It was on one of those nights, when cold gales washed over the lands, when the snowless Winter came back for revenge and engulfed us in arctic winds.

A full moon gazed at the village, bathing it in silvery light and turning the landscape into liquid metall.

The shutters pounded against the few windows strewn in the village. Symphonic with the hymn of the wind they smashed again and again against wood and glass.

With the noise of the cracking wood a pulsating headache made its way into my head. Each throb followed the rythmic crashing of the shutters, growing in intensity ever so slowly.

The pain slowly radiated into my chest and if on cue a hearth of pain ignited deep inside me. It was pain on a whole nother level. 

It was physical at first but then it changed into an abstract pain of being incinerated from the inside out. It felt like my consciousness was being disintegrated. Like on an old, overheating cine projector my self became holey, and the fire was consuming more with each second.

I felt my veins bulging out under my skin, thick worms that pulsated with my increasing heartbeat.

But at the same time I felt a great force from within soothing the fire, smothering it. I recognized it as part of me, no, it was me; my own self. It was a bizarre occurence.

The flames fought against my inner self but with each minute the flames grew tinier and my inner self grew stronger. It dominated, conquered the flames and when all the flames were swallowed up and I sighed inwardly in relief the aching in my head exploded.

But it was not only pain, it was something else. Knowledge. Knowledge about ancient voices, their songs, their chants, beings that could only be described as Gods. Images of wastelands littered with corpses. Horned feinds rampaging on a killing spree and angelic creatures fighting them with weaponary of pure light, smiting the devils and vaporizing their corpses.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", I screamed towards the heavens. My mind was being cleaved intwine by the knowledge and a vortex of pain flared around my body.

BOOM!

My parents came barging in, seeing my pained face howling against the sky. My fingers dug into the sheets and reached my own palms, my fingernails pierced the skin.

"Guess it's time then.", I heard my mother talking between the intervalls of my shrill cries.

"But isn't it to early?", my father asked.

"Baer, our son is a prodigy after all. This time it should be alright.", my mother responded and grinned to my father.

My father only nodded nervously and replied, "I hope he survives...".

I watched them out of the corner of my eyes. She took out a small needle and pricked her index finger. A large drop of red blood oozed from the small puncture. Her ivory horns turned into a crimson red.

Stepping closer to my body she forced my jaw ajar and with a quick movement she squeezed the red drop into my mouth. I could feel the blood, hot and tasting like copper. A feeling of ecstasy overcame me and my body quickly urged me for more, it combined with my flaring instincts and I felt myself being drawn into a state of frenzy.

With horror I felt my body move on its own, towards my mother which had a pale complexion and was grabbed under her arms by my father. I could tell that I was releasing something that can only be described as bloodlust, it was a foreign emotion, feeling or sense for me, but I knew in that moment exactly what it was. I thirsted for carnage.

My father leaned my mother against a wall and turned towards me. On all fours I crawled over the floor, my legs flexed, I wanted to pounce on my own father.

I jumped through the air, my jaws openned inhumanly wide, the skin around my mouth lacerated and a sharp pain was discharged.

In the midst of my jump my father suddenly vanished, not only a limb but his whole body vanished from sight. My blood red vision turned black and I fainted after a chop to my neck and crashed into the floor with the hit's momentum.

When my mind was thrown into an endless abyss I stood there. On a lone field, naked and defenseless.

All around me were enormous trees, their barks black and boughs leafless. The ground was red and muddy and the sound of battle resonated from all around me.

Metal clashing against metal and bones breaking.

I looked around blankly, my chaotic emotions settled down and I was able to think clearly.

The concept of genetic memories was already existent on Earth, be it in sci-fi fictions or fantasy novels, even in actual science it was debated.

I could faintly guess that this was some sort of tribulation, a gauntlet I had to stand.

The sound of battle grew louder and all around me the ground started to cave in or rise. Hundreds of gargantuan arms penetrated through the earth to lift out a giant of a monster.

Lose flesh hung on the beasts body, the muscles were barely covered in rotting skin and twelve bony wings covered the already black sky.

A demonic head with four fiery orbs as eyes stared right into me, trying to pierce my little body and engrave terror into my soul. But against the beasts expectations I just stood there, mouth agape and my eyes twinkling like stars. I was surprised and even quite frightened at first but seeing this gigantic undead monster just left me speechless. It looked so AWESOME!!!

"Puny mortal, do you not fear?", the wyrm asked in a deep voice that made my organs shudder.

"Tell me, of what should I be afraid? Why should you bring me here just to threaten, wound or even kill me?", I asked in a tone unbeffiting of a six years old.

"HAA! You are right! So, little human tell me your name.", the beast asked, its growling an octave higher than before.

"Hyrion is my name. Can you give me yours esteemed...?", I certainly did not think the beast would kill me after starting a conversation but I was still hesitant at how to address the God-like entity.

"My name is Hyat, father of all demons and guardian of so much more. Do you know why you are here?", I was certain that the wyrm was now roaring in a much more amiable manner.

"I guess a trial awaits me. Of what nature I am still unsure but can already guess what it might be."

"HAHAHAAH! You are clever little boy! Come closer, your contender awaits.", the wyrm grumbled and suddenly its whole ribcage bursted open and revealed a dark hallway.

My paralyzed body moved forward without hesitation and I entered the suspicious path.

BOOM!

The 'gate' behind me closed, cutting out all sources of light an leaving me in the darkness.

On cue hundreds of torches lit up at each side of the crimson carpeted hallway. The sound of my dirty feet was stiffled by the soft floor.

I walked for hours until I reached a giant black door. At some point I suspected that the dragon tricked me and the endless hallway would go on forever, but it was probably made to exhaust the challenger.

I laid my tiny hands on the giant door, making it swing open without even using any force.

As I thought, a large arena was behind the obsidian door, the ground was trampled dirt and to spice up the ambiente a few remains of unknown creatures laid in the corners.

I sighed, this was certainly to much of a video game for me right now.

The moment I stepped in the doors behind me closed and warped out of existence, leaving me alone in a giant arena.

Thunderous footsteps spunded through the arena as a mmetal gate opposite of me openned up.

Clad in silver scales stood my adversary. It was hulking over two meters, had four limbs with sharp talons at the end, long carnassials grew directly out of its face rather than mouth, a large barbed tail slithered over the ground and four tattered wings were tucked against its back.

The monster stared at me with its four red eyes.

'Holy fuck!', I thought while staring at myself. I had nothing on me, no armor nor weapons. If I would at least be bigger and not a six year old than the situation wouldn't look so grim.

The creature cackled and its face twisted into an insidious grin. As if reading my thoughts the creatures hands blurred and suddenly all of them were armed with deadly weapons. A black scythe, black sword and a two handed giant warhammer, were in its giant hands.

It stampeded over the ground while I was looking for a useable weapon. In a few seconds it traversed the whole length of the arena and appeared right infront of me.

Facing the creatures bile I was frozen on the spot.

The giant hammer crashed into my side with full power and I felt my organs and bones obliterating under the pressure. Like a ragdoll I was thrown over the ground, not even able to cough as my lungs were completely shattered.

The pain was intense, it was the same pain I felt when I first died. Yes, the pain of death.

But instead of dying I felt my organs rapidly recovering until they were completely intact, even my smashed heart simply started beating again.

I weakly stood up only to be bissected by an obsidian sword. Gore painted the ground red and I felt my own organs slowly sloshing out of my body. I was dying once again.

And like last time my body was quickly restored and this time it was the scythe that ended my life. A clean cut through my jugular and I slowly bled out.

The pain did not subside neither did I grow stronger whenever I was killed. Thousands of times I felt the same pain I felt in the past. I remembered my family and how I lost them; my friends and how I lost them. The pain made me remember all of that each time.

I tried to retaliate but the giant simply squashed me like a pesky fly.

My rage boiled inside of me, that fucker killed me thousand of times and yet I couldn't even put a scratch on him.

With fury in my heart I roared. "I WILL FUCKING NUKE YOUR ASSHOLE YOU SON OF A BITCH!", right before I died again I tried to channel my mana in the atmosphere around us, there were no colours but I tried it anyways.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The moment my mana tried to leave my body it suddenly errupted and my body incinerated - literally - from the inside out.

A giant explosion marked my own end. Alas my body was restored again and I was mowed down once more by the monstrosity.

Before I was killed again I noticed that the explosion I caused had lightly damaged the beast as the left half of its face was burned black.

"HAHAHAAHA! YOU FUCKER!", I screamed and overloaded the mana inside of me once again. Like firecrackers I exploded whenever I 'respawned', the ground at that point was already a sea of red.

The dumb creature grew infuriated with each time I blew up and 'cock-blocked' it from mangling my body.

The pain was as unbearable as the first time but whenever I thought about the damage I did to the monster I couldn't stop myself.

Like a lunatic I blew myself up every time my body was restored, the explosions were countless and the ground underneath me was cracked and ruptured.

I didn't even notice the beast that was laying on the ground, most part of its body pulverized adn withering in agony. Only after I didn't even feel its enormous pressure on me did I stopped suicide bombing.

With deep hatred in my eyes I gazed at the monster that was lying half dead on the ground. Its expression made me crack up.

Its eyes were wanted mercy!

I laughed like the maniac I turned into and gazed indifferently at the creature. Its body shrunk until it appeared like a defensless boy, bloody and eviscerated but still recognizable as a young boy.

"Pl- Please have mercy... I-I-I was forced. Pleaseee...", the boy asked with teary eyes and a meek voice, all hints of malice vanished from his face.

I looked at him warmly and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry boy.", I said while turning around.

"Thank you.", the boy said while closing his eyes.

"HAHAHHAHAHA! FUCK NO!", I screamed while heaving the massive scythe from the ground. Its obsidian edge glimmered crimson by the red blood.

I walked over to the boy, "FUCK... YOU!" and hacked at his body. Each swing made his body spasm and a small fountain of blood errupt. Only when his body was limp on the ground, full of cuts and holes, smashed and burned, did I finally drop the scythe.

The boy turned once again into the giant monster, only dead this time. "Guessed as much", I whispered while falling to the ground.

The scenery changed and I stood once again in front of the giant wyrm.

I was still exhausted and asked in a sleepy voice. "Did I succeed?". Because I was looking at the ground I couldn't see the amused eyes of the wyrm. His face turned into a giant grin and the ground vibrated as he started laughing.

"HAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH! You know, killing wasn't even the test! If you had simply embraced death all of this would be over! HAHAAHAHAHA! I like you boy, I really like you! AHAHAHHAHAHA!", Hyat roared.

I only looked at him with a questioning gaze, 'WHAT?!' was written all over my face.

"Don't stare at me like that. Who would even think it was possible to kill that warden of mine?! HAAHAHAHAHA! Didn't you think it would be to hard for a boy to kill such a monstrosity? Didn't you feel pain?!", Hyat asked in a curious tone.

Anger stored up inside my body and uncounsciously leaked into my voice. "OF COURSE IT WAS PAINFUL YOU DIPSHIT ASS DRAGON! 'didn't you feel pain?!', WHAT IS THAT QUESTION? OF COURSE!!!!!!", I yelled at the god-like monster.

Only a moment after I noticed my rude behaviour and dread manifested in my heart. 'Oh fucking shit, what did I do?!', I asked myself as I gazed at the giant wyrm.

Its eyes shone for a moment and the grin dissapeared. An oppressive aura enveloped the beast and his body slowly closed in on me. Its monstrous face was brought closer to mine, one of its eyes bigger than my body.

The maw widened slightly and let me have insight into the abyss that is called its innards.

The jaws widened and its breath became heavy...

"HAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAH! You amuse me boy! Never has anyone spoke to me like that! AHAHAAHAH!", to my surprise the beast only laughed and made me deaf for a while.

"I guess I should reward accordingly!", Hyat laughed and quickly disappeared into the ground.

'What?! Where is my re-! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH', my thoughts were cut short as a giant bone pierced my right eye, straight through my brain.

I fell to my knees while the bone dissolved and pain akin to being covered in highly potent acid spread over the right side of my face.

"This is for screaming at me! HAHAAHAHAH!", I heard the old wyrms obnoxious laughter as I was once again falling into the abyss.

"HAA!", I woke up from my bed. The night was still reigning over our small village.

The crystaline lamp in my room turned on by the sudden motion and bathed the room in a warm white.

With my hands supporting my body I stood up, only to feel a thick liquid spread over my bed.

I rubbed my fingers together as I brough the liquid into my sight. It was a deep shade of red, thick and smelled like iron. It was unmistakeable blood.

A shiver crawled over my back as I mechanically turned my head to the bed.

A pool of blood drenched my bed in a crimson red and slowly dripped onto the ground. Dazed i stared at the mysterious puddle of red that somehow formed underneath me. I was startled out of my face as I felt a hot liquid dripping into my eye.

Only then did my brain perceive a slight pain from my head.

'Did I bump somewhere?', I asked myself as I followed the trail of blood that was dripping down my face right to my skalp.

"Oh God! What is this?!", I exclaimed as I felt a thick pole like object sticking onto my head. It connected perfectly to my skull and was without a doubt, a horn.

'Oh for fucks sake! MOOOM!', I screamed in my mind. There was only one person with horns in my family that I know of. And apparently I inherited the Ashura's trademark.

'Wait no...', with horror I felt around my spine only to sigh in relief. 'No tail! Good...'. The idea of a tail was certainly intriguing but to master control over a fifth limb would take massive amounts of time, time which was needed for other activities.

The slight pain though was not only around my skalp but also around my face. My right eye and the rest of the right side of my face to be exact. I could still remember the deadly bone that was pierced through my head and could only sigh. I stood up and went towards the bathroom. I looked at the mirror and saw a boy with dirty blone hair and a dark expression. His face was handsome and wild and his body was ripped. On the right side of his head was an ominous looking horn. It was a deep brown and jagged unlike his mother's smooth horns. Neither was it elegantly curved but more angular and even branched out into a smaller second horn at the side, making it look like a demonic antler.

Another feature was a deep black tatoo running over the boy's right eye to his cheek. It was tribal in nature and appeared a bit like his horn.

When I felt around the tatoo I noticed that it wasn't a tatoo but more of a black scar that grooved into my skin. My right eye stayed green but the cornea and iris were streaked in black snake-like lines.

I do have to say I looked increadibly cool and badass. But it made me wonder why I only have one and my mother has two horns.

Shurgging my shoulder I went back to my bed, pulled the sheets off and turned the mattress upside down. It was still blood soaked but still tolerable.

I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the wind. The gale cried and lightning snaked through the skies, that is how it sounded.

But something within told me that this was not quite right. Something was amiss.

I groogily stood up and walked to the bedroom of my parents, expecting both of them cuddling with each other and sleeping peacefully. What I saw was a messy bed and open cabinets. Small weapons were strewn across the ground, knives, arrows, small axes and other projectiles. Even pieces of armor were lying on the ground.

My heart suddenly shook as the cries of the 'wind' intensified. No, this was not the wind singing its hymn, these were the cries of people!

I grabbed one of the knives from the ground and sprinted towards the door. The well-known sound of battle resounded from outside.

With trembling hands I grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open.

An impossible hot gale invaded our small hut as I stepped outside.

The village turned into a sea of fire.

Villagers fought against people clad in blue and grotesque beasts alike. It was a scene of pure chaos and it made my heart sink.

"HAHAHA! Got ya'. 'Nother of thes' small midgets!", a man in blue trotted over to me. He had a red face ad his eyes were blood-shot. His body smelled of sweat, blood, piss and alcohol. His hauberk was covered in red and even the golden lion insignia on his blue platearmor was drenched red.

"Godda 'ave fun with the lil' demon!", he slurred while drawing his sword out of his scabbard. He walked unsteady towards me, the frail little boy, the frail little boy that he would decapitate.

In this moment I roughly knew what was transpiring. And I was furious.

Blood dripped from my hands as I gripped the dagger with all my might. My knuckles turned white and my face turned red in rage. My mind stopped working and my feral instincts took the reins over my body.

I wanted to see blood.

(For those, well, 90% of you that wanted a happy story, don't worry. I won't make it to dark and who knows what might happen in the next chapters? :D)

(Enjoy this chapter, the prelude to a massacre!)