Ken's Perspective
Normally it would occur to me that the egg is hatching, or I would have noticed the sudden earthquake. However, after killing two people I think it is fair that my mental state is not normal.
Any calm that had returned to me scatters as the fracture in the shell starts to spread. I try to stop the shell from breaking by covering the cracks with my hand but they just spread out from underneath my palm. I use my other hand as well trying to stop the ever-expanding series of cracks but it is hopeless.
As my panic reached its peak a piece of shell lifted off on top of a tiny head. I lift the piece of shell off to get a better look at the creature that just hatched from the egg.
Its face has a similar shape to that of a lion’s cub, but that is where the similarities end. Its head and neck are cover with matte black snake like scales. Where the snake like neck meets the head there is a series of small spikes forming something akin to a crown. Its eyes stand out immensely against the mat black of its face. Without pupils, iris or sclera they explode with a kaleidoscope of colour displaying such variety that most of the hues and shades have not been named.
It lets out a gentle mew as it struggles against the shell pecking at it with its nose. With it no longer looking at me I can move again. I had not realized its gaze had paralyzed me till I noticed my movement had been restored.
I reach out and grab the edge of the hole in the shell. It is surprisingly sharp and tears into my hand, I can barely feel the pain as I hear the shell crack. In moments I had the shell cleared away.
Excluding the obvious, like the spines running down its back, the long neck, the fin on its tail and the matt black scales, it looks a lot like a cat. Its stance is a little wider and when I look closer, I notice two large nubs behind its shoulder blades. I guess it doesn’t really look like a cat but that is the closest thing I have seen to the mana beast in front of me.
It looks up at me again before giving me an appreciative mew. It hops onto my chest and I flinch as its claws pierce my shirt and dig into my flesh. As its head approaches my neck I try to stretch away. Rescuing a Mana Beast only to be eaten by it, that seems about right.
But it doesn’t bite me. I feel the weight of its head as it rests on my shoulder, its tail curls around my waist and its claws release a little. I turn my head to look at it only for my entire body to shake with a wave of searing pain. The entire world goes white, it feels likes my body is being dunked in boiling oil.
I don’t know how I managed to stay sitting and not throw the Mana Beast as the pain racked my body. The pain dissipates replaced by a slight burning on the skin over my heart. While that pain normally might still have been serious it does not even register in the ocean of bloodlust that surrounds me.
I have felt blood lust before hunting crazed beast in these woods. There have even been a few weak mana beasts that have come down from the mountains for one reason or another. But that all paled before the waves that rolled over me as I take in the monster before me.
I don’t notice the wolf at first, the man on its back commanding such a presence. The Man, even with his angry expression, is breath taking, with his sharp jawline and tanned skin. His fire red hair that would fall just past his ear stick straight up like a lion’s mane. His eyebrows, the same shade of red as his hair, tilt inwards at such a sharp angle that they would make him look angry even if he smiles. His electric blue eyes hold a wild intensity as they consider the best way to kill me. He is only wearing shorts leaving his upper body and most of his legs bear. He probably does that to show off the colourful tribal tattoos that cover every inch of his torso and upper arms
“There is nowhere for you to run.” He says as he climbs down off the wolf. His voice is fierce but there is a strangely melodic sound to it. An accent I have never heard before. Though that is not saying much since I have never travelled farther then the village
It takes a moment for his words to sink in. I turn to my left in time to witness the trees around the path turn to sand. Slinking towards me, its fur the same light brown as the sand that now made up the forest floor, an animal I have only seen in bestiaries. A tiger.
I turn to my right afraid of what I would see. The trees and ground are covered in the thinnest coating of ice giving the forest a shiny dream like feel. Unlike the effect of the tiger this is beautiful, a frozen forest like something from a fairy tale. At least that is what I thought until the snow-white lynx gliding over the ice places its paw on a tree root. The tree shatters into a million tiny fragments falling like snow onto the forest floor.
I turn behind me to find my expectations momentarily dashed. All I can see is an odd blue sparrow with a yellow beak. That is until I feel the Mana Beast in my arms tremble. In that instant I knew that if I was going to try and run away any direction is better than that one.
Looking back to the front, the man, actually a boy no more then a couple years older than me,is approaching. I look past him at his wolf. Other then being giant and coal black it didn’t seem all that special, especially compared to the other Mana Beast this boy brought with him. That is until it opens its mouth. Beyond its shiny white teeth there is nothing. Just a void that swallows even light and air.
The boy, standing over me now, looks down at me with his fierce expression. His hands reach down grabbing the Mana Beast under the shoulders. It let out a scared mew as he tried to pull it away. I flinch as it claws dug into my skin but I don’t resist. There is nothing I could do against this boy and the monsters he brought with him. Moreover, the blood lust was gone, it had dissipated as soon as he took in the scene. Whatever was happening I would have to trust him to take care of it.
He pulls harder and the claws rip my skin and shred my shirt. I scream in pain but when I look up the boy is still standing over me. The expression on his face has changed to what I assume is shock, hard to tell with his eyebrows. I feel the stinging on the skin above my heart grow worse. I look down to see a tribal tattoo similar in design to the ones the boy has. It is shaped like the baby mana beast curling up on itself, except in the tattoo it has wings extending out from the back. One big difference I notice from the boy’s tattoos is that mine is a pulsing blood red.
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