"What are you talking about Father," The young Druid asked in confusion her blue raven hair turning green as her green irises covered her eyes with emerald fire

The creature growled annoyed and raised a long arm that looked like a claw its claws glowed purple with malicious intent

"The truth will make you sad" it stated maliciously

The young Druid frowned puzzled by these words, she turned to Leonid hoping he'd help her understand the situation.

However, she found the magician weaving his magic in open hostility Her eyes flared wide in shock

"What is going on!" she shouted suddenly

The magician was startled as his spell almost faltered The creature snarled in response but was interrupted by a third voice that made them all flinch,

"Well Done!" A Voice shouted as Leonid's shadow stirred and two figures clad in darkness flew out.

One was a woman, with long flowing black hair, wearing a black leather mask that covered her whole face except for her shining blue eyes.

The other was a young man, he wore a long cloak with gold edges that trailed behind his figure.

He held in his left hand a large black bow adorned with golden strings; a silver dagger hung in a holster around his waist.

His dark raven hair and grey eyes matched his clothes.

He also had a similar green-tinted eye as the druid, as the surrounding darkness disappeared they both took a fighting stance as they both glared at the creature.

“Well done brother, well done indeed ” a cold female voice commented.

It didn’t sound like any of the three who had appeared. Its voice sounded hollow and mechanical, but as they listened to it, Leonid was sure that he’d heard something more like a machine,

“Well done brother I will begrudgingly admit this time you have outshone me. I was certain you were just fooling around but who knew you would find mother in there…” the man exclaimed with excitement

the young Druid's shone with fear as she stared at the newcomers with alarm.

Her eyes shifted between them desperately as she tried to understand their meaning, but she couldn't.

She was frozen in place; her heart was pounding and her breathing became heavy.

She gripped her staff tightly

“Mother…” She whispered barely audible and stared at them in disbelief

her father glanced at each intruder before returning their glare.

They stood still for a while in silence, sizing each other up, sizing each other down Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the woman spoke first she looked at her brother first with concern clear in her cold gray eyes

“Leonid… what are they doing here? GO! retrieve mother, we shall handle this creature"

Snapping out of a trance Leonid quickly nodded before turning and sprinting toward the temple entrance but before he could enter the door a cold grip on his shoulder stopped him

the man turned around to find himself face to face with dark green emerald flame eyes in a humanoid man made of grapevines,

The instinctually channeled his magic and pointed his ring as a blast threw the vine monster back with a gaping hole in its abdomen which was quickly closing as more vines were spawned and rushed him in.

Leonid gritted his teeth in pain as a burst of red energy shot out of his ring and hit the vines sending them flying in all directions but a few managed to stay in front of him, and he barely dodged another vine shooting forward at his face.

He quickly pulled out another vile from the pouch at his side as he quickly ducked underneath the vine and shot it from under his feet.

As the vile burst open the solid ground turned liquid before turning solid again traping the vines and allowing a small window for escape but as Leonid looked he found the vine monster charging him

‘Shit! The thing is moving fast, it must have regenerated its injuries’ he thought anxiously

He jumped up to evade its attacks, but he tripped on his leg and fell face first on the hard stone ground before he could even finish his jump.

Leonid groaned in pain as he rolled away from the monster's reach,

Leonid screamed in pain as he felt sharp jagged teeth sink into his leg and tore it off, leaving a gaping hole.

His body trembled in pain but still,

he pushed his adrenaline aside and forced his ringed hand to point at now a charming monster and weaved a spell as fast as he could manage,

"Burn!" he shouted as A fireball erupted from his fingertips,

lighting up the area in an instant as the monster's form shook and burned

The creature screamed in agony and staggered backward before it collapsed onto the soft soil with an earthy thud, a large circle of smoke enveloped it.

Leonid got up and looked for his missing limb.

But when he found it the pain in his leg was so intense he fell back to the ground and closed his eyes trying to breathe deeply.

When he opened them again, he saw a giant wolf approaching him.

The beast was huge, standing over 5 meters in height and its fur was a shade darker than the wolf he knew but the eyes were no different, those piercing emerald orbs that looked right into his soul. He knew that stare too well, he’d seen it hundreds of times,

And then the wolf changed.

Its features melted, the nose grew bigger and longer,

its ears became longer and wider until its whole head was completely transformed and it stood in a much more humanoid shape.

Its arms, legs, hands, fingers, and toes became paws.

It transformed into a large, lion-like grey creature and lunged at him in a flash.

Its claws extended like swords towards his face, but Leonid was able to raise his arms and raised a shield of water to protect his face before it crashed into him knocking him down.

"Don't do this...no..." Leonid gasped out in utter surprise as he gazed at it with a look of fear,

and he noticed its jaws snapping at his neck

"Run...run...please run..." he pleaded desperately as it came closer and snapped its jaws at his neck,

he closed his eyes and waited for the bite of its fangs to break the skin but nothing happened.

Right then he unleashed the spell he had been weaving from the start a moment earlier.

The creature froze in place as it was suddenly encased in a thick layer of ice, a few seconds later a massive wave of cold spread throughout the clearing, causing everything within five feet of Leonid to freeze in place.

The creature was completely frozen in ice.

Leonid slowly got up feeling lightheaded, pain pulsing through every inch of his body, he shook his head to clear his dizziness. Looking around, he realized the creature was now frozen and unmoving.

"I am so sorry" Leonid whispered as he looked at the now ice sculpture in horror.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped itself around Leonid's throat. It lifted him effortlessly as he struggled uselessly.

Leonid gasped desperately as he felt the icy breath of a man against his ear.

"Let me ask you something, why did you do it?" the voice said in a deep gravelly voice.

Leonid swallowed hard as he tried to speak but he couldn't.

The man chuckled softly before breaking Leonid's neck and walking away.

"Good night little birdie," he said sadly as he broke the ice trapping the monster's carcass.

Even before the monster touched the ground it transformed into a young girl with lifeless emerald eyes.

A monstrous scream filled the air as it transformed.

As the creature changed its form its screams were muffled slightly as its flesh melted in place until finally the monster was completely gone. All that remained were ashes and a black dagger where the creature once stood.

 

**********************

After a few moments, Leonid's body twitched as his broken neck began to heal.

After he healed enough, Leonid stumbled up and glanced around.

He saw his cult brother and sister's mangled corpses lying motionless on the floor surrounded by pools of blood.

Leonid let out a pained sigh and quickly made his way to his two companions.

He knelt beside them, gently placing a gentle hand on each side of their heads as their bodies started to glow.

"Thank you.." one of them mumbled as the glowing faded away revealing the faces of his siblings Leonid blinked several times before nodding and slowly getting up and brushing the dirt from his clothes

"No problem," Leonid replied quietly as he got up to leave,

Lifting himself from the damp floor he stretched in aching muscles, the pain in his leg still fresh and throbbing, he glanced around and sighed in resignation when saw the young druid.

He walked away from the scene, feeling guiltily ashamed, and mournful, But as he reached the entrance to the temple, he stopped in confusion There wasn't any sign of any monsters or monsters attacking.

No one was waiting for him outside.

He frowned in confusion as he looked around, wondering if he'd somehow missed something, but when nothing happened he ignored his paranoia and entered the temple.

The interior was dark and eerily quiet save for some faint whispers echoing through the empty room.

It was completely silent as if there was nobody inside the temple. Leonid walked along slowly making sure not to step upon any fallen bones as he searched for anything that would give away the existence of his goal.

Finally, he spotted it.

A statue of a woman,

she appeared to be very beautiful with long hair cascading down her shoulders and blue eyes made of gems that pierced through Leonid's soul as he approached it.

Leonid gently placed his hand on the figure's feet before looking curiously at it.

It was strange.

The woman seemed familiar yet not at all. She was dressed in armor and held herself as if she was about to battle.

As he observed the statue's face he could not help noticing that his memory of the woman was almost entirely gone.

All that was left was a vague sense of familiarity.

Then he noticed the small rock that the woman held to her chest as if guarding it carefully.

He picked it up and inspected it closely His eyes softened as memories flooded his mind, ones he never thought that he'd ever see.

He smiled a small smile and placed the rock back down as he remembered what he'd seen.

He studied the rock again It was a beautiful rock, smooth as glass.

It was shaped like a flower with four petals, the middle petal looked like a heart with the last part forming an upside-down heart in the center.

The color of the flowers was also unique, it wasn't red but pinkish-orange.

He took a step back examining it for another minute.

Then he turned around.

As he left the building, he turned to check one final time behind him just to make sure he had checked everything.

But he found no one and nothing there, only dust floating in the empty room.

Leonid turned to walk away but hesitated for a second, he found nothing but the rock was this rock mother?

He turned to face his now healed brethren as his hand subconsciously reached out towards the rock.

Before he could touch it, however, his arm stiffened painfully as though someone had grabbed his shoulder and twisted it harshly.

A screaming voice filled his head.

"NO!!!" Leonid shrieked as he stumbled back, shaking violently.

The voices continued screaming, screaming, shouting at him, but he did not respond to them as he tried to calm down.

His breathing was erratic as he tried to ignore the agonizing pain wracking his whole body.

He didn't know how long he struggled to control his convulsions, but eventually, the screaming voices disappeared.

Leonid's eyes slowly opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the cult leader. And he was holding Leonid in his grip.

The hooded man had Leonid pinned to the ground with one hand while the other gripped Leonid's throat tightly.

When the cult leader finally released his grip Leonid gasped greedily for breath, struggling for breath with tears pouring out of his wide eyes.

"well-done son you found her,"