Terror

Claws sharper than knives. Terth sharper than knives. A maw salivating at the taste of slash. Eyes so fear inducing many would crumble before them. A growl capable of making the strongest of willed shiver. A silhouette so monstrous that even other abominabal creatures fear. The smell of blood so strong it's referred to as the smell of death. The creatures pelage was as dark as a shadow. The beast was old, extremely old, but full of primeval strength and vigor.

Inside this horrifying, ancient creature, a knight was hanging lifelessly. Scratched covered the mantle that seemed to be made of the night sky, somehow darker than the beast which he hung from. The only sign the dark knight was alive was the sound of pained, quiet breathing and a slight twitch of the hand. Slowly, a cold aura surrounded the knight as it hung in the beasts maw. The knight every so slowly repositioned the arm which lay in the beasts mouth, it took minutes as the knight was trying to keep their sentience a secret.

Finally, they were in the perfect position. And now, the knight waited for the perfect opportunity. They were patiently biding their time until the Soul Aether residing in their body recovered. This was a large gamble as the knight had no idea when they would arrive at the wandering beasts den, or if there were more of these waiting at the den. But there was no choice, if the knight wanted to defeat such a harrowing foe, they needed all the power they could muster.

An hour passed, they were still traversing the fearsome mountainous forest. Another hour passed, the beasts stopped for water then continued. Then another hour of the same. The knight began to wonder if the beasts was simply wandering with no clear destination. Another hour passed and again, they walked the entire time. The dark knights Sould Aether was now nearly restored and the plan they'd concocted was coming to fruition.

The knight focused and the Soul Aether they'd so patiently for was finally being used, spreading all throughout the still knight. A sword of ice so cold it it could freeze anything that merely got too close formed in the knights hand and he thrusted up with all the power he could wield. The other hand had a dagger form in it as it was raised towards the beasts nose. Both blades cleanly sliced through the beast, one appearing through its snout and piercing its eye as well, the other was being pulled in a downward motion, slicing the nose of the beast in two.

As pain spread through the horrifying creature, it let out a shriek and dropped the cargo it so faithfully carried for hours. Once the knight was free, they rushed towards the beasts closest leg and sliced through it, leaving it halfway severed. Without slowing, the dark knight turned left and bolted away as fast as possible, with a well trained body and plenty of Soul Aether coursing through their veins, the speed at which the being moved was nothing short of astonishing.

Hoever the knights plan was just that. Injur the harrowing creature to hinder it for even a second and run away af fast as they could. The beast was far too powerful for the knight at the moment. Although the knight was sprinting fast enough to appear as a blur across the forest, the beast was already fully recovered from its wounds and upon the assailant the cold, dark assailant.

The harrowing foe jumped over the knight and turned around to stare it down. They were now face to face. The beast towered over the knight, standing around 25 feet tall. A cold and bloody mist was permeating the area around its wounds with a thin layer of ice coating where the the ice blade came into contact with the beasts flesh. It's eyes were crazed and furious, clearly exuding killing intent toward the snack it was carrying previously.

The dark knight tightened his grip upon his icey jian as he bent his knees slightly and prepared to battle the beast. The terror landed at the armored nuisance, it quickly dashed right, narrowly avoiding its attack. Although the attack ceased, the knight didn't, they ran toward a nearby thick vine and slashed it. Behind him, a large tree that'd been finely sharpened to a point and coating with ice was flying toward the beast who was staring at the knight, not paying attention to its surrounding.

Before it could move again, there was a loud crash, the sound of tearing flesh, splintering wood, and the shriek of an ancient and power beast. The dark knight jumped to his right and cut another vine, a similar stake was falling directly above the pinned beast who had its side pierced, this one right above its neck. As the beast still letting out a harrowing roar, the second stake crashed into it and swiftly quieted the beast down. The knight rushed over and drove his freezing jian into the beasts heart, killing it.

"Whew, glad my plan worked there. Honestly didn't expect I'd use this trap to soon though. I should be more careful of where I nap after I exhaust my Soul Aether."

The knight removed their helmet as they sat down on a nearby fallen tree. Silver hair fell upon their face, under it striking emerald green eyes were mockingly staring at the fallen beast.

"Got dinner, I guess."

The ethereal, handsome, and deadly knight pulled a necklace from beneath his dark mantle. Engraved on the front was a name, Halia, as he stared at it, the corners of his eyes reddened slightly.

"If one is unfit for my perfect world, purge thee."

Leto was haunted by these very words. Everywhere he went, everyone he met, during everything he did, those words were being whispered into his ears by the Lords of Night.

They were his fuel for his rage, hatred, drive for strength, and his biggest weakness. While training with Kamari, these words were constantly drilled into his mind. He was naive back then, thinking that a mere 12 year old who spent 6 years training was enough to bear the weight of such words.

Due to that delusion, his sister was dead.