Garoth attempted to wedge his paw into the narrow gap, intent on seizing the slippery cub and ending his life. The whelp had somehow evaded two of his strikes, but his luck had run out. Trapped, it would soon face his wrath.
"UAAAADEERIIIEEEEEET!" The cub shrieked incomprehensibly in human language as it hurled an object at him, which Garoth deftly dodged.
"Struggle, little prey," Garoth rumbled, the chuckle resonating in his chest.
Garoth gritted his teeth, seeking the perfect angle to reach the cub. The cramped space proved challenging to navigate without causing further damage to the cave or making loud noises that could awaken the sleeping beast.
Seeing the futility of reaching the deep end with his claw, Garoth twisted his body to fetch it using his tail. As he moved his tail toward the crevice, he saw the whelp's little limbs flail and felt his hope sap away.
The sight of the terrified cub, trembling and wide-eyed, brought a twisted smile to Garoth's face. "Yes, despair, try to escape," he growled.
But his satisfaction was short-lived as a shout from the cave's entrance echoed around him. "AAAAARRRROOOOOOOOOZZZZ!"
Tensing, Garoth stood still, listening intently for the slightest stir of the slumbering beast awakening. To his relief, no sounds came from beyond the wall. Remaining quiet, he seethed with hatred as he caught the scent of the pup of the human who had maimed him—here, of all places! Blinded by rage, he spun around to confront the second invader.
"EAVE WY EFRIED AONE!" screeched the athletic pup unintelligibly in a challenging and defiant stance.
Only a hint of mana emanated from the pup. A weak, magic-deprived pup dared defy him? "I'll tear you apart!" Garoth growled.
He slammed his tail at the pup, but the fledgling sprang aside, deftly evading his strike and landing safely away. Garoth's anger burned red in his eyes.
As he was about to strike again, his instincts prompted him to duck, and he narrowly avoided a flying metal object coming from the crevice where the cub hid.
Garoth pivoted, and the whelp launched another projectile. He sidestepped the attack, snarling and swiping at the entrance, determined to reach the tiny cub. Still, two more objects followed it and exploded right before him, releasing a peculiar mist.
Surprised, Garoth grunted as the mist swirled around him, invading his nostrils with a strange sensation. He shook his head, but the overwhelming sense of disorientation had already taken hold. Garoth sneezed uncontrollably, eyes watering as he tried to overcome the irritating scent.
"You'll pay for this insult!" he growled as he closed his nostrils and exhaled, expelling the noxious gas.
He peered into the crevice, ready to devour the cub, only to find it empty. With his vision blurred from the gas's effects, he roared and lashed his tail, obliterating anything within reach.
"None of you will escape alive," he vowed, launching toward the cave entrance and blocking the exit.
His heat-detecting vision functioned perfectly. He sensed how the athletic pup stood to his left, just beyond his tail's reach, while the tiny cub hid behind rocks on the cave's far right.
Using his front leg, he lunged at the figure to his left, but his altered balance made him stagger and fall short in his leap. The fledgling soared high, deftly evading the attack. Garoth's instincts urged him to evade, in vain, as he tried to regain balance.
CLANG!
A metal object hurled by the cub bounced off Garoth harmlessly. He growled derisively, the rumble echoing through the cave.
CLANG!
The cub persisted in pelting him, but he remained unworried. The weapons posed no danger. Disregarding the airborne projectiles, he readied himself to pounce on the agile pup, but as he was getting ready, it vaulted toward the tiny cub.
"Hur, Hur, Hur," he laughed, "Catching you both will be simpler," he snarled, advancing. They were powerless against him. He'd delight in dismembering them alive before consuming his other half, regaining his lost magic, and continuing his quest for power.
He pressed forward, eyes locked on the two shadows huddled against the wall, and unleashed a rumbling, mocking growl. Their movements turned frantic, and he relished as they struggled against the wall.
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As his vision gradually sharpened, he realized they were not simply huddling against the wall but trying to fit into one of the cracks in the wall that sealed the dormant beast. "NO!" he roared, lunging forward.
In response, the taller figure leaped skyward, carrying the smaller one. Garoth slashed at them, barely missing but with enough strength that the resulting shockwave sent them tumbling.
Upon landing, his hind leg failed to stop his momentum, sending him rolling toward the wall. Clenching his teeth, he flexed his muscles and anchored his tail to the ground, avoiding a collision and preventing crashing into the already cracked wall.
He quickly rose again, his hind leg throbbing and his body lashing with pain, ready to pounce at the pair.
A smile crossed his face when he noticed that the tiny cub was fleeing away, leaving behind the athletic one, who lay on the ground, unmoving. The cub was slow, and he let him run, heading towards the still figure, snarling with delight.
"AAAAAAAARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOZZZZ!" the cub shrieked from behind.
Garoth's instincts warned him again.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
He glanced right, and to his surprise, the whelp hadn't fled but sought to grab his attention, hurling metal objects and stones. A Futile effort; his stony exterior remained unharmed. He chuckled. "It's trying to distract me," he thought and laughed.
"Stay there and watch me rend this one's body apart," he roared as he stalked toward the prone figure on the floor.
"OOORYYYYYNNN!" the tiny cub yelled and charged Garoth, "AAAAAAEEJJJEEEEEEET!" Garoth smirked.
The whelp unsheathed a metallic weapon from a cloth on his back, releasing a cape that billowed and advanced toward him. "Prey that willingly comes to be devoured. Ha ha ha." He growled in laughter that rumbled and echoed across the cave.
Garoth relished the situation, turning to the oncoming cub with open jaws to devour it. The whelp mustered his strength and leaped, allowing the chuckling Garoth to take a clear look at the tiny cub for the first time.
The cub gripped a tiny sword and wore a long green and red cape. His eyes seethed with rage and hatred, reflecting death. Garoth inhaled the cub's scent.
"RUN! FREEZE! DODGE! FLEE!" his instincts screamed back at him, freezing him in place.
His mind was assaulted with images of his pack's death. Around him, the forest was littered with the limp bodies of his clan, and his father, the chief, fought relentlessly against an unmoving figure.
Suddenly, he was no longer Garoth, the Tyrant of the South, but a wimping tiny cub lying still on the ground next to the corpses of his mother—flashes of his father's dismembered body and his hiding from the creature battered against him.
Primal terror paralyzed him as he felt the eyes of the red and green beast burn into his soul.
Rooted in place, he watched in slow motion as the cub landed on his face, driving a metal weapon into one of his eyes and gripping it tightly.
Pain overwhelmed him, making him convulse and growl.
Blood poured from his wounded eye, and he willed to bite the cub, but the entrenched fear held him captive, rendering him unable to move a muscle. The cub yanked out the weapon and stabbed another eye as it slid down his face.
Pain overwhelmed his body and brain. He attempted to move but failed. He watched the cub land on the ground, sliding off his face, leaving the weapon lodged in his eye.
As soon as the cub's eye contact was lost, he regained control of his body and quickly leaped back, his head burning in pain.
Ignoring the throbbing in his eye, he carefully tracked the cub's movements through his blood-soaked vision.
Something about the cub—his scent, stance, demeanor—echoed the beast. Familiar, yet distinct. What was happening?
"YYYYYYYKKK"
A shout sounded on his left, yet Garoth didn't dare remove his gaze from the cub, who sprinted toward the noise.
He trailed the cub, and when it turned his back, he attempted to pounce, but his body refused to comply. It rejected the idea of nearing the cub. Desperate, he growled and spotted a pile of bones nearby.
Summoning his willpower, he forced his body to move and flung the bones at the cub with a headbutt.
Suddenly, as the bones neared the cub and were about to smash him, a blurry figure whisked it away from danger. The fledgling was awake again, gliding across the cave with the cub in his hands. Garoth followed them through the air as the pair hovered the ground toward the cave entrance.
They were going to escape!
Garoth willed his tail to move and jabbed it into his hind leg, awakening his body from its paralyzing state.
He charged the entrance and the duo with a snarl, but the fledgling veered mid-air. His snapping jaws clamped on emptiness as they leaped toward the fractured wall.
Dread gripped Garoth upon his heavy landing. He tracked their shadows, outlined by the faint, flickering light that bled through the wall's fissures. The fledgling soared again, carrying the cub, and to Garoth's dismay, disappeared into a crack in the wall.
As his head throbbed, reminding him of the still-embedded weapon, indecision held him.
The offspring of his nemesis and a cub that revived memories of the red and green beast had just breached the seal of the dormant beast. Should he flee? From mere younglings? Should he pursue? Into the lair of a dormant beast?
Before he could decide, magical sparks burst out of the cracks, and the wall began to tremble and crumble.
Like a dormant volcano underwater, the cave erupted with magical energy.
Garoth's instincts screamed at him to dodge. He leaped away, evading the dangerous beams that bombarded him. His body spasmed with pain at those who hit.
He leaped outside the cave, seeking safety and distance from the punishing rays. As the wall disintegrated, he glimpsed the light and saw the silhouettes of the two small figures against a brilliant, blinding light that advanced toward them.
They had awakened the beast! With his heart pounding with fear, he bolted.
He wanted revenge, but for now, his priority was to escape! If he survived, he would heal, regain strength, and exact his vengeance on other humans. He needn't worry about these two, as he was sure the mythical beast would destroy the intruders, making them pay for their transgressions.