PROLOGUE.

The Guardian's hold on the great sword in his hand grew tighter.

It was sleek with blood.

His own.

Every breath hoarse, ragged.

His legs threatened to give way the longer he stayed standing.

His heart a raging beast in it's cage.

The rest of the Guardians stood with him. All equally injured, exhausted, but each and every one of them willing to see this to the end.

He glared at the enemy, the Great Cursed One herself, the corners of her lips lifted in utter scorn.

Her eyes glistened under the shadow of the cowl pulled over her head.

She chuckled softly, pushing the hood back.

Her raven black hair danced in the wind, doing nothing to hide the black, vine-like lines that wrapped over her face, covering it halfway.

The lines resembled the thorny tendrils of a climbing plant wrapping around a tree, glowing like fire had been lit just underneath them. They intertwined, crawling down her face, her neck, traveling all the way down to her exposed right arm.

Connecting themselves to a mark above her lower arm; A shriveled flower, dead before it could bloom fully.

Dark light swirled around the mark, pulsing with power.

She hefted her large scythe, a weapon almost the same size as her, as she spoke;

"All this for a queen already on her death bed?"

The weapon's curved blade gleamed underneath the faint shafts of light that broke through the dark, menacing clouds above.

"You sons of royal blood are such fools".

The Guardian looked down at the sword in his hands, the weapon had saved his life so many times, won battle after battle for him, but today, at this very moment, it was nothing more than a burden.

This wasn't a fight he could win with a sword.

He let it go, not bothering to watch as it fell to the earth.

Stepping forward, he tightened his fists as energy began swirling, just underneath his skin, restless, wishing to be released.

" We'll take you with everything we have, Riana", he said.

She grinned wider.

"Of course, I should expect no less".

As she spoke, dark shadows shrouded her eyes, leaving space for nothing else.

Arud knew what was about to happen, he braced himself, could feel the others behind him doing the same.

'Elders, help us'.

"I'll have you know...".

When she spoke this time, it was like a million voices gathered in one.

Each voice sounded different, yet the same, as if she'd been possessed by a thousand malignant demons.

"I'm not so easy to take down".

***

CHAPTER ONE.

An Unlikely Encounter.

Arud could feel the cold, wet earth shifting beneath his large paw pads as he prowled forward with excruciating care.

It took great restraint on his part to keep from wincing with every silent step he took.

He'd suffered a kick in the side from an angry rock-horn for getting too close to her young, after which the entire herd had escaped.

He thought little of the pain, it was what he got for being careless.

This time however, he thought, his tail twitching in anticipation, he would make no such mistake.

The dew that had settled into the blades of grass all around him had soaked into his deep green fur, making the stripes that crisscrossed his coat look like bloody whip marks in the pale light that came with dawn.

With each slow calculated step, Arud drew closer to his quarry;

A flock of Chicwigs, large birds built for speed. They had small heads, long necks and small wings. Their long, muscular legs covered in hard scales.

The name Chicwig might have posed these birds as weak, but the hunters knew better.

If Arud missed his target, he would have to chase them with everything he had.

When he was close enough for a decisive leap, he paused, his senses on edge, his large feline body growing tense, as he placed his kill; An ancient looking bird.

At first glance, one could tell the bird was well past it's prime.

It moved through the grass slowly, picking at shrubs and blades of grass with a little more effort compared to the others.

It's feathers had long lost their shine, it's legs small and brittle, shadows of the past.

'It's already weak. Killing this one wouldn't be too difficult', he thought.

Arud's beast readied itself for a leap, gathering his large body. His senses never straying from their objective.

It was all for naught in the end however, as right at the moment he had chosen to attack, a loud cry slashed the air, sending the flock into panic.

The frantic birds had disappeared up a hill before the Arud could even move. Leaving nothing but trampled grass in their wake. He growled, tail lashing at his sides viciously.

Arud turned to the dark, dreary forest trees behind him.

'Is that a baby?', he thought, he flicked an ear in unrestrained annoyance.

'Why bring a baby to the hunting fields at this hour?'.

The child kept crying, it's voice carrying through the trees, louder than a wailingbird's call.

It was then Arud realized that no one in their right senses would bring a child to a place like this. Especially the forest Arud was staring at right now.

Within the depths of those trees were Killerbirds, creatures who hunted anything that dared to cross their own territory.

Yet his sharp ears could still hear the child's voice.

He padded closer to the treeline, peering into its black depths.

The child still hadn't stopped crying.

Arud's tail twitched in anxiety, no one had attended to it yet, if it kept that racket up, it wouldn't be long before the birds found it.

He hesitated, thinking of the flock he'd been chasing all morning, then sighed inwardly, 'I actually thought I'd be able to catch something today,' he thought, ' oh well, it wouldn't hurt to check this out anyway'.

Arud descended into the forest.

Slinking through the trees, he followed the sound. His paws felt cool as he moved, the ground chilled by last night's rain.

He sniffed the air, in hopes of following the child by scent, but all he could sense were the smells of decaying leaves, damp earth, and ... the cloying stench of the Killerbirds.

His hackles rose unbidden and he quickened his pace.

'The sooner I get out of here the better'.

He resorted to locating the baby through sound instead. This wasn't too hard to do given how quiet the rest of the forest was.

It was like the noise of the baby had silenced every other creature.

The baby's voice grew louder still, and he knew he was close.

He was about to break into a bound when he spotted something that made him freeze in his tracks, crouching low, his belly fur almost touching the ground, hoping it hadn't seen him.

'Killer bird', he hissed.

The creature was staring down at something wrapped in faded, white clothes.

It nudged the object with it's large beak and Arud's claws unsheathed themselves when he saw the small thing give the slightest of movements, shrieking a fierce complaint, louder than it had done before.

'The baby!'.