Chapter 14: Heartless

*Boom*

The wall violently cracked as a figure roughly smashed into it, causing a plume of dust. The figure slowly slid to his knees, dust coating his dark-brown fur.

*Blerghhh*

Daniel coughed up a mouthful of blood, as his body slightly quivered in pain. The Alpha had managed to viciously strike him with his heavy spiked tail right in the chest. The golden-yellow aura that had once powerfully coated his body was now flickering unstably, like a candle flame on the verge of being snuffed out. His fur was in pitiful condition as cracks ran the length of his body, thin streams of blood coating the wounds.

His moment of anger had made him unconsciously use Wolf's Rage, a dangerous last resort technique that burned the meager energy available to his beta form as fuel to elevate his prowess to limits his body obviously couldn't handle for long. His forced usage had not only nearly sucked him dry of his energy but also guaranteed to leave wounds that would probably be nursed for days and the battle was nearing a crescendo as the Alpha slowly advanced toward him. The Alpha seemed content with his slow approach as while the wolf was obviously wounded and weakened, he had not forgotten the earlier feats of the beta wolf.

The Alpha's current state was only slightly better than the beta wolf. His body was riddled with multiple wounds, some lightly corrupted with lingering golden-yellow energy. The fiery-red energy once covering him had receded to just a flimsy, barely visible covering. He lightly grunted as he held in a mouthful of blood that threatened to spill from his mouth. 

The Alpha glanced down at the unmoving body of one of his beta-rats, he could hear its weak shallow breathing suggesting it was still alive despite the multiple grievous wounds it had. It lay in a small pool of its blood, both its legs had been broken and it had probably been trampled on during the fight judging from the multiple paw prints and its deformed frame. It suddenly struck him that this was one of the rats beaten by the wolf during his entry and had been thrown at the base of his throne.

Daniel struggled to get up, his muscles ached in the effort as he struggled to lift his head glancing up just in time to see the Alpha Rat move towards an unconscious rat. Mirroring his earlier actions he dug his hand through the chest of the unconscious rat and ripped out its heart which he proceeded to toss down his throat. Daniel grit his teeth, fangs in this case, in either anger or pain as he forced himself up, his hind claws digging into the ground in an effort to stabilize himself. He clenched his fists hard, his claws digging into his flesh. His pale-glowing eyes fixed on the Alpha. At that moment the fiery red covering of the Alpha faded completely, his overly-bulging muscles relaxed and his heavy spiked tail morphed slowly into its original form.

"You've been quite the pest wolf!" The Alpha rat said, glancing at the barely healing wounds on his chest. "But now you're weakened, tired, and on the verge of breaking down" He added in his deep ominous voice.

"I…I…I'm…" Daniel croaked. 

"Yesss?"

"I…I'm… I'm going to enjoy killing you." Daniel said. His yellow eyes glowed in anger.   

"You made a terrible mistake coming down here boy." The Alpha growled as he lightly bent his knees. "And the price for your folly is DEATH!"

The floor beneath the Alpha cracked as he burst into a charge, claws outstretched, and fangs in full display. Daniel coldly watched as the Alpha sped towards only for him to close his eyes mere moments away from having his face clawed off. He took a deep breath, the charging Alpha a lesser concern. He felt his erratic heartbeat slowing to its rhythmic beat, he felt the multiple aching wounds that ran the length of his body slowly healing. He slowly opened his eyes to see the Alpha's claws inches away from his face, barely moving from his perspective. He gazed on coldly as the claws slowly approached his face. He nonchalantly grabbed the Alpha's wrist when the claws were a mere inch from his face.

The Alpha charged with as much speed as he could muster, his claws aiming for the beta wolf's head. He could almost see the wolf's head cracking beneath his claws as he got dangerously close while the foolish wolf kept his eyes closed from what he assumed was an acceptance of fate. He was a mere inch from the wolf's face when he felt a powerful grab on his wrist that forced him to a halt. His eyes opened in astonishment as he couldn't believe the weakened wolf still had this much strength in him.

"I've had just about enough of you" Daniel growled. With a grunt, he twisted his body and flung the Alpha a couple of meters away.

 The Alpha landed with a roll but quickly managed to skid to a stop as his claws dug into the earth. He had barely managed to lift his head when a powerful punch hit him straight in the face, flinging his head to the side. 

Daniel didn't pause after that punch as he sped past the Alpha, conveniently grabbing his large tail. With a powerful tug, the Alpha was lifted, dragged along, and violently smashed into the earth. Again he tugged and the Alpha was lifted in the other direction before being violently smashed into the ground. Daniel let out a roar as he flung the Alpha towards the pile of rocks that was once his throne. The pile of rocks exploded with a bang, retaining nothing of its former prestige save for a small pile that barely reached the Alpha's waist. 

The Alpha spat mouthfuls of blood as the impact shook his insides and aggravated the injuries received from the backlash of using Berserk mode. His muscles quivered in exertion as he tried to lift himself.

Daniel slowly approached as the Alpha tried to stand only to weakly fall. Daniel lightly stepped on his chest and with a little bit of force pushed him deeper into the pile, additional cracks running its length. The Alpha spat another mouthful of blood as he got crushed further into the rock pile.

Daniel clenched his fist, claws digging into his flesh, and punched hard.

*Bang*

The rock pile shuddered from the force of the punch, tiny rocks dislodging and running down its short length.

*Bang*

The punch echoed across the nearly deserted cave, its floor sprawled with dead or nearly dead

rats.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The punches echoed across the cave, the sheer force causing some rocks to shudder. The Alpha's face buried deeper into the pile of rocks with each punch.

Daniel eventually stopped, his fists dripping with the Alpha's blood. The floor beneath him was a bloody mess same with the rocks that the Alpha's head was buried in as blood was nearly everywhere. 

"Now who's beaten and weak" Daniel mocked as he gazed at the badly beaten Alpha. His mouth and nose were oozing blood, a couple of his teeth lay hanging weakly from the gum and a good number were already gone. "I came down here for a warm-up, nothing too serious but… " Daniel paused, glancing around the cave, his eyes lingering longer on the rats with their hearts torn out.

"But you've pissed me off too much to live". Daniel growled as his eyes glowed a cruel light.

*Cough* *Cough*

"Mer….mer..cy…mercy…I…con..cede" The Alpha said amidst coughs of blood. 

"Oh! It's much too late for that". Daniel growled as his arm struck out with insane ferocity. His arm plunged deep into the Alpha's chest, encountering little resistance. With a grunt, he ripped out a still-beating heart out of the Alpha's chest. Blood spurted from the heart with each beat as Daniel slowly brought it towards his gaping mouth.

"N…NO!...Ple….pleaseee!" The Alpha croaked amidst gasps as blood furiously spurted from his chest. His arm weakly stretched out, his dark-grey eyes a mirror of despair and fear.

Daniel's glowing yellow eyes slowly glanced at the dying Alpha rat, their eyes maintaining direct contact. He saw a mixture of fear, despair, and, underneath all that, hate. His eyes hardened as his claws let go of the slightly beating heart. It fell straight into his wide-open mouth and with a vicious chomp it was gone.

*Gulp*

"NOOOO!!!" The Alpha gave a piercing scream as his heart disappeared down Daniel's throat.

He gnashed his teeth in hatred. "I'll kill you!...I…I'll…I…."

"You won't be doing anything" Daniel let out a snort as his arm struck once more, this time aiming for the head. With a sickening crunch, his claws went through the Alpha's head. The Alpha made a groan and his body shuddered before laying still, save for a couple twitching muscles. "Ughhh" Daniel slowly pulled his claws out, a flicker of his golden-yellow energy could be seen on his claws before snuffing out. Alphas could regenerate a lot of parts, even hearts sometimes but never the head.

Daniel let out a sigh as he glanced around the cave once more. The cave was now a sorry sight compared to its earlier grandeur. Deep cracks ran nearly the entire length of the cave wall and the ground was worse with multiple holes and cracks. The cave looked a wrong shudder away from a collapse. Daniel pitifully shook his head and letting out a low grunt, he shifted to his human form. Bone-cracking sounds rang from his body as his claws, fur, and fangs retracted while his body slowly decreased in height and mass. All that was left of his nature were his glowing yellow eyes. He was nearly naked save for his enchanted underwear that adjusted to accommodate its wearer's morphing.

"Tch! Really should get the stretchy pants" Daniel muttered to himself as he strode to the ledge where he threw his coat earlier, surprisingly it managed to miraculously hang on despite all the racket. Jumping lightly was all it took to retrieve and in one swift motion he swung it on, it covered his body to bout knee length. "This should do" He glanced at the multiple holes around the cave though some had collapsed during the fight. Randomly picking an exit, he jumped in, and with a last backward glance, he strode out of the cave leaving exactly what his presence promised…..SLAUGHTER!