Screams.

Screams echoed through the night. The alarms had sounded, and they were aware of him, yet he remained unseen.

The first assault he claimed, followed by Scar and Fang. The shadows didn't welcome them he noticed, but they didn't need it to. They dared to stand in the light with claw and axe. Soon he would join them, but the long flying teeth of the two legs bit deep into his flesh.

The monster paused, pulling the arrow free from its chest, confusion in it's gaze. There was something wrong there. Shaking its head, the monster waited to heal, then continued to stalk through the outpost.

Within minutes, he had maimed a dozen of the two legs, slashing through the gaps in their armour to part their flesh. But this was no time to feed, he desired a challenge, where was the Red?

There!

He growled a bloody roar, issuing the challenge. And the Red turned with a blaze, returning the gesture.

The fireball splashed across his chest, and the monster stood in shock. The flames, like the shadows, were a part of his pack. What did he have to fear?

It charged towards her, and the chase began. Blasts of fire impacted all around the monster, but the charge didn't stop. It's pace continued forward as half its fur burned and the other half regenerated.

The claws shattered her skull. *Sniff, sniff* This was the wrong Red.

Then the monster was trapped. Bait?

Up above, on top of a rampart, a stream of the four arms surrounded it, shooting down arrows that slashed and bit. Beneath them circled a procession of the Reds, who were aglow with fire power. 

The monster stepped, and a pillar of stone dared to imprison it. It's legs were stuck, arms stretched wide open to reveal it's belly. With force it ripped through the earth, only to be pierced by arrows that morphed into spiked chains.

The growls and snarls failed, why would they flee? This was their territory, brave for them to defend it.

The monster burned and bled, it's regeneration and stamina placed to the test. Soon a two legged man ran up and stabbed it in the gut with a spear. That had been a pleasure, as the fool ignored it's fangs. *Crunch*

Yet that didn't stop the attacks, more spears entered its flesh. The monster wanted to flee, to return to the shadows and lick its wounds. But they never indulged him, besides when he entered them. And the fire, that hurt most of all. They were the ones who should have been most welcoming. The ones he could count on for protection.

Fire Resistance has reached level 17

Then something pulled in its mind. A memory. A man, who when in the dark, had called out to the fire, and with vigor the children answered his call… Now it was the monsters turn.

And so, surrounded by enemies on all sides, as if he was a living bonfire that bled, the monster began to control the flames.

Fire Manipulation has reached level 12

Fire Manipulation has reached level 13

Death's Corona has reached level 11

The monster tasted the fear in the air. They thought him prey, yet now it was they who fled in terror.

A howl called to his children, and the flames rose from the grave on all fours. Leave no one alive.

~

Helen watched from afar, her plan was going perfectly. She had chosen to bring him to the Joten clan in fear that he wouldn't retain his skills, but to the contrary he had exceeded her expectations. He was strong, loyal, and gifted. Belatedly she realized all of this may have truly been unnecessary. There probably was a future where he would help her from the kindness of his own heart.

"What's done is done." She said.

She had no qualms with her decision, as she had stopped second guessing herself at ten years old. What mattered was the result. Truth could be forged into a blade, and that's what she had to become. No one cried for her, so why should she cry for them.

"Ghost, keep him safe. I go meet the Devil."

'Don't forget your promise!' The voice entered her mind like a sea breeze.

"He's yours when my sister is whole, right now I need him. Back off…" Her voice returned with the same force, carried by shadows that whispered death.

His return growl to retain face was brushed aside, and Helen left to meet the Devil.

~

It chased them down with speed enhanced by flame. It's minions left prints of fire across the fields.

Flame Conjuration has reached level 2

The monster slowly regenerated under the heat, and soon craved more fire. It burned downed shops and buildings, a minor stay from the bloodshed.

Smoke billowed out into the air and half the outpost was engulfed in wildfire. And amongst the chaos the monster scented the true Red. She held the cub in her arms, fleeing through a hidden gate, behind a grand tree. It was silver in color with green leaves that wept at the chaos.

A fireball blasted towards the gate, making them all jump at the sudden attack. Continuing forward, the monster was slashed in the face by a soaring hawk. It beat its wings and squawked, but the monster's clawed hand struck towards it's throat, impaling it on the ground. And with a wide maw dripping with flame, the monster watched it's fallen prey morph into a man. Tears and soot marred his face, as he begged for life, but the demand went unanswered.

The Red screamed, handing the cub to an older woman. They pulled her back, but she was off soaring through the air with wings and talons. Though she didn't shoot flame like the other Reds, because she knew that was his domain.

Ready to strike with another claw slash, the monster's head was knocked to the side as a scaled tail slammed into its jaw. The Red was now a scaled serpent.

Venom sprayed onto the monster's face and chest, boiling it's skin. It blasted a return of fire, when the agile lizard darted away, contorting its body to avoid all attacks.

Soon the silver tree in the square combusted, and screams pierced the air, as if it were alive. The monster stopped, taken off guard, only to be trampled by a tusked guerilla. It's fur was a shaggy brown, and as it beat its chest, green vines arose, ensnaring the monster. They were encased in an armoured shell, that resembled tree bark, but allowed it to resist flame.

The monster ripped and pulled, but the magical vines danced, a living barrier that kept the werewolf back. Hungering flame rushed out, bathing the plant matter in fire, but the few vines that withered and died were easily replaced. Simultaneously the Red slithered amongst them, spraying to her heart's content.

Death's Corona wavered, and the venom seeped through. It was different he noticed, eliciting a smell that attacked his insides.

*Cough, cough*

The monster coughed blood, choked by a vine that squeezed it's neck, and collapsed to all fours. It's regeneration was cancelled, in panic it's eyes bulged assaulted by the same mist that ravaged it's insides.

It called to the shadows, but they wouldn't come. It needed to hide, to regroup. The poison had a vice grip on it's lungs, and as a last fight for it's life the monster sent the fire wolves to distract it's foes.

It watched on with grim hope. Watched on as it's vision dimmed, and it's life was stolen by the poison cloud. Within minutes the ape beat the wolves into dying embers, and with that the light in the monsters eyes vanished.

"Nooooooo!" Dante returned.