Devastating Discovery(3)

The sky was casket black and brooding, lacking any stars or clouds. Only the moon bore witness to the destruction below. Rough and calloused hands gripped the wooden weapon tightly. Gale faced the wolf who was circling him slowly, red eyes alight with sadistic glee of potential new prey. As the beast circled him, Gale's eyes calmly followed it. Though he looked steady, his mind was plagued with uncertainty. He could practically hear alarm bells ringing loudly. This beast was strong, very strong.

Gale, a warrior who fought many battles and wars in the past, was used to the tingling feeling of bloodlust. However, on this very day, Gale felt suffocated. Peels of sweat trickled down his forehead, he felt like a demon was watching him, sneering at him.

'Something's not right with this wolf. Fire wolves never come out of the forest, they live too deep in there so…' Gale frowned in confusion.

'Why is one here now?….and its size…. It's massive' Fire wolves were large but only about the size of a full-grown man, however, this wolf was 3 times larger than that, towering over even the vacant houses. Gale's Adam's apple bobbed, he was nervous. Fire wolves were thin by nature, but this beast was bulky, it was like looking at a bag of muscles.

As Gale thought this, the wolf finally lunged at his backside. Gale turned swiftly and dodged its oncoming jaws, his eyes not missing the ripped fabric that tore from his shoulder. Gale clicked his tongue.

' Tch, It's fast…'

The beast didn't stop there, it raised its large claws and swung them towards Gale, cutting through the air like a hammer. Gale narrowly dodged. The beast repeated this attack constantly, trying to claw its way into Gale's flesh. Gale, who was moving backward, felt a sharp pain course through his leg, causing him to pause.

'C-CRAP' Gale tried to move his body, The wolf's lunging claws ripped through Gale's arm.

"Agh" Gale felt pain, his arm was ripped open and bleeding, yet still intact.

The wolf's teeth parted, revealing a revolting sight of pitch-black teeth, its claws dripping with Gales blood. It was sneering at him. The wolf charged once more, Gale raised up his arm, trying to block the beast, but was rammed mercilessly in his side.

*Bang* *Bang* Gale's body bounced like a ball, skidding to a stop. Gale laughed a little, it's been a while since he was thrown in such a manner, he forgot what it felt like. "I'll give you that one wolf," he said, spitting out blood. He raised himself up and cracked his neck. "Now it is my turn," he said with a warped grin. His figure disappeared. The wolf flinched, its red eyes gazing in every direction.

*Fwoosh* *BAM*

Pain shot through its left leg, the wolf yelped in pain and tried to bite in that direction. However, nothing was there. Another round of pain, this time in its right leg. Yet still, nothing was there. the wolf was confused, never had it thought that pain could be afflicted to this extent toward it. A series of blows were inflicted on the wolf, who couldn't find its target anywhere.

Gale appeared in front of the wolf, and with a fierce glare swung his weapon into the wolf's face, its body knocking back a few feet. Gale stalked towards the wolf, his gaze filled with killing intent. The wolf's eyes trembled a little, it tried to lift its body up but was too slow. He gripped the wolf's ears and slammed its head repeatedly in the ground.

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* Constantly, he watched blood leak from the wolf's mouth and nose. He slammed it once more in the ground, before gripping its head and swinging it into a nearby wagon.

*Craaaaash* The wagon broke apart, dust filtered the surroundings. "COME ON NOW. THAT AIN'T ALL YOU GOT HUH?" Gale shouted and provoked the wolf. He looked at his wooden weapon, cracks filtered through it. 'This won't last long' Gale thought. He wished he had his main weapon or at least a wooden sword as it was much more durable than this. However, none were nearby, or intact.

*GRRRRRRR*

The wolf's body flinched as if it was in shock. A fiery aura erupted from the wolf, Flames engulfed its entire body as it rose, the broken wagon melted. Gale felt like his skin was on fire with the heat. 'This is bad..' He thought.

The wolf, having stood up, opened its mouth wide. Gale's eyes widened and he quickly tried to put some distance from the wolf. A large fireball burst from the wolf's mouth.

'BOOOOOM' The fireball was like a bomb, a massive explosion occurred. Gale was even more nervous. It seemed that getting the wolf riled up was his mistake.

It shot more fireballs, they were large like the size of boulders. Each exploding upon impact with different targets.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Gale ran with all his might, trying not to be seared to a crisp by the raging flames.

He shifted his gaze, quickly scanning the area. his eyes spotted one large house that was intact. He dashed forward, the wolf barreling behind him.

*GROOOOOOOOOOH* It howled in glee, seemingly enjoying the chase. A vein poked out of Gale's head in annoyance.

"we'll see if you like this ya mangy mutt".Gale growled.

He sucked in a breath and put strength into his good leg, his body burst forward in speed. The wolf, not anticipating this, tried to speed up, but its body crashed into the house, its view and attention obscured.

Gale was quite an expert at playing dirty. One of his favorite things to do when fighting back in his younger days was to simply annoy his opponent until they lost their cool. The wolf with its large body tore through the house like paper, turning it into a pile of debris.

*FWOOSH* The sound of raging flames filtered the atmosphere, sparks of embers painted the pitch-black sky a smokey red. The moon was obscured in black smoke, as the once peaceful village now burned to the ground. The smell of cooked flesh circled the air as dead bodies burned.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH" It howled in a fit of rage, it clawed and chomped on the wood. Melting it into liquid. The way was cleared, but, Gale was nowhere to be found.

Gale smirked.

*WHOOSH*

Appearing in the wolf's blind spot, He swung his wooden weapon. *BAAM* the weapon slammed in the wolf's side.

"ARRROOOH* The wolf howled in pain, its bulky body stumbling. "Never felt pain right there huh" Gale sneered regaining his footing. Rage permeated through the wolf, it lunged once more and tried to bite Gale, this time a little quicker. However, Gale easily dodged it.

With each bite, Gale swung his weapon, inflicting powerful blows at the wolf's openings. He was getting faster and faster until his hands looked like afterimages. The wolf's head was forced in a multitude of directions as its face was clobbered by the wooden weapon.

Small bits of blood splattered on the soil. The wolf's head was bleeding, small cuts from broken wood bits were etched into its skin. Gale flexed his arms enforcing more strength and put power into both his legs. He wanted to end this quickly.

"HAAAAAAAAH" Gale screamed with all his might. Veins bulging from his arms as he swung the weapon at the bottom of the wolf's large snout, its head snapping backward at the force. Its chin exploded, a fountain of berry-red blood splattering everywhere like rain. The force of the impact caused Gale's wooden weapon to break into tiny pieces.

"BOOM* the wolf's body fell backward on the ground.

"Hah….Hah…" Gale gasped for breath, a smile on his haggard face. He staggered and dropped the small piece of wood, and clutched his bleeding arm. Age seemed to have gotten to him, he had to use his full strength in a long while. Gale's vision was blurring, he lost way too much blood. Suddenly, Gale winced in pain, his body tumbling to the ground. He clutched his bad leg.

'Seems I went overboard huh' he thought. His smile was tight and he laughed in self-deprecation, he felt frustrated for being so frail now. pain accented his leg sharply.

*Grrrrrrrrr* Gale froze. His eyes slowly shifted to the wolf whose body was slowly getting up. "Y-you gotta be….kidding me," Gale said, his face went pale. He put everything into that hit, any normal human's head would have exploded 10 times over, yet this beast was standing.

Gale looked for another weapon, but found none, he needed to quickly pierce it, since it was wounded. But, there were none. Houses were literally melting, not even the soil itself could withstand the raging heat.

Gale's eyes widened even further. The beast's head which was caved in was slowly returning to normal, even its hanging jaw was reforming. The wolf howled. It sounded like a woeful wail as if it was in pain. Its already large body was growing bigger, It slowly stood up on its hind legs like a human. Its fur peeled off, blood flooded its arms, revealing the sight of muscle, which was now growing bigger.

The wolf no longer seemed like a wolf, instead, it stood like a human, no longer in a four-legged stance. New flesh reformed. his arms bulged with muscles, its claws turning pitch black instead of red. Even its once red fur turned pitch black, its eyes a misty white.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" It howled as its body stabilized with its new form. "W-what the hell are you?" Gale said in utter horror as the beast turned before him once more…

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Meanwhile, Jean and Gale's family was still running. Jean's eyes spotted a live horse that had a wagon attached to the back of it. "WE CAN USE THAT" he cried to Annie and co. Jean dumped the contents out of the wagon, then proceeded to lift the two small toddlers Callie and Cale. Sorren was put in last.

However, Annie refused to get into the wagon. "Mom…?" Sorren called, confused as to why his mother wasn't moving. Jean, who was adjusting the horse saddle, upon hearing Sorren's call, looked at Annie. His movements halted.

Annie stood with her head lowered, her fists tightly clenched. Her eyes were brimming with tears, confliction etched in her face. "Jean….." she said after a while. Jean stared at her, his eyes slowly donned the look of realization at her silence. She slowly raised her head and smiled. Jean's eyes widened. He knew that look, his heart plummeted.

"Annie...you-" Jean started but Annie immediately cut him off "I know…..but please" Jean grit his teeth, frustration spread across his face. He shut his eyes tightly and nodded. Sorren looked between his mother and Jean, confused.

"M-mom, what's wrong, why aren't you…" "Sorren…" Sorren went silent, his wide eyes staring at his mother. "No matter what happens to me or your father...promise me... that you will take care of your siblings for me alright…." Annie smiled brightly. Sorren couldn't process her words. She walked over and handed him a small pouch.. Sorren took the pouch confused, inside were lots of gold coins and a letter. "when you get to the capital villages, hand this letter to one man, his name is Anderson Pride. He will take you the rest of the way" she said.

She briefly touched Sorrens cheek, she did this to Callie and Cale, her smile never leaving. Then she slowly stepped back. Sorren refused to accept this "w-what, mom let's just go...Please.... we can take care of them tog-"

"SORREN!" His mother shouted sternly, prompting Sorren to flinch, he quickly shut his mouth tightly.

Annie was no longer smiling, instead, she looked serious. "As of now…..You are no longer a child…." Annie spoke sternly, but just under it, a slight quiver crept its way in her speech. Her heart felt like it was tearing to shreds. Jean held his head down, not wanting to bear witness to this heartbreaking scene.

" We'll meet again one day….in a land of peace" those were her final words, she nodded at Jean, who immediately jumped on the horse.

"YAH" He flicked the reins, the horse neighing before running off. Sorren reached out to his mother "MOM, WAIT NO MOM PLEASE" His screams and tears tore through Jean's heart. He knew the utter lonely feeling of watching your parents' last moments. That crushing sensation of wanting to do something but being too powerless to do it. Reality was a cruel thing for a child. Jean knew that this was a turning point in Sorren's life.

A small tear fell, as he rode away with the children in tow.

Annie watched as her children left with Jean. Tears fell from her eyes, she felt so conflicted about leaving them behind in this cruel world. When she was young, she promised herself to always love and protect her children, putting them always before herself. Who knew honoring that vow, would lead her to have to separate herself from them.

However, she could not bring herself to leave her other half, the man she gave her heart to. These conflicting feelings collided harshly.

'Ren no matter what, I'll always love you. If you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me…' guilt plagued her body, she forced a grave responsibility on the small boy and made him watch so many horrific things. He was still a child with a fragile mind and heart. But now, that heart will forever be scarred.

Annie breathed in, her breath shaking. She let the tears fall as she hardened her resolve. She was scared, of course, she was scared. It takes a strong and relentless mind to face death in the face. Hearing stories of heroes and soldiers who died for their kingdom as a child, women dying to protect their children. As a child, though she admired it, deep down, she only viewed it as bedtime stories.

But now, she understood. She understood the true meaning of sacrifice. Perhaps maybe...Those who've done this before her, also felt how she felt now. Annie smiled, for some reason, she pictured her husband, Gale.

The horse wagon was nothing but a tiny dot now. She knew that Gale wouldn't last much longer with the limp in his leg. She felt it, the revolting magi-toms that the beast harbored. As a mage, she was adept at feeling the aura-shift of magi-toms that both man and monsters harbored and released. Yet this was the first time she felt something like this.

"O, wind of the seething skies, let my enemies bear witness to your ascent and blow thy enemies into a raging force, WIND GALE!" Annie waved her hands, a large eruption of wind swirled around her, forming a large vortex.

"So you can sense magic huh? Well, what do you think of this" she said, her voice seething with rage.