Silver’s Perspective

Silver felt the human-like beast’s heart rate spike when Daveen threatened the kids.

Interesting. It’s definitely connected to them somehow. Does that mean it’s also connected to the Fireling? How long has he been interacting with these beasts? Is that the source of his power?

I have to know. Whatever advantage that lucky little shit found, I’m going to take it from him.

A vile grin spread across his face as he stalked toward the terrified creature. It was still securely wrapped in the mana-draining chains he had told Daveen to bind it with. It lay there on the floor, still pretending to be asleep when he could clearly feel its heart beat ever more rapidly with each step he took.

Her dirty underwear barely covered her body. The only other article of clothing was a pair of strange smooth gloves with an unusual texture and smell.

The pale and smooth skin that covered her would have lit a fire in many men. But the tail that sprung from her lower back, the large brown and pink ears atop her head, and the grotesque whiskers that sprouted from her too small nose made him sick to his stomach.

An instinctive hatred for the creature in front of him caused bile to rise into his throat. He paused for a moment to examine the strange, almost overwhelming response from somewhere deep in his psyche.

It’s a beast. Ninety percent of all deaths are caused by them. To see one masquerading as a human girl, is an affront to every death that has ever occurred by claws and fangs across the empire. This abomination should not exist.

The desire to step on her head and end her life under his heel nearly overwhelmed him.

She is disgusting.

No, not she, it.

It is a pale imitation of a real woman.

Besides, it's my right to kill those beneath me. I am the only one who survived. It was me who made it to the sixth Tier while everyone else died in front of me.

Images of graymin swarming his friends came unbidden to his mind. The beasts stomped their bodies beneath clawed feet before tearing chunks of flesh free for consumption.

I deserve to be the arbiter of life and death. I should be the one crushing them under my heel!

Fury at not being able to fulfill his desires immediately coursed through his veins. Silver stood still, breathing deeply. He allowed the sweet ecstasy of anticipation to run its course.

Soon, I’ll kill it soon. I’ll feel its soft flesh and bones turn to mush under my feet.

But first, I’ll take it to that bastard Oushatt. Then our bargain will be complete.

I shouldn’t have accepted his deal in the first place.

What do I have to fear from the inquisitors? I bet they only wanted to interview me because I’m an aura savant. Too bad for them it’s impossible to teach my level of expertise.

Fathers know I’ve tried to educate fifth, sixth, and even seventh Tiers’ yet they have never once achieved what I have. My aura is the strongest in my tier, it always has been and it always will be.

Why did I take his stupid deal? If I had refused him, I wouldn't be here cleaning up his disgusting mess!

I hope he tries to cross me when our deal is complete. I would love to squash him and all his little cronies. Not a single one of them can match me.

It will be so easy.

Silver had to swallow several times as saliva built in his mouth from the anticipation of the slaughter to come. His breathing eventually slowed as he regained control of himself.

Soon.

“Y-you okay, Silver?” The fear in Daveen caused his voice to crack.

Silver’s hand lashed out before Daveen could respond. The Tier four was flung into a nearby wall, sending tremors through the entire structure. Silver flexed his aura and the shaking immediately stopped as the building above them stabilized.

He stalked over to the ruined wall and pulled Daveen out by his collar. The man easily came free of the rubble around him, he coughed dust from his lungs as Silver lightly shook him in the air.

“I told you to shut up, Daveen. I won’t tell you again.”

Silver flung the man toward the empty supply boxes in the corner of the room before moving to stand above the beastwoman.

It was sitting up now, watching him with large brown eyes that reminded him of feces. Goosebumps of disgust ran up his arms and back at the sight of the horrid creature. Its pink tail lightly swayed in the air behind it, nearly causing him to gag.

At least it’s not stupid enough to pretend to be asleep after all that noise.

“What are you?” His emotions leaked into his features causing his lips to curl and his nostrils to flare.

“Mayalyn,” Its voice was pleasant.

Hearing a human girl's voice come from the lips of such an abomination was an experience he hoped to never repeat.

Damn you, Oushatt. I have to live the rest of my life with the memory of this thing's voice floating about in my head. I’m definitely going to kill you for this.

The beast leaned away from him after speaking, as if it could feel the vitriol surging within him.

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“What’s your connection to the Fireling?”

Silver realized its confusion was authentic. The reaction to his words had been too instant and instinctive to be a ruse.

His perception of time had reached unprecedented levels upon breaching into the sixth Tier. The entire world had slowed as if his brain now operated at the speed of light.

Nothing could escape his sight. It was impossible for someone of a lower tier to lie to him now. He could easily spot their ticks and tells as the expressions slowly crept across their faces.

I barely spoke with Oushatt before he sent me out here, what did he say the Firelings real name was again?

“Daveen, what’s the stupid kid's name? Jopped or something?”

He looked over his shoulder at Daveen when he spoke. He purposefully left himself open to attack, a part of him hoping the beast would try something so he had a reason to step on its skull.

“Jiran,” He responded timidly while flinching at the sound of his own voice echoing in the tense room.

Silver wasn't looking with his eyes but he saw its reaction all the same through his aura. He turned back to it with his best grin. The one that always got a reaction from the women.

So it doesn't know he’s the Fireling. Interesting.

“That’s right. What’s your connection to the Fireling, to Jiran,” Its eyes widened.

Silver watched the beast’s face intensely. He could see the gears of thought slowly churning over the information and realizing the implications. However, he had waited long enough.

“You will answer my questions when I speak to you, monster!” His hand reached out and connected with its cheek.

He put enough force into the slap to kill a Tier two. Barely a wisp of what he was capable of.

The beast's head turned as blood and spit flew from its mouth. When it looked back at him, defiance and anger were written across its features.

Yes, that’s the look I want to see.

Silver felt himself getting excited once more. As he did, the beast turned back to him with terror in its eyes.

Wait, it all makes sense now. This beast that can hide its shape and blended into Cruex so seamlessly. The Fireling coming out of nowhere with his strange powers.

“Now I understand. Daveen, get over here,” The man in question hopped to obey, appearing at Silver’s side with the alacrity expected of a Tier four.

“You’re going to catch up with Oushatt before he arrives at Yeets Pass. You’re going to tell him that the Fireling isn’t a human. He’s one of these things,” Silver nodded his head toward Mayalyn.

“What?! That can’t be r—” Silver’s fist connected with Daveen’s jaw sending the man flying into the same pile of rubble he had been in before.

“You think this is a debate? You don’t get to talk back to me, worm.”

The keep shook as a section of the dilapidated ceiling collapsed. Outside, magenta skies shone their light into the room. Yitre, the other hatchetman of the colonel, poked his head down into the new hole and spoke.

“Everything okay?” Silver sighed, attempting to process his frustration at having to deal with the two moronic weaklings.

“I told you to keep watch. You were sloppy enough that this thing followed you, which means the Fireling could too. Since when does watching the skies mean looking into a hole?”

I should just kill them all. This is a waste of my time. There are only a handful of people in the entire empire who can stop me now, and they’re all at the border fighting the graymin and the undead.

I don’t need Oushatt’s pardon to protect me from those inquisitor dogs. His insistence that they were coming for me without delay must have been a ruse.

No!, no more. I’ll take whatever I want, when I want. Live like an emperor in some town. They will lick my boots clean to keep them safe.

When Silver refocused on his surroundings, he found the beast had backed away from him as far as its chains would allow. It moaned and whimpered deliciously in the corner of the old half-destroyed cell they had chained it in.

“I’ll save you for last,” He promised, before turning toward the cell holding the children.

“Don’t worry. It will be painless for them,” He grinned in anticipation of scratching the itch that had built out of control.

Daveen immediately noticed the change in Silver. There was no hesitation as he sprinted for the stairs leading up to the keep proper.

Run for now little rabbit. It will be your turn all too soon.

With no warning, an explosion tore through the keep, sending dust and rubble fluttering to the floor. Another aura impacted his own. He pushed back instinctively, then his eyebrows rose in surprise when the intruder's energies didn’t yield.

What?! How is there an aura here that's a match for mine? Is there a Tier seven here? But that’s impossible! They should all be at the front lines and the emperor is stuck on his throne recharging his mana.

Stones were wrenched upwards from the now gaping hole. They flew into the air as though thrown by a giant, invisible hand. Silver watched in astonishment as a teenage boy wearing the blazer of the officers’ academy descended into the room.

The boy’s expression was neutral as he took in the details of the room. His eyes remained on the beast for several seconds with a complex, unreadable expression on his face.

Silver watched every minute move of the boy with the full attentiveness of his tier’s capabilities. He noted the way he moved, the speed of his eyes as they tracked through the room, the twitch of his fingers as they clenched into fists.

Silver’s laughter rang out through the stale, dusty air of the underground room.

“Tier five? You’re so much weaker than everyone thinks. But I know you have tricks so I won’t underestimate you.

“It sure was a shock to discover you’re not human, Fireling,” Silver watched his expression carefully, looking for any clue that his deduction was correct.

There it is, he flinched when I revealed the truth. I knew I was right. That explains his aura. No human a tier below me could ever beat my aura. I’ll be doing the empire a favor by cleaning up this pest infestation.

“You’ve gone wild,” The boy responded calmly. His green eyes began to glow as they pierced Silver to his core.

The words cut deep into his psyche, like a knife plunged into an already open wound. His pride and superiority had always pulled him through when his friends and allies failed. Now those same strengths were under assault.

Agony and rage coursed through every emotional channel in his body as Jiran’s words and condescending tone assaulted him.

“How dare you talk back to me, you stinking beast! I’m going to kill every one of you!” A lifetime of repressed emotions cascaded out of control within SIlver.

Two creeping vines of euphoria coalesced inside him. One in his stomach, the other in his head. They rapidly spread, extending as they reached out to each other and embraced in his chest.

A portion of his aura responded to the coupling. It solidified on its own, forming two ropes of energy that twined around one another in front of his chest. The vines within and without, strained against forces unseen in an effort to connect.

Like two magnets fighting the fundamental forces of the universe, they crept closer together over several agonizing seconds. Silver screamed in agony as his aura and body were both wracked by uncontrollable seizures.

The moment all three vines joined, clarity descended as the world stood still.

The boy who had been before him was gone, as were the two girls and the beast.

They no longer mattered. What or who they were ceased to concern him as all thoughts of himself vanished into an abyss of nothingness.

Only a single thought resounded through the mind of the man once known as Silver.

Kill.

Red eyes glowed in the darkness as he felt the presence of several living creatures fleeing before his power.

It was time to hunt.