In that moment, I felt something. I feel scared for the first time since facing so many battles and wars.
“Fuck it,” I cursed to myself and run to find Cassidy. Brandon can go and shit himself.
The stench of sweat and blood hung thick in my body as that colossal Rogue squared off against Cassidy, the clash of their weapons echoing through the abandoned icy ruins.
My heart raced as I watched the battle unfold before me, the desperate struggle between my Luna and a Rogue playing out in a deadly dance of steel and fury.
Cassidy moved with the grace of a seasoned warrior, her every step calculated. I’ve thought her well, of course. Her sword is a natural extension of her being. But the Rogue was no ordinary adversary: it was a behemoth, its muscles rippling with raw power as it swung its massive twin daggers with brutal force.
Each collision of metal against metal sent shockwaves through the ground, rattling the wintry debris beneath my feet. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I watched Cassidy narrowly dodge a vicious swing of the Rogue's weapon. She countered with a swift jab, her blade finding purchase in the Rogue's flesh.
But it only seemed to enrage the creature further.
His eyes burned with a primal fury as it unleashed a flurry of strikes, each blow aimed to maim or kill. I wanted to rush forward, to aid Cassidy in her battle against the monstrous Rogue, but I knew my presence would only distract her. Calling out her name would give her opponent a chance to bury its twin daggers into her heart and skull.
So I remained rooted to my spot, my heart pounding in my chest. My mind is a chaotic swirl of emotions right now. Then, in an instant, the battle took a terrifying turn. Cassidy's footing faltered, her guard slipping for just a fraction of a second.
“Fuck! Watch out, Cassidy!” I called to her and immediately whipped her attention toward me. “Zarion?” It was all the Rogue needed. With a guttural roar, he lunged forward, its weapon crashing down with a bone-shattering force.
“Cassidy!!!” I cried out, my voice lost in the chaos as I watched Cassidy crumple under the blow, her body unable to withstand the sheer might of the Rogue.
“No!” The word tore from my throat as my heart clenched in anguish. But before I could even process what had happened, I was thrown aside with a jolt, pain radiating through my body as I collided with a pile of rubble.
Gasping, I struggled to regain my bearings, my vision blurred as I forced myself to my feet. And then, in a surreal and nightmarish sight, I witnessed the Rogue's brutality up close. Closer. His massive hands closed around Cassidy's form, her pleas for mercy drowned out by the sounds of battle.
With a sickening crunch, the Rogue tore her body into pieces, blood and gore painting the wintry ground in a gruesome picture of death.
“NO!!!”
Time seemed to stand still as I watched with utter horror and rage. Bile rose from my throat and I emptied my stomach in one swift vomit. Helplessness and hopelessness churned within me as I lifted my gaze. Cassidy, a fierce and unyielding warrior, my one and only Luna, had fallen. Apart.
And I had been powerless to prevent it. Tears cascaded down my eyes as I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The world around me faded to a blur, the sounds of battle vanishing into a distant hum as grief consumed me.
All my soul. All my being shattered. It was gone and lost. All I could feel was the weight of loss and the burning desire for vengeance. The Rogue would pay for what he has done, even if it meant walking through the very depths of hell to make it happen.
My mind was clouded with anger and remorse as I rose to my feet. My grip tightened on the hilt of my bloodstained blade, the metallic tang mingling with the smell of earth and mayhem that spread in the air. The battle was over, but the echoes of violence never dissipated. It still resounded in my mind, a relentless drumbeat that matched the erratic rhythm of my broken heart.
The lifeless bodies of Rogues and members of Alpha Brandon's pack lay strewn across the icy clearing, some falling below the rocky cold cliffs and plunging deep to the Turquoise Ocean.
It was a testament to the fury that had consumed me. I could feel it—something deep within me was cracking, the very core of my being quaking under the weight of my demon.
Luna Cassidy, the love of my life, had been taken from me right before my eyes. I had watched helplessly as her light was extinguished, her soul silenced forever. The torment of that moment clawed at my sanity, threatening to shatter the fragile balance that had kept my inner demon at bay.
As the realization of what I had done settled in, a primal rage took hold of me. A storm of darkness had been unleashed from the depths of my soul, obliterating reason and compassion. I can no longer keep it at bay.
Shadows took hold of my being. The bodies that lay before me were no longer people, no longer lives—they were just mere obstacles, things that needed to be eradicated to quench the thirst for vengeance that surged through my veins.
Alpha Brandon's voice cut through the haze of violence, a stark reminder that there were witnesses to my descent into savagery.
“You're a fucking demon?” he spat, my brother’s eyes wide with shock and fear. His attempt to retreat was a feeble one, his legs faltering as he took one step back from me. Then another. And another. I could see the doubt in his eyes, the uncertainty of facing a foe that was no longer bound by the rules.
Then he was running. Away. From me. From the demon, brightly dark and flaming.
But I was faster. And I caught Brandon in a blink of my eye. I lifted my gaze towards him, the fire of my hatred burning deep in my dark eyes. “Yes, I am a demon,” I confirmed, my voice a low, guttural growl that echoed with the darkness that had consumed me. My own words sounded foreign to me, as if they were coming from a place beyond my control, from the very heart of the beast that had been unleashed.
“No way...” Brandon’s disbelief was evident, his voice trembling as he spoke. But my grip on the blade tightened, the leather of my gloves creaking under the pressure. “I'm going to kill you,” I declared, each word dripping with venom that matched the red hue of my stained hands. “Slowly.”
“You—you can't...I'm y-your brother!” His voice cracked, Brandon’s desperation hanging in the air like a bitter scent of flesh burning. His words pierced through the darkness that enveloped me, a brief glimmer of recognition that tugged at the fraying edges of my humanity. “Zarion!” he shrieked despite his voice quivering. “You should know me!”
For a moment, I hesitated. He’s a family still. A blood of my blood. Flesh of my flesh. But the storm within me wavered, the tempest of rage and darkness momentarily quelled by the faintest whisper of memory. I saw his face, a mirror of my own, a reminder of the brother he once been. Despite being a child of my father’s treachery, he’s still a brother in some ways.
But the memory was fleeting, swept away by the overwhelming tide of anguish and fury guiding me. I took a step forward, the blade gleaming in the muted light of the moon.
I hissed, “You know all too well that blood means nothing to me now.” With words heavy with the weight of my demonic transformation, horns sprouting and nails sharper than ever, each step reverberating, the rift between us widened. The chasm of my newfound identity, the demon bare and undisguised, was almost impossible to bridge.
With a primal roar, I lunged forward, the ground beneath me seemingly giving way. I swung the sword in a powerful arc and the blade found its mark in an instant. It was over before I could heave my next breath. His head separated from his body, rolling down the plains, a gruesome act of victory to the finality of our clash.
Walking to the edge of the cliff, I gazed down at my brother, now reduced to nothing more than a fallen tyrant. His eyes, once filled with malice and envy and cunning, stared up at me in a lifeless display of disbelief, clutched between frozen fractals. His hair was matted with blood, a clear reminder of the brutality that had unfolded on this unforgiving battleground.
“Goodbye, brother.” As the wind carried my mournful lament, I released his head from my grip. It tumbled down the cliff, a macabre offering to the cold abyss below.
“Send my regards to father.” Yet somehow, despite all between us, my heart ached a little for what I have done.