Horrified screams and violent growls resounded within his ears. Crimson rivers of blood filled his vision. The smell of burning flesh crept through his nostrils. The taste of iron spread within his mouth.

Within the maelstrom of chaos and carnage came an opportunity to flee.

An opportunity created through the sacrifices of the ones he held most dear.

And he took it.

He had never regretted anything so much as he had that night. Only the feeling of the small hand that he held on to kept him from turning back and spurned him ever further from the hidden glade he once called home.

***

They had fled for days without food, rest nor sleep. His people prided themselves in their strength and resilience. That pride had once been broken. But they had endured, dreaming of the day they once again reclaim their lost glory.

But all those thoughts seem so far away now. Dillusions of grandeur held by dreamers and fools.

He grasped the small hand that still clung desperately to his own ever tighter. She was all he had now. And he swore to keep her from all harm with his life.

Alas, the fates can be utterly cruel. He had promised to protect her. But even she had been taken from him in the end.

He howled in boundless grief.

***

He had been chased towards a labyrinthine cavern that provided refuge within its meandering tunnels. But he was already utterly spent. He had sensed something within him begin to break.

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Still, he continued to flee mindlessly. He went ever deeper within the cave towards the darkest depths. Instinct was telling him to restrain himself before it was too late. He was so set on his efforts that he had ignored the weak tendrils of thoughts that attempted to reach out to him desperately.

Deeper he went. And deeper still. Towards all encompassing darkness.

***

He had already lost his sense of time. Within the darkness, every moment seemed like an eternity. There, within the depths, he had gradually lost himself. The memories of powerlessness and despair battered him without mercy. It was too much to bear.

Then finally, what was suppressed broke free. And with it came both elation and agony.

He unleashed a guttural cry towards the heavens he could not even gaze upon. He felt boundless rage overcome him.

An all consuming rage

An impulse was welling up inside him. Something which the last vestiges of his eroded sense of self desperately tried to suppress.

He wanted to break everything.

He wanted to break the world...

-Arc 2 Prologue End-