Ashes

Ares opened his eyes slowly after the strong light of that explosion was gone. He looked immediately where his father once was, but he was not there anymore. The only thing that remained were the flames of the Ancient spreading quickly through the golden fields and a black massive cloud of smoke going up.

A few silent minutes passed by. A figure walked out of the smoke. It was the Phoenix, obviously. It was looking at that ordinary folk as if searching for something.

The Ancient hadn't run out of gas yet. Its flames, instead, seemed to be stronger than before. Its power increased each time more, it was even unfair. A normal human couldn't catch up with such ability.

Everywhere the beast went, a huge trail of destruction was left behind. It was inconceivable that such a powerful attack didn't tire it out.

Ares was on the ground on all fours. He was looking to that scene with incredulity at first. His gaze was fixed on the point where the axe of his father should have had struck. He still couldn't absorb that he failed. Even after that perfect slash, he failed. He had the victory on his hands, but he himself threw it away by stopping the axe.

'But... did he really stop it? Wasn't it this beast? This monster must have done something, right?'

"Hey, Ares! Let's go! Hey, move!" The adult that was with him tried to prompt him to run, but the boy was petrified at the same place.

He couldn't realize the threat in front of him, he couldn't hear nor see anything around. The only thing he could do was to recollect what happened. He needed to justify that somehow. He couldn't feel in his heart yet that his father and grandfather were gone.

"Why is it happening to us? Did I do something wrong? Was it because I swore to myself that I would hunt them? Is Nature trying to punish me for what I said before? Everything happened because of me?" He muttered. His voice couldn't be heard by anyone, but himself. Huge tears were running down to the tip of his nose and falling on the ground.

He was shivering, feeling his heart in pain. The agony inside him was unbearable.

Ares stayed like that for a moment...

But he made up his mind quickly. After all, there was something he couldn't let go of, and it was his hatred.

He raised his eyes again, a furious expression appearing on his face. His heart was still in pain, but now because it barely could support the anger that he was feeling. The boy gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw seemed to be going to break.

Ares stood up slowly from the ground. He was staring at the Phoenix who was slowly walking in their direction. Killing intent was coming out of his body.

People were running from there, trying to escape from the Ancient threatening them. Their screams echoed through the golden fields. Some were praying for whatever the god they believed, others calling for help, a few just screaming crazily out of panic.

However, someone couldn't bring his legs to start to move and run away. Not with that much hate inside his being. Not with his mind polluted with these negative thoughts.

"Before... I said that I would just hunt you. But hunt seems to be a pretty light word for what I am feeling now." The voice of the boy was hoarse. His glazed crimson eyes were outstanding from his grim expression. It looked like they were glowing, as if flames of fury were inside them, dancing around, prompting his soul to burn in anger.

He was clenching his fist around the sword's grip. The other also was closed, but not with as much strength.

Instead of running away, he gave a step forward.

"No. It's not hunting anymore. I will ANNIHILATE all of you. I won't rest in peace until I kill each one of your equals, then reach you and take off every single feather attached to your body with my own hands!" His painful voice, the warm tears going down his face, the ugly grimace forming there as well, everything contributed to increasing the threatening aura around that kid.

Nobody who looked at him could assume that he was a normal boy. No person at such age could have this kind of presence, these strong and overwhelming feelings.

In truth, the real beast standing on those fields seemed to be him now.

"I will make you pay a huge price for everything you stole from me. I will hunt you until the end of the world, no matter where you are, or even if you hide! Your end... Your end won't be in decades, years, or months. Your end starts right now! Just as I swear to take your life, my soul is attached to yours until the day I can kill you!"

His shout was so strong now, that it could reach the Phoenix. That mighty being turned to face him immediately.

Ares didn't like that feeling. He didn't like to be looked down on by her. The boy didn't want to feel small.

'Stop look down upon me! Bastard!' He crazily shouted in his mind, losing his cool completely.

The firebird approached him some steps more, but in a distance where its flames couldn't strike him.

It roared in Ares' direction, trying to intimidate him, but he didn't back away. Instead, he walked some steps in its direction, not caring for the heat at all.

"You better end with my life here and now, you bastard! Because, if I can live one more day to see you... You will regret to ever have come here once in your life!" His body was shivering, but not from the heat or for fear. That intense wrath was taming him thoroughly, making Ares lose control.

The Phoenix was going to do something, its eyes showed that it was understanding Ares clearly. However, before the Ancient could make the next move, a ruckus happened in the fields.

People crying in relief could be heard in the distance, also as yells of joy.

The boy and the Ancient turned their eyes just to see that five Beast Hunters were arriving at that place. They were riding horses, wearing the usual full-plate armor, except the Captain who wasn't wearing the helmet.

They were crossing the golden fields towards Jasmine at a high speed. Their swords were already unsheathed, and their eyes locked on the Phoenix.

The animal looked to Ares, then to the people running after it. That beast knew that it would be troublesome if it didn't act right now and escape, but it also would be a huge loss to not accomplish fully its objective.

After deciding for a while what course it should take, the Phoenix decided to take flight and get out. It could even kill the boy, but it wouldn't be worth it for the time being.

The Phoenix flapped its wings sometimes, then gave a final strong flap that launched its body upwards while a burst of fire helped to get the impulse.

Soon, it was high in the sky, and with a final roar, it sped up forward and disappeared on the horizon.

The strength finally left Ares' legs and he fell on his knees, staring at the sky. The wrath never left his body. He felt like it was now an extension of his own being, after all. But his frenzy was gone for now.

Not just the Beast Hunters, but the guards of a near city (not too near, though) arrived there. They started to gather together and work. The guards were encharged to count the number of deaths and save the people who were possibly still alive.

The Beast Hunters would try to find some clue about the strange behavior of that Ancient and give chase on it if possible.

Jasmine's terrain was now just a flat piece of earth covered in ashes and all burnt. There was nothing much to save there. If some citizen was left behind in the city, they were already dead due to that explosion from before.

The Beast Hunters had complicated expressions behind their helmets while conversing with each other. That Phoenix shouldn't be acting like that.

One of them was searching on the local and found something. He approached his group and showed a battle-axe for them.

"Look, this axe didn't get harmed, and it has amplification runes here. The color is silver, so it might have power above the average."

"It's from my father's. So now it's mine." A boy approached, giving a resolute stare at him. His legs were shaking, but his expression wasn't defenseless at all.

"What did you say, brat?"

"It's Ares Stormray. Son of Kavir Stormray. This axe belonged to him, so it's mine. Give me."

The Beast Hunters looked at each other with concerned faces. They heard about the name Stormray before, but it was a quite big family, so they couldn't know if that brat was the grandson of the person they were thinking of.

"Give the axe to him. He doesn't even have Mana yet. It won't be useful for us since it's so mediocre. The runes are from the lightning element as well so..."

The other Hunter shrugged, then dropped the axe in front of the kid.

"Take care, Ares Stormray."