Nick didn’t dare to meet the Herald’s gaze. Even glancing at her figure out of the corner of his eye made his psyche quiver and quail. That one look was enough to burn her image into his spirit, like a red-hot brand searing his soul. He knew in that moment that he would never forget her face.
She had the features of a petite young woman, perhaps nineteen years old, clad in a flowing red dress with no jewelry or other form of adornment. She had pale white skin, sharp features, and deep ruby hair, her expression falling somewhere between boredom and disdain.
While all of this looked human enough, there was no mistaking the Herald for one of his kind. What separated her from any woman Nick had known, from any person on Earth for that matter, were her eyes and even more notably, her wings.
Both were a brilliant crimson hue, somehow more intense than any color Nick had seen before. Even when looking from the periphery of his vision, his psyche was assaulted by what felt like torrents of freshly spilt blood. An endless ocean of battle and death, bound together by an insatiable killing intent. He had a sense that she had power sufficient to extinguish entire worlds, and a temperament that would find such an outcome deeply satisfying.
He knew in that instant that despite her form, the Herald was far removed from anything even remotely human. That she had been the victor of a thousand battles. Was capable of killing millions in the blink of an eye, and would do so if offered the slightest provocation.
She’s a monster in the form of an angel. Nick stood stock still, terrified of attracting even her casual attention. He knew that if he did, it would be the end of him. That she could erase his existence as an afterthought if he displeased her, and every member of his species alongside him.
The other members of his team were frozen in place, waiting to see what happened next with helpless dread. The Herald paused her descent as she came to a stop in front of the crystal cage, floating without needing to flap her wings, her feet never touching the ground.
The arena was silent as a tomb. No one in the stands dared to make a peep as the woman with blood red eyes looked down at the enraged rhinoceroses, who were caught in the throes of their mindless aggression, slamming into the crystal walls while trying to rend their brethren asunder.
The Herald frowned as she took in the sight. “Stop that. I’m trying to think.”
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Nick nearly threw up when her presence flared once more, even though it was only a brief flash this time and was less intense since it wasn’t directed at him. The effect of the Herald’s displeasure on the captive animals was instant and total. Despite the senseless fury evoked by the gas, the rhinos obeyed her command, trembling in terror as they stared up at the girl with crimson wings, eyes wide with horror.
“That’s better. Now, which of you seeks the pure release of true rage, instead of this paltry, tainted shadow? The salvation that comes with embracing Slaughter and casting aside the weakness of hesitation.” Nick could sense a deeper meaning behind those words. A force that he wasn’t capable of comprehending. Something dark and primal, like a storm brewing along the horizon.
In response to her question, one of the rhinos stopped quivering, turning to look the Herald right in her ruby eyes, as if answering some longing hidden in the recesses of its soul. “Yes,” the entity in the form of a girl considered the creature in the cage. “You possess a pure spark of massacre, waiting to be stoked into a roaring flame. You will serve my lady’s purpose well.
“Although you may fall this hour, your form will be immortalized, living on in memory until the end of days and serving as the template for a new breed of chosen.” The Herald turned to address the crowd and spread her arms wide, as millions of spectators listened to her proclamation, spellbound in their seats.
“Behold, assembled mortals. Rejoice that you have arrived at this nexus of fate and fury as you witness the birth of a new species.” With that, the Herald reached out and shattered one side of the translucent barrier, fracturing the crystal wall as if it were made of spun sugar.
She flew into the cage, never breaking her gaze with the rhino in front of her. “Allow me to uncloud your eyes, revealing the true beauty that can only be found in destruction. The symphony of a world dyed red with the ecstasy of ruin.”
With those words, the Herald smiled and floated forward, leaning in to kiss the rhino on the horn. A tender gesture, like one might bestow upon a beloved pet. The instant that her lips touched ivory, she vanished without a trace, leaving Nick wondering what in the hell he’d just witnessed.
He found out less than a minute later. Knowledge that would come at a terrible price.
A heavy fist of foreboding closed tight around Nick’s heart. He knew deep in his gut, his bones, his blood, that something terrible was about to happen. The countless faces filling the stands were as still as the surface of a frozen lake.
The crowd stared down at the arena floor enrapt, waiting to see what would happen next. They can feel it too. Nick’s adrenaline began to flow, tinging the ominous silence with a refulgent electric afterglow.
“Ready yourselves for the fight of your lives,” Kenji’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. He opened his mouth to speak again, but whatever the scarred man might have said was fated to remain unuttered.
Because that was the moment when the rhino began to change. To mutate. To be remade into something... monstrous. Its eyes started to glow with a baleful ruby light, an echo of the aura contained within the blood-drenched wings of the Herald of Slaughter.