“Are you giving up?” The voice repeated itself, resonating around all corners of his psyche, till once again, Maddox opened his eyes to see once more.

As he slowly awakened, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. It was daylight, a deep forest appeared before him as a river streamed behind him ‘oh I see’ he thought to himself ‘I must have washed ashore, well this isn’t a bad place to die’. Slowly he lifted up his once white, blood stained shirt, to inspect his wound. Eyes’ closed, mentally he prepared himself for what he was about to see, his eyes opened ever so slightly... then “Huh?”

There was no wound, not even a scratch. In place of the wound was a patch of dark scales, with a thick red stain surrounding them like an island between a red sea. “What is all this?” He questioned aloud as he ran his fingers along the dark scales surrounding the wound *scratch* “Ouch!” a small trickle of blood crawled from his finger “Sharp...” Just what was going on?

“Are you giving up?” The voice that awoken Maddox from his slumber stirred once more, deep and powerful.

“Who are you?” Maddox called out but the ancient voice ignored his question and repeated itself yet again “Are you giving up?”

Maddox spat out his answer resentfully “My life had no meaning to begin with! So why should I continue to fight a world that rejects me?”

“So, you are giving up” The voice sounded disappointed at his answer “So those people you supposedly cared for? The people who will weep and will die because you’re not there to protect them, do they not matter?”

“Protect them don’t make me laugh!” Maddox scolded “I was born Weak! I lived Weak! And I died Weak!”

The voice remained quiet for a short amount of time, then calculated, purred “After all this time I have been within you, yet now is the time you accept me? you may have been weak before, but now you shall be strong Maddox Laverick, accept me and we shall never be looked down upon again!”

“You’re one to make such promises!” Maddox forced himself to his feet, full of resentment for this, all-to-knowing, voice from deep within the woods “I will never accept a shadow so show yourself!”

“Are you sure you’re prepared” The voice questioned.

“You getting cold feet on these empty promises!” Mocked Maddox, self-assured that whoever was behind all this surely wouldn’t reveal themselves.

Another moment passed and then “As you wish”.

Suddenly the ground started to tremble, the dust underneath Maddox’s feet danced disoriented, the tree’s that once stood before him, slowly started to bow respectfully as the being continued its path onward. From the shadows, A shining pair of Ruby’s appeared from the top of the canopies. With each step, the earth shuddered, until before Maddox, a beast he’d never imagined existed stood tall. Before him stood a Dragon! Its Obsidian scales glistened under the light of the on-looking sun, Its Ruby red eyes appeared like jewel’s hidden in the dark shadows of its defined features. From its nostrils a trail of smouldering smoke arose and dispersed into the bright sky and its teeth, a thousand pairs of Ivory Daggers, sharp to the eye.

An unnerving fear ran swiftly up Maddox’s spine, his eyes couldn’t focus, his once defiant pose all but disappeared as he stumbled back to the ground with a thud.

“Who are you...” The fact he managed to muster words surprised him, however they squeaked out of his mouth, his jaw trembled under the immense pressure being emitted.

If the beast could smile, Maddox was sure it was as its words left its lips “Who am I?” It pondered a moment longer “I am you, I am your rage, your burning desires and deepest fears, I am the one who shook the earth and parted the skies, I am the bringer of change, I am your soul, your spirit, do you know me now Maddox Laverick, we are one in the same as we are the same, now accept me and find the strength you so desperately crave!”

Maddox’s eyes were awestruck, yet his mind raced with a million questions clouding his mind.

“All will be revealed in time” The great beast seemingly sensing his confusion “But first you must accept me as who you truly are”

With a short pause, a moment passed and then, confidently, Maddox responded ‘I do, if you are my spirit and you know my desires then give me strength so that I can protect them!’

The Dragon roared with satisfaction “Excellent! Then wake up! wake up and I shall do the rest, Maddox Laverick, prepare to be a god amongst ants!”

His vision blurred once more, his eyes closed, but when they opened again, a ruby glow emitted from deep inside his retina.

Only a few moments passed since Maddox’s corpse crashed from the side of the cliff, Koru had seen it all. He laid there motionlessly as he watched his brother fall to his death, for what reason, to spare Koru a few more minutes filled with anguish, well perhaps leaving this world would be easier now, knowing that at least Maddox wouldn’t be worried about him. He felt the gaze of his capturers weighing down on his body, as he closed his eyes he prepared himself to see Maddox again, he’d be sure to thank him for being there for him, even in his dying moments.

“There’s no god for the likes of you” Spat Gin in disgust, his eyes fixated sadistically on the silent boy spread out before him “Pathetic”.

As he played with the blood-stained knife in front of the exhausted Koru, a thunderous crash exploded from beneath the once relaxed waves, a crackle of lightning soon followed making the water bubble as a dark figure emerged from the murky depths.

The dark figure seemed to hover in the light for a moment, before its tinted wings repelled from its body. The body of this figure appeared human in shape if nothing else, its scaly skin glistened under the moonlight, it’s eyes deep red as if lusting from blood, its ears pointed and hands claws, it was as if a demon had been released from the pits of hell. It smiled psychotically showing off its razor-sharp fangs in delight.

The being parted its lips and began to speak, it sounded distorted yet familiar somehow to Koru “you, who fear that to which you don’t know and cast out the weak in an attempt to make yourselves feel stronger! I don’t wholeheartedly disagree with your ideals so let me show you what happens to the weak who prey on the weak”

Of the seven gang members present, one had already gotten away as the beast emerged from the waters, the others looked on. The beast scanned the faces of the insects below, their faces frozen, bodies paralysed by fear, only one seemed still able to move, Gin. After the words had left the demons’ lips, his shaking legs turned and ran for their life.

The demon looked amused at the situation before him “Oh how the mighty squirm and run when faced with odds that don’t favour their own, Pitiful”.

With a majestic beat of its wings it soared into the night sky, not once letting its eyes leave their target. With a sharp inhale, a fiery wave of flames crashed from its lips, engulfing all who stood in its path. No bodies remained, just the ash that spiralled in the wind. Not even Gin had escaped unharmed, despite putting some distance between him and the demon of the lake. The skin on his back fused with his Leather jacket, smouldering above the blistering flesh, spreading the scent of burnt meat throughout the cinders of the woodland.

With a look of self-accomplishment etched on the demons’ face, it swooped down to the charred, writhing body of Gin. With its mighty claw, it took a firm grip atop his head, skin and hair peeling away under the hold of its scaly hand. It’s stained red eyes stared into the depths of Gin’s soul “those who seek strength by preying on weak are not strong, they are the weakest of all, you survived today by my grace and nothing more, your friends were not so lucky, remember this the next time you feel the need to act out your perverse feeling of self-worth on others, now go, crawl if you must just be out of my sight you worthless being”. With those words echoing in his ear, he collapsed to the ground, skin being torn away with each movement as he attempted to escape the beasts gaze.

With a satisfied grin, he turned to see the quivering body of Koru, hidden behind one of the trees by the cliff. Slowly he walked to his fallen comrade and crouched down beside him “It’s alright now, the bad men are gone” he spoke softly to the boy, but Koru’s fear didn’t dispel.

“Please sir, I don’t want to die!” The fear had overtaken him too as he cowered behind the tree.

“What are you talking about?” The scaly face tilted curiously “It’s me, Maddox”

“Maddox?” Koru poked his head out a little further, his eyes washing over every feature of the rugged face, there was no doubt, behind all the scales was the face of his brother. “Maddox, I saw you die!” Tears began to well up “What did you do! Make a deal with the devil!”

“No Koru” he reassured him with his voice “This is my Spirit Animal, I’m not soulless anymore” he said with a warm grin what sent shivers down Koru’s spine.

“Are you sure about that?” he whimpered.

“Whatever do you mean?” Maddox look at his brother, confused.

“Maddox, look around!” As his head turned and observed the destruction, the scales slowly began to rescind, his wings folded back into his body as he lost balance and collapsed to the floor. Koru quickly ran to his brothers aid as he came to “Koru?” Maddox looked around confused, and then panicked “Koru what happened here!? Are you ok! I was so worried!” he gripped Koru in his arms’ tightly.

“Maddox? Do you... not remember?” Koru looked down at his shocked brother, did he really not remember anything.

“Remember? I remember standing in front of you, Gin stabbed me and everything went black... Everything from then on felt like a dream, I was flying through the air and...” His words hung in the air, the taste of ash on his tongue told him, this was all his doing, the flames raged on around them as he slowly sank into a ball and shrieked out his frustrations.

“DAMMIT!!! Never again!! I will not let you take hold of my soul and use me for your self-riotous bullshit!” was this really his spirit animal! his soul! all that pent-up rage that hid in the shadows, was that really his true soul? “I swear! I Will never accept this! I will control you not the other way around! Otherwise what’s the point in power if I'm a danger to everyone around me! FUCK!” he called out detested, he lost control, he was a murder, no better than those he looked down on earlier. He looked over to Koru, he protected him sure, but how-long could he do so in that state! Suddenly his mind went blank and walked straight towards Koru “Koru we need to get home now! We need to get mom and run, when we get there take only what you need and then we’re gone ok!”

Koru whistfully nodded his head as Maddox threw his little brother over his shoulder and sprinted towards home, he only prayed it wasn’t too late.