AN: As of today, this story is number 105 on the "Popular This Week" tab. So excited.
On another note, if anyone is upset about what happens in this chapter, don't worry too much about it. Because chapters 42 and 43 will explain it better than I even could. In other words, I flipped a coin and lost this one, but won another.
As always folks, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know down below.
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I spent the rest of the day with Lupa and the pups, making sure the three accepted one another. By nightfall, all three of them were sleeping in a small fur pile under the sheets of her bed. They were quite adorable together, of which had caused my person to smile slightly at their sleeping bodies. "Lupa seems to be opening up more and more, Father, as are the others," Nox whispered softly as he exited the adjacent room I came from, just as I took on my human guise. It seems he had taken a liking to his responsibilities as the children's guardian, as he appeared before my person with a tired smile.
"Then all is we-," I began, but stopped when several four-armed Undying wolves ran towards the pair of us.
"My Lord," cried out one of the Undying, to which I glared with crimson eyes.
"Quiet you fool," my voice was a whisper, and yet seemed to echo throughout the halls, "There are children sleeping." They quieted down considerably, but appeared to be anxious, and ushered the both of us away from the rooms that housed the children.
Once we left their wing, several pairs of female Undying had slipped by us, each beginning their patrols throughout the children's wing. When they stepped into the hallway, however, the shadows began to condense and form into large wolf-like creatures. Each creature had a pair of crimson orbs floating around in the outline of their head. These were the Shadow's Reapers, and had split up so that each pair of Undying had at least two Reapers when they patrolled the wing.
"My Lord," a male, four-armed wolf Undying whispered to my person with urgency, "The dwarf Feiran has gone insane, and has been confined to a cell within the dungeon."
"Oh?" This bit of news caused my person to be curious, but noticed Nox was only confused.
"Feiran? His son is my friend, but we don't know what his new job is," his features were perplexed towards this piece of information.
"Ah, he is the new torturer to replace the other after his unexpected passing," my reply was honest, but only served to cause him to become even more confused. Shrugging, I turned my attention back towards the male, "Lead us, then. You will come, too, Nox." He simply nodded, as we were escorted to the dungeon area.
A pair of iron-skeleton Undying had appeared when we approached its entrance. They each had a pair of green flamed torches within their grasp, and took over escorting us the rest of the way. "I have never been here before," came the mutterings of Nox, as we journeyed deeper into the dungeon. The shouting and screaming of a deep, male voice could be heard as it echoed throughout the area.
"Madness" and "Monster" could be heard in between the screams, but quieted down once the owner heard our footsteps coming ever closer to it. "You have been here before, Nox," my voice rumbled slowly, "In fact, you were birthed in one of these cells." He was stunned by my words, and even stopped in his tracks as his mind tried to wrap around this new piece of information.
His body then twitched, and scampered towards my person. His eyes said he was intent on questioning myself to the fullest, but before he could voice a single syllable, the haggard face of a dwarf appeared in front of us behind several bars of cylindrical iron. "You monster," it roared, reaching for my person to no avail. The action of the dwarf startled Nox, who had yelped and leapt backwards.
The Undying, on the other hand, simply struck out at the dwarf named Feiran, and caused him to hiss in pain. "What did you do to me?" His voice shouted in anger towards my person, as his beady, little eyes glared upon my person.
"What do you mean?" I had become amused by everyone's actions at this point, and even had a smirk upon my lips.
"You did something to my head," the dwarf then screamed, clutching the sides of his skull, as his body collapsed to the ground. "What did you do?"
"I did nothing."
"Liar!" His body leapt up, launching himself onto the iron bars. His small, thick arms tried to grasp my person, but to no avail. "You did something to me; my thoughts are not my own," he screamed as his voice cracked into a higher pitch, "Every time I look upon you, my head tells me you're my friend, but when you leave, it tells me to run from the monster that I call friend." His head swiveled towards the hybrid nearest my person, "You, boy. You need to run. That thing is not a man, but a monster sent to enslave us all."
"It seems the dwarf has become a rapid dog," my voice was quiet, and I turned towards Nox who stared with confusion at the scene. "Do you know what happens when you find a rabid dog?"
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"You put it down?"
"Correct," I grinned, and intoned, "<
Feiran had fallen onto his back, whilst his hands shook as they touched the edges of the hole. Tears began to well up in his eyes, and his head twitched towards Nox. "Ru-," he began, but I would not allow him to speak, and launched another Arc at his body, but this time it struck near the centre of his forehead. The body's eyes were wide as the brains behind it splattered onto the ground, slightly cooked from my magicks.
"Father?" Nox whispered with widened eyes, to which my body turned towards his person slowly.
"Remember, my son," my eyes had become orbs of crimson at this point, and had even begun to shine with enough of a glow to lighten up his face somewhat, "if you ever find a rabid dog, you need to put it down immediately. Otherwise, it'll just become a thorn in your side at a later date." Turning to one of the Undying, I ordered it to escort him out of the dungeon.
It did so, and after they were gone, I turned to the remaining iron skeleton and commanded, "Burn the body, then silence the female dwarf."
"And if it had a family?" A hauntingly melodious voice asked my person slowly, as the body began to burn with bright green flames.
"Silence all, save for those who are children, as they are more easily swayed. I do not want that body's loved ones to crop up later, wishing for vengeance upon my person." I paused for a moment, as a thought passed through my mind, "Have someone keep an eye on Nox; he may become a nuisance after today. If so, then I shall be eternally disappointed in him."
*****
Father killed someone tonight, one whose son had become my new friend. I did not know how I would break the news to him, but he would need to be told soon. The Undying that had escorted me to my room was one of those iron-skeletons, of which really unnerved me. They reminded me too much of the giant skeleton that had appeared, and transformed the rapists into skeletons. Everyone who witnessed this event had night terrors for a sennight, but I am glad no one told the younglings, as I do not wish for them to become terrified.
No, but he did say something that sparked my interest. My place of birth was within that dungeon. If so, then who was my mother, and what did she do to abandon me so? Did she hold me before disappearing? Or was she executed the moment I was born?
These questions kept me awake, and I began to pace around the bedroom I shared with my closest friend and ally. He was a brown furred Bear Beastman, and was sleeping only a few metres from my person. "Nox?" Came a soft voice, from the bed he slept in, "What are you doing? It's the middle of the night."
"I'm sorry, Roja, but I cannot sleep."
"Why? What happened?" He sat up from the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes to stare upon my person.
"He killed Strom's father," I began slowly, which caused his eyes to grow wide. Before he could speak, however, I raised my right paw to silence him. "The dwarf was spouting nonsense, screaming, clutching his head, every requirement necessary to be branded as 'insane'. Yet, Father just killed him, and did so with an easy manner," my paws had balled themselves into fists at this point, and became painful until I released them slowly.
"Why did he do that?" My friend was standing in front of my person at this point, shaking with anger and fear. "Couldn't he just, I don't know, heal him, or something?"
"I don't know, but that's not all," I exuded a sigh at this point, and paused until he urged me to speak up, "He said I was birthed in the dungeon." My friend's eyes were wide at this point, and were filled with the same questions that had been plaguing my mind since my return from the murder I had witnessed. "He did not speak about it afterwards, so I am as clueless as you are."
"Why not ask him in the morning?"
"I think I will do that, then." He smiled, then pushed me into my bed before climbing into his own. Roja then began to snore softly, as I stared up at the ceiling, wondering about the mother I never knew.