What… happened…?

Aether panicked, the energy that had been with him all of his life suddenly vanished without a trace.

While Aether was busy panicking, the bear charged at him, diagonally slashing his side with his right foreleg. Aether barely managed to avoid the large claws of the bear, some of his scales being scratched in the process.

Aether managed to calm him down as he watched the bear carefully, trying to figure out how to kill it as quickly as possible. 'I have to avoid its front, those claws and teeth don't look friendly.'

The bear once again charged at him, though Aether stepped to the side, dodging it with ease and slashed at the bears side, tearing the hide all across its side. He then yanked his claws out, tearing it even more as the bears organs nearly spilled out.

It roared in pain as he did this, barely managing to stand for a few seconds before it fell over, onto its right side. Aether quickly sank his teeth into its neck.

Aether panted, not from exhaustion, but from the feeling of being empty, devoid of any mana, and for the first time in years, hungry. Aether thought for a second before beginning to tear into the freshly killed bear, satiating his hunger.

Craving answers, Aether leaped into the air, taking flight as he soared into the sky, quickly rising above the thick foliage. What he saw surprised him so much that he forgot to flap his wings, falling for a few seconds before catching himself.

The sky was black, yet the sun was in the middle of the sky. Aether looked around, seeing nothing but the tops of trees. He flew in a random direction, hoping to see something, anything that could give him a clue as to where he could possibly be.

After what felt like hours of flight, he saw a clearing, hundreds of trees knocked over by something. He flew towards the clearing, landing as he looked around.

He saw something, it was huge, bright red, barely breathing, and covered with wounds.