The air changes before he even walks in.
The guards straighten.
The scholars shut up.
The whole damn room freezes like the temperature just dropped.
And I smell it.
Light.
Old as stone.
Sharp as metal.
Warm like something I should hate—but don't.
Then he enters.
The blond-man.
The Elder.
His steps echo softly across the stone, nothing like the frantic shuffling of the others. Calm. Controlled.
His eyes are the worst part.
Golden.Precise.Cutting right through me like they're trying to see my bones.
I hate him.
I don't know why.
I hated the fear of the others.
I loved the taste of it.
But his eyes aren't afraid.
Not even annoyed.
Just… steady.My lips pull back.A low hiss crawls from my throat.He stops exactly one step away from the bars.
Closer than anyone else dared.
"You attacked a guard," he says, voice calm. "You tore off his arm."
I tilt my head.
His heartbeat doesn't change.
Damn him.
He stares at me with those sharp, pitying eyes, and that look burns worse than the chains.
"Do you understand me?" he asks.
Something sparks in my chest.
A sound.
A shape.
His voice.
I copy it.
Perfectly.
"Do you… understand me?"
Gasps explode around the room.
One guard drops his spear.
A scholar whimpers.But the Elder doesn't flinch.His brows only lift a fraction.
Like he wasn't shocked—just… noting it.I hate that tooHe steps closer, fingers brushing the glowing bars.
"Why mimic me?" he asks softly.
My throat cracks, voice warping, twisting his words into something darker:
"Why… mimic… me?"
The scholars lose their minds behind him.
"It can copy tones—!"
"Intonation too—!"
"It's learning personalities—!"
"Elder, please stand back—!"But he doesn't move.He only watches me.Not scared.Not disgusted.Concerned.
WHY.
My body twitches with anger.
My bones shift again, a new crack running down my spine as I grow another inch.
The bars creak.
He finally reacts—not with fear, but with a tiny, tired sigh."You're still changing."
I snap my jaws shut, teeth clicking like metal.He sighs again."Chains won't hold you forever."
The guards panic at that.
"E-Elder, we can reinforce the bindings—"
"We can increase the floor sigils—!"
"Perhaps sedatives—"
But the Elder lifts a single hand.
Silence.
Then he looks at me like I'm a puzzle he's already halfway solved.
"I need to know what you are."
My voice answers before I think:
"What… are… you?"
And for the first time…
He actually looks startled.Just a flicker.But I SEE it.Good.
The Elder finally steps back, giving the scholars a nod.
"Proceed carefully."They hear "proceed."Not "carefully."
Idiots.
One scholar rushes forward holding a crystal syringe filled with glowing liquid.
"What is that?" a guard barks.
"A stabilizing agent," the scholar says, breathless. "If we inject it into the creature's flesh, we may be able to halt its growth long enough to study its anatomy."
The Elder's eyes narrow."That's untested—"
But the scholar is already leaning too close, reaching between the bars.
I watch his hand.
Veins.
Heartbeat.
Warm.
I'm hungry again.
He pushes the needle toward my shoulder.
My muscles coil.
He touches my skin—
The growth inside me SURGES.My bones shift.My shoulder spikes outward suddenly, like a new antler erupting under flesh.
The needle SHATTERS in his hand.
The liquid splashes across my skin—
And the magic reacts violently.
Light erupts.The bars HUM.Chains ignite.
The scholar SCREAMS as the magic whiplashes through the metal, throwing him backward into two guards.
The entire cage shudders like something inside me is trying to break out.
I laugh.A deep, wrong sound.
The Elder steps forward instantly, hands raised, golden aura flaring.
"STOP. CALM HIM—"
Too late.
My voice tears through the chamber, mimicking the Elder's tone PERFECTLY:
"STOP. CALM HIM."
The guards freeze in confusion—
and the magic inside me SLAMS into the bars.
A crack appears.A tiny one.But a crack.The Elder sees it.His eyes widen.And for the first time…
He actually looks afraid for them—
not of me.
The crack in the bars widens.Just a breath.Just a whisper.But enough for every coward in the room to lose their feathers.
Guards scream orders.Scholars run.Magic sigils flare like dying stars.
But the Elder moves first.
Golden light erupts from his palms — hotter than anything I've seen from the others.Not panicked.Not sloppy.
Controlled.Precise.Deadly.
"STAND DOWN!" he barks, voice thunder.
The room obeys instantly.
Except me.
I slam my shoulder into the bars again.
CRRACK—
Chains snap.Sparks explode.Wings flare.Voices scream.I break through like rotten wood.
THEY SCATTER —
but not fast enough.
I leap.
Teeth tearing.Horns ripping.Bodies dropping.
Fear floods the air so fast it's dizzying.
I drink it in like breath.One guard tries to fly —
I grab his ankle and yank him down so hard his wing snaps.
Another charges me — spear glowing —
I impale him through the chest with my antlers, lift him, and throw him into the wall.
Blood splashes.Screams echo.My hunger roars.All of them run now.
Except him.
The Elder stands alone in the center of the chaos, light swirling around him like armor made of dawn.
His eyes meet mine.
And something in my chest stutters.
WHY.
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN WHEN HE LOOKS AT ME—
His voice cuts through my thoughts:
"STOP."
I don't.
I LUNGE.
He dodges faster than anyone else could, light flashing as he moves.
A barrier erupts between us, golden and sharp — I crash into it, cracks spiderwebbing across the surface.
He strains, hands shaking.
He's strong — too strong — but I'm growing, shifting, becoming.
The barrier shatters.
I hit him.
He flies backward and slams into a pillar, breath ripped from his lungs.
He tries to rise.
Fails.
His hand glows weakly — trying to summon light — but I pin him to the ground with a hoof.
My jaws open over his throat
Every instinct screams:
KILL HIM.
FINISH HIM.
TEAR HIM OPEN.
But I don't.
I freeze.
Something stops me.
Something wrong.
Something unfamiliar.
Something that feels like a fist squeezing my ribs.
WHY CAN'T I MOVE?!
He stares up at me — eyes not wide with fear, but soft.
Sad.
Like he's looking at a dying animal.
"Please… stop," he whispers.
I mimic him — perfectly, voice low, glitching:
"Pleassse… stooop…"
His breath catches.
For a terrifying second…
I don't want to kill him.
My chest aches —
a hot, sharp pain that has nothing to do with hunger.
I HATE IT.
I roar and pull back, stumbling as the emotion rips through me.
The Elder flinches but doesn't run.
IDIOT.
I rear up —
slam the ground beside his head —
and turn away.
Because if I stay here one more second,I will tear him apart —or worse…
I won't.
My legs move before I think. bolt past the broken bars, over the bodies, through the smoke.
Guards dive out of my way.
Scholars scream.
Doors explode off their hinges as I charge through them.
Up the stairs.
Up and up and up.
Toward the castle above.Toward freedom.Toward blood.Toward everything they tried to keep from me.
Behind me, I hear the Elder shout:
"DON'T LET IT REACH THE SURFACE!"
But I'm already gone.So I hit the wall.
Stone cracks like thin ice. Dust explodes everywhere, choking the dozens of guards behind me. I force myself through the gap, scraping my hide, ripping fur. Doesn't matter. I am OUT.
A long tunnel stretches upward — stairs carved into the guts of the castle.
I take them three, four at a time.Claws slip. Hooves slam. The stairwell shakes.
The guards chase but fall behind. Their armor slows them. Their breathing is weak. Their fear is loud.
I mimic it back at them, clicking my jaws:
"Faaast—fast—RUN—haaah—"
It echoes up the shaft, makes them panic harder. Good.
I burst through the trapdoor at the top — and light blinds me. A massive hall, high ceilings, banners dripping with gold thread.
And angels.
Hundreds.
They freeze when they see me, eyes wide, wings flaring like startled birds. Then someone screams:
"THE CREATURE IS OUT!"
I leap.
Bodies crumple beneath me. Feathers explode into the air. Wings tear. Bones crunch. Their holy light cracks and sputters as I rip through them one by one.
Some try to fly — idiots.
I jump, snagging their legs mid-air, yanking them down like fruit from a low branch. Their halos fall with them, spinning, dimming.
Thirty. Fifty. A hundred. I stop counting.
Blood soaks the marble. It smells wrong — too clean, too bright — but still warm enough to enjoy.
Then I sense him.
The Elder.
He stands at the doorway, breathless, sweat dripping, sword trembling. He followed me. Of course he did.
He steps forward.
I roar again, louder, and the windows SHATTER.
He raises his blade — trying to stop me — but the moment he tries to strike, something happens.
His arm seizes.
His chest locks.
His pulse stutters.
His blade slips from his hand and clatters on the stone.He is frozen.
Not by fear.Not by me.By something ELSE.
Something that smells like old magic, buried deep under his skin.
He chokes out a whisper:
"Not—now—"
I tilt my head.
Why can't he move?
Why can't I kill him?
I snarl in confusion and tear past him, ripping open the next hall, smashing through doors and furniture. Angels pour in after me. Some shoot arrows of light — they bounce harmlessly off my hide. Others charge with spears — I break their spines before they finish screaming.
More. And more. And more.
I burst through one final doorway — into open air.
A tower balcony.
The wind hits like a slap.
Below — chaos. Flocks of angels rising like insects.
They dive at me.
Good.
I jump higher than they expect, catch three at once, snap their necks, and ride their falling bodies downward like stepping stones.
But more come.
I run along the outer ledge of the castle wall, claws scraping stone, then leap into another tower window. Angels corner me — five, ten, twenty.
I roar so loud the torches blow out.
They stumble.
I tear through them like cloth.And then—
A courtyard below.
Not angels.
Not guards.
But earth watchers — angels and fairies tending to the gateways to the human realm. Their wings shimmer like broken glass. Their magic burns the air like lightning.
A perfect place to escape.
I sprint toward them—
—but the floor collapses.
A gap.
A massive hole carved deep into the stone from some old earthquake or battle.
I try to leap it.
Too far.
My hoof catches the edge—The world tilts.I fall.
Wind screams past me.
Light blurs.
Voices vanish above.
The castle disappears as I plunge into the darkness beneath the realms.
And I do not stop falling.