Hills of rolling black clouds covered the skies inducing an ominous sense of dread. Lightning streaked and crackled in between the various cracks and creases present; the clouds were brimming with heaven's fury. Their lofty thrones detached from the mundane. For what made them so wrathful? Was it the avarice of man?

The sound of thunder boomed through the villages and echoed in the mountains and valleys: luminous streaks of purple filled the night sky. Wonderous things from afar but dangerous up close.

The earth bore the full grunt of the attack, unphased. Animals hurriedly scurried into holes and burrows; their legs shivering in fear of heaven's fury.

Rain cascaded from the clouds at unimaginable speeds, heading straight for the ground with the force of a falling anvil. The rain worked in conjunction with the lightning to put up a never-ending assault; the earth had no time to rest.

The winds wailed at this injustice; lamenting over the agony the earth was facing. The wind formed gales that threatened to uproot the trees and fling them across the land: homes threatened to break off of their foundations into the air.

Rain barraged the roofs of buildings with relentless force and thunder rumbled menacingly; while families huddled together in fear or prayed to divine ears.

Two full moons gazed apathetically at the war of attrition happening. The two moons were of equal size and both had a long slit running down the middle making them look like a dragon's pupil; one of the moons was a deep scarlet red and the other was a gun-metal grey.

Moving together in a ballet of cosmic proportions to the beat of the rain, they shifted gradually through the night sky, trying to get a better vantage point of the chaos ensuing on the mortal plane.

The jagged tip of a valiant mountain stuck out, aloofly, unyielding to the bullet-like rain. As a whole, the mountain seemed to pierce the very empyrean heavens as though a knight's lance striking down its foe. Subordinate to this gallant figure stood several squires, all with their lances sharp and keen to withstand the abuse of the torrent of rain.

A sole soldier plummeted towards the towering mountain at break-neck speed, behind it were several like it but this one seemed rather eager to be ahead of the pack and lead the charge as though drunk from the moral given by the brethren behind it; when it descended down, it smashed into a viridescent leaf with such force that the leaf swayed unsteadily, almost bending over backwards.

The drop of rain meshed together with the already present water and barreled towards the tip of the leaf before cascading to the muddy floor of the forest; where it joined a stream of surface runoff. The once cerulean blue rain quickly turned a murky brown as it picked up the mud and debris scattered about.

The moons' gazes drifted from a village on the outskirts of the mountain range to a shrine located on the kingly mountain.

The shrine depicted a large muscular figure holding a sturdy kite shield in a posture reminiscent of someone protecting the weak. Its face had no eyes, no mouth, no nose and no ears: Its only discernable feature was its geometric shape, it resembled a golem made of magic.

Its muscles flexed highlighting its sharp, angular design; a leather apron covered its pectoral and abdominal muscles. Around the waist of the apron were several pockets, in each pocket was a tool for creation; just by looking at it, you could tell that the person who had carved this worked assiduously. The leather apron looked strikingly similar to a blacksmith's apron.

The kite shield, that was being held by the figure, was studded in the middle with an opaque emerald that was cut into a triangle shape. The shield was carved meticulously with Celtic knots; it was more refined and smooth as compared to the rest of the shrine which was rough and angular in texture.

The sculpture was made of a grey stone that was moderately uniform, however, stripes of marble white streaked through the sculpture.

The figure stood on top of a grey brick podium that was raised off the ground by about a meter: around the podium, engraved into the ground, were the four cardinal directions; the sculpture faced North.

To the North and South was a dense forest on even ground and to the West was a steep slope downwards with a trunk of a fallen tree blocking it; to the East was a path free of grass, however, it was gradually inclining the further it went.

The surface runoff came from the East and ran a path westward, on its way, it encircled the shrine. Moonlight reflected off of the water to reveal a boy looking around, his eyes showing a hint of confusion. His originally light brown linen shirt drenched by the rain making it a deep mahogany colour, his trousers were also drenched making it uncomfortably stick to his skin.

The boy had inky black hair, ruby-red eyes, an athletic build and was about 1.65m tall; all in all, he looked about 14 years old when in reality he was only 12 and a half.

The boy looked behind himself and observed the shrine, instantly recognizing it as a shrine to the God of Earth, Gaia. His attention quickly shifted away from the shrine itself and onto the two items located at the foot of the figure: a leather pouch with a note attached and a small dagger.

The boy walked over and grabbed the note attached to the bag, his eyes stared like a hawk at the words written on it; soon he had read it and summarized it in his brain.

The note read: "Leo, in light of your actions over these past 5 years, you are exiled from the village. Should you return, you will not be accepted in the village. Go East from the shrine, if you do, you will end up in the country of the Dwarves, Noytre. On the other side of the mountain is a dwarven town, there you should be able to find work or an orphanage to accept you. We have left you 7 silver, enough to let you rest in an inn for a day and still have enough to purchase two additional loaves of bread. To protect yourself, we have given you the heirloom that you were left with."

One would expect the child to be surprised at this sudden development but Leo's face remained devoid of emotion as though he had expected this to happen sooner or later. Leo scrunched up the note into a compact ball and threw it into the stream of surface runoff, where it was carried by the water down the mountain, but the trace of anger could not be hidden.

His left-hand grabbed the pouch whilst his right-hand clutched the dagger tightly: he brought the dagger under the gaze of the two moons and inspected its quality.

The dagger, which was angular and emitted an air of bloodlust, looked to be of quite low quality, reddish rust coated the blade making it dull; however, the handle was in mint condition and shone a vermillion red.

All in all, it looked like a shabby dagger someone could find at a blacksmith's; there were no fancy inscriptions of magic circles nor did it seem to have any enchantments. This was a plain old 1st tier relic.

Unluckily, the dagger did not come with a sheath as such he had to keep it in his right hand. Leo gently shook the leather pouch and heard the high-pitched clang of coins hitting each: he effortlessly crammed the pouch into his pocket before running East.

The sound of the wolves howling was muffled by the downpour of rain but it was still audible enough to ring in Leo's ears as he desperately ran to find shelter.

He had been running for what felt like an hour, occasionally taking breaks, his legs had several small gashes from thorny plants and on his knee was a large graze he had incurred when he fell down a steep slope; had he not been zoning out, this would have never happened.

A flash of lightning bolted down from the clouds, illuminating the shadowy mountains. Leo's heavy breaths were masked by the boom of thunder as he was leaned against a tree, out of breath. He had finally found shelter against the rain. A cave.

The entrance to the cave was covered in green moss and roughly 2m tall. Leo hastily wandered in, the rain dripping from his chin. The inside of the cave was wet and damp; stalagmites rose from the floor while stalactites hung from the ceiling, threatening to impale anything underneath them. Water dripped from the stalactites and onto the stalagmites; if it wasn't for the heavy deluge of rain, the sound would have been audible.

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Leo meandered about before finding a nice dry spot up against the wall relatively clean of any moss or bugs and opposite to a stalactite and stalagmite duo.

The ambience from the melodic downpour combined with the perpetual cycle of the drop of water dripping from the stalactite and crashing onto the tip of the stalagmite gently lulled Leo into a sense of security and safety. His back, which was once as straight as a javelin, leaned against the cave wall, his eyes slowly shut close.

Deeper into the cave, a bear unhurriedly roused itself from its slumber, its three eyes sheepishly blinking, a large yawn escaped its mouth revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth; its burly body lifted off the ground and its eyes looked around half-heartedly.

To its surprise, a boy was lying against the wall defenselessly, its once sheepish demeanour quickly turned lively and awake. The bear's stomach rumbled, asking, in agitation, why the bear hadn't already killed and devoured the boy.

The sound of the steps taken by the bear was cloaked by the torrent of rain and lightning hailing down from the clouds; soon it had nearly reached the boy, its stomach growling louder each time, angry at the bear's patience.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground just outside of the cave, charring it black: the bear leapt back in surprise, Leo jolted awake at the sudden boom, his eyes awake and alert as though he hadn't been sleeping just a second ago.

His hand fumbled about for his dagger as he inspected his surroundings, to his dismay, he spotted a black bear with three glowing yellow eyes.

Any speck of lethargy soon disappeared, he clutched his dagger in his right hand and lunged off the ground; the bear soon recovered from the shock of the lightning and eyed the boy, its mouth salivating as it imagined the taste of fresh meat.

In an instant, Leo and the bear stared each other down; Leo's eyes filled with fear and liquid courage while the bear looked at him like dead meat.

The two were in a deadlock for three seconds; the pressure skyrocketing as they waited for the other to make their move. At last, the bear darted at the boy with the agility you wouldn't expect from a beast of such cumbersome size. In a flash, the bear arrived in front of the boy, needless to say, the boy was surprised by the speed at which it had reached him.

A keen claw swiped at a boy causing the air to sharply whistle, the boy, unable to dodge, suffered a deep gash running from the right shoulder down to his left hip! The linen shirt he was wearing soaked the blood, staining it a bloody crimson.

Adrenaline coursed through Leo's blood, the dagger in his right-hand spliced through the air and stabbed the beast in the eye on its forehead; a shrill howl of pain escaped its mouth and slightly disoriented Leo but not enough to stop his next course of action. He pulled the dagger out of its eye and stabbed it repeatedly! Blood spurted from the eye tainting the black fur on its face scarlet red.

The flurry of attacks was not enough to kill the bear but it was enough to cause it to faint from the pain and blood-loss; Leo resisted fainting on the spot, he knew that right now was not the time to rest.

Seizing the dagger, Leo cut a piece of cloth from his trousers and used it to bandage his wound. After tying the piece of cloth over his gash, he slumped against the wall; his legs faltering to keep him steady.

His gaze shifted between the dagger and the three-eyed bear lying on the ground, blood dripped from the dagger like water dripped from the stalactites, splashing against the rocky floor, painting it red.

The bear's visceral state made his heart pound faster every time he looked at it; his gut churned in disgust at the scene in front of him. The sight was much gorier than what he did to the others.

A vile, putrid liquid excreted from his mouth and pooled near his feet. His mind which was in turmoil was now clear, his eyes that contained doubt became resolute, his feet carried him to the fainted bear; his dagger rose into the air and slammed into its skull, penetrating past the skull and into the brain. Its breathing stopped. Its lifeless corpse lay flat on the cold earth, its heat quickly dissipating.

Leo's hands felt weak. They felt powerless. Yet, they felt alive and powerful at the same time. His hands wouldn't stop shaking, he couldn't tell if it was fear or the thrill of the hunt.

He gripped the dagger embedded in the beast's skull, his hands stopped shaking and became still. His feet thrust off the ground sending him running out of the cave and back into the rain; he could hear the howling of wolves coming closer.

His legs wouldn't stop running. They couldn't stop. Wolves were chasing after him, they could smell his blood and hear the thud of his steps; some of the pack had given up on him and gone to secure the meat from the carcass of the bear. Twigs snapped under his feet as he traversed the steep mountainside, his figure weaved between trees and hopped over logs.

The wolves trailed just behind him following the scent of his blood, their nimble legs effortlessly jumped over logs and traversed the steep mountainside. Leo's legs bounced off the muddy ground as his life depended on it, despite his best efforts, the occasional trip up let the wolves gain on him.

An acute pain pierced his lungs, he had been running for five minutes straight trying to lose the wolves unsuccessfully. He gasped for breath as he looked around, to his surprise, there was another cave to his left. Around the brim of the entrance were several runic inscriptions carved directly into the rock; they pulsed a brilliant blue.

Leo was at the end of his wits and his breath, he knew he couldn't outrun a pack of wolves, not in his condition. He hoped to the seven Gods that the inscription was some sort of monster repellant array; with such false hopes, Leo hurried in.

Moonlight reached halfway into the cave while the other half hid in the shadows; the walls seemed to be perfectly smooth and the cave was absent of any speleothem, which gave Leo an odd sense of unease.

A flash of lightning light up the insides of the cavern revealing it to be rather rectangular in shape as though it was man-made. On the far end was a mask with two horns jutting out from its temple like that of a ram's. It had six eyes, 3 on the left and 3 on the right.

A row of ornate onyx black torches covered each the left and right wall, but, they were not alight. This, alongside the mask, confirmed Leo's suspicions of the cavern being man-made which made him all the more uneasy. He was already in a precarious situation and now he had the threat of the mask coming to life as some kind of a golem and flanking his behind.

A deep bellow rang out across the cavern, "Hey, you!" Leo looked around inquisitively only to find nobody there and questioned his sanity. His short moment of rest quickly disappeared as the sound of footsteps became louder; his body quickly swivelled around facing the entrance, four wolves entered his vision. Moonlight bounced off their fur exhibiting their features.

They had olive green fur with patches of lighter forest green interspersed here and there, their eyes were violet in colour and their pupils a golden yellow, shining resplendently in the dark.

Their mouths snarled showing off their ivory canines and incisors, they crept forwards, staying low to the ground as though ready to pounce the second Leo looked away or took his eyes off them.

A low-pitched voice rang out once again, "Oi, kid!" and then again, "I'm talking to you!" and then again; at this point, Leo thought he was going insane, perhaps his ancestors were calling out him from the other side of the river Styx.

The wolves also looked bewildered at this ghostly voice, soon, they started ignoring it and began to saunter towards Leo, who clutched his dagger in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!" A gruff roar echoed through the cave. A gale of wind came from behind Leo, the snarling of the wolves stopped and they began to whimper in fear; their heads greeted the floor, their eyes upturned as though trying to ease the anger of the malevolent being they had provoked.

A colossal pressure pushed down on the bodies of the wolves causing them to sprawl out on the floor. The pressure stifled Leo's breath, he collapsed to his knees unable to withstand the force pressing down on his chest; he croaked in pain, his eyes turned bloodshot and his vision wavered. The wound on his chest acted up causing him intense pain.

Four minuscule orbs, that were midnight-black in colour, gingerly floated past Leo and towards the four whimpering wolves grovelling on the floor. The orbs looked delicate as though they would pop from a simple prod. They simultaneously reached all four wolves, gently poking the wolves on their foreheads.

Leo observed the scene with no expectations, the orbs looked too weak and delicate to harm anything, he had given up hope on surviving; even if those orbs did kill the wolves he would have to deal with whatever monstrosity was behind him.

Despite Leo's expectations, the heads of the wolves exploded into a gory mess; the walls were painted crimson with blood and the brains of the wolves. their bones clanked against the ground. A piece of one of the heads rocketed towards Leo with the speed of a missile. His face grimaced in fear, his eyes squeezed shut and his brain braced for the impact…

To his surprise, the sound of something smashing against glass reverberated in Leo's ears, his eyes slowly opened and his expression turned from that of fear to that of surprise.

The pressure that was keeping him glued to the floor disappeared, Leo gasped for breath as his wound ached in agony. The amalgamate of flesh and bones stopped 30cm away from Leo's face, it slid down an invisible wall leaving a trail of bright red in its wake.

After a second of shock, Leo's hand tepidly tapped the invisible wall with his trembling finger. Nothing happened. He tapped the wall once again, more forcefully this time. Nothing happened.

His eyes burned with curiosity, he knocked against the wall over and over and over; each time becoming furious and heavy-handed in his approach. He raised his fist, ready to strike down this invisible barrier when the coarse voice resounded once again.

"How long are you going to be enamoured by a simple barrier? Boy! look at me when I'm talking!" Leo swung around and jumped back in bewilderment; standing opposite to him was a towering 2m tall figure devoid of any identifying features. It's body pitch-black in colour. Its face covered by the mask he had seen embedded into the wall, in its left eye sockets were glowing red eyes flickering in and out of existence, its right eyes an endless void. Its horns jutting out intimidatingly.

Three bolts of lightning consecutively hammered the earth, ringing out like the beating of a war drum. The stars twinkled in amusement and the rain beat down in anticipation, the moons scurried to get a better view, their gaze focusing in on the mysterious creature.