Legends weren’t always known as legends. There was a time when the idea of legend and reality mixed, only for the passage of time to completely throw away fiction in pursuit of reality. However, in the land of Hiphon, a continent hidden away by itself, separated from the rest of the world, fiction and reality collide, but yet legends still are legends, for time is a cruel, immortal enemy.

It’s on the continent of Hiphon where this story begins. On a narrow dirt path, surrounded by lush trees, a carriage pulled by four horses, which are also pulling a large wooden box with a single window adorned with metal rods. Two men sat in the carriage, while a third held the horse’s reins, keeping the horses in check and moving.

The two men inside the carriage played cards, betting golden coins they had just recently earned from their last job. Occasionally, the carriage would hit a stray rock, and the entire ride would bounce, sending cards onto their opponent’s side. On one of these occasions, the man with an orange bandana tied around his head saw a card skid over to his side. Thankfully, the bump was so great that the other man wearing another orange bandana but around his wrist, fell back and bumped his head.

Not only were the circumstances good, but the card that just so happened to slide to him was the one he desperately needed. While his opponent rubbed his head and complained to the driver, he scooped up the card and discreetly hid it in his hand. As soon as his opponent payed attention to the game again, he placed the cards flat on the table.

“Give me everything you got.” The man demanded.

His opponent’s eyes went wide, and he leaned forward and examined the cards. After realizing that he indeed had a winning hand, he threw his cards to the ground and pushed the remaining coins to him.

“Lucky bastard.”

“Thank you Ymyl!” He shouted while scooping up his cheated earnings.

The arm bandana man scratched his head and peaked at the cage. It turned out there were actually two windows. It’s just that one of them could only be seen from inside the carriage.

“She’s been quiet for a while.” Arm bandana man said.

“You think she’s planning something?” Head bandana man asked.

Arm bandana man shook his head. “Nah. We took all her possessions, and while she’s in there, she can’t hit us with anything. There ain’t anything she can do.”

Suddenly, the horses stopped, and they began neighing at something the driver couldn’t see. The men in the carriage stuck their heads out to see all the commotion, but saw nothing in the road.

“What the hell’s their problem?” Arm bandana man yelled at the driver.

“I don’t know. There might be something in the woods?”

It turned out the driver was right, as a bush from their left shook as something large leaped out of it. The three men screamed as soon as they saw what it was. A Kinx, a quadruped creature with fur so sharp that attempting to pet it will end up with that person’s hand becoming severely scarred. Black lines ran down the Kinx’s orange fur, and it’s tail waved in the air, hungry for meat.

“What the hell is that thing doing? Kinx’s don’t just attack people like that.” Head bandana man screamed.

“It doesn’t matter right now. Bring me my gun.” Arm bandana man ordered.

Head bandana man scattered to the back of the carriage and looked through all the useless junk haphazardly thrown about. Meanwhile, the Kinx sensing the movement, pounced on one of the horses. It snapped its jaws around the neck of the horse, beheading it instantly. The horse next to its headless friend neighed and kicked at the Kinx, hitting it in between the eyes.

The kinx backed away, regaining its senses, and it charged at the horse, taking its vengeance.

“Where the hell is my gun?” Arm bandana man yelled.

Head bandana man threw a puffy hat that they’ve been using as an ashtray to the side as he looked for the pistol. After moving the hat aside, the pistol finally stuck out, and he grabbed the handle.

“Let me in.” The driver yelled.

He tried to crawl his way inside, but his pants leg got caught on a peg. The Kinx, seeing the helpless driver struggle to pull his leg free, pounced on the new target. Its eight separate claws showed itself from in between the paws and sliced the driver’s legs. The driver screamed for mercy, and he continued to struggle.

The arm bandana man looked at the scene with wide, terrified eyes. He kicked back into action after remembering that once he’s gone, they’d be next, so he snatched the gun from head bandana man, and pointed it at the Kinx. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed through the air and penetrated the Kinx’s shoulder. It roared and backed away, but instead of letting go of the driver, it grabbed his leg by its teeth and dragged him under the carriage. The driver screamed before disappearing, and the screams only grew louder before vanishing.

“Is it still here?” Head bandana man asked.

Their answer came from the sound of chewing coming from under the carriage. They shook like madmen, both too scared to peek under there to even attempt finishing it off. If they could.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” Arm bandana man whispered.

“I can help you.” A voice from inside the cage suggested.

Arm bandana man and Head bandana man looked at the cage window. They could see the shadow of someone moving on the other side as the sound of chains echoed out of the window.

“You just have to let me out and I’ll kill it for you.”

Arm bandana man scowled, not trusting of the girl inside.

“You expect me to believe you? If we can even get on the other side to free you, you’d just knock us out and run.”

“True, but I’ll kill the Kinx before I make an escape. I can’t have something that fast chasing me.” The girl chuckled as if she were enjoying the men’s dilemma. “You can either let me escape and live, or die, and I’ll escape, anyway.”

The men looked at each other, weighing their options within their minds. She made a good point that if they stay there any longer, then the Kinx will kill them. The pistol did nothing more than annoy the beast. The only way to kill it with such a pathetic weapon would be to hit in between the eyes, but with their hands shaking like they are, that’s an optimistic thought at best.

“Do we just let her go?” Head bandana man asked.

Arm bandana man rolled his tongue around, wondering what the best choice in this scenario is. The sound of the Kinx gnawing on the driver’s corpse beneath them acted like a ticking clock, which only pressured him to make the decision as quickly as possible. But that gnawing also placed an idea in his head.

“I think there’s a third option.” Arm bandana man proposed. “All I have to do is shoot it while it’s busy eating. If I can steady my arm, then it’ll be done with quickly.”

The girl in the cage sighed as the arm bandana man approached the exit of the carriage. He climbed out of the safety of the tent and took a deep breath. If he fails here, then it’ll be hell trying to worm his way back in without getting chewed on. He can’t just let the girl go off on her own, considering her importance and the amount of pay he’ll receive from completing this mission. He prayed to Ymyl for success and held his gun before bending down.

All the horses were dead, either beheaded, or their throats torn out. Kinxes weren’t known for a large amount of bloodlust, so the fact it went out of its way to kill everything in sight unnerved him. Something drove it to do all this, but whatever it was, he hoped to never meet it. A Kinx may be a low level creature in the eyes of the government, but even it can slaughter entire groups of people if they’re unprepared or ungifted.

Arm bandana man fell to his stomach and slowly inched his way over the edge of the carriage. He stuck his head under the carriage while the rest of his body laid on top of it. When he could see what was under them, his breath refused to leave him.

The kinx was hunched over, chewing on the intestines of the driver. The corpse lurched with every chomp and lick. Steeling himself, Arm bandana man pointed the pistol at the side of the Kinx’s head. He wanted to get a nice shot between the eyes, but the angle just didn’t allow for that to happen. He just had to suck it up and risk messing up.

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to let the threat of failure escape him. It didn’t work completely, but it worked enough that he wasn’t shaking so badly anymore. He went from having a seizure to being slightly chilly.

It locked on the head, and he fired. He had to lock his feet on the carriage so the recoil didn’t send him flying. The Kinx growled and hissed, and turned toward the assailant. Arm bandana man wondered what had happened, and that’s when he saw it. He had missed just slightly, shooting the beast in the shoulder instead of its head.

The Kinx crouched and the arm bandana man shouted, retreating back up and inside the carriage as the Kinx charged at him. It had just narrowly missed, and it skidded to a halt just a distance away from them. They stared at each other, the arm bandana man pointing the pistol at it, but his arm was trembling too badly to hit effectively.

He wondered at that moment why they were brought in for the job of transporting her. If anything, one of the higher echelon should have been the ones to take this job, not some grunt who barely makes enough to support his family. Was this all a suicide mission? Did they expect them to fail? It didn’t matter now as death stared at them in the eye.

The Kinx roared, and it began to pounce, but before it could launch itself, a rock came flying out of the woods, knocking the side of its skull. It fell back to the ground and stood back up with trembling legs. Blood seeped out of the cut along its head, which only angered it further.

The men, surprised by what had just happened, looked in the direction the rock was thrown in. Trees and bushes shook as the shadow of a lone figure approached them. A foot stepped out of the wilderness, and from that, so did the rest of the body.

The men stared, stunned, as a man wearing nothing but a pair of pants walked out of the woods, carrying another rock which he tossed in the air and caught once it fell back down. He wore no shirt, instead choosing to face this creature head on with nothing but a six-pack, which, though impressive, did nothing to protect him from the claws of such a beast?

The man turned out to be a kid also, looking no older than sixteen. His fiery red hair tied and braided into a single ponytail which reached to his waist. He turned toward the carriage, his cool orange eyes scanning the situation. When he figured out what had gone down, a careless smile spread across his face.

“Are y’all okay?” The kid called out.

The men were stunned that he could talk to them so casually while a beast stood in attacking position, ready to tear him to shreds. With a mighty roar, it charged at the kid, and the men went wide eyed.

“Kid, watch out for that thing!” Head bandana man yelled.

Instead of freaking out and running away, the kid, without turning away from them, threw the rock against the Kinx’s head. It fell back down again, a new wound that it had to keep track of appeared, dripping blood into its eyes. The rock, which had just slammed against the Kinx, flew back to the kid from the force of the throw, and the kid caught it, throwing it in the air like he did before.

“What the hell was that?” Head bandana man looked at his partner. “Do you think he’s a Gifted?”

“Maybe,” Arm bandana man whispered. “If he is, we’ll know in a few seconds. Look.”

The Kinx stood back up, even more furious than before. A normal animal would give up by then and just run with its tail between its legs, but this creature was far from normal. It bared its fangs and charged once again. When the first time fails, try and try again without changing anything. That was that creature’s motto.

It turned out to be its end as well. This time, the kid did turn away, and before it could take a bite out of him, the kid slammed his fist on its noggin, slamming it back toward the ground. Dirt and dust puffed into the air from the sheer force of that punch, and when it dissipated, the men witnessed a wonderful sight.

The Kinx’s skull cracked open so forcefully, the bone stuck out through the skin, revealing the brains from within. When everything settled down, the men looked at the kid, who was still busy throwing the rock in the air.

“What’s your name, kid?” Head bandana man asked.

“My name?” The kid pointed to himself. “The name’s Oculus. Oculus Yearn.”