It took a few months to spread out to the surrounding villages and tell them the new status quo. While everyone was out and doing their ambassador missions, Dasdan and I spent every day and night searching for Braman. But, no matter how long we spent looking, we never saw any signs of him.
Over the next several years, there were sporadic sightings of Braman as he got older, but every time I would make it out to his location, it was abandoned. There were rumors of him stealing supplies from several villages, including the wolves' village. What had to be about five or six years later, we finally got word that Braman had joined the wolves' village, and Dasdan and I went to meet with him and the villagers.
In the years leading up to now, since I had given my ultimatum, the wolves' village had changed to a more relaxed and less combative group of people. Upon arriving now, however, I could immediately tell something was off about the atmosphere in the village. No children were running around and playing, and the women and men at work had their heads down and didn't look at Dasdan or me. I looked back at Dasdan and told her to stay close to me and not get too close to any people there.
“Where is the village leader? I am looking for Braman. He is Dasdan’s,” I pointed at her, “son, and we want to return him home.” We waited for a few minutes before anything happened, and again, I raised my voice. “Where is the leader I spoke to before? I didn’t come here to make threats. I just want to see Braman and make sure he is ok.” A pale, tall man walked out in the fading light squinting against the sun still in the sky. He sauntered his way over to me, and I could tell something was different about this man. He was well over a foot taller than me with wiry muscles wrapped in a thin cloth, and I could see the confidence of a predator who was unused to being looked down on by anyone.
“I am Lasnar, and I am the leader of the blood demons. We heard there was some little creature making demands of not only the beastmen but of us without ever meeting us. So I came here to make an introduction and tell you that we are not beholden to you, nor are we going to allow you to dictate to anyone what will be.” He said. I looked him over and sighed.
“Do you know if Braman is here? I only care about that right now. Once I have a chance to see him, we can discuss whatever you choose.” I said. Lasnar looked annoyed that I wasn’t afraid of his impressive words but said, “Braman is here, but he doesn’t wish to see you. He told me your touch is like an inferno to him now. He is willing to see his mother, though, while you and I discuss things.” I looked back at Dasdan, and she clutched at my arm, ready to jump at the opportunity to see Braman for the first time in years. I nodded and looked back at the people around us. “If anything happens to her, I will finish what I started all those years ago.” Dasdan started towards a villager beckoning her along to see Braman.
“Ok, Lasnar, what do you want from me? I have made my wishes pretty clear to all who reside around here. You will either live by my rules or die by my hand.” I stated firmly. Lasnar started slowly striding towards me, saying, “And that is the issue. You have no control over me and mine. Unlike these pathetic pups, we are powerful and immortal beings who feed on the blood of humans and can not be killed by you. It takes dozens of their wolves to bring down even one of us, and there is but one of you. I knew this meeting was coming, so I prepared by bringing in some of our oldest and strongest to take you down if you are as much of a threat as they seem to think you are. Now that it is becoming dark enough, your time has ended.” While he spoke, I noticed that the villagers began moving away with fear in their eyes and more pale men and women took their places surrounding us, ready to attack.
“How many did you bring? How many are you willing to lose? Did you have something to do with Braman not coming back to see his mother?” I asked. Lasnar said “Braman came to us. He was looking for a way to get rid of you. I don’t think you realize this, but whoever you knew before is gone. That thing is no longer human, nor is it the kid you remember. The only reason he was willing to meet with his mother was to get her out of our way so you would have no choice but to fight and not flee with her. I bit him when he first showed up, thinking he was just a kid with a wolf in him who got lost. He tasted horrible and not at all human or wolf. There is something evil inside him, and it is more potent than any wolf. I am telling you all of this, so you know that when this is all over and you are dead, Braman will be leading us to your village after killing his mother, and we will kill everyone there for following you.” There was a commotion coming from just outside the ring of blood demons, and I saw Braman dragging a bloodied Dasdan closer to the center of the village where I was surrounded. The tears in Dasdans eyes, the cuts on her face, and the blood dripping from her broken body were too much for me to take. For the second time since awaking from the stone in the desert, I allowed the fury inside me to burst forth unhindered.
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Without another word, I was moving. My arms became like steel covered in flesh. My nails elongated to razor-sharp eagle-like talons. I could visibly see my power spread from my chest out to the tips of my hands, pulsing like a white light emanating from within. My power sheathed my hands as I reached the first of the creatures here to kill me and my sister Dasdan. I hit a female with long greasy scraggly hair in the torso with an open palm and my talons facing forward. Rather than flying backward, my hand and arm went right through her as if she was made of paper, exiting her back with her heart and part of her lungs hanging from my hand. The shock of what just happened slowed me down long enough to allow them to react, and three of them were on me instantly, biting down on my exposed skin. I immediately tried to drain the life from them since they were touching me. It seemed the fastest way to take them down. Reaching inside them, I found no life to grab onto. They were completely devoid of living energy, and I had no way of sucking the life out of something that had none. Fortunately for me, it wasn’t necessary because as soon as my blood went down their throats, they let go, and all fell to the ground screaming and clawing at their throats as if trying to dig the blood back out. Looking back at the remaining monsters surrounding me, I saw that they were beginning to back away.
Lasnar looked at me with terror and whispered, “What are you?” I began wiping my hand off on my shirt to get the gore off of it and started walking towards him, not quite done with my rage-fueled blood bath. “I am the one who has promised to protect these people from monsters like you. I owe Dasdan so much for helping me when I knew nothing and was lost in the world. Look at what has happened to her.” I pointed at Dasdan just as a fur-covered blur hit me at an incredible speed with more power than I had ever experienced. It was a man-shaped wolf about eight feet tall and covered in muscle and fur. The blows it rained down on me were powerful and fast, causing pain and bringing back the full fury of my anger.
I put both hands up and grabbed the arms coming down at me from the man-beast astride my prone form. Squeezing hard, I heard bones crunch under the skin, and the muzzle came down toward my head with saliva glistening from enormous razor-sharp fangs. Letting go of the arms, I grabbed the beast's throat with my left hand and his sternum with my right and, arching my back, tossed him back over my head as hard as I could from the awkward position I was in. I popped to my feet instantly and looked where I had tossed the wolfman. Seeing him sprawled in the dirt but quickly regaining his senses, I decided I had had enough and would just tear him apart and be done with it. Dasdan called out, “Ka'Tariku, that is Braman. Please do not kill him. He does not know what he is doing. There must be a way we can bring back my baby boy.” I paused, looking at her and then back at the monster she said was the sweet little boy I had fallen in love with as if he were my own son. “He said healing him felt like an inferno. Maybe if I fill him with as much healing as I can, it will burn out whatever evil has taken him from us.” I said to her.
In a flash, I was on top of Braman with my legs wrapped around him like a python gripping its prey, and my hands clamped down on his head. I unleashed the most powerful burst of healing energy I could pull forth. The wolf under me began to howl then whimper, squirming to try to break free of my indestructible grip, and I could feel him getting more and more agitated, fighting to getaway. Pushing wave after wave of healing energy into him, I dumped as much as he could hold as he began to twitch and his body began shifting. When it finally settled down, I held a giant wolf in my legs with my hands on its head rather than Braman, the boy. Dasdan had crawled her way over to us while I was healing him, and I saw her reaching towards his brow. “Don’t touch him; we don’t know if he is back to normal yet or still filled with evil,” I said, but it was too late.
Dasdan’s hand touched Braman's brow, causing him to open his eyes which were molten lava red and filled with rage. There was no sign of anything of Braman left in those eyes, just pure evil incarnate. Then, with a burst of strength previously unseen, Braman pulled from my hands and tried to bite into Dasdan. Instinctively I snapped my hand back around his neck, intercepting its course toward his mother, and yanked back with far more strength than I had intended separating his spine, neck muscles, throat, and all the tendons and sinew holding his head to the rest of his body causing it to fly off and away from Dasdan. With an anguished scream, Dasdan threw herself on the headless body of her only son and began weeping.
In shock at what I had just done, I got up from the ground and looked around at the carnage that had just been wrought. I saw Lasnar standing off to the side and told him to look after Dasdan and make sure she made it back home safely. He asked me where I would be, and I just told him around and left quietly, knowing I would never be able to face Dasdan again after what I had just done.
From that day forward, I had promised never to let another child in my care suffer or die, no matter the cost of protecting them.