Chapter 9: Destiny Calls

Grey sobbed through gritted teeth. He didn't say a word as the guards hauled him down a dark and lonesome corridor. Opening a creaky old cage, the guards tossed him inside, his hands still bound. "Bastard. Look at you. What a pathetic piece of filth. What a way to repay lord Verion's kindness." Suddenly, one of the guards kicked Grey right in the stomach. "Garbage." The other guard slammed his fist down into his head. "Waste." The beating continued for some time, long after Grey was rendered unconscious.

Grey awoke to the sticky feeling of blood, and intense pain radiating throughout his body. "Ah god. Did they break my ribs?" He went to touch his ribs, but felt his arms were still tied together. Totally defeated, Grey just laid on the cold stone floor, confused, afraid, and broken. "How could this have happened?" He wailed. "I didn't do anything wrong!" Grey winced as he tried to roll over onto his head and knees. "Ugh. Not happening." At some point he just gave up, all the fight inside his soul vanishing.

Some hours seemed to pass before Grey heard the sound of footsteps again. His heart grew anxious with each clank that echoed down the hall. The guard beat on the door. "Hey maggot. I'm pissed today so I'm gonna take it out on you." Opening the door, the guard stepped inside and cracked his knuckles. He grabbed Grey by his hair. Grey's eyes were afraid, darting back and forth.

"You can't do this! This is illegal!"

The guard slammed Grey's head down into the concrete floor below. "You seem uninformed, so let me inform you. No one cares about you anymore, you monster." He smashed Grey into another wall. " Not after what you did." The guard bent down really close to Grey's ear and whispered. " Don't worry. I don't like breaking my toys."

Grey wiggled his arm furiously, ignoring the searing pain surging across his body. "Argh! If I can just free my hands…" The cell Grey was thrown into was barren. Lack of anything besides the mold growing on the walls, and the tiny hole cut out that was being used as his toilet. The cell itself was very generic. A standard cell bar structure, and an iron door with a bolted key lock keeping it shut tight. Inside Grey's prison it grew very dark. The only light came from far down the hallway, and it was only occasionally on, but when it was the cell was still nothing but a shadow in the darkness. The first few weeks Grey struggled inside the cell. His heart still held onto hope, and the light it brought. But after the many beatings the guards gave him, and the utter darkness he was subjected too, the humane part of his soul slowly started to vanish. After each beating he became more and more irritable. He was frustrated he couldn't free his hands. He was frustrated he was falsely imprisoned. He was frustrated he didn't know why Alice and Verion betrayed him. The helplessness he felt reminded him of watching his family be slaughtered, and how he could do nothing but watch the carnage unfold.

In the silence of the cell, Grey was left alone with his thoughts, and many times they wandered to the moments when he was a boy, and the times he spent along the banks of the Mystic Rhine. He thought of his mother's homemade cooking, and how she would always burn the food. He remembered the smile of his grandpa as he threw his first solid punch. Grey even reminisced upon his unpleasant memories. Of the times his father and the other children bullied and berate him. For some reason though, everytime the guards came to beat him, he thought of one particular memory of his father.

Grey and the Harbinger of Death sat outside the forest of the Mystic Rhine. Grey at the time was about eight years old, but he was already feeling the weight of being the chieftain's son. Grey's father stood with his arms crossed, a stern gaze formed across his face. "Today you will endure something every Nightshade has had to endure. The trial of darkness. I understand your abilities haven't awakened yet, but-"

"Papa. I don't have any abilities-"

The harbinger of death slapped young Grey across the face silencing him. "Never interrupt an elder." Grey nodded, refusing to hold his stinging cheek for fear it would anger his father further. "You will go into this forest and bring back the fur of a shadow hog. I'm assuming you know what one looks like?" Grey nodded. "Good. I'd be disappointed considering how much time you spend with your head in the books. Listen. They are dangerous beasts, but nothing the weakest of Nightshades can't handle. Go kill the beast and bring back it's fur. If you can't skin the thing, just break off one of it's horns and bring it back. You won't be allowed to leave the forest until you have completed the task." Grey looked off into the dark crimson forest in front of him and gulped.

Grey slowly walked forward. His legs quivering with each step he took. Looking back at his father, he saw him smiling. Grey's little heart was encouraged. He never saw his father smile, and to see him smile at him bolstered his confidence beyond belief. Steeling his little nerves, Grey charged off into the dark woods. The crimson woods were no joke. Especially for a young 8 year old human. The forest consisted of twisted wormwood trees, whose branches twisted and turned outwards in every direction, forming sharp spikes upon them. Even more eerie than the look was the color. They held a distinct bright red hue, but that's not why it was called the Crimson Forest. Throughout the forest resided many different monsters, ranging from shadow boars to large dragons, all of which were looking to slaughter anything that entered the forest.

As Grey walked through the trees he heard the groans and cries of the spirits of the fallen. He felt like he could hear their agony. Each footfall was slow and monotonous, like he was trying to wade through a pool of blood. To a normal 8 year old, the slightest of shadows can be frightening, but to Grey who had been traumatized by the demon race, was overwhelmed by the fear sparking through his soul. His breathing steadily grew heavier, and his body shook more and more the deeper he walked. With quivering fists, he clenched a bone dagger his grandfather had given him. It was made of ebony bone, carved from the husk of a fallen dragon. Sturdy and strong, while retaining its lightweightness and killing ability.

"Shadow boars are the weakest of the shades. They are simple boars who have been consumed by wandering shades. They are mindless, and simply wander, attacking whatever they come into contact with. They are a nuisance to any and all races." Grey had begun to recount all he knew of the shadow boars in the hopes it would not only lead him to one, but also calm his nerves. "Their sizes vary based upon how many victims the boar has devoured. Their tusks can pierce through the strongest of metal. It is recommended to use long range weaponry to take down these predators…" As Grey continued spouting off information, he slowly began to realize he was severely underprepared to take on a shadow boar.

Crack' Grey turned his head to side at the sound of a twig cracking. Raising the knife up in front of him, he shouted, "Come out now! You stupid boar! Once I kill you they will finally stop making fun of me!" The bushes began to shake and vibrate. As they did, Grey tensed up, his body becoming motionless, fear taking hold of him. Grey let out a sigh of immense relief when he saw a simple bunny pop out from the brush. But before he could take another breath, the bunny's body was splattered by the stomp of a vicious boar.

Towering infront of young Grey stood a mighty shadow boar, whose height boasted a bold 6 feet, and whose diameter was easily 7 feet or more. The boar's eyes were solid red, and it's tusks stood out from its mouth in a guttreal red. The body of the boar terrified Grey the most. After a shadow consumes something it gives it distinct features, much like a Nightshades gets after receiving it's power. The boar had wispy fumes of black smoke radiating off of its black petrified skin. Grey's hands began to shake violently, causing him to drop his knife. "Crap!" As he bent down to get it, the boar charged him.

The center of the boar's head collided with Grey's stomach. Tossing its head upwards, the board tossed Grey several feet away into a nearby crimson tree. Flying into the tree, Grey's leg was pierced through by a thorn on one of the winding branches. "Argh!" Grey's eyes widened in fear as the boar charged him again. Quickly rolling to the side, Grey avoided the boar's attack. But as the boar crashed into the tree, it's whole body reverbated in pain. Grey's eyes widened with insight.

Grey positioned himself in front of another nearby tree, delicately watching his injured leg. "I have to do this just right," He glanced down at his leg, "or I'm dead meat." As the boar charged him again, Grey rolled out of the once again, causing the boar to crash into one of the willowing crimson oaks behind him. As soon as the boar made contact, it was frozen from the impact. Grey twirled the knife in his hand with expert motion and stabbed the boar in the side. Yelling loudly, he twisted the knife deeper into the boar's side. Then remembering his dad's words he looked at the boars tusks. But as Grey tried to pull the knife out, the boar had gotten over it's confusion. Before he could pull out the knife, the boar slung its body into Grey sending him rolling across the forest floor. With a mighty shout, charged the boy once more.

Grey was dizzy from the impact. He hadn't expected the boar to recover from the stab wound so quickly. Shaking his head to clear his vision he saw the knife still stuck in the side of the boar. Clenching his fists with a strange resolve he wasn't sure he had, he charged the boar, praying his plan would work. The boar rubbed its feet into the ground. And charged headfirst towards Grey, it's horns aimed right at his heart. A few feet from contact, Grey pivoted his movement to the side of the boar, and grabbed the hilt of the knife with his hand as he dodged. The momentum from boar charging in the opposite direction as Grey caused the knife to cleanly slice through the boar's skin all the way from it's mid section to it's tail. The boar slowly staggered back and forth, blood oozing from its body. As Grey looked at it dying, he felt like it was sorry for attacking him.

Grey approached the body of the dead boar, and began to saw off one of its tusks. After extracting the boar's tooth, he began to walk back in the direction he came, only to realize he had forgotten where he was at, or what direction he had walked in. If it wasn't for the adrenaline coursing through his body was the fight with the boar, Grey would have broken down in a panic. But instead, he began to wander the forest looking for a way out. But he found no way out, he was lost. As the sun went down, Grey began to hear the noises of more boar. He examined his leg once more. "I- I can't fight again like this." Steeling himself and his nerves, he climbed one of the crimson oaks, taking delicate care to avoid it's spikes and thorns. "The boar hate these trees. I'll be safe here." Then, laying down in one of the branches of the tree, he fell asleep.

Grey awoke with a start. A plethora of people crowded around him. He heard shouts and screams. "Mom?" He said, sitting up.

"No!" Natarra shoved the harbinger of death backwards. "You are a monster! He's a child!"

The demon walked back towards her and pointed at Grey. "He's one of us!" His voice shook with power.

Tears flew from Natarra's eyes. "Does it look like I care? Is his skin like a nightshade? Can he crush rocks in his hand? Can he withstand the stabs of daggers and swords? Can he walk through the fire of dragons and feel refreshed?"

The two adults turned their head toward Grey who was just waking up. Natarra ran up and cupped his face and pulled him close. "Grey! Are you alright?" Then she saw the blood from his leg. "Oh my god! You're injured! Lift your pants up. Let me see." She turned back towards her husband. "See what you've done? He's injured! Is it broke? What's the point of that stupid trial anyway?"

Grey looked at his dad, remembering he still had the boar's h]tusk. "Da-"

His father cut him off. "Listen here Grey. I'm gonna give you some advice. Sometimes you don't get the luxury of having the choice to choose. Sometimes you just have to walk in the darkness, and overcome or be overwhelmed. When it comes down to it, you can either embrace the darkness, or let it embrace you. But no matter what, you cannot be afraid of it."

Grey pulled out the shadow boar's tusk. "But dad. I did it."