CHPT 95: Allblack, the Unbound

Claude came back to his senses somewhere between the time a part of his brain realized what Arne said and when the dark dirt and roots rose up from the ground, reaching for him like dozens of coiling black snakes.

The dark and twisted earth caught his fall and held him there. He tried his best to fight it with sword and claw, but it merely regenerated and strengthened itself in other areas until it grew up to his shoulders and held him tightly.

He turned his head at the sound of enraged growls and noticed the roots wrapped around Frosty's legs and fastened over his back. He could feel Frosty's anger at being captured, forcing its way into his mind.

"Arne, what the fuck happened! Why did I lose control like that!" Claude demanded angrily while the Shaman slowly wrapped up its nub of a finger.

"[Its an unfortunate downside of the Lupine race. Your a predator now— in mind and body, that means you have the instincts to hunt, chase and kill. You may not remember it, but in the Astral Realm you faced a similar situation.....the only difference is you were in agreements with your instincts at that time.....Prey Drive won't always work in your favor.]" Arne quickly explained.

"Well that's just fucking FANTASTIC!..." Claude thought angrily in response while he strained against the binds.

"[Claude, none of that matters right now. All that matters is that your in this situation— this very bad situation that you need to find a way out of.....like now!]" Arne reminded him.

He considered Arne's words and understood that what he was, was the very reason he was in this situation— he couldn't help that. Now he needed to find a way out because an innocent life was at stake.

The Goblin Shaman had started looking around the area for something during the time Claude spent talking to Arne.

He soon caught onto what the Goblin was looking for and began fighting against the binds with increased effort and urgency as the Shaman walked off towards Maris' unconscious body.

Once the Shaman reached her, it turned to spare an excited glance at Claude. The greed and promise of pain in its eyes deeply enraged him.

The Shaman was torturing him, it got rid of the biggest threat but instead of finishing the job, it was going to make him watch it kill the one person he had left to save.

"IF YOU TOUCH HER I'LL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!" He roared so loudly, the nearby birds fled from their branches and flew off into the night.

The Shaman jumped once, startled by the intensity in his voice before proceeding to lift the girl up and bring her a few feet in front of him.

It set her down with the barely contained excitement and care of a child with a new Christmas present. The sight sickened Claude and turned his vision blood red.

He growled silently as he fought against the binds.

"[Claude, I understand your anger. But, brute strength isn't the way out of these.]" Arne said, referring to the tainted natural binds.

At the back of his mind he always knew this, but he was too angry not to try. For some reason hearing someone else say it seemed to center him, the process allowed him to think more realistically and move forward.

He tried his best to stay on track and think of what to do when the Shaman began carving odd symbols and lines in the ground around Maris' body with the help of a torch it stabbed into the ground near her head.

While the Shaman shuffled around carving and stabbing into the ground, Claude closed his eyes and thought about what to do. He considered a few ideas, but only one stuck, Nature.

"Arne."

"[Yes?]"

"You said the Shaman's somehow tainting the Nature nearby, right?"

"[Yes. Most likely through the dark and evil process of sacrificing all life for power.]" Arne replied.

"Ok, but I can still manipulate it— it'll just be harder, correct?"

"[Mhm, from what I've heard. It's an odd feeling.]" Arne said.

"Ok...I just need to breathe— to focus.....I can't fully do that with Frosty panicking." Claude thought while the PitWolf continued to go mad under the dark restraints.

"Frosty. Quiet!" He snapped behind him.

The PitWolf continued to thrash and whine in between angered barks and borderline roars.

"God dammit! I don't have time for this!" Claude thought angrily as his eyes feel on the Shaman and Maris.

"[You have another way of communicating with him, Claude.]" Arne said.

Claude understood what Arne meant immediately and began visualizing the link between him and Frosty.

The cyan link within his mind rumbled and stretched outward in uneven waves as Frosty's rage flooded the link. His cold blue energy trailed the length of the cord like spreading flames, going farther and farther up the link with every roar and growl.

"Is that how communication is made between us?" He wondered.

The thought sparked an idea.

"Quiet...Quiet.....Quiet." He began to mumble the words while he focused on the link in his mind. At first it didn't work, but once he began to say it in his mind, tiny smokey spirals of vibrant green energy crawled up the cord.

He continued to say it until the word lost its meaning, his energy continued to follow the length of the link with increased speed as he directed the command at Frosty.

After a few more seconds, the link was a cold blue on one side and a vibrant green on the other, it vibrated and shook like a flicked rubber band. Their energies were almost touching, he only had to say it one more time.

"Quiet."

As he said the word a final time, his eyes flashed green and Frosty's flashed a shade of cobalt blue behind him in unison.

The word pushed his energy into Frosty's. The effect was immediate. The two energies that covered the link mixed and faded until all that remained was the familiar cyan link. Frosty was silent immediately and projected a feeling of calmness and understanding that calmed Claude in return.

DING!

Claude was surprised by the system notification sound in such an odd time.

[Companion Link strength and understanding increased!]

He read the message quickly and focused back on the task at hand.

"Ok. Get ahold of the Nature, break free and save Maris. Then kill the Shaman." He said before closing his eyes and feeling for the untouched nature deep underground.

***

After straining with the earth around him and burning his mana for a minute, he began to panic. He wasn't making much progress if any and the Shaman was— based on the progression of its markings in the ground.

He was essentially fighting a losing battle since the ground and Nature beneath him was already deeply ruined and the more the Shaman wrote, the worse it became. Every finished symbol darkened the earth and made it feel even more perverse.

Unfortunately, this was the only option he could come up with in such an urgent situation, so he wasn't quitting.

Another few minutes of intense mental and physical exertion went by and he was left sweating heavily with a headache spreading out across the front of his skull.

He opened his eyes to check how much time he had left, the Shaman was happily carving away at the ground and the circle looked to be three fourths of the way done. He was three fourths of the way done with his process of sacrificing an innocent teenager for power and Claude was forced to watch.

The thought gave him a boost of focus and determination to make sure such a thing never happened.

"Come on...come on!" He thought as he fought with the darkened Nature.

The Goblin continued to happily carve into the ground, sparring quick malicious glances back at him.

The wind blew suddenly, spreading the smell of death and rot all around him. But, another smell came along with it, one he didn't expect or understand.

The air was becoming increasingly overpowered by the smell of fire blood and animal— wolf. With it, came something he couldn't explain. An unseen presence of sorts that expressed pure power and dominance unlike anything that could be of the natural world.

Everyone felt it at the same time. Claude immediately dropped his head and his throat closed up like someone was gripping his vocal chords. Frosty began to whine softly and convey feelings of intense fear through their link. The Goblin Shaman shivered while it looked around the field for what caused the immense disturbance.

Suddenly, a powerful booming voice spoke into the silence. The voice was unnaturally deep and off putting— yet somehow familiar?"

Rrr...boy....youuuugr....disappoint meeeEEE!!" The voice said from seemingly around him. To his surprise no one else noticed it.

He replayed what the voice said one more time before realizing why the voice sounded so familiar.

"Fenrir." He said into the silence.

Fenrir ignored him and continued on with what he was saying. "You! Disappoint meeEE...."

"What do you mean?" Claude asked.

A cold sweat broke out on his skin as if the God of Wolves was laying his eyes on him for the first time.

"Have you so easily forgotten the giffts I gave youuuugr? Nno disciple of miiine dies to such a pitiful opponent grrr!!"

"Gifts? Wha— he stopped mid thought as he realized what Fenrir was talking about. In his urgency to break out and save Maris, he completely forgot about the one skill Fenrir gifted him that he never used.

Before he could say anything to Fenrir, the god spoke.

"Brrrreak free of your rrrestraints and rip that bastard to shhhhreds...grrr!!"

With that, the gods presence faded in unison with the wind.

Fenrir's presence was so consuming and dominant that it felt like he was in another realm under the giant wolfs gaze, he was so taken by it that he lost focus of what was taking place in front of him.

By the time he regained his focus, the Shaman held its crooked curved dagger up above its head as it sat on its knees near her head. The moonlight shined against the stained silver surface of the dagger and cast a shadow over its face, facing away from the pale light.

The shadows did nothing to hide the murderous gaze in its eyes.

The Shaman was done with its preparations and was in the midst of sacrificing Maris. He had to move or he would fail, he wouldn't get revenge for the dead, he wouldn't save everyone— he'd be even less of a Hero.

Claude aggressively forced his transformation while activating his skill, (Unbound).

In an instant, the binds broke with a burst of fiery green energy. The activation of the skill sounded like a wolf howling rebelliously.

Before the broken pieces of the binds hit the ground, he was closing the distance between him and the Shaman at speeds he'd never moved at.

The Goblin Shaman didn't even have time to react as slick black claws ripped into its throat and pulled it to its feet.

RAGH!!

Sqsh!

Claude stopped so suddenly after reaching the Goblin with his claws in its throat that the wind he created blew past him and snatched off the Goblins tattered robe.

His bright green eyes burned holes into the Shamans skull with his overflowing hatred and disgust.

Frosty barked and howled triumphantly as Claude held the Shaman.

The Shaman choked and tried to speak as blood spilled from the wounds in its throat and leaked down Claude's hand. The smell made him jumpy and even more agitated so when he tried to speak, his voice was shrouded in intimidating growls.

He could feel his claws scraping the back of the Shamans spine as he yanked its head near his mouth to speak.

"This is for the innocent people you killed, you sadistic bastard!"

After he whispered to the Shaman, he pushed it back with the hand that was in its throat.

Woo!

As the Goblin stumbled back, Claude yanked the hand that was jammed in its throat in the other direction, grotesquely ripping its throat out.

SHRIP!

The quick and aggressive motion caused it to fold over on itself with its head parallel to the floor.

Claude looked down at the bent over Shaman in disgust as its blood spilled over the grass and his feet.

He wasn't done.

"This is for hurting Frosty." He said before delivering an openhanded uppercut to the Shamans face. His long black claws cut through flesh and bone indiscriminately with so much force that it ripped the Goblins head clean off.

SQSH!

The head sailed through the air spewing blood and parts he didn't even know were inside a head.

Before it hit the ground, he distinctly heard the sound of roots and grass ripping as flash of wind blew past him, heading straight for the head as it fell.

Before it hit the ground, an invisible force caught it, growling and breathing loudly. The head stayed still looking like it was floating in the air for moment, as if whatever was holding it was waiting for a command.

"Go ahead." Claude said.

Without hesitation, the head was crushed with a spray of blood and green skin.

The crimson fluid stuck to and coated previously invisible large incisors that were held in a wolffish grin.

[+450 EXP]

DING!!

[You have leveled up!]