Along with the explosion, pillars of smoke and flame rose high into the night sky, the moon blocked by the occasional cloud, bathing the surrounding trees in a haunting, eerily orange hue.

Somehow, against what many would consider common sense, the dryad's tree remained utterly unharmed by the flames and intense heat, as if they were nothing more than harmless smoke licking at its bark.

This was even true, but to a lesser degree, with the dyad's roots that held together the large chunks of dirt that had been blasted high into the sky.

As they crashed back to earth with dull thuds, knocking over a few of the smaller trees and ruining the somewhat pristine snow, the roots that could be seen smoked but seemed otherwise unharmed, unlike the charred soil surrounding them.

If one was to look closely, they appeared to be covered in tiny, bark scales and a weird, ancient aura faintly leaked from where they were damaged.

Animals in the surrounding area, even those whose who were inside their nests and dens, fled the scene, trying to get as much distance as they could.

To those who lived in these snowy, peaceful lands, it seemed as if a portal to the abysmal realm had been opened, and the Woads could only stumble backwards, their eyes attempting to adjust the sudden change in light as their ears rang.

"In the name of the great earth titan..." muttered the largest male Woad, his mind struggling to logically organise what was occurring before him.

For hundreds of years, to escape persecution and enslavement, the Woads had submitted to the Skybreeze clan and, more specifically, the Manning family that owned the frozen forest.

The Woads where an ice type subspecies of giant. Humanoid in appearance but, until recently, just like the lamia, merfolk and other humanoid hybrids, persecuted with extreme prejudice.

These humanoid subspecies ancestors had been born from the coupling of a beast, generally in its human form, and a human. As hybrids, they often had the benefits of both, with a few weakness yet this also meant that they did not belong to any side in what was commonly referred to, as the eternal struggle.

The species that had survived typically had been forced into servitude by the dominant races, mainly humans and the Woads were no exception.

They had been given the role of keepers of the Frozen Forest, culling the animals and beasts there to protect the herbs being grown. They also eliminated any high-level threats so that the young practitioners of the Manning family would not be in too much danger when they ventured into its depths to cultivate and gain experience.

During the three hundred or so years the Woads had held this position, the worst beasts they had faced were ice wolves, snowy phoenixes and greater bears. These powerful creatures, normally in the late stages of the beast rankings, typically bypassed the barrier from the nearby Endless wasteland, usually looking for easy pickings, and would often result in ten's of deaths before the Woads could bring them down.

However, it was clear to the six Woads, even to the point where they didn't need to rely on their instincts or experience, that whatever had caused the devastation before them was far beyond anything they had faced before and completely out of their league.

As their brains struggled to process what they were seeing, the dirt started to shift as a figure pulled itself out of the soil, causing the woad's pupils to narrow in horror.

A figure covered in black mist, small bolts of white lightning flickering from its frame, rose amongst the remaining flames. Its long neck rising high into the sky while its two, bat-like wings, stretched out as if to swallow the world.

When it had fully extracted its body from the dirt, the creature's tooth-filled mouth opened wide and released a tyrannical, overpowering roar that caused the Woad's souls to shake and the essence they had been circulating to run rampant.

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The roar faded away as the creature's head turned. Its red, glowing eyes locked onto the white crystal cradled in the arms of the female woad and the stench of blood and death that assaulted the Woad's senses was nearly overpowering.

"Run!" The largest woad, his body littered with Scars roared in defiance as he stomped forward and blocked the female from Kai's sight, circulating his spirit energy and prepared for combat. "We have awoken a demon. Tell the elders."

Kai's colouring, the black mist that could be confused as miasma and his terrifying, blood-red eyes had led the leader of the group to assume that Kai was a demon, the generic term for those that originated from the abysmal realm.

At the sound of his voice, the others instantly jolted awake and, as one, quickly fled into the trees.

The females lept into their canopies and moved with unparalleled grace through the branches while the two males charged between their trunks like unstoppable forces of nature.

Their leader hadn't even contemplated attempting to appease what he considered a demon.

Demons were renowned for their tempers and trickery. Seeing how enraged the creature was, the Woad was sure that a death grudge had been formed in its heart and that, unless they made it back to their hunting camp, every member of his team would die without a complete corpse.

If that was the case, he could only attempt to buy them time.

Kai, on the other hand, had only just returned to his original objective after spotting the white crystal.

His focus had been temporarily diverted when he discovered that his damaged wing had been restored whilst he slept. Joy filled his heart knowing that he would be able to soar in the skies just like his ancestors and he had to resist the impulse to leap into the sky.

However, while he had been determined to rescue the dryad before, now he knew that she had either directly or indirectly helped him regain his wing and the possibility of flight, the thing he desired more than anything, his newfound joy instantly bittered.

How could he feel joy when the one that had given so much, was in peril.

There was a saying, which only a few of the most ancient and accomplished of scholars would be able to recall, even if they didn't know what type of creature it referred to.

'All the riches of realms and kingdoms are worthless in front of a dragon's debt.'

Kai's pupils narrowed terrifyingly, locking onto the lone Woad who was apparently attempting to buy time for his team.

"Demon, I do not know where you have come from, but we are the keepers of this land," spat the male woad, speaking only to try and reassure himself. He had never felt fear on the hunt, in fact, it was usually the opposite.

Yet locking eyes with the creature in front of him, the Woad felt as if he was standing before an ancient, god-like monster and he was as significant as a grain of dust floating in the air.

If it wasn't for his pride, and the lives of his pack, the Woad wasn't sure he would be able to stand in front of this terrifying existence.

"Return..." Kai's deep, fury-filled voice exploded in the Woad's mind, causing him to flinch as a small dribble of blue blood to run from his nose.

The voice paused for a moment as Kai gathered his thoughts.

"Return... my dryad."

Instinctually, due to the significance of the dryad's actions and that she was not made of flesh and blood, Kai had just associated her with a treasure. A treasure that was his and needed to be protected.

A dragon's possessiveness exploded out from the depths of Kai's mind.

A treasure that had been stolen.

The Woad gulped, momentarily regretting sending away the rest of his squad with the core but then remembered that he was dealing with a demon and that, even if they did return the dryad's heart, they would not survive its wrath.

While he may have gotten the species confused, the Woad was right. Kai had no intention of letting those who had harmed and stolen his first and, at least for the moment, only treasure from leaving with their lives.

Forcing a laugh, the woad spat on the ground. "You must think I am a fool. I will not recall my pack so you can kill us easily."

Taking a fighting stance, the man locked eyes with Kai again. "Our lives are not cheap nor will they be easy to take. We wi-"

Soft thumps resonated from the ground as blood sprayed across the clearing, covering the ground and nearby tree's.

The woad, unable to continue talking, looked down at the missing front-half of his chest and watched the floor of blue blood leaving his body.

Before he could even blink, Kai had appeared before him, and with a lazy swipe, had ripped the woad's chest, bone, muscle and flesh, away with his razor-sharp claws, scattering them across the ground in a gruesome fashion.

After raising what could be considered an eyebrow, a small bone-like shape jutting outwards just above his eyes, Kai's body flickered with white bolts of lightning as his disappeared into the forest at an unbelievable speed.

'I wasn't even able to buy a moment'. Regret filled the Woad's eyes as he fell to his knees. His insides spilling from the horrific wound.

The damage had been so significant, that he felt no pain. His body was completely numb.

As the Woad's eyes dimmed, his life energy finally depleting, he found himself praying for the lives of his pack to anything that was listening.