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Beginning Upon Snow
A twisted Guardian

A twisted Guardian

King had gotten to the warehouse, it was a small building outside of the castle walls but even so it was one of the safest places in Gorizia. He approached the building slowly waiting for it's guardian to show itself and soon enough it did. A mound of bones and leather with two ice blue gems for eyes seemed to rise from the shadows themselves.

"I come for two logs of firewood, the Abbot sends me" King said quietly to the mass that was slowly taking shape, it was rising from its slumber, stretching it's legs its bones creaking under its leathery skin, its muscles thin and tight, it opened it's large mouth yawning, its teeth gleaming in the morning glow missing one of its canines the others shone like steel in the morning glow. The shadow grew in size quickly taking its usual shape, a wolf like creature thin and starved still as large as a horse , it's skin stretched thin over it's bones, it's black fur patchy and scarce . King hated the guardian, he had no idea what it was or why it was working for the Abbot but every time he met it all of his instincts screamed at him to run, to hide and to not let it find him.

King held still, and then suqatted down as the wolf approached lowering himself to the ground, he did not know why he did it but the creature’s presence alone forced him to bow. Famine was its name, the ever starving wolf guarded the riches of the Abbot it was always there and never left it's post. King watched as the wolf approached him slowly, his body tensed with fear, the wolf circled him a couple of times, sniffing him and touching him sending shivers down Kings spine with every touch, he could feel its magic assault his body with every brush, it ran through him like electricity leaving behind a feeling of emptiness, where it met his own energy it devoured it and left nothing behind.

Then came the part that King hated the most, he felt his mind invaded by the voice of the creature, it was a raspy scratchy voice that of one that had not drank in days almost a whisper but in King’s mind it was as louder than anything else.

"Young hunter, death, it follows you close, it stalks closer than you would imagine, so close I can smell it's stench on you already. Watch your back young hunter or soon you shall meet my sister" as it spoke dragging its words letting them scratch against Kings’s mind the creature was staring into his eyes the pupil less gems locked the man’s into an unbreakable bond , it's mouth open and panting the stench of rot and decay exiting the creature’s mouth with each laboured breath, King tried to break the eye contact but his body did not move, frozen by fear or by the creature’s power. Finally the wolf left to return to it's shadowy rest leaving King free to move and with a lot of questions, the young man did not stick around long, he entered the storage area, got the logs and quickly headed home.

Mitch left the meeting with the Abbot unsure about the future, on one hand the Abbot was a strong figure both politically as the defacto ruler of Gorizia and due to his personal strength but his character left Mitch with a bad taste in his mouth. He went down the stairs and headed out of the castle, just outside the gate he witnessed a weird event, he saw the young man he met earlier crouched down in front of a building shivering his eyes no longer the bright green he saw earlier but now a foggy white,concerned he started to approach the teen but something in him told him to not get closer, he felt his body freeze his power coat his skin and his instincts scream for him to go no further, he instead watched the young man lay there motionless for a few minutes before he got up and went inside the building to then hightail it away, Mitch decided to do the same, neither of them noticing the figure following them.

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King proceeded to go towards his home, he did not care to take side streets or detours, he had been shaken by what famine said, he did not understand it but he could feel the weight of the creature's words on his hearth, in his hurry he did not notice Mitch that had been going in his same direction. Mitch on the other hand had been observing the young man, clearly something had shook him, his steps were erratic and fast, he looked as if he wanted to run from something that even he didn't fully comprehend. Mitch watched as King suddenly took a sharp turn into an alley disappearing from his sight, he did not pay much mind to it as he was not following the young man as he continued forward towards his broken down car he heard something move behind him causing him to turn sharply just to see a warp hare that had just blinked behind him. In the shadows of a nearby building a sigh of relief was uttered before the hunt continued.

King had gotten home, he had knocked as usual but had spared the twins nor Queen much time, he headed straight for his bed, he felt his head pulse with every beat of his hearth which was so loud he was scared that everyone in Gorizia could hear it. He covered himself in his blanket still clothed and put himself in the fetal position, he closed his eyes shutting them hard trying to forget the beasts gaze and words but instead they just kept echoing in his head and hearth, somehow in his tumultuous mood sleep still reached him but it did not give him any comfort his dreams tumultuous and dark.

Mitch reached his car after some time walking and was surprised to see Gio and Leo already there working on the engine, Gio was as large as a bear his shoulders large from years of backbreaking work on commercial fishing boats, Leo looked like a little kid near him, barely reaching the man's chest her curly hair dyed blue and pink gave her away instantly, as Mitch approached them he could hear them mutter about engines, he announced his presence with a good clearance of his throat, causing Gio to turn shotgun ready at his hip and Leo to jump like a frightened cat, both of their expressions quickly changing after seeing that it was him, Gio lowering his gun and Leo jumping on Mitch wrapping herself around him tightly, "You are late" the woman screamed in his ear, Mitch found himself laughing as the tension and doubts from the meeting with the Abbot left him at least for the moment.