Deep within a dungeon, lost and forgotten by all. Sits a realm with a lone cathedral with no reward, just a barren room with a shattered throne.a broken, lost monster with no purpose, wondering alone what was to be his fate.
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Defeat…
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Lost…
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Alone…
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Failure….
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The ogre beast sat near his shattered throne. Endless time has long since passed since he shattered it in his rage.Now with nothing, no prize to guard, no death to honor his defeat, only the shame of living with nothing…
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The gods were cruel, giving him life and letting him have thoughts unlike other mindless beasts…
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Perhaps the gods had no control…Maybe he just died and came back so many times he just remembered? A scary thought…
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But also a meaningless one…
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He failed, and he had to live with that failure… As he lost himself to those things like so many times before, an odd shift happened; he saw the birth of more monsters…
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And the bleeding of his world, the only home he ever knew, faded away like water to paint. The world flowed away, yet darkness was not what replaced it; instead, it was sunny and new…
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An open area now existed among a forest where they placed him and those odd new forms of beasts…
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Yet even that shifted anew, and the sunny open area turned into a dark forest…The monster finished forming, and they were now random, lifeless skeletons.
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A new throne appeared, beckoning him to sit in the clearing, and a moonbeam shone down upon it as if it was a rare gift…
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All he felt was a mockery…
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They wanted him to sit and wait to die again? Yet now with nothing to guard, but just to be some random challenge for others to hunt?
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ROAR
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He could no longer hold back and smashed the skeletons, the only thing close to feeling his wrath…
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He calmed as they faded, finding a moment of peace, feeling like he did something vs. losing everything….
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A glint in the light caught his eye. One of the skeletons dropped a gem. He vaguely knew what it was; he could sense it was a mana gem. He wondered why this had value, why the gods made such a thing, and what it was worth.
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He was going to smash it or throw it away in spite, but the idea it could still be used even in fragments or found if he threw it annoyed him, so in spite he ate it to mock them…
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And his mind expanded… It gifted him knowledge. It was brief, yet it was magical… He felt for the first time whole…
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He got on all fours, desperately pawing the ground, longing to see more, to know more…
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Nothing…
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He wanted to weep; he felt he was close to understanding not being a mindless beast bound to gods…Maybe he was once more than this…
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He lay curled up, defeated, hating this trapped existence, a life and death having no purpose…
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And slept… Till when the thoughts resurfaced...
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Waking to the same world, not his old one, the one he was taken from, but the new endless night… He scouted since he could do nothing else.He wasn’t sure why he needed to sleep… That was new… Yet he let the thought go as meaningless…
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He wasn't sure how long he wandered aimlessly through the forest, but he found an odd sight from the wandering: a tree that felt off. It was as tall as him vs. the other trees that were much taller; that's why it first stood out… the other? He could feel essence in it…
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So he smashed it…It did not move or resist before he struck…Maybe it thought he was kin, or maybe no beast ever fought beast before? He did not care; he wanted to know if it held a prize….
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And it was a rare gift, the mana gem… He did not want to consume it….
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Well, that was a lie. He wanted nothing more than to do that, but he feared the loss and being trapped with nothing…
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He gave in soon after…
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Having long since had his will broken, this was the closest he got to feeling… more. The effect was the same, but clearer: the gods made them to hunt humans and keep them in balance, yet they were too good... He also sensed a truth about this world: how they were not bound there. That was madness… He was trapped.
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Could he always just leave? That was a scary thought. He only knew his broken throne and, well, this place….
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A deep breath bellowed from his lips. He still had no purpose, and lusting for these gems and chasing fragmented memories was also not what he wanted now that he knew a bit more…
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He flexed his hand; he wasn’t sure if it gave him more power—he did not feel it, not really…. Not yet… But his focus was on that sliver of truth that he wasn’t bound but free…
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He just had to find and open a door to see…He remembered how close the door was to his throne room as easily as they ran and escaped, destroying his life…
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He wanted revenge….That was a purpose he could seek no matter how slim the chance he could find them; it would be enough… just to believe…
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His legs grew strained and tired from wandering through the sea of trees, and he grew weary and tired with time; sweat even dripped from the strain….
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Yet night never changed, so he had no concept of time as it may pass… He started gouging sides of trees just to ensure he wasn't wandering in a circle…
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It did help, he noticed a pattern of randomly seeing the marks he left…. So it helped narrow down new areas to search. He was near collapsing when he finally found the door… He might never have found it if not for a fluke of luck… It was part of a tree blended in a sea of tree parts in the endless night… He slept near the door, unafraid any would come, yet exhausted from the searching….
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Awakening once more after an unknown amount of time passed, once more he watched the door….He reflected on how those crystals changed him…. Needing to sleep and now an odd sense?
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Hunger…. And perhaps thirst?
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Madness… Was this a curse for consuming those crystals? He never knew hunger or thirst or even noticed lack of sleep before now. He never thought much before now…
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Other than hate for what he lost…What was taken….He felt more things now from the shift… The essence gave him something?
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He felt it was letting him have an element….He was just guessing, but he did not like feeling different… or just a tool to be killed by the whims of others….The honor of being chosen felt less like such now.
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He grasped the door, tired of these thoughts… He wanted change, and it would come by his hands, not waiting for the gods…
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Opening the door….
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It was odd he saw a desert. A vast plain of sand and went through the door; the heat and light were a nice change from the calm, endless night or the still nothing of his old home.It warmed him in a way he never knew before…
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Then the sweat came, and now he hated it….He saw a waterhole nearby and had a sudden longing for that water…
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Rushing to escape this newfound heat, he splashed water on his massive frame, a cooling relief, a new feeling he never knew before… happiness?
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Over something so petty….
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No, his only joy will be killing those that broke him and ruined his purpose…. Broken, he may be lost with new knowledge, but he did not forget…
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Would not forget….The mockery of those children, their laughs, their joy as they hunted him just enough to steal his prize…
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Then fled…
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He smashed his fist down, booming a splash of water, soaking him in annoyance as he knew nothing changed…As he wandered in the heat, he found random fruit existed, and he did try them.
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It was nice…But it was a hollow joy merely guiding him to his next step…Getting revenge on those that escaped….
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Endless sand was all he found in his wake, with no way to mark things. He feared it all, all he would know besides the puddles to slake his thirst amongst the heat…
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Yet by fluke or rare pity from the gods, he bumped into the door climb near a random dune…Staring, thinking it was a trick at first with the sweat in his eyes, but it opened easily enough, and a new world was born before his eyes…
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World filled with winter and endless night…
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from heat to cold…
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He felt off, wondering if these different plains did all mortals feel this way? No wonder they treat his existence as a game to them; this was just another place they traveled to with indifference…
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It was not their only home they ever knew… they were free.
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He wandered among the trees and saw a dim light flicker between the trees—a fire? He ignored the cold eating into his flesh and feet and pushed on…A light snow was falling, making the ground crunch beneath his feet. As he sought the light, he saw little people. No… goblins.
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He wasn't sure why he knew these things and what the name of something was. Maybe it was thanks to the gems he ate, or he always knew and never had a reason to think?
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He walked up to the little creatures, yet they did not bat an eye or move, still as the trees amongst the falling snow…He never tried talking; what could he even say? Yet he tried grunting a word to move them: “Arugah?”
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they ignore his voice as well as the sight of him as he stood before them.... “ARUGUH.” He tried yelling words when they did not flinch at hearing his voice.
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still indifferent even to the yell…Why was he the only one who could think!? Did they not care? Maybe they saw his existence as unworthy of their time…
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So he smashed the nearest, killing it swiftly. That did get the other to move and panic, now full of life, looking for the threat, shouting amongst themselves, yet ignoring him. It made no sense. Were they incapable of hearing him or seeing him? Madness… He literally just smashed one….
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The one he killed faded, and they soon calmed once more back to the still nothing… They're not real, he thought, or so far gone they no longer exist…So he smashed the rest, not caring to barter. Only one of the five he found dropped a gem, and he consumed it to bliss….
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He vaguely felt the gods' intent—a cycle that they wanted to change to free all and make a new balance…to let monsters be free, yet not all could be; some were too dangerous and needed to be controlled, others too mindless and forever be… like me.
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Only those that found a level of truth were allowed to wander outside these worlds, beastkin… with humans…Even then, it was a new struggle for his kind to be free. It seemed even they could be lost to madness and hunted….He felt he understood the world and magic a bit more…
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Wind blessing … It was now his gift. He stayed near the flame, the warmth helping him reflect on what he found, what he could see…
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He felt the mana of the dungeon was also feeding him now that he had gained more clarity in time. He never needed to eat, sleep, or drink if he acted like the goblins and just left things be….
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And accepted the nothing….
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ROAR.
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He smashed the ground. He was forgetting his desire, his purpose. Those adventures took everything from him, made him know a world that could never be, and he was the enemy….
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Unknown Time Passed
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Many doors later…
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The crystals he found no longer had an effect; he wasn't sure why, to the point it felt like mindless killing the other dungeon inhabitants, so he left them be, much like how they ignored him…
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The wind felt more a part of him now that he could feel things in the wind; it helped guide him to the doors, so it made it easier to see where to go, yet he still found nothing…. Randomly, he thought he felt others… But they left long before he could see.
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At least till today…
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It was the first time he knew for a fact his search wasn't in vain. As he opened the door, he saw the departure of those that stole from him. He was shocked to inaction as they left so close yet so far, like how it was last time. So vivid was the memory he could not move as he relived it….
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Yet when he focused one more time, all that was left was the only one who did nothing last time, the stupid black-haired girl who only ran… She shone with a pale light and now held weapons as if it made her better….
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He was about to pass through his door and strike, killing her where she stood for all the things he had suffered since that blight…Yet as she paused and looked around, he could not help but shrink back and hide, not out of fear but out of understanding…
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This was his desire, his goal. He had to be smarter if he wanted the real prize of revenge vs. all of them and not a small bite with killing the weakest one….
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When she left, he did start to try to follow a bleak hope that he could catch them in the next realm, yet for him it was not a door out like he watched her pass through, but a new desert….Was it the gods' way of keeping things like him bound? Or a gift only for others to be free…
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He was not a mindless beast…
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So he would wait and hunt…He used the wind once to sense her before she left…So he would stay in this plane… If they came once, they would come again, and he would be ready….
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Unknown Time Passed
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he sat behind a hill waiting for their return....
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He regretted his newfound plan. The sun never set; he never tired or hungered if he did not move, so he had nothing to base the passing of time on. If he had endless patience, or only an hour passed….
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He wasn’t sure how many times he had pondered those same thoughts when he felt the shift, and it broke him into a stupor…
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Voices…
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“It’s only level three; calm down…”
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“I’m telling you, Jim, I got a bad feeling. The gods never lied to me!”
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“You don’t commune with the gods any more than I’m dating Danna.”
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“Now give me a moment of peace…”
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He wasn’t sure whose these two voices were, but as he moved closer to the door beyond a nearby hill, he saw them bickering….
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Foxkin? Two males, one with a bow and the other one? No weapon…
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The ears went flat to the weaponless one who noticed him before he spoke, face full of concern…
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“Uh...Jim…”
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“What….” The man with a bow facing away asked, annoyed… His friend turned him around, never facing away from me. The distance wasn’t large, a few hundred feet at best. I could close it within seconds, yet they were not my prizes… So it gave me pause…
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“Wow, that’s a big one, stupid too if it’s just watching us,” as he laughed at his own joke…
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I reflected on his words. Did I always know their speech? Could I talk with them? Would they even listen…
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The smugness in his eyes with a wagging tail as he drew his bow made me not care, and I wanted to see if he really thought me so weak…
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“Don’t do it, Jim… This is not right…” more panic enter his eyes as he knew I was a threat....
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“Donald, be quiet and watch as a fight…” Jim said as he lined up his shot with the bow the mirth in his face about to claim his prize...
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“Just be ready with a fire spell to blast it if things don’t go right…”
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“I told you, level two, I can’t just blast fire at things…” Donald retort never taking his eyes off me.
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As they bickered, he never took his eyes off the sight as the arrow flew by him. It was a good shot to his center mass, yet he did not dodge, wanting to test his control over the wind and pulled the arrow easy away as if brushing the air with a thought.
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“What the…? That was the perfect shot. It should be screaming for mercy now…” Jim had a confused look, his tail no longer wagging.
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This… was not those that hunted him. Humiliated him… No, these were kids playing warriors…
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They saw his bored indifference, one panicked knowing how close to death they were, and my mercy that was running thin, and the other doubled down on his pride and lined up another shot…
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“Jim, I—”
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I did not wait for the next arrow. I did not wait for him to warn his brother or friend—I care not which—as I smashed a fist into the gut of the man before he could even fire the arrow. The distance closed before he could even blink. as I use the wind to push forward.
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It was surprising to me, the wind-blessed speed. Despite my strength, I held back. Things felt off; something was there I did not understand and did not want to mindlessly kill… but hurt? I could do that like it was done to me…
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As Jim coughed, desperate for air from the blow, I slapped the other man who watched in a stupor… It was over? Just like that…. Gods, this was sad….
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I wondered ever so briefly if killing them would drop a gem… But my prize was those that mocked me before, not… this.
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So leaving them be…
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I went back to a door with the winter land and watched from inside the door. I needed them to think they're safe lest they keep trying to hunt me…
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I wasn't sure how long I had to wait vs. these random fools, but if I set the bait, the rats would come…
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***
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Donald awoke soon after to a massive headache watching his friend convulse, wheezing on the ground. He flared the fire blessing within his body; it made the headache worse, but he could move more now as he pulled his friend to the exit and out through the door to safety…
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Later that day at the tavern
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“I’m fine. It got lucky…” Jim said, annoyed at the attention.
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“I got healed, a lucky shot from a stupid beast…”
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A steaming plate filled with meat and veggies made him smile. He looked up to see the young bear smiling back, breaking his brooding debate.
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“Enjoy the meal. I finally got Dad to add more veggies, and I messed with the spices a bit. Hopefully you still like it,” the bearkin said, full of mirth.
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“Nonsense, Ty! You been spoiling us for a while; now it's hard to want to eat elsewhere!”
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Tyler laughed at the praise… “You’re just trying for free drinks!” still enjoying the mood.
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“Well, is it working?” They both laughed, enjoying the moment as Tyler agreed it was working and he'd be back with some. Donald watched it from the side, sharing none of their joy. He felt this was a prelude to more… They just did not know it yet…
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Three Weeks Later, Hunter Guild
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Reports keep coming in of an unknown monster in the dungeons…
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Coby listened to the man reading the reports with indifference; he had been hearing the same report for a while from his dad, and it was tiring. Dad glared at him, wanting him to take it more seriously.
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Yet it was hard when he kept being put off training new recruits….
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The mayor broke the man's monotonous reading of the report, interrupting mid-speech, mildly surprising others in the room. It seemed not only he was getting bored of it…
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“This is nothing new, so why are we still hearing about it?” He looked at my dad as if wanting him to confirm why it wasn't addressed. I myself was wondering; it wasn’t like Dad to let these things linger…
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“It’s not a mindless beast; it’s been avoiding us…” Dad spoke clearly, surprising all of us…
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“Impossible!” The mayor snapped as if we were playing a game… “Why do we have a hunter guild that can’t hunt?” That stung even me a bit, as, like my dad, I had pride in keeping things safe…
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Dad remained calm, watching the mayor till he calmed a bit before speaking…
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“We used our best trackers, like my son, who are good with the wind… It seems the best learn from it and use it to avoid us…”
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“Add to it, it uses doors like us…”
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The mayor slams his hand on the table before shouting.
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“WHAT”
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“WHY HAVE WE LET IT GO THIS LONG? THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!”
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He was yelling and panicking. I even felt a bit of dread. Dad left that detail out before, and even the reports said little…
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“It’s looking for something….” Dad said, coolly calming all
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The guild mistress calmly blew smoke. I forgot she was even there…
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“If it flees and none are hurt, why do we care?” Tanya said coolly.
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The mayor glared at her, as did the rest of us….
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“We don’t wait till it kills to know it’s a threat; we need to end it now…” Dad replied with a bit of heat in his voice…
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“AGREE!” the mayor yelled, feeling full of energy and nothing to use it on…
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“We’ve been trying to set a trap, but it just uses a door and gets away, and it places we can’t follow it lead us elsewhere, so we need to leave back to floor one to reset the realms to try again…”
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“It’s not as simple as just walking there and finding it…” Dad tried to explain the complexity of hunting it…
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“So send more teams!” the mayor went on.
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“We have three of them each day going in a cycle… It's stopping us from hunting in the wild…”
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That worried me. The town was safe, but it had been a while since he really hunted to say how safe…
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“What is the thing I just keep hearing? Monster? What monster?” The mayor asked, exasperated, his hand where tied…
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Dad explained what it looked like in detail, and my blood ran cold. I remember that beast, but it couldn’t be the same? There were similar monsters…. Yet like this?
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All in the room noticed his change in demeanor from bored calm to a face with fear, yet his dad spoke first.
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“You know something, son?”
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“Uh… no… maybe?”
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A laugh from Tanya: “What is it, child? Do you fear the beast, or perhaps you know it somehow?”…when she said it was full of mirth but frowned when she saw my serious face and knew….
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“You do know this beast child?”
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“I think so… If it’s the same, it was the one we got the herb from and ran…”
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“Impossible,” the mayor said one more time, as if repeating that one word it made it all make sense…
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Talks broke down from there to bickering debates, ignoring his fear as childish, but I felt unresolved… This was the start of something more…
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Two days later, at the inn
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Coby tried to get the whole team, but some were busy with their own lives… He managed to get Leena, after her training, and Arlin to agree to a meeting, so it was something…. as he waited at a table hoping it was a brief wait as he was little early...
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Leena and Arlin showed up at the same time, making him not wait long, which he was grateful for, as he was already tired of the wait from his past meeting going nowhere...
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Arlin did seem nervous trying to talk to her, but Leena just seemed to nod politely, not noticing Arlin trying to get her attention. Instead, she was searching for me, and as she saw me at the table, she smiled and came to greet me. with Arlin in tow
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“Coby, is everything ok? You were vague other than wanting to talk as a meeting…”
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He smiled, assuring it all was well, just needing to discuss things. He greeted Arlin, happy he had made it too. Arlin was feeling better been able to hang out with friends, and cared little about the meeting…
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Tyler greeted them, happy to see them, remembering them, and promising them a nice meal. They tried to protest, but he insisted.
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He did not want to sour the meal, so he said he would wait till they enjoyed their food. First, Arlin was happy with that plan. Leena did not like the unknown…
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Tyler came back with a mini feast, asking if they had heard the latest rumors about the beast. It's been attacking people now…
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That surprised everyone, and Tyler happily shared what he heard: that the hunter guild finally cornered it, and it fought back, yet the crazy part and the amazing thing about the rumor was that beast did not kill anyone!
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He had a face full of excitement at a monster who could hunt and not kill, and it was an amazing adventure. Yet, Len and I? We knew it was losing its patience, having been hunted, and was returning the favor.
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That left the question of what or whom it was really after….
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I looked at Arlin, who was just smiling, enjoying his meal, not even noticing how dark the talk got, as if it was no big deal… He saw my and Len's disapproval of his lack of caring, which made him frown…
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“What?”
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“They got it. Nobody died, and it will be over probably before tomorrow…” Arlin said with indifference, going back to his meal, annoyed that talks were so serious vs. friendly banter…
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Len looked at me, waiting for me to speak. Tyler still watched us, full of mirth, got called away, and wished us well, asked me to tell Wolf hi for him. I agreed….
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I finally told them my fear and what I learned and why I thought it wasn't just a mindless beast, and who I believed it was hunting…
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“Their monster…. They all look the same after a while. I fought them for years and never had an issue…” Arlin said, looking annoyed at his meal before facing us…
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“Even if it was the same beast.”
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“And even if it was looking for us, that’s all the more reason to walk away…”
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“We don’t need this…” we could see his shadows growing darker, s truth he felt more then he said...
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“Arlin…” Leena said carefully,
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“If we helped make this, we can’t wait till it does hurt others over us…”
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“We did what we had to do to help your brother…” Arlin glared, getting more heated…
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“I did not agree to this…”
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“Last fight, remember?” he stared at them both waiting for them to challenge him....
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She looked away, ashamed but conflicted.
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“If Len fights, so will I, but this is not something we can take lightly. I agree…” Coby said, showing where he stood even been stared down.
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Arlin relented, even wanting nothing to do with this, he was willing to compromise and told them so…
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“I never heard of monsters breaking free or hunting in dungeons…. I’ll talk to my sister to see what she knows; she studies these things….”
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“No promises though….” Arlin said solemnly,
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“Thank you,” Len said, happy for that compromise as Tyler came back full of cheer, offering us a free drink to lighten the mood…Yet even as the meeting did not go as I assumed it would, the other events only shifted more from their…
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Later that night at the guild hall
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“Why would I know anything like that?!” Ziala asked, exasperated.
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“Please, you’ve got to know something. Len and Coby came to me for answers, and I said I would help…” Arlin tried reasoning…
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“I heard the rumors…” Her ear went flat. She stared sadly at her brother… “Do you really think it's hunting you, brother?”
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He barked a laugh and waved her off. Yet she still saw the change in his demeanor. He thought he hid...
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“Even if it was... hunting me or us.... I got to go into a dungeon for it to touch me; so we're fine…” He looked away, less boastful.
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“It’s why we have the hunter guild, right?” he said ii almost as a whisper...
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Ziala knew her brother was worried she remembered the stories, and though they told them many times with boasting, knowing that beast was still real and now hunting all the dungeon was sobering…
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“I can send a letter to other guild halls to see if they have records. Maybe they can even send someone. We will make it work, brother, ok?”
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“Whatever, I’m trying to help Len with something; I’m not afraid to fight that thing…” Yet she saw the tremble in his hand even among the shadows, he was subconsciously hiding in…
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She wanted to hold him and tell him it would be ok, but he saw her face and scowled and turned to mist and went to his room… She would do what she could and went to draft the letter.
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“Do not bother, daughter; I heard as well.” The sudden voice jolted her to look, and from the shadow came her mother…
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She frowned. “How long were you there, Mother?”
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Mom smiled and blew from her pipe…. ”Long enough, child.”
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“I already know nobody elsewhere will have an answer…” She looked away up to Arlin's room…
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“This is new. I've lived long enough and run a guild hall, I would know. I will let others know as a fail-safe, but this is a personal matter…”
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She wasn't sure what her mom's plan was, but she wished everyone would be ok. She was happy, and this unknown change was something she feared would take away what little happiness she had found….
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A hand gently brushed her head as smoke blew past her side. “Relax, child. I did not live this long to be a fool. All will be well.”
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As the mother herself went to mist and went to her own room, leaving her to brood much like her brother….She wanted to at least write rock since she could do nothing else, maybe talk with Len later, and hope things do get better…186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxK63zSoxp5
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The mother went past her son's room, watching him slowly lose himself to fear…She pushed him to face all darkness, but even she felt this was much greater than anything kids should face…
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She did not trust the fool in council to listen, but she would try at least once to let them know their kids are planning to be fools, and she is making plans to nip it in the bud…
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She hoped she wasn’t too late… The beast was learning, and it was hunting even if it didn't want the kids, it did want something…. And it needed to be stopped.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbt5ScPqTf
and then Add to home screen.