“At least I was dry last time.” Luna complained aloud as she laid face up in the middle of the brook, her arms spread out wide. She pressed her hands down on the sunken rocks and pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Where the hell are those two?”

The environment was largely the same as when Luna had been there previously: a field of smooth stones surrounding and underneath a wide but shallow creek, a tall forest on either side of the crystal clear water, a cloudless, sunny sky and soft chirping in the distance. Yet something seemed different. Luna scanned her attire first, noting that like before she was wearing a sleeveless, grey wool dress with no shoes and no headdress to cover her ears. Her tail was left to dangle freely as she saw no reason to hide it if her ears were exposed. There were traces of wet mud from beyond the tree line on her hands and feet and Luna wondered if even a moment had passed since she was there formerly. Confident that nothing about her or her immediate surroundings were different, she looked up into the sky. “Was the sun always red here?” She mumbled under her breath, straining to remember.

“Help me!” Someone screamed from some distance away, breaking her train of thought.

Luna rose to her feet and began examining the direction of the plea without moving. When they cried out again she sighed to herself and lazily began to move to investigate. “I'm a bit busy.” She growled as she got closer and stepped through a patch of thick, green brush. On the other side of it was a small clearing barely large enough to fit three people. The centre was yellowing grass and the foliage was so dense that even with Luna's heightened senses, she couldn't make out anything behind it. It was as futile as staring through a brick wall.

“They won't stop chasing me!” The voice shrieked some more and a filthy boy about Luna's age emerged into the clearing opposite her. He was scratched up and bloody, had greasy blonde hair, and was wearing torn up brown shoes, ripped blue jeans and the rags of an old black t-shirt. He dove into the patch of grass like a footballer diving into the end zone, panting loudly.

Luna watched him curiously with one eyebrow raised and her hands fidgeting. She waited for the frightened boy to notice her but he seemed too caught up on checking over his shoulder and catching his breath. Annoyed, Luna finally cleared her throat. Startled, he threw himself backward off of his hands and knees and instead onto his back, rapidly crawling away from her. She continued to stare at him quietly, waiting for an explanation. “Well come one then.” She snapped. “You were calling for help all this time. Are you at least going to tell me what you're running from?”

The boy didn't answer. Instead, his eyes danced with recognition and hope as he started to squirm towards his potential saviour. He clung on to Luna's leg tightly and hollered. “Luna! Luna, is it really you? I'm deeply sorry for everything I've done up until now! Please, please, please help me get out of here and away from these... from these beasts!”

Luna made an obvious scowl and tried to fling him off of her leg but he held fast. She sighed yet again, this time in defeat, and bent down at the waist as far as she could in her current predicament. “Who even are you?”

“Now is not the time to be joking around! They'll catch up to me any second now!”

She continued to hold a poker face but couldn't help but raise both eyebrows. “Have we actually met before?” She inquired, ignoring his comments about being chased. There isn't a sound in these woods nor do I smell anything. How loony is this creep?

He clung to her leg tighter, so much so that her foot was starting to turn purple. She rolled her eyes and grabbed what was left of his collar in an attempt to peel him off. The shreds of his shirt ripped instead so she grabbed him on the top of his head like a common sports ball and with no effort at all, hurled him through the brush and into the rocky field. After landing he continued to roll several times eventually coming to a stop on his back. “What the hell was that for?” He bickered and grunted but stopped talking as Luna approached and pinned him to the ground with her foot.

“Answer my question. Have. We. Met. Before?”

He grabbed her ankle with both hands trying to relieve some of the pressure she was putting down. It felt like his ribs could shatter at any moment, assuming that he wasn't pressed under the ground's surface first. “Yes!” He yelped. “We're classmates Luna! It's me, Andy!”

“Huh?” Luna murmured. She removed her foot, placing it just beside his then knelt down again to get a better look at him. Her face scrunched up slightly. “Who?”

Andy looked up at her in shock, gingerly rubbing at the growing bruise on his chest and sat up slightly. “Are you serious?”

Luna shrugged her shoulders and stood up. “No one in any of my classes ever gave me a reason to remember them. They're all half-witted bullies at best. Some of the pranks you people came up with are so lame, how could I remember any of you?”

How about a movie since you're not much of a talker? The question echoed in Luna's head for a moment.

Tch. Why am I recalling that of all things? She thought to herself then pointed a finger at Andy. “Have we at least spoken before or are you one of those pathetic amoebas that just write insults on my desk when I'm not present?”

He started to answer but then turned his gaze back to the forest and his actions became panicked once more. “Does that really matter right now? Those things will be coming out here any minute now, I'm sure of it!”

“What things?” I still don't hear or smell anything. Honestly, what is he talking about?

Andy's eye twitched and he let himself drop flat on his back again. “We're doomed.” He stated with gloom.

Luna continued to watch and pity him for almost a minute. He stayed where he was on the ground, devoid of hope, surrendered to his fate. “Nothing is coming.” She told him, making no effort to hide her boredom.

He shot up onto his knees with one hand in the other and he begged, “Just listen to me. There is something out there. There's a lot of somethings out there. You got in here, please just show me the way out and I promise I'll do anything you say when we get back.”

“How do I know you won't just use me as bait if we come across said somethings?” Andy didn't immediately answer. He stayed on his knees, his mouth rapidly opening and closing. “That's what I thought. Good luck with your 'something' problem.” She waved to him and turned on her heels to begin searching for Abaddon and Lilith.

“Wait! If I can just-” Andy lunged towards Luna's back grabbing the closest thing he could get a hold of.

“Mother fucker!” She howled as he grasped and pulled on her tail. She tore it out of his hand in the blink of an eye. Her teeth and nails sharpened instinctively as her wolf side exposed itself and every muscle in her body tensed up from the sudden jolt of pain. She whipped around and kicked him in the side of the head with a roundhouse, launching him into the water where he somersaulted backward until rolling to a stop just over halfway through the stream. “That hurt you cock!” She wailed with tears forming in her eyes.

Andy stood up in the drink, cupping his cheek and moaning in agony. “What the hell did I do?” He yelled back in confusion then fell silent in shock and awe. He slowly edged his way towards Luna, his eyes low at first, trying to peer around to her backside. His gaze then wandered up to her head where he became fixated on her ears. “I-is all that real?” He stuttered while flicking a finger. Luna nodded with a slight sarcastic roll of her head. “So what I just grabbed and pulled was a real tail? And it hurt?”

“That's what I said you spoon! I might as well grab you by the pecker and swing you around like a lasso, I imagine it would feel about the same. Holy fuck!” Luna continued to curse and swear to herself hopping from foot to foot rubbing the base of her tail and the surrounding area. “Damn near pulled it right off of my arse!”

Andy had both of his hands up in front of him like he was approaching a wild animal. “So you always wore the hood to-”

“Hide my ears, yes.”

“And your belt-”

“Was actually my tail. Do you need a diagram? Had I known this would have distracted you so well I would've hinted at it five minutes ago and saved me that whole 'something' headache.”

“Why aren't you hiding them now? Where even are we? I've never seen this place before in my life. I don't even know how I got here. I remember tripping you and then-”

“You're the one who tripped me?” Luna snapped then gave him a long, hard look. “That repugnant rose damaged my senses so much I couldn't tell who had done it.” As she spoke she stepped towards him and he stepped back just as quickly, still with his hands up only lowering them to catch himself when he slipped on the rocks below the water. Eventually, she stopped and waved him off before angrily leaving to follow the creek. “Were I not busy I would hang you upside down from that branch there and beat you with a stick. Maybe I could have collected my dignity like candy out of a pinata.”

As she stomped off he stared at her back, watching her tail swing as her hips swayed ever so slightly. His gaze then shifted to the forest where he had come from and he started jogging towards her. “I swear I'll make it up to you when we get back!” He continued to preach and ran up beside her. “I mean, surely now having someone else know about your... additional body parts may help to alleviate stress in the future? Perhaps I can take some of the tension away from you from time to time? Anything, just please don't leave me by myself out here.”

“Like that'll do me any good. It's not like you're actually here anyway. There's no way you'll remember about them because you'll never have actually learned about them.”

“What are you on about?”

“Look, this is just a dream type thing that I have. I sometimes come to this place in my sleep to learn more about... things. My actual body is still well within the city limits. I don't even know where this place would be on a map, if there at all. You're just an element of the dream, so you can't leave. You're probably only here because you managed to get the better of me and I haven't made things even yet.”

“If this was a dream, that kick wouldn't have hurt like it did.”

“If this wasn't a dream, that kick would have killed you. Even if I pulled my punch, I was still 'releasing my wild side' as one of my guardians calls it. Your cranium should have shattered into tiny pieces and quite frankly, I'm disappointed that it didn't.”

Andy began to shout in response but Luna covered his mouth with her hand and shushed him as her eye pulsed. She sniffed at the air but still detected nothing. She listened but didn't even hear so much as crickets. A thought then crossed her mind, Those spectres that appeared before I lost consciousness before. What happened to them? Would they even have a scent or make a sound? They did seem rather ghostly.

Andy started making panicked noises through Luna's hand and pointed behind her. She followed his gaze and saw a variety of red, translucent animals observing them from the tree line. With each passed second, their numbers increased until eventually there was a scarlet wall of beasts surrounding the two, though none of the spectres yet advanced.

The duo waited. Andy shook his head rapidly and hid behind Luna, prepared to push her down and let the strange creatures be distracted by her while he ran. “I can read you like a book.” Luna scowled sourly. “Grow a pair would you? Even if you used me as bait, we're boxed in. It's impossible to get away. For a human at least.”

“You're implying you could survive this?”

“I can't say for certain. I don't know my limits yet using my wolf side, but I certainly feel like I could outrun them.”

“Why don't you then?”

“I'm not a coward like you. Even if you are a detestable mongrel, I won't abandon someone to save myself.”

Andy stared at her back in confusion and admiration, but also in anguish. “We're going to die aren't we?”

“If ever they decide to advance, maybe.” Luna sat down cross-legged.

“What are you doing?”

“Conserving energy. If they're resting, we may as well do the same.” She pointed at her back with one thumb.

Andy looked around at the beasts once more and hesitantly turned around, sat down as well and leaned his back against Luna's. They waited and waited, humanoids and creatures alike. Neither seemed keen on making the first move. Luna could feel Andy shivering in fear, rapidly looking all around him. He broke the silence after several minutes. “We never did like you.”

“Could have fooled me.” Really? That's the topic you pick to distract yourself?

“You seem so emotionless and passive yet also so aggressive. No one ever wanted to get close to you. We were all afraid- no, we all are afraid of you. You never flinch, you never show any sign of weakness, you only speak when spoken to, you never try to make friends, you never cry.”

“Is this supposed to be a heart-to-heart before death kind of thing? If so, you really suck at it.”

“When you were doing your own thing you seemed like a machine, always doing things the same way without distraction. When something disturbed you, you were like...” His eyes fell upon her ears once more, “A wild animal.” He stated slowly then paused. “I guess it makes more sense now.”

Luna noticed that as Andy spoke, his shivering lessened and he stopped focusing on the impending danger around them. Humouring him now may prove less of a headache than dealing with his mindless panic later.

“Are you actually afraid of anything?” He asked her.

She thought for a time, long enough that he called out to her again to make sure she was still there. “Earwigs.” She muttered shyly after so long.

“Earwigs. Really?”

“Don't laugh. They're creepy.”

“I just wasn't expecting you to give such a girly answer. You saying something like that almost makes you seem-” Andy stopped talking abruptly, concerned that he might have started to say something bad.

“Spit it out. It's not like your individual opinion would mean much to me anyway.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I was just going to say you almost seemed human. I almost envy Liz now. I'd wager you must've shown her this side of you at least. She was the only one that you didn't fully shut away near as I can tell.”

“Liz?”

“You don't remember her? You didn't recognize me either so I guess it isn't that surprising. Really though, do you recall our teachers name at least?”

“First name mister?”

“You're a lost cause. In any sense, Elizabeth was your only friend back in late elementary school.”

“Impossible. I've never wanted nor have I ever had friends.”

“You did though. Liz was this gentle girl with long, chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. Always used to wear either a pink, frilly dress or coveralls, never anything else. She saw you feeding a stray dog in the woods behind the playground one day. You got really defensive when she asked you about it. Then Liz gave you some of her lunch to help feed it. In time she convinced her parents to adopt it and let you come over to visit. At some point you two became miraculously close. I don't know what happened but you of all people would smile when she entered the room. You were partners for everything, you always hung out during recess, you'd exchange notes during class, you two really had a bond.”

Luna stayed silent, playing with a strand of her hair. Curiosity got the better of her as she strained her brain but still couldn't even come up with a face to who Andy was talking about. “What happened to her?” She finally asked.

“Well...” Andy hesitated. “She moved away.”

“Why?”

“Her parents decided it was a bad neighbourhood.”

“Why don't I have any contact information for her? Also, how do you know all this?”

Andy hesitated again and Luna thought she felt him recoil slightly. “It was pretty obvious. Anyone could have noticed such a dramatic change in you.”

“So what about my first question? Why don't I have any contact information?”

Silence.

“Andy.”

Luna felt Andy's head and shoulders drop and he sighed, “You killed the dog Luna.”

She shot up onto her feet and a shocked Andy fell backward where she had been sitting. “What do you mean I killed the dog?”

Andy shook his head. “You took the dog for a walk one day, Liz had to do chores so she told you she'd catch up. The two of you had a pre-determined route that you'd always use so that one could find the other easily enough. It passed right through the woods where you first found the mutt. Some other students who were passing by said they heard you yelling at it and went to grab Liz. When they all arrived, you were standing over its corpse with its blood on your hands. She moved away about a week later, never having spoken another word to you. Her parents said they didn't want her anywhere near a monster and freak.”

“Impossible. I would never hurt an animal. I'm even taking care of three wolves now. If I can keep them under control without getting violent, a common dog would be child's play.”

Andy sat up again, facing her. “I don't know what to say Luna. The city covers a wide area but our population is small. Everyone knows about it. Maybe that's where your memory problem comes from. It's possible you felt so guilty after the fact that you forced yourself to forget about it and anything related. Maybe you took it a step further and just started choosing what to forget. Could be why you didn't recognize me.”

Luna looked away from Andy, looked away from the animals which all dipped their heads towards them. She strained her memory once more and massaged her temples. “There's no way I did that.” She muttered to herself over and over again. As she did the red spectres started getting closer.

“Luna...” Andy called out to her as he got to his feet. “Luna! They're moving!” When she continued to mutter to herself, he fell silent and started looking for a way out. “I don't have time for this.” He spat and hurried off, leaving her behind. A segment of the beasts broke off, all of them wolves, and gave chase to the fleeing coward as the rest formed a circle around Luna.

Our Guardian... A deep voice popped into Luna's head and she snapped back to reality, inspecting the colossal amount of creatures around her. You have returned.

“Who's speaking?” Luna inquired. The spectres directly in front of her split their group and a giant black wolf approached her. “You're...” She started to say.

Fenrir.

“Where's Abaddon and Lilith?”

Here but not here.

“And that means what?”

This is a world within the Ríastrad, a world created from malevolence and hatred, shaped by memories. These spectres before you are of the many beasts who have lost their homes to humans. Likewise, vengeful spirits of the humans killed by our past guardians have also converged here. Abaddon and Lilith have gone to quell their rebellion. I'm certain that you have questions, but first and foremost we must correct a most important matter.

“Let me go you vile dogs!” Andy screamed as the pack of wolves dragged him by the arms into the circle. They dropped him at Luna's feet then they all sat beside her in ranks. They panted happily at her and wagged their tails after presenting their prey.

“What's going on?”

She then heard a small, high pitched bark below her. Sitting on her foot was the spectre of a tiny schipperke which could have sat in the palm of Luna's hand easily. It nudged her leg with its head then turned towards Andy and began to growl. Andy's face turned pale in recognition. “The stray dog...” he whispered to himself.

Luna eyed him suspiciously.

Your protectors gave you the first and arguably most important lesson. They explained to you the hazards of this specific ability. Now I will teach you why your father desired such power despite its heavy consequences. Look into his eyes with both of yours young one. Gaze not into the depths of his pain, but instead into the abyss of his malice. Expose his lies shrouded in darkness to the light of judgment, writhing with fury.

At Fenrir's command, Luna knelt down in front of Andy and brushed her hair away from her face, exposing her eye devoid of a pupil as it became the Ríastrad. Andy turned a shade paler. “That's the same eye from when the priest came... and I was sent to the hospital... Then it wasn't just a bad dream... oh God...”

In this plane you need not worry about the penalties imposed by this accursed power nor do you need to have awakened to use it. Run rampant to your heart's content as you and hatred become one until this power is but muscle memory.

Luna heard a crackling in her ears much like when she examined Stella's memories. There was a blinding flash and the immediate area changed to a common classroom with an assortment of hand-drawn pictures on each wall. Over top of the chalkboard at the front of the class was a long plastic strip with the alphabet once in print then in cursive plastered across it. The desks were arranged in groups of four with enough faceless children to match. In the corner, however, only one little girl with half of her face blacked out and a white hood covering her head was sitting at a cluster of desks. The room was filled with ambient noises of a school: pencils on paper, tapping of chalk on a chalkboard, whispers of inaudible conversation and the ticking of a clock. After several seconds, another girl with a blacked-out face but was wearing a pink dress approached the lone girl. “Do you mind if I sit with you?” the new girl asked but the child in white merely ignored her.

The image went dark and was replaced by the girl in white kneeling down at the edge of thin foliage. “I don't need all of this, you can have it.” She murmured into the ground. A weak bark could be heard in response. Then the girl faded out and came back standing up and startled as the girl in pink appeared in the background. She said nothing to the first and held out the remains of a sandwich.

“My parents were looking to get a dog.” The girl in pink exclaimed excitedly as the image faded out. When it came back she was instead wearing coveralls with a green and brown horizontal striped shirt underneath. The leaves on the trees in the background appeared to be drooping slightly and their tones were slightly brighter. “He'd be able to get more food that way instead of scrounging on our leftovers. You could come to visit anytime you wanted too as well! I live just around the block from you so you could stop by anytime on the weekends or after school.”

Crackle! Flash!

“Let me go!” The girl in white shouted, pinned to the ground by a group of faceless kids. “Don't touch him!” A boy with black, hollow eyes held the dog up by the scruff of its neck in one hand and held a large rock in his other. The kids all laughed as the dog whimpered and appeared laying on the ground with the black-eyed boy standing on its tail. He held the rock over his head and with a splat, the image turned to a pitch black.

In the darkness, all that could be heard was the group of kids chanting, “Luna killed the dog! Luna killed the dog!”

“I can't believe we ever let a freak like that into our home.” A mature-sounding lady snapped. The girl in white was sitting on the curb of a sidewalk, with her head in between her knees, hugging herself. Some distance behind her was the girl in coveralls, holding the faceless lady's hand with her right and wiping away tears with her left while her back was turned.

“She's probably psychotic. Liz did say that that girl was a huge loner and her guardians are a strange pair as well. One is a doctor who became oddly popular in a very short amount of time whereas the other almost never leaves their home during the day. When she does she gives everyone in the neighbourhood the silent treatment too. I think it'd be best to get away from here if they're planning on sticking around.”

“My heavens, what monsters!”

Luna returned to reality and fell backward, her eye throbbing as she peered at Andy. “You killed the dog.” She stated as the small spectre continued to snarl and bark aggressively. He merely stared back at her, shivering as tears and watery snot streamed down his face. Luna got to her feet, her blood boiling. Any breath she exhaled came out as steam and her skin started to turn red. “You killed the dog and you lied to me about it.” The Ríastrad and her normal eye began to glow and all the animal spectres around them joined the puppy in snarling at Andy.

“I didn't mean-” he started to make an excuse but Luna lunged forward and grabbed him by the neck. Blood leaked over her fingers as her claws dug in and his excuses turned into attempts at yelps of pain.

“Humans always have been cowards who would vilify even their own species to save themselves.” Someone behind Luna acknowledged loudly. Without loosening her grip, she turned to investigate. Abaddon, who had grown several years, was approaching her wearing a combination of chain mail and leather. Lilith followed, also looking older and was now wearing a black dress almost designed identically to what Luna was wearing. “He also tried to abandon you here when he thought you were in danger, did he not?”

Andy began to wave at Abaddon as though requesting help but froze when he saw Lilith. Andy began to struggle wildly, trying to pry Luna's fingers out of his throat and kicking at her but she didn't flinch in the slightest. “Drop him for now. We don't have all the time in the world. His presence helped with this lesson, but we don't necessarily need him for the remainder.”

Luna tightened her grip and gave Andy a death stare as her eyes began to glow brighter and brighter. His skin around Luna's fingers started to sizzle and blood was now running all down his torso. “Luna.” Abaddon called out to her calmly and after rolling her eyes, she dropped Andy onto the rocks where he coughed and clasped his neck. The wolves surrounded him, cutting off any possible escape. Meanwhile, Luna stood by the edge of the creek, gazing at her reflection.

Andy coughed up blood time and time again before sitting up on his knees and wailed at Luna's back, “You really are a monster! You tried to kill me!”

“You murdered a dog in cold blood.”

“It was just a dog! It wasn't a person!”

“So if it's not human it's fine to kill it, is that how you're playing this?” Luna questioned him without taking her focus away from her reflection. “Would it be fine for you to kill me then?”

Andy hesitated as he noticed all the spectres closing in on him, slowly. “These animals seem like they listen to you.”

“So what if they do?”

“You have to be part human right? If you have any humanity at all, you'd call them off and show me mercy. I can try and apologize to Liz, set things right. I'll clear your name even.”

“Human?” Luna echoed. She eyed her reflection, though in it her skin was blood red and she had horns like Lilith's. Her voice turned into a quiet roar. “You dare refer to me as being something as vile and repulsive as human? Selfish and arrogant humans who preach heroism but rarely practice it. Humans who kill, lie and steal just to get what they desire. Humans who believe deception and abandon their friends without ascertaining the truth.” Andy looked away from her as she spoke but then Abaddon grabbed him by the jaw and forced him to watch Luna again. His eyes grew wide as she had turned her attention from her reflection to him. She now looked almost identical to Lilith, save that she still had her ears and tail. Her voice turned into a growling whisper as she neared him and knelt down in front of him. “Humans, who kill and torture just for their own pleasure. Is this the humanity you speak of?”

Andy began to cry, mouthing apologies and begging for mercy. Luna watched without changing her expression. Finally, he asked, “What are you, Luna?”

She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “Thankfully not human.”, was all she said in the end.

Abaddon released Andy and threw him to the ground where Lilith held a hand out towards him. His body convulsed and he shrieked in pain as the blood in his veins was manipulated to force him into a prisoner's kneel. Abaddon put both of his hands together at one side of his hip. A ball of crimson flame which seemed to absorb the light appeared and Abaddon drew a black, curved sword from it. The same fire coated the blade's length and crackled unnaturally. Andy took one look at the weapon and tried to force his body to back away but it wouldn't comply.

Without turning away from his prisoner, Abaddon called out to Luna. “Have you figured out yet why this little piss ant is here?”

Luna shook her head. “Figured it was this curse's way of giving me more insight on true human nature.”

“It certainly served that purpose in the end but that isn't the reason.” Abaddon then pointed towards the far tree line with his sword. A pack of about twenty scarlet dire wolves with glowing yellow eyes were watching, their sights set on Andy. “You put him here unintentionally. We'll get more into this later but the Ríastrad isn't just a tool for scanning memories. 'Reprisal's Curse' is one of it's weaponized mechanics which can damn its victim to eternal suffering. You cursed him with it after he tripped you but that bloody priest interrupted the process. So instead, you killed him and trapped his soul here within the Ríastrad where he will still suffer, but only his soul, not his physical body. Over there are his wardens.”

Andy looked up at Abaddon as best he could. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Luna's face scrunched up and she forced Andy to look up towards the sky so that she could get a better look at his neck. “The cuts where I dug in my fingers are gone.” She stated.

“In here, his body will regenerate indefinitely no matter how gruesome the injury. Even death will mean nothing for him by this point.” Abaddon then, without warning, quickly slashed at Andy's neck. His head rolled off of his shoulders and fell to the ground in front of him. Luna watched it curiously as it turned to ash and dispersed into the wind. It rapidly grew back like it had never been lost. When it returned, Andy tried to scream and flail around but he was still being held in place. “Eternal suffering at its finest.” Abaddon chuckled dryly.

His expression then grew serious. “You do have the option though of releasing him. He'll still be dead but he'll be able to move on to some kind of afterlife instead of being torn apart and eaten by a pack of dire wolves until the end of time.”

Andy's eyes grew wide like he had been presented some shred of hope in the face of impending doom. “Please...” he started to beg. “You'll be haunted by guilt for my passing, won't you? Even more so if you leave me to boundless suffering right? You could find some peace in letting me move on to the afterlife Luna.”

She glared at him then at Abaddon. “Are you able to make another one of those swords?” He nodded and handed the first one to her before making a second. She then turned her focus to Lilith. “Can you release him?” No sooner had the words left her mouth did Andy fall face-first into the rocks. “Give him the other one.” Luna ordered Abaddon who complied without protest. Andy looked at it in bewilderment and Luna explained, “You want to move on so badly, prove that you're worthy of it.” As she spoke her skin turned white once more and her horns retracted into her head, returning her to her more human form.

Andy stared at her uneasily then whispered a prayer, asking for forgiveness and protection. Luna gave him a sideways glance. Thinking of yourself right up until the very end are you? She looked away from him and proclaimed, “I don't think I'm the monster everyone keeps calling me.” She readied the fiery blade in front of her, pointing it towards the vicious pack. “I'll be the demon I was always meant to be. Like my father, I'll cut down every monster against me with as much mercy as they deserve.”

The mass of spectres halted their advance when Luna stood before them and they backed away slowly in fear. Andy rose to his feet timidly and took the extra sword in his hand, trying his best to mimic Luna's stance. He stood just behind her, his eyes nervously shifting between her and the beasts.

“To commemorate my dawn, I'll finish what I started, and put the budding abomination to eternal suffering.” She turned on her heel, catching Andy by surprise and she slashed at him with an upwards diagonal cut, severing his arms at the elbows. Before he could back away she used her momentum to spin a full three-sixty and caught him in the neck with a horizontal slice, knocking his head to the ground yet again. Luna struck him in the back with a roundhouse kick, a sickening crunch echoed over the field as his spine snapped in two. The additional strength of her demonic side allowed his body to be propelled over top of the halted swarm where two of the wolves caught him in their teeth. His body was ripped in two pieces, splitting at the waist. His intestines flailed like a loose rope on a runaway vehicle as his internal organs were flung in each direction. The remainder of the creatures joined in on the massacre, splattering blood all around. They surrounded his body, fighting each other over who got what limb. The crowd grew so thick that Luna could no longer see any of Andy, save what was at her feet. She punted his forearms over to the animals then stood over his head. His eyes turned to look up at her and his mouth opened to beg once more but with no lungs to supply air, no words came. “Selfishness disguised as selflessness. You are the perfect example of the worst kind of monster that walks this Earth. You are an example of someone who is neither worthy of life, nor are you worthy of death. Deteriorate here until they get tired of you.” Luna rotated the blade into a reverse grip and without a sign of emotion, plunged it into his left eye. Her own eye flared up intensively with the same fire that coated the blade and his cranium was set ablaze.

She left the sword where it was, sticking up out of a pile of ash. The dire wolves took the pieces of Andy that remained and retreated into the forest. Luna watched them and without turning away, she demanded “Teach me everything there is to know about this curse of mine.”

“It'll take quite some time. There's a fair amount to go over, especially if you're looking to learn how to use it. I'm sure Stella already told you that it is terribly vexing as well.”

“I don't care. If this will help me to exterminate bastards like him, I'll go through whatever Hell I have to. Teach me.”