CHPT 133: Darkness

After Claude made it back to school and spent an hour or so in the Infirmary with his team getting bandaged up and celebrating, he picked up Frosty and stepped through the portal to head home.

The food he took on the way helped speed up his healing and left the three deep slashes in his side as hardened scabs by the time he entered his familiar forest circle.

Once he got home he did something he hadn't done in what felt like a lifetime.

He read under the stars while he lay in the grass with Frosty. For a second it felt like what his life used to be. Fantasizing about the worlds strongest Heroes and most wicked monsters while his Father gave him interesting little pieces of information on whatever he was into for the day.

Unfortunately, as soon as he closed the book to go to sleep, the darker reality of life came rushing back accompanied by his— very real feeling, nightmares.

***

"AH!...shit!" He woke up swinging from one of his nightmares.

The Phantom Wolves that surrounded him warily eyed him with confusion. Their tails still wagged as they sniffed his legs and arms— flinching whenever he made any slight movement.

"God damn these transitions! Can I at least get a warning?!" Claude questioned the cool night sky, confusing the Wolves even further.

After he calmed down, the wolves crowded him in a clutter of smokey wagging tails and wet sniffing noses. Once their hellos were out of the way, he looked over his surroundings for a moment as he stood up and shook the snow off his moose pelt.

Since Wednesday, it seemed the Draugr were the only things him and the Phantom Wolves had to fight. All that came after was simply journeying north which led him up the mountain he just woke up on.

It was a mountain covered in jagged cliff edges, random cut offs in the path and slippery patches of ice. The mountain seemed to cut through the clouds and as Claude looked up to try and find the top, his stomach dropped with unease.

"Well. There's nothing left to do but get started." He said before leading the Wolves further up the mountain.

***

Initially, he slipped and got caught on the random natural accessories on the path. But as time passed, his eyes became more adept in searching for the faint gleam of ice or small jutting rocks as he ran with the wolves.

He continued to run, going faster and pushing himself harder, leaping over gaps in the path and using his claws to climb the walls and cut his time until he accidentally dashed past a large opening.

He skidded to a halt on the stone path and back peddled until he was standing in front of the entrance.

The entrance into the mountain was huge. It reminded him of how the cave entrance looked through the squirrels eyes— except even larger.

"What the hell is this?" He thought out loud as he peered into the darkness.

Shadow whined silently behind him in response.

The sound caused him to turn around and see all six of the Wolves looking like they were trying to shrink inside themselves with fear.

He'd only seen them act like this over one thing.

"Looks like we made it." Claude said as his heart rate picked up.

Claude and the Wolves stepped inside the mountain after staring inside fearfully for a moment and began heading down the smooth stone path.

It was dark inside— even darker than outside since there was no moonlight to guide them. All he followed for the time being was the faint sickening sound of flesh tearing and bones being crushed.

With every step, Claude could feel the overpowering presence of the God of Wolves, like the giant Wolf was breathing right over his shoulder as he walked. It caused goosebumps to run up his arms as chills rippled down his spine.

After walking for another few minutes, spaces in the ceiling started to split and let the light of the stars and the moon illuminate his path. Unfortunately, he couldn't look up to see since his body was slowly being forced into a kneeling position as he edged closer.

He grunted and growled while he fought against the dominating aura thay radiating through the mountain. During his walk, he noticed deep gashes in the stone walls resembling scratch marks from claw and blade. The markings were everywhere, showing the remains of some sort of struggle that took place inside the mountain.

Eventually, he was limping as his left leg started to tense up. He heard the Wolves stop behind him and sit soon after.

He growled to himself and pushed forwards until he stepped into an opening and fell to one knee.

The area was lighter than the rest of the path and covered in the smells of death, fear, rage and sadness. He tried to raise his head and look around, but there was no room for movement in front of Fenrir, not at his level.

He sat in silence, listening to the sound of meat and bones being crushed for what felt like an eternity until he heard a sudden spitting sound and the head of a FlameHorn rolled into his foot— still emitting steam and sizzling hot blood.

"RRrr....Spicy!" Fenrir's booming voice bounced off the cold stone walls and washed over him like a blanket of fear that soaked into him in seconds.

"Yourrr.....earrly...hehe. Colorrr...mee impresssed."

Claude stayed silent as he heard Fenrir's claws click against the floor as it paced back and forth.

"It's..ssso interesting...rrr."

Claude stayed silent until he realized Fenrir was being quiet because he wanted him to speak.

"Oh..uhh...What's interesting?" He asked.

"Youuu....you act...ssso....humanrrrgr....withh yourrr cloak....annnd shoesss...and cooked...mmmeat..heheh." Fenrir explained.

Claude thought it over for a moment, thinking Fenrir was just flexing his God status until another idea entered his mind.

"Are you saying I don't need those things in the snow?" Claude asked.

Fenrir made a sneezing chuckle-like sound before responding, "Youuu...have nnno...idea wwwhat you arrrre....rrr...do yyyou?"

"I'm learning." Claude responded as he thought about the possibility of not needing to wear extra layers during winter.

Fenrir stayed silent after, leaving Claude to listen to his claws clicking on the stone floor as his wiry black and grey fur shook on his muscled legs with every step.

"Rrrr....I've wattched...youu and...grr...yourrr quite....rrr...tough!...tttto killll for such a weak.....boyyy...." Fenrir said, complimenting and disrespecting him at the same time.

"Yourrrr what....the humanssss....would call....a...rrgrrr...luckyyy sonofabitch!!" Fenrir said, pronouncing the last four words as one.

Woo!

Fenrir suddenly lunged, causing Claude to flinch as Fenrir's scalding breath hit his head— moving his hair with ease.

"Luck runs out boy." The Wolf said, clearer than he's said anything thus far.

"I'm lucky...how ironic." Claude thought.

"Rrrgrrr! Speak yourrrr mind!!" Fenrir growled after a few seconds, as if he could read Claude's thoughts.

"Your right. Luck runs out, that's just how it works...erhm..I don't plan to keep trying my...luck— as you say. Hopefully in time, everything that's got something to do with me will be determined by my skill and power instead." He responded.

"Hahahah! Yesssss.....skilll and....POWER!...i...set thissss challlenge up...to seee...ifff youuu were worthyyy...rrr...of both..."

Fenrir's statement had Claude wondering what he could grant him for completing the challenge.

".....Because....you...rrr...you will...neeeed it afterr you've becommme the pppredator!...you're meant to beeee...hehe." Fenrir continued.

Claude thought over what Fenrir meant as the giant Wolf started to sniff the air above him.

"Heheheh...yesss...a powerrrr like thiss....grrrr..fits someone like youuu." Fenrir said, seeming to confirm his own thoughts outloud.

"A person like me?" Claude questioned.

"Youuuu have...whattt it takes...to..be a lllleader.....to all creaturres....rrr...of the darknesss..." Fenrir pointed out ominously as he inched closer.

Suddenly, one of his paws came off the ground for a moment. "It's startssss.....with thiss!"

Woo!

Shlck!

"AHHHHCK!" Claude roared in pain as one of Fenrir's incredibly long claws sunk into his left hand and completely pierced through it, touching the stone floor on the opposite side.

Fenrir removed his claws from Claude's hand as quickly as it entered and he was left laying on the floor with his blood reddening the ground.

The last thing he saw before his vision faded was Ashe and the rest of the pack behind her, she stood in front of him with her paw on his punctured bleeding hand.

Surprisingly he didn't feel any pain, instead he felt a cool wave of power flowing into his hand and up his arm like flowing river water.

The black smoke that constantly surrounded the Wolves, grew and reached out to him like coiling black snakes. They wrapped around his arm and climbed up to his face until he was submerged in shadows.

All he could see was their glowing blueish white eyes in the endless dark, reminding him of the Moon.

The last thing he heard was Fenrir's voice. He was once again speaking in his clear unsettlingly base heavy voice, no longer sounding like his mind was split between eating him and making him stronger. His words were purposeful.

"You need to stop playing the game of life as a human, boy. Embrace what you are! After the Full Moon you'll have no choice, your something this world hasn't seen in a long time....hehe. May the darkness continue to be kind to you."

DING!

[God Granted Skill Unlocked!: (Shadow Cast)]

[+2 Skill Points]