Dark clouds spread as far as the eye could see, blocking not only the stars but also the three sister moons. Only the largest of the three sister moons, Ilva could be slightly seen, trying to illuminate the world down below it. Like a battle of two godly elements. A battle of light and dark trying to outdo each other. But unfortunately for the light, the time was of night and the darkness kept winning this battle. Dark clouds kept gathering more and more and soon would cover the whole sky drowning the world in darkness.

A cold wind rustled the branches of the dead trees, swaying them from side to side. The old trees creaking under its power played a dark symphony. Crows and owls kept making sounds along with wolves howling and occasionally even a roar of something larger and darker sounder out, upon which the forest would quiet down a little for a time.

Suddenly a single bolt of lightning carried itself across the sky followed by a loud thunder that scared many animals. A pair of crows that got startled by the sudden lightning and thunder sat down on a nearby branch of a dead tree. The pair started fighting as both of them were hungry and one of them had a dead rodent in its beak. Both of them kept fighting and pulling on each end of the rodent's body nearly splitting it apart. But the fight was quickly cut short as they heard a snapping sound of a twig breaking.

Both of them were startled and stared in a certain direction. Another twig broke followed by the crunching of dead leaves. Whatever it was, it was going in their direction. The crows were smart and knew better than to stay. Quickly they took off dropping half of the rodent's carcass on the ground.

Twigs and dead leaves kept breaking and crunching and soon the thing that scared the crows walked out of the darkness. A young man walked into the light. He was barefooted and dressed in a white tunic and short dark pants. He had long messy dark hair that flew wildly as the wind blew. He had delicate features yet a lean build for his age. His light grey eyes were clouded as if he was under a spell. He walked in a straight line aiming for a ruined fortress that stood on a hill right in the middle of the forest.

As the young man kept walking all of the animals be it birds, rodents, deers or wolves parted away to let him pass. Even some of the larger and dangerous beasts decided to make him pass avoiding him as if he was a plague. Another bolt of lightning flashed followed by thunder and small droplets of water falling from the sky. One of these droplets landed on the young man and as it did he stopped walking and stood in place. He blinked and rubbed his eyes looking around wondering what was happening. All of his senses were in disarray making him disoriented. He had to crouch down and lean on a tree holding his head. The world around him kept spinning and he felt like he was going to pass out.

But all of that changed when he heard a strange voice whispering right next to his ears. "Come here." The voice was quiet and gentle yet it made his skin crawl and shiver from hearing it. He quickly stood up and looked around him yet there was nobody next to him. The creepy feeling that made his skin crawl and the nausea he felt from his head spinning made him want to puke right there but as he was about to do so he got frozen in place from the sound coming right behind him.

A beastly roar so terrifying that it made his entire body go numb from fear sounded right behind him. Suddenly in the distance, the trees started swaying from side to side and the ground started shaking as if something large and terrifying was running toward him. Dread and fear overtook him and before he could even realize it his legs were already moving for him, running towards the ruined fortress that stood nearby. He did not know how he got here or what was happening. Those things were too much to think about right now for his disoriented and fear-filled mind. All he could think about was getting inside those ruins.

Even though he doubted that getting there would save him from whatever was behind him, anything was better than being in the open forest. After all the deep forests were the homes of beasts and monsters. Some of which would make even the most powerful and bravest of men go pale from fear.

The tremors and cracking of dead trees were getting louder and louder as the young man kept running. With every step, he took he felt his strength leaving him yet despite that he still pushed on. Suddenly a clearing appeared before him he didn't have time to think much about it and bolted with every ounce of his strength towards it. Another roar sounded out, this time even angrier. The young man could swear that the monstrous beast was right behind him now. He turned his head and could see the outline of something big shaking and toppling trees behind him.

He looked forward and with the last ounce of his strength, he dashed towards the clearing. Jumping out of the forest he landed in the clearing and saw the ruined fortress was right in front of him standing proudly on the rocky hill that it was built upon. He didn't have time to think about where was or that only strange grass grew here as no tree or plant dared to even approach the ruined fortress, forming a circular clearing around it.

He tried to run forwards even more but whether it was his body giving out or the ruble from the ruins he seemed to have tripped and fallen over. He desperately tried to get up but the growl coming from behind prevented him from doing so. Frozen in place the guttural feeling of dread spread as lightning over his entire body as his head seemingly turned on its own to look at thing behind him.

There at the edge of the forest, a pair of big yellow sickly eyes stared at him. A mouth full of razor's sharp white teeth was growling at him with salvia running down its mouth. Its black and grey fur made it blend into the night very well and despite its monstrous size it managed to hide most of its body making only some parts of it visible to him. Its tail seemed to be seen swinging from side to side just above the trees that were dozens of times taller than the young man on the ground making one wonder just how giant this beast was.

Another growl escaped from its mouth making his mind go blank from it. His mind and body seemed to have given up upon seeing the monster in front of him. Yet despite laying there resigning to his fate the monster never made move toward him. It only stood there looking at him with its primal gaze full of anger and hunger. Time seemed to have passed and every second felt like an eternity for him. He didn't know how long he lay there but after some time the monster finally moved. But surprisingly not towards him.

Little by little the giant monster slowly backed away. As it was retreating back into the forest it kept looking at him with reluctance and hunger in its eyes, never leaving its gaze from him until it finally disappeared behind the trees its body slowly no longer visible.

Only after it entirely disappeared did his body regain its function as if a curse of hypnosis or fear was lifted off from him. Immediately he vomited serval times on the spot. His body shaking violently he felt the strength leave him every time his body shook. He could swear that all the hair on his body has turned white from the fear and stress he felt right now. He didn't understand why the monster didn't kill him but there was no time to think about that now. He had to get inside those ruins and seek shelter. With shaking hands he desperately tried to get up but again his body seemed to have frozen over as he heard a sickly whispering voice right next to his ears. "Come here. Come to me!"

The young man turned around and looked at the ruins of the fortress and the rubble around him. Looking at the ruins the young man could swear that he saw somebody moving amongst them. He wanted to scream back but to his horror, he found out that not a single tone escaped from his throat. He tried again and again but no sound came out. Looking around in fear he suddenly realized one thing. How utterly quiet it was. He no longer could even hear the rustling of the trees or the lightning or the rain. Only the sound of slowly rusting grass could be heard and the sickly whispering voice calling out to him. A foreboding feeling of dread overcame him.

"Come here, my child! Come to me!" The voice sounded out again and seemed to be getting less pleading and more demanding making the young man grow more suspicious and fearful every second. Something was terribly wrong with this place. The voice that he heard, every time it spoke made his skin want to crawl inside of him. Whoever or whatever it was he was sure that no good intentions were behind it. Slowly but surely something deep inside him was telling him that if he did not get out here that his fate would be a worse one than being devoured alive by the monsters behind him. He turned around and considered even entering the forest again but after thinking about the monster he saw his feet refused to take even a single step back towards it.

As if sensing his hesitation and fear the voice sounded out again. "COME HERE!" The voice now became as loud as thunder making his head spin and ears ring like crazy. No longer was it pleading the voice now sounded demanding even angry. It called out to him again and again getting more angrier and impatient with every second. As if a giant bell has gone off above his head. With every shout, the young man felt as if his head was going split open. He collapsed on the floor and tried to scream but no voice came out.

"COME HERE! COME TO ME! COME HERE...Lucius." And with the call of his name, he finally passed out.