rictus as the life faded from her eyes.

As if a spell had been broken, the two remaining Matron’s, the large glowing eyed wolf, and the four Elven mages screamed in unison and attacked the Warlock and her demonic host with fervor. But, they were too slow.

A torrent of emerald flames leapt from Amelia’s hands, snaking outwards over the ground and flowed over the body of an Elven mage, the demonic flames devouring the blue flesh of the Elf, the screams of terror and mind-shattering pain dying in her throat as her body crumbled to ash and scorched bones within seconds.

“Kill those bitches!” Amelia shouted to her minions as she sent another incinerating blast of fel fire to intercept a spike of stone that broke free from the earth and launched itself towards the Blood Elf, the two spells destroying each other in a shower of burning stone shards and liquid flame.

The massive [Beta Kanid], with its Alpha the Matron of the Wilds directing him from atop its back, leapt with a howl towards the towering armor-clad demon, its red eyes leaving traces as it flew through the air. The [Wrathguard] spun one of its burning halberds around and caught the large wolf in the side of its head with the flat of the two meter long blade, redirecting the massive beast’s leap past itself with a small grunt of effort.

As the [Kanid] flew past, the [Wrathguard] Haaroon spun around quickly, the second halberd lancing out and gouging a jagged gash through the beasts side. Landing awkwardly, but keeping to its feet, the [Beta Kanid] let out a short growl of pain as the fur on its side smoldered and light smoke drifted into the air. and turned around to stare at the demon. The growl growing in strength, the massive wolf began to pace around the [Wrathguard] in a loose circle, the Matron of the Wilds hissing at the demon as the pain from her bond with the massive beast leaked into her mind. Haaroon spun both of its massive weapons slowly in its hands, keeping the pacing wolf directly in front of its massive frame.

The Matron of Magic, not to be outdone by her sister, let out a screech as twisting and slithering vines appeared out of her hands and lanced towards the floating eye demon. But, as the magically created vines approached the [Observer], the life seemed to drain away from the green foliage as it decayed rapidly in the air, breaking apart into small flecks as they flew unerringly into its gaping mouth.

The demon sighed, its long purple tongue darting from behind its rows of jagged teeth to get the final lingering traces of magic stuck to its lips. The demon grinned at the Matron of Magic, and began to speak to her. “Delectable. Earthy, with just a hint of citrus-sweetness to round out the flavor. Reminds me of this druid I once had.” The demon undulated as it laughed deeply, its entire body expanding and contracting like a giant balloon. It turned its feral grin back to the Matron of Magic, its body still occasionally shaking with merriment. “May I have another?”

The Matron of Magic’s angular face contorted in rage, and a writhing torrent of vines and razor sharp leaves erupted from her hands and raced across the short distance to the demonic [Observer].

Tilting its body downwards, the floating sack’s four eyes gleamed with an emerald light, and concentrated beams of pure [Fel] infused mana lanced outwards to meet the approaching spell.

The two opposing magical attacks collided with an explosion of light and force, the ground beneath the collision shaking from the strength of the two mages. The Matron of Magic’s eyes widened with shock, and she dove to the side as the demon’s magical attack broke through her own, the green beams of energy lancing outwards from the collision, having cut through the magical leaves and vines with ease.

The Matron of Magic rolled to her feet, barely dodging a second beam of energy, and screamed in pain as a leather whip slammed into her body with a sharp crack and traced a line of fire across her back. Cackling brought her eyes back to the demonic creatures, and she saw a glimpse of the beautiful winged monster’s mad grin before another crack split the air and sent Magic tumbling backwards, a deep gouge in her head spilling blood over the floor boards.

The [Succubus] Sylvia cackled sadistically to herself again, and slowly advanced on the screaming and flailing Matron, the leather whip cracking against blue flesh with each step of the [Succubus’] cloven feet.

Sylvia stopped in front of the quivering Matron as she whimpered, and moving to a knee, the [Succubus] ever so gently pulled the Matron of Magic’s face centimeters from her own, and stared into her eyes. The mind-shattering pain from the demon’s whip faded from the Matron’s mind as she gazed into the [Succubus’] eyes, a warm nothingness bubbling up from her soul as her thoughts ground to a halt. Her lips slowly grew into a stupefied smile, and a single strand of bloody saliva began to make its way out of the corner of her mouth.

Sylvia smirked at the stupefied Elf, and resting a soft hand against the Matron’s cheek, she let out a breathy sigh. “We could have had such fun together…” Pulling the Matron of Magic’s face towards hers, the [Succubus] latched onto the Elf’s mouth with her own, her leathery wings wrapping around the stunned Matron like a blanket. Slight hissing came from the pair, silvery light leaking through the tangle of limbs.

Straitening up with a moan of pleasure, Sylvia threw the drained husk to the ground, her pink tongue darting out to draw the last tendril of sticky white essence that was dangling from her mouth. The Matron of Magic’s corpse seemed to collapse within on itself like an empty sack, a euphoric smile revealed by her drawn and drained lips. The [Succubus] tilted her head, a finger tapping on her chin, and she turned to nod at Lofuun the [Observer].

“I think you’re right. It was quite a delectable little morsel.” Shooting the floating eye a wink, the [Succubus] turned her attention back to the Beastkin guards to Lofuun’s rumbling laughter. The guards, who had been perfectly happy to simply watch as the attacking Elves moved their attentions to the new arrivals, bristled and raised their weapons at the lustful demon. Smirking to herself, she raised a dainty hand to gesture to one of the younger ones to feed herself, but was interrupted by a rope of emerald flame wrapping around her stomach and yanking her backwards with a startled cry.

Amelia dragged her demon back to her side with one hand, while throwing streams of demonic fire at the last living Elven mage, who was cowering behind a shell of stone.

“Stop. Fucking. Around!” Each word out of the [Blood Elf’s] mouth was punctuated by another torrent of emerald flame that snaked across the floor and slammed into the earthen defenses, before she punctuated her statement by creating seven globules of molten fire above her head that arched outwards and crashed into the wall with the roar of a dragon. The defenses shattered like glass, and the Elf’s death screams rang out as she was roasted alive, black smoke rising from the raging inferno that was her last stand. Glancing backwards to check on the rest of her group, Amelia saw that there was only a single foe still left on the battlefield.

The Matron of the Wilds, who had been still fighting the massive [Wrathguard], never had the chance to notice that she was alone before the collective demonic might of a Warlock and her summoned monsters fell upon her and her [Kanid], crushing her underneath a rain of blows and hellfire.

As what remained of the smoking corpses of both mount and rider crashed to the floor, the three demons and their master turned to the Beast-Kin Alpha who was still seated on his throne.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Amelia turned and spat onto one of the smoking cadavers that littered the ground. “You know you fuckers could have helped, right?”

The red Lizard-Kin on the Alpha’s side hissed and took a step forward, before Lyrus Proudroar raised a hand to stop her. Standing from his stone throne for the first time since the Elves had attacked his city, he yelled over the heads of his guards to the demonic entourage.

“We thank you for your timely arrival. But we must ask, is the Mageous all right? He has been screaming his head off since the fight began.”

Amelia blinked, and turned around to look through the entryway where curses and expletives were still being shouted from. “Ah, shit.”

The [Blood Elf] ran back through the doorway, while shouting towards the source of the swearing. “Keep your fucking panties on! I’m coming!”

The Beast-Kin and demons stared at each other, shifting their weight from side to side as if unsure whether to attack the other or not, as the two beings sharing the same conscious cursed each other out. A wet tearing sound broke through the bickering, followed by another scream and curse of pain.

A minute later, both Amelia and Jake walked through the doorway to the throne room. Amelia sported a new bruise over her eye, and she glared daggers at the human to her side who was pulling up a new pair of pants while dusting the ashes of his previous clothing from his body, his [Flames of the Phoenix] spell destroying his clothes once again.

His throat ragged from the very manly screaming he had just done for the past five minutes, Jake pulled a flask of water from his [Inventory] and began to guzzle it down.

Loud clapping brought his attention back to the surroundings, and he slowly pulled the flask away from his lips to stare at the Beast-Kin Alpha, a large grin on the Lion-Kin’s face as he slapped his hands together.

“Bravo, Ser Jake. Bravo. We thank you for taking care of these filthy pests that made the decision to strike against us. How could we ever repay you?”

Jake glanced around, taking in the assembled Beast-Kin and his demonic group, before turning his attention back to Lyrus. “Is Serena here?”

Smirking with understanding, Lyrus shook his head. “No, great Mageous. When we heard of that these beasts planned on attacking us, we thought it would be prudent to send the non-combatants to the cities of our allies. She should be far away from this place by now, safe from all harm and awaiting the rescuer of her people.”

Jake stared at the Lion-Kin, blinking. “I don’t… no. No. You know what? Fuck this, I’m done.” Throwing his hands up into the air in frustration, Jake began to walk towards the assembled Beast-Kin. His shadow seemed to stretch behind him, tongues of liquid darkness reaching out in hunger. “I’m fucking done. I can’t keep up this fucking charade anymore.” The darkness deepened and expanded again, and something began to squirm within its inky blackness, writhing to escape its prison. Jake took another step, and a portion of his shadow tore itself away and loomed at his side, matching the human step for step as its inky form solidified into an abyssal copy of Jake.

Metal rapped against metal as the Beast-Kin soldiers and knights shook within their armor, their dilated eyes darting back and forth between the approaching Mageous, his shadow clone, and the hungering darkness that grew behind him with each step.

“If it’s not the ‘holier than thou’ mentality, it’s trying to force your fucking daughter onto me. And I am. Fucking. Tired.” Another step, and another copy ripped itself away from the cloying darkness. “Tired of playing this stupid fucking game with you.” The stone walls groaned as the gathering blackness spread, dripping upwards onto the stone ceiling. Writhing streaks of shadow danced in the darkness, and the Beast-Kin guards took steps backwards as the gnashing of countless mouths and the screams of dead and dying creatures reverberated through their mind.

“I won’t be a puppet. And I definitely won’t be pussy whipped by the first piece of tail that comes my way. So you can get those thoughts of controlling me with your daughter out of that thick fucking skull of yours.” The stones cracked underneath the weight of the human’s next step, and the bubble of darkness began to overtake Jake, covering his lower half in shadow. His hazel eyes gleamed with a violet inner light, and oily traces of red lightning arced across his body, hissing and spitting in anger.

Jake paused within reaching distance of the guards, and the smell of urine was thick through the air as one of the younger knights, and the Alpha himself, lost control of their bladders. Cocking his head to the side, Jake’s shadows copied the movement, and feral grins broke across the two doppelgangers. What light was left in the building reflected off of shards of obsidian, and roiling black tendrils snaked out of their gaping holes to trace their jagged teeth.

Snorting to himself, Jake shook his head and snapped his fingers. The bubble of shadow that had slowly built up strength burst, and the darkness of the abyss descended on the congregated mass in a moment. The cloying darkness stifled all sounds, where even the haggard breathing and thumping of trembling hearts could not be heard.

And from the darkness, two points of light emerged. Blazing with violet light and life, the lights seemed to stare into the souls of the Beast-Kin, judging their very lives, and finding them wanting. White light slowly grew beneath the glowing eyes, and a large Cheshire grin was slowly birthed from the darkness.

“Oh well. I won’t have to deal with this anymore.”

The hellish visage disappeared, and then the screaming began.

_______________________________________________

Within the rubble strewn streets of the city, red and blue blood flowed over the cobblestones as the few remaining units of Beast-Kin fought tooth and claw to defend their city from the Elven hordes. The fighting had been bloody, and the Beast-Kin had left many of the invaders’ corpses to cool in the sun. But, sadly, there were too many of the monsters to hold the line.

The Beast-Kin had been forced back to the inner keep’s walls by the rushing tide of Elven bodies, and the fighting had finally come to a stalemate as the Elves were funneled into a stone gatehouse, and the Beast-Kin were able to form a proper defensive line.

Grunting in effort, Captain Redmaul, a massive Grizzly Bear-Kin decked in once shining armor now coated in blue blood, slammed his oversized great shield outwards and into the sprawling mass of blue limbs and bodies. The Elf spearman in front of the Captain rebounded off of the unforgiving hunk of metal, and sent sprawling backwards into the pressing group of invaders.

Pulling his shield back and to the side, Redmaul intercepted another attacker and brought his bearded axe downwards to cleave off an outstretched arm before he slammed his giant door of a shield back into place along the line. The injured Elf screeched in pain, and was summarily cut down with a quick jab of a Beast-Kin’s thrusting spear from another defender at the Captain’s side. Blood leaked from numerous cuts along the Captain’s arms, the Elven spears finding the cracks in his armor and striking with extreme precision.

“Step back!” The commander roared over the sounds of clashing steel and cries of pain, and the Beast-Kin front line defenders took a step backwards and turned to the side, allowing a new line of fresh troops to take the brunt of the Elven attacks. Hands grabbed onto the Captain’s arms and shoulders and hauled him backwards through the ranks of defenders, pulling him back to allow him a moment of respite.

Reaching the edges of the defenders, Captain Redmaul felt his axe and shield slip out of his hands with a reverberating clang, and he crumbled to his hands and knees, gasping for breath as his entire body shook from exhaustion and surges of adrenaline. His head ringing and darkness infringing on his vision, the Captain heaved in lungfuls of air as he tried to force himself back to his feet.

Strong hands gripped onto him, and he was hauled bodily to his feet, the world spinning as oxygen fled from his brain. Groggily, he turned his attention to the one holding his quivering body upright.

The Commander shouted into his face, spittle flying between the two tusks coming from her mouth, but Redmaul could hear nothing through the pounding and ringing in his head. Slowly, the ringing decreased and the Captain was able to hear his commanding officer.

“…shield and axe and get ready, Captain! Get back into the line! NOW!” With a final squealing roar, the Boar-Kin Commander began to drag Redmaul back to the press of bodies in the gatehouse, arrows and spears flying back and forth over the walls around them.

Tripping over something soft and wet, Redmaul stumbled and almost fell face first onto the pile of Beast-Kin bodies that were forming behind the line, the corpses being dragged backwards to free up space whenever the front line troops were able to take a breath.

“Ma’am… I… don’t… think I… can go back.” Redmaul panted out, flecks of foam and blood leaking from the corners of his mouth. His body shook in exhaustion, and he could feel his heart pounding so hard and fast that he thought it would just stop.

“I DON’T CARE, CAPTAIN! GET YOUR FUZZY ASS IN THERE!” The Commander squealed as she reached out to another Beast-Kin, and grabbing his dropped axe and shield from the soldier, thrust them into the Captain’s shaking arms. “We must defend the Alpha. We can’t let…” The Boar-Kin stopped yelling, and turned to the gatehouse, confusion within her beady eyes. “What the hells?”

Redmaul turned his aching head to see what had stunned his Commander, but nothing caught his attention. The press of Beast-Kin was still in there, along with the Elves. His heaving breaths echoed loudly within the enclosed space, and blood still leaked out onto the stones. Other than that, there was no sound.

The Captain’s groggy mind snatched onto the thought, and Redmaul stood straighter as shock hit him. There was no sound. The clash of metal on metal had stopped, there were no terrifying screams of rage. The only sounds were the moaning and screaming of the injured and dying, and the heaving breaths of the Beast-Kin.

The Commander huffed and trotted over the pile of corpses to get to the defensive line. Noticing a large form near the front, the Commander raised her voice again to a shout.

“Butters! By all that is infernal, what the hells is happening over there!?”

The Second Lieutenant flinched at the noise, and stood up straighter and saluted the air in front of him on instinct. The large Bull-Kin roared out to the air, making the troops around him grumble and flinch in frustration. “MA’AM! I DO NOT KNOW! THE LITTLE ELF’S ARE JUST STARING OVER OUR HEADS AND NOT ATTACKING, MA’AM!”

“What do you mean, not attacking!? The bas-“

Before the Boar-Kin Commander could finish of her screaming, a loud and piercing keening rose from within the city, growing in strength and pitch. The more audibly sensitive Beast-Kin were forced to their knees, gripping their heads as the sound bounced around in their skulls, rivulets of blood leaking out of their ears.

The wailing continued for what seemed to be hours, but in a matter of minutes it began to fade away with the stamping of fleeing feet. The Beast-Kin defenders shook off the effects of the wails, and were greeted with the backs of the Elven hordes as they fled the city as if some demon was biting at their heels.

Muttered praises and thanks to their god rippled through the defenders as they sagged visibly underneath their armor, the toll of their desperate struggle sapping their strength. A few of the old hands barked orders to the younger troops, and the Beast-Kin slowly fell back into formation.

One of the older enlisted, a scarred Hyena-Kin, walked through the battle line and slammed his closed fist against his chestplate in salute when he moved to the officers in the back. “Ma’am, the Elves are retreating. Requesting permission to take a few of the faster troops to hunt them down and finish the route.”

The Commander huffed, and her entire demeanor changed from the yelling and screeching ‘motivator’ that she had currently been to a more dignified and controlled persona fitting her rank. “Negative, Sergeant. We cannot leave the keep undefended.” Placing a hand on his shoulder, the Commander gave a tired smile. “I know. I want to as well. But we have our orders.”

The Hyena-Kin nodded, and turned back to the defenders, seeing through them to the fleeing Elves. “I do wonder why they are running though…” Muttering to himself, he gave another salute to the Officers and returned to the line, barking orders and giving out commendations in the same breath.

Captain Redmaul’s groggy mind pondered the same question, and he slowly regained his breath as he thought it through. They were looking over our heads… staring into the sky? No, behind us. Something was happening behind us.

Turning his head, he searched for anything that would take the attention of the entire Elven hordes that were attacking the city, and out of the corner of his eyes he noticed movement near to the keep. Black shadows danced within the darkened windows, broken by the occasional flash of purple and sickly green light from within. Eddies of black smoke drifted from the destroyed front door, and liquid darkness pooled around the broken metal to pour into the daylight.

A surge of adrenaline rushed through the Bear-Kin, and he gripped his armaments with renewed vigor, ignoring the shaking in his limbs. “MA’AM! THE KEEP!” Roaring out the warning, Redmaul began to pound the dirt as fast as his weary body would take him, running towards the keep.

Gasps of surprise and shock, quickly followed by roars of anger, echoed behind him and the Captain felt the rest of the defenders following in his steps. A few of the more agile defenders, with the Hyena-Kin Sergeant at the lead, quickly outpaced the trundling Redmaul as they flew like the wind, howling and cackling their battle cries into the sky.

Just as the Sergeant set his foot onto the first flagstone of the keep, a deep concussive boom shook the air, and the worked stone of the keep’s façade exploded outwards, a raging torrent of fire and shadows rocking the city.

The frontrunners were instantly incinerated from the blast, and the remaining Beast-Kin were thrown backwards, chunks of rubble and melted slag raining down upon them.

The world spun around the Captain as he was hurled through the air. His flight stopped abruptly as he slammed into the ground, skidding and bouncing across the cobbled stones before crashing to a halt in a heap.

Fighting off the darkness encroaching on his vision, Redmaul gasped and heaved in a vain attempt to get much needed oxygen back into his body. Bursts of light and darkness fought across his vision, and brief glimmers of clarity broke through the pain. Glimpses of crushed bodies underneath piles of rubble, charred corpses, and torn limbs danced through his mind, and with a rumbling growl, Redmaul forced himself to focus through the haze in his mind.

The courtyard was in chaos. Flames danced back and forth with joyous abandon as they feasted and devoured everything in their path, chunks of worked stone and debris littered the area, and streaks of red blood painted the landscape in a macabre light. Glancing downward, he let out a hissing gasp as he took in his body. One of his legs was twisted and mangled beyond recognition, and white bone peaked through the broken skin and armor. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was keeping the pain away for the moment, but it would not last.

Forcing his gaze away from the grisly sight, his gaze landed on two figures picking their way through the carnage from where the keep had been. One he did not recognize, a tanned woman with a braid of golden locks and elongated and pointed ears was waving around in front of her face, her eyes shifting back and forth as if she was reading something that only she could see. The second figure, a man with short dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, drew his attention. More specifically, the tendrils of darkness and streamers of violet flame dancing around his body. The Captain tried to speak, but his body instinctively rejected the thought, and he remained silent.

As if he could feel the eyes upon him, the man locked eyes with Redmaul and began to walk towards him. The man’s shadow stretched behind him, and silent screams pressed against the Captain’s conscious. Forcing himself, the Bear-Kin matched the man’s gaze with fury and hatred, his heart pumping adrenaline fueled blood as fast as possible through his broken body.

The man wreathed in magic stopped in front of the broken soldier, and lowered himself down to a knee, shaking his head as he looked over the battered body before him. “Shit. This won’t do.” Latching his hazel gaze onto the Lieutenant, the man spoke slowly, and his words reverberated with barely contained power.

“Alright, listen up Fuzzy. What’s going to happen next is going to be some of the worst pain that you can imagine. The good news is, I’m going to heal you. But, not before I pass on a message.” The man’s hazel eyes glowed with violet light, and it felt as if Redmaul’s very soul was being sucked into those pools of power. “Your Alpha is dead. His wives are dead. All but one of the Elven leaders are dead as well. And, as of right now, you are literally the last person left alive in this city besides me and mine.”

Redmaul froze, his face paling as the words sunk in. The pain from his leg flared bright in his mind and he began to scream in both pain and fear, loss and hatred towards this man. His entire world had come crashing down within the span of a day, and there had been nothing he could do to stop it.

A ringing slap sent his head sideways, before it was wrenched back to face the man. “Stop crying. You’re going to live. Now, after I’m done fixing your broken ass body, you are going to take this message to any surviving Beast-Kin. Wait, scratch that. I want you to tell everybody you meet. I want you to scream it from the rooftops, I want you to whisper it into the ears of children. Tell them, and let them know fear. Tell them what I have done here today, and let them know that the Voidwalker is coming for them. And they had better get ready.”

The words, no, the command settled within his very soul, and Redmaul screamed even louder as a surge of violet flames bathed over his body, incinerating his flesh and bones, only to feel them being reknit from the ashes of his mortal shell. And his last glimpse of the waking world was that of a man, wreathed in darkness and flame, a crooked smirk, and his glowing hazel and violet eyes.

________________________________________

Spoiler: MC Character Sheet Status Race: Human Name: Jake Roshaven Level: 56 97% Titles: Voidwalker Friend of Beasts Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Health: 300 Stamina: 300 Mana: 975 Attributes

Vitality: 30

Strength: 10 Endurance: 30 Agility: 10 Dexterity: 10 Inteligence: 45 Wisdom: 45