I felt anger surging once again, but I forecfully surpressed it. The cool gale of the night helped in this incredibly difficult feat. I just wanted to mutilate the dirt in front of me. I wanted to tear their bodies apart, limb from limb, ravish their corpses and send their remains to their families.

A small part of my mind was repulsed of my train of thought, but I couldn't help myself.

I lost my family once, and now it shall happen again? Don't fuck with me!

What a life would that be? I would better off be dead instead of endure the whole suffering. I did it once and it was not pleasant.

The phalanx of enemy soldiers encircled the village chief's house. Equipped with heavy plate armor, silver in colour with golden engravings, and marble white swords, they had an air of superiority in their stances.

Their equippment spoke volumes about their fighting potential, yet they were fought to a standstill by a handful villagers.

I was more than impressed by the ten or so villagers and how they repelled the onslaught of the paladin-like warriors.

My pupils contracted as I saw a bald man parrying multiple sword slashes with a simple mace. 'FATHER!', I shouted in my mind but remained calm on the outside.

In between the soldiers I saw some mages, the air around them trembled as the elemental essence was controlled by their mana. A see through formation was being drawn in the sky, it radiated power.

The prayer-like chant was drown by the sound of weapons clashing an bones breaking but I could still hear the hypnotizing rythm faintly in the air. They were preparing for a catastrophic magic.

I tightened the grip on the bloody dagger, most of the soldiers were longst dead and only this elite corps remained. I felt a warm hand on my small shoulder, it was Elena. Worry and hatred turned her expression into an ugly mask. Her blue eyes shone with fury and her red hair stood on end.

I could hear a slight growling from her as her lips revealed sharp fangs and slowly red scales emerged on her jade skin. I was somewhat taken aback by her transformation. The once gentle and calm Elena turned into a fierce warrioress.

Her had clamped down hard on my shoulder and I did my best not to wince. "You stay here, those people are dangerous.", she said while reaching down her waist to pull two thick bowie knives. They looked heavy, short but thick with a sharp edge. The silver daggers were held by her sleek hands, their brutality contrasted to her gentle mannerism and yet she wielded them like an extension of her body

Vanessa tensed the large bow in her hands, as a ranger she had excellent accuracy and eye sight. She nocked a finger thick arrow, dark brown wood and a black tip glimmered in the light of the inferno around us.

Her blonde hair waved around her slim neck and sharp face. Like a hawk she set her eyes on the 'prey' before her.

The other villagers that were with us equipped their weapons as well, various polearms like halberds and glaives and other exotic weapons were tightly clenched by the fraught villagers.

Defending in a narrow space and straight out fighting were not the same. We had a higher risk of dying since the knights could circle around us with their numbers. Unlike how they fought against the group with my father, where they couldn't stay to close to each other without hitting their comrades.

Elena's gaze ordered me to stay put, to not engage in a fight as dangerous as this. Her eyes stil had worry for my well being in them, but for fucks sake I was an adult. Most likely I was older than some of the villagers here, so how could I just stay back while they sacrifice themselves?!

I looked at their receding backs, only hundred or so meters from the enemy soldiers apart. Vanessa hid behind a house, the arrow longst ready to be shot. Elena and the other villagers had an stiffling aura floating around them, it rolled like tidal waves and made the air around them roar in agony.

The first to strike was Vanessa. I could barely see her letting the arrow loose. With the speed rivaling that of a bullet train the arrow wheezed through the closed rank of soldiers and send ripples through the air. Quarter a breath later the arrow found its prey and literally bursted the head of an unsuspecting soldier apart.

Blood and brain matter clung onto the nearby soldiers as one of their comrades had their head blasted into oblivion. The arrow did not stop there though.

It send another soldier flying as the arrow collided with the heavy plate armor. The tip was glowing red and the sizzling of metal could be heard. Even the wooden shaft was smoking.

Unbelieving I starred at Vanessa, in that moment her bow looked oppressive with its ebony frame and the silvery string, 'An instrument worthy for father death', I thought. The bowstring was still hot and vibrating and Vanessa had to wait a few moments to nock the next arrow.

----------------

A handful of soldiers turned around, following the trajectory of the lethal arrow. Elena greeted them with her two massive bowie knives.

One jabbed straight into the open mouth of a soldier, tearing flesh apart and only coming to an halt when it hit the spine. The dagger in her left was in a backhand grip, the blade smashed into the face of the same soldier that had its mouth cut open.

His nose caved in and the jawbones cracked. With the force of the swing she pulled the other knife out. 'He had it coming, having no helmet on and all.', some of the heavier armored knights thought.

One of the soldiers with a heaume on drew his sword. With a heavy swing he went for a horizontal smash, but Elena blocked with both of her daggers and deflected it over her head, exposing the lesser guarded flank of the man. Like the fangs of a serpent the dagger slithered towards the area right beneath the ribs.

The man grimaced under his helmet and wielded the sword with only one hand. His free hand grabbed onto the dagger with its iron gauntlet preventing injuries.

At the same time he slashed diagonally from the top right to the bottom left, right past Elena's raised right arm.

Elena jumped back and her face twitched as the sword cut faintly into her skin. The leather vest was cleanly sliced through.

"Hehehe! Come here little missy!", the man taunted.

Elena's expression remained unchanged and she engaged once again. Two other soldier stood ow side by side with the sword wielding man. It is not that Elena hadn't noticed, she just tried to fool them.

A low whistle, undistinguishable for humans sounded inside of Elena's draconic ears. It was akin to a dog whistle abd because of the sound of battle it was only further drowned in the noise.

Elena dashed forward to the man in the center, the man that wounded her. But instead of attacking him, she crouched down and dashed to the man on her left. At the same time another blurry arrow replaced Elena and shot straight through the man with the heaume.

Leaving a dark after images in the air the arrow pulverized the man's head and his body fell lifelessly to the ground. The open throat was singed black, sealing the blood inside.

The man on the left stabbed with his sword at Elena, who was close to the ground, only to receive a kick at his chin. His brain mometarily fazed out as it repeatedly bounced against the inner skull.

While the soldier was dazed his right kneecap was squashed through a few low kicks of Elena. With his balance disrupted the soldier fell to his side and at the same time a knife approached from the ground.

Fearing his imminent doom the soldier tried to shift his weight and alter his fall but the knife was to fast. It stuck right into his right temple and fixed his head on the knife. With the residual force behind the slash the neck was craned to the side and bones popping could be heard.

The third soldier tried to attack Elena, while she was distracted with the falling warrior, but was stopped by a large glaive piercing straight through his chest.

A man in his mid-twenties, short brown hair and soft stubbles, heaved the man with his raw muscle strength into the air. The glaive ripped into the tendons of the soldier as he screamed like a pig. The man, Tarir - a human -, twisted the glaive in mid air. "HAAAAH!", with an explosive shout Tarir tensed his muscles and jerked the glaive to the skies. With a silver light it cleanly sliced the flesh apart.

The massive glaive cut through the soldiers chest, platemail and all, and cleaved through his head. Blood poured out of the splitted man as he fell limp to the ground.

Hyrion was still dumbfounded by the villagers and their incredible strength. Those three soldiers were defeated in seconds.

Unconsciously Hyrion walked forward, following his instincts that perked up through the cries of death and battle. Only after a black arrow whirred past his face did he woke up from his stupor.

Vanessa glared at him, ignoring the man that was shot to the ground by her arrow. Hyrion could only bite his lower lip and stare longingly at the battlefield. As a man and as an elder he could not leave his friends and family alone; not again.

A thin line of blood trickled down his chin as he dashed frward with an explosive jump. The wind swirled around his feet and propelled him forward. Like a ghost he floated towards the battlefield. The scar in his face faintly trembling as the scent of bood became thicker.

His morales long since withered away, endowing him with instincts that are vital for the survival in the world of the strong.

Hyrion's small body blinked with lightning speed towards the soldiers, the shouts of Vanessa unable to reach his ears. Like a mirage he spawned into existence right inside of the enemy lines. A cruel grin was on his face and the blood caked daggers of his demanded oblation. They shone red in the fractured moon light, fangs of a demon hungering for prey.

Hyrion joined the fray and with it the hunt began!