《Mutt》 Chapter One: Tragedy In the town of Ruby, where the population of 8,000 residents is only the drop in the ocean compared to the vast world of Terra. Ruby is only a small quiet town located in Southeast Goerges Kingdom of the Tudderlin Continent. As you go through, you can see carriages going in and out of Ruby. As you go towards the Western end, you can see a Church, next to it was a school. Currently sitting in a classroom is 18 year old Marissa with brown hair and eyes alongside other peers her age were all attentively listening to the teacher''s lecture. "Now students, who can tell me the difference between,us, humans and the creatures known as "Crypts." Teacher Thomas asked as he looked around the quiet classroom while finally landing his sight on Marissa. Marissa looked up and responded: " The difference is that humans were created in the image of our Almighty God, while crypts are heretical creatures that have stepped off the path of righteousness and followed the path of betrayal." "Very good" Teacher Thomas responded while smiling Ding Ding Ding Marissa looked up and noticed the ending bell which meant schooling was over. Now she can go home, undress out of her nun outfit, help out at home and play with her mischievious "pet" "Hey Marissa, do you want to come to the riverside to catch some fish with us?" A group of her friends had asked while walking down the bustling street. "Not today, we have guests from the church coming and it''s going to be busy, father needs my help." **************************** She lived on a farm with her parents producing crops and meats to distribute through out the town. Today was an important day as the Church and her Dad was going negotiate the yearly taxes. As she walked to the door, she heard; "If you truly believe in the Almighty God, you''ll take this deal, otherwise, we can just find others who will..." Father Froeder said in a very a threatening tone. As she opened the door, Froeder and two other church members were coming towards her in an imposing atmosphere, she gulped as she couldn''t handle it. The three chuch members simply looked and then dismissed her from their sights. She was unhappy and worried about their behavior, so she ran towards her father,Johnson. "Father, are you and mother okay?!" Her mother, Olive who has brown hair and eyes, smiled and said: "Of course we''re okay, we''ll somehow manage." Marissa looked at both her parents worriedly, while her father just sighed and said: "I was hoping we could keep the same rate of taxes as last year, even though we can barely afford it, we still get by. But now, with the current drought affecting our crops and animals, we can''t afford their new tax! I pray to the Almighty that this situation can improve, otherwise I''ll no choice, but to decline again, sigh...." In the Town of Ruby, the Church was in charge of many procedures, including taxes. "Father, I believe the Almighty won''t fail us, let''s just relax" Marissa smiled Johnson looked at his Daughter and had somewhat of a proud look on his face for having such a strong daughter. She''s diligent in her prayers and diligent in her studies. As Marissa was getting ready to go change, Johnson remembered something and said "Oh yes, your "little buddy" stopped by the wood line again. He''s probably waiting for you to play, so don''t stay out too late."This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Okay!" Marissa said while running towards her room to change. ****************** After a few minutes, she reached the woodline where her pet(best friend) was waiting. As she walked in the woods, it was quiet and creepy with no signs of her friend. As she delved deeper in, she was starting to get scared, the woods had a certain atmosphere to it, quiet, somewhat dark because of the trees,and she was alone. *Creak* A branch snapped behind, so she hurreidly turned around, as she did, her friend was there... "AHHHHHH" she screamed and and something jumped on top of her, licking her face. It was her friend, a Morrigon Wolf, Luna, that was abandoned by it''s pack as a pup. She had beautiful white fur and eyes that seemed to reflect the very moon itself. Marissa struggled to get up and said: "Don''t do that again, you scared me hald to death!" Marissa playfully patting Luna''s fur. *Gururr* Luna whimpered back They continued to play until it was about dusk, Marissa had to get so she said her goodbyes to Luna and walk back towards her home. ********************************** When she reached the edge of the forest, she saw her home on fire, panic written all over her as she ran back screaming "FATHER, MOTHER!!!" repeatedly Once she got to the front of the house, she saw both of her parents in a pool blood surrounded by six other silhouettes. She started trembling and panting as her mind was going blank. Walking unsteadily walked toward them, she fell to her knees and started crying..."WHY WHY...WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" screaming hysterically at the six men. "Why? Does a family of heretics have the right to ask?" One of the men stepped out, as he did, he became much clearer. Marissa was surprised because the man was her teacher, teacher Thomas and other followers of the church, specifically holy knights! Marissa couldn''t beileve it and asked"Why are doing this?!" as she held her dead mother. Suddenly she grabbed by her father as he was grasping for breath and said "run" weakly before dying. Marissa was lost and confused as she glued to the ground. "You all have been labeled as heretics, there''s no where to run, hah" Thomas said as he gave the go ahead to one of the men following him. The man pointed a crossbow at Marissa, ready to fire. Marissa realizing she was in trouble tried to get up and run, but she felt a sharp pain in her leg. There was an arrow and terror started to fill her face as tears and snot ran down her face "Please, no.... stop this" "Hahahahahaha, heretics begging for their live is always the best part....well the second best part" one of the men said with a wicked smile. Marissa seeing them smile knew what they was about to do to her. She started hobbling away with all her while the men was laughing. The same man noticed and shot her in her other leg and then walked up to her as she fell and sliced both of her heels. "AHHHHH" Marissa screamed in pain and couldn''t walk anymore. *SNORT* "You think you can get away?" the man walked toward her with a very disgusting smile on his face as he started unbuckling his pants.The man ripped off her pants and proceeded to rape her. Marissa at this point died inside, completely giving up as she looked at the men with lifeless, cold eyes. "GROWHOWL!!!!!!" was heard as a big white morrigon wolf had ran towards the man and bit his throat, the man dying on the spot, this was Luna. Marissa saw Luna and felt a glimmer of hope. Luna turned around, picked up Marissa by her shirt and started to run towards the forest. Two of the men shot crossbows at the wolf and managed to hit her. "Tsk, she got away" as Thomas was unsatisfied with what just transpiredas he heartlessly looked at his dead comrade. "Don''t worry, we managed to hit the wolf with our crossbows. All we have to do is follow blood trail until we catch up, haha" One of the men said. *Thump* Marissa surprised by the sudden drop looked around as she noticed she was in a cave. She looked back and saw Luna struggling to keep standing. She finally noticed an arrow at the side Luna''s neck, she turned pale as she noticed the blood trail left behind and hugged Luna with all her might. "So you two made it this far, but it''s a good place to be your grave" Thomas said as he and his followers walked towards Marissa, as Luna was still in front guarding her. "I SWEAR I''LL KILL ALL OF YOU, EVEN I HAVE TO BECOME A SPIRIT!!" "Enough struggling, this is where you''ll die. Kill them." Thomas instructed The other men raised their crossbows and fired all of their arrows into both of them. Luna collapsed on top of Marissa as both of them were riddled with arrows. She knew this was end as she saw Luna lay lifeless on top of her. She had unstable breathing and her eyesight was growing dimmer. She was filled so much madness and hatred. If only....if only she could have a second chance, she would...., but life was cruel.... Thomas watched on as he ordered"Slit their throats and throw them in that small crevice over there. We still need to go back and hide the evidence." Their throats were slit and thrown into the abyss.... Chapter Two: Born from Tragedy "PlEASE DON"T COME ANY CLOSER!!" the girl screaming towards the man with a distorted smile and sword "NONONONONO I don''t want to die, IDONTWANTTODIE, IDONTWANTTO...." *Schick" the sword flashes across her field of vision... "NOOOO...." Suddenly the girls eyes shoot open and screams. She''s gasping for breath, feeling cold sweats all over her while looking around, but can''t as their is a heavy object laying on top of her. "Hah hahhah...Wha....What''s going on? Didn''t I die?! Wait... Where''s LUNA?!! LUNAAAA?!!!" The girl starts pushing frantically pushing the object off, but couldn''t as she was too weak. This girl is none other than Marissa, confused and upset to what''s happened to her as her memories are still being recollected. She starts tear up as she remembered what happened to her family, Luna, and herself. Very sad and thankful Luna saved her life! *THUMP* Finally rolling the object off her, she noticed it was Luna''s corpse, but it was already decomposing. She let out a sad sigh and then let on a fierce expression as she gritted her teeth. She tried to stand up, but it felt like like there was something pulling and it was uncomfortable. She started to have a bad itch on her neck, chest, stomach, and legs. What she noticed were bloody red vine like tubes connecting her to Luna''s corpse. She was horrified and immediately started pulling them out, skin and all. "UGH.....IT HURTS" She said finally pulling the rest off. Noticing there wasn''t much bleeding she started to inspect her wounds and noticed they were already healing! She was dumbfounded and started fiddling around with her body and noticed many things! Her wounds were healing, she had claws for her finger and toe nails, and she could see in the dark!!! "this.." As if thinking of something, she crawled to a nearby puddle to look at herself. Once she looked, she was further dumbfounded and terrified. She had white hair with a slight red that looked veins intertwined. Her eyes were white with red mixed in her pupils, she was not human, not anymore....This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "What happened to me... Why am I like this?!" She realized that she couldn''t even go back out into the publics eyes. She would be killed by the church immediately. She became the very enemy churches hate the most, a crypt.... "Hahahah... No they labeled my family and I heretics first for not being to afford their outrageous taxes." Overcoming her fear over the fact that the very same church turned her into this. The more she thought about it, the more twisted and disturbing her face became. The glint in her eyes, coupled with the darkness made her seem like a creature straight from the abyss. "Haha, I''ll definitely..." she spoke out her thoughts as she was getting up to survey the deep crevice to try to get out. As she was looking around, she heard something something crawling a little bit away from her. She started walking toward the noise and upon arriving a distance away, she saw a rat scavenging for food. Her stomach started growling, as if she was taken over by a growling stomach, she inched slowly, not to alarm the rat. As she got close enough...she swiped at the rat, catching it and biting its throat in one fluid motion. It tasted so good as she pulled out tendons and muscles as she chewed and swollowed it all without leaving anything else behind. It was surprising how she turned savage from hunger which means she has no means to control herself from beastly tendencies. "I need to get out of here..No I have to get out of here!" She started to investigating where the rat came from before discovering a small hole located behind a somewhat large boulder. Putting her ear next to the hole, she could feel air and smell as well. Growing excited, she started pushing the boulder, slowly pushing it. "What Strength!?" Surprised by the amount of strength she possessed! *RUMBLE*RUMBLE* *CRASH* The boulder was finally pushed out of the way after a few hours. She was hungry again, so before leaving, she captured more rats and ate them. After eating, Marissa focused her sights on the hole, she could try to climb, but it''s not worth the risk. It wasn''t very large, so it required some digging, luckily she had claws! "At least these are good for something, hah" Marissa jokingly said *********** In a dark forest, you could hear the wind whistling with leaves, while rain poured down, and thunder peeled in the distance. As the lightning danced in the sky, you could see, in a small petrusion of a mountainside: there was someone wiggling their way out of a narrow crevice. "Phew, I''m finally out after two days. I was getting sick of rats" Marissa said as she looked around. "I think it''s time to pay a visit to some old friends..." she said with a fierce smiling expression while showing her canines.... To be continued Chapter Three: Night of Hell Today days later.... *Clack Clack Clack* On a certain tributary route going West, while coming back from the town of Ruby, a horse carriage was thumping among many pot holes in a hurry. Roan, a certain inn keeper was in a rush to get back as he received terrible new that could affect his business to the point of getting shut down. He didn''t know what to do next or where to go to be able save his inn. If his inn shut down, he would definitely lose his wife and child! As he saw the inn closing near, he couldn''t help, but shudder while saying, "What are we going to do" As he pulled up, seeing the wife and child playing together while cleaning horse stables, he smiled while secretly praying in his mind. Joining in the fun, he picks up his 7 year old son, Tilldan, who was split image of him with blonde hair and blue eyes, started spinning around. As he held the boy, Roan smiled, kissing Tabitha, his wife, a woman with blonde hair and green eys, on the cheek. They were the small respectable family who built the inn from the ground up. "How was your day, Tabitha? Tilldan?"(Roan) "We just got done cleaning the horse stables and are getting ready to clean the guest room the previous tenant left." Tabitha responded "Well, let''s just have Tilldan clean it, it''s about time for him learn more about the inn anyways. Besides we have some issues to discuss."(Roan) Tabitha could easily tell something was wrong with this husband of hers, so she just nodded. "I went to Ruby to get our weekly stock supply for the inn, but could not get any at all!"(Roan) "What do you mean you couldn''t get any?! Thats our livelyhood!"(Tabitha) "Calm down, and listen. When I asked one of the barter warehouses the reason for refusing business; I heard something absurd! The family that managed the main farm died in a nasty blaze. The fire burned everything, it took the church a whole day to settle it all. Then I asked if they had any stock, they didn''t, and if they did, the going rate would start at 200 silver! How ridiculous!! At this point, I might have to go to the capital and get the supplies.." Roan dryly said "hah, we can only do what we can handle, and if we have to, we can go and spend a little more at the capital. I''ll support any decision you make, it''ll all work out." Tabitha said, comforting her husband. She couldn''t blame him. "Alright, I''ll definitely go first thing tomorrow, the sooner the better so I can beat other merchents! I just hope I don''t run into bandits, I can''t afford escorts....Okay let''s eat a meal as family since I''m going to be gone a few days."(Roan) A couple of hours later... Roan, Tabitha, and Tilldan were sitting at their dinner table praying and being thankful for the meal. The atmosphere was peaceful as it was night time, it felt like nothing could tear them apart. The loving parents were watching their son eat, being proud for having such a child. While they were enjoying their dinnier, laughing and singing praises of the almighty, they heard a knock at the door... *KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK* Surprised and puzzled by the late knocking at the door. Roan, thinking it was a potential tenant opened the door and was surprised by what he saw... "he....hel....help.." a girl with barely any clothing covering her. She was covered in small branches, bugs, and mud, she was just ragged. That wasn''t why Roan was surprised, this girl white hair, and white eyes that just seemed to pull you in. "Are you okay?!" Roan couldn''t help, but be concerned. This was a girl who looked like she''s in distress! As a believer of the Almighty, he must extend kindness to others in trouble, sh he pulled the troubled girl in.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Tabitha, get a barrel of warm water and help clean her up!"(Roan) "Okay! Where did she come from though? Do you want to give her food as well?"(Tabitha) "Let''s just do what we can to help her!"(Roan) *Splash* Tabitha started washing the girl off, as she cleaned, she started noticing some peculiarities. First, the mysterious girl had canines, though some people had some, all of the teeth were sharper than a normal persons. She also found claws at the end of the fingers and toes. Finally, what started scaring her the most was that there was blood underneath the claws. Tabitha realized the mysterious girl was ''NOT HUMAN''! She ran to find her husband! The mysterious girl''s eyes shot open, looked around, and sat up. This was Marissa, after surviving in the forest for two days, she finally found people! ********************* In another room, two people were were whispering in a panic. "What are we going to do?! It''s a damned CRYPT...A CRYPT!!!"(Tabitha) "Sssshhhh, be quiet or it''ll hear you! We have to remain calm, it''s night time right now, we can''t go get help, it''s too dangerous."(Roan) "It''s dangerous to have her here with our son!!!"(Tabitha) What Roan and Tabitha failed to notice was that Marissa heard their entire conversation, she couldn''t help be sad. Sad not only for this seemingly genuine family providing shelter to her, but also that she has become a monster. She couldn''t blame them, she could only leave right before sunrise. She heard foot steps that broke her away from her thoughts, both Roan and Tabitha came in with a warm, gentle expressions. She felt a shiver. "What''s your name?"(Roan and Tabitha) "Mar....Marissa" "Well, Marissa, you''re probably cold from the wash, come enjoy a warm meal with us and our son."(Roan and Tabitha) "O.Okay" (Marissa) "Here''s some vegetable stew and bread, something easy on the stomach" Tabitha said while giving Marissa some food and water. "Thank you so much for helping me, I definitely would''ve died out there if stayed any longer." Marissa said awkwardly "It''s no problem at all, what would our Almighty think of us, if we couldn''t do what is expected of us!" (Roan) *Gulp* Marissa couldn''t help but tremble from those words as she was eating. She was starting to have thoughts of running as soon as poss.... *Clank* "Is...is everything alright?'''' Roan said while looking at Tabitha. Tabitha took Tilldan to bed. "I feel a little light headed, I think I need to sleep." (Marissa) "Let''s help you get to a bed if you''re not feeling well." (Roan) Marissa just nodded and allowed Roan to carry her to a bed as she was getting more loopy. They had actually used a sleep drug to subdue her. *Thump* Roan threw Marissa in the pantry and proceeded to tie her up. She was looking at him in a disappointed manner. "Please don''t look at me like that,just blame yourself for being a bastard that betrayed our Almighty."Roan said while he finished tying the ropes tight. "i...i never asked for any of this.." Marissa could only respond before the room started to distort. *Pant Pant Pant* While watching Marissa struggle with consciousness, Tabitha returned with a sword they use for self-protection. Roan grabbed it, while walking slowly toward Marissa..... "don.......Don''t COME CLOSER!!!" Marissa became hysterical as she saw the sword remembering what happened to her before... she started to hyperventilate... She started to have tunnel vision, her vision slowly blacked out with every step of Roan. **************** In the night, the animals in the nearby forest could hear blood curdling screams of slaughter of prey of a ferocious predator. The animals scurried away, afraid of whatever beast it may be. *Chomp chomp chomp* Inside a certain Inn, you could see a girl, but was this really a girl? With a protruded spine, fully extended claws, bloody teeth, and dilated white eyes, you could see it crouching over a small and fragile child. It digging in the boy''s chest, digging his heart out and eating it. As you looked around, you could see two very mangled corpses lying about, everywhere. Yes, this was the family of Roan, Tabitha, and Tilldan. ****************** Marissa was having a nightmare; Roan had tied her up and approached her with a sword. While he was in mid-swing, she felt something within her snap and slowly break out. As it did, she broke the ropes and attacked the man, she caught him off-guard, bit his throat while tackling him to the ground. She proceeded to tear his sword arm off, and started clawing out his cheast and intestines. Stuffing it all in her mouth. "NOOOOOOOOOOO" Tabitha screamed and ran towards Tilldan''s room. As Tabitha was running, she was pulled from behind by Marissa, falling to the floor, never had the chance to scream before her head was twisted off. She turned into a feast as well. Slowly, her vision went to certain room, a room that had the little boy in there. She tried to stop it, she didn''t want to see this. The door slowly opened, walking on fours towards the boy, she was breathing heavily, resisting every urge to hurt him. As soon as she was right over him, face to face, she blacked out.... ************************ Marissa woke up with cold sweat all over her body. As her vision cleared, the first thing she saw was a small child''s mutilated corpse. She went blank...... "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chapter Four: Twisted Hatred Ruby An outpost town first founded by Laurel Rubee 123 years ago after Laurel led a squad of hunters from the Hunters Corporation to eliminate a nest of a Crypt species called Olums. A white serpent like creature, with no back legs, red horns, a long snout, and needle-like fangs. They''re especially troublesome as they produce toxic slime from their skin, which causes a lot of problems for the surrounding environment. Laurel then devised a plan to contain, surround, and burn them all at once. Thus, burning a toxic marsh like arean that later would become a wasteland that he decided to develop a town on. The point of the story is there has never been a Crypt in or around the vacinityof the town of Ruby in 123 years, until now.... ******************* "Hear me! Hear me! A family of three was brutally murdered and mutilated to fill the damned betrayers stomach! Oh Almighty, hear me, as a devout follower that follows your teachings, please grant this creature divine punishment! Please allow us, your followers to burn it at the stake, while we make it repent for the sins committes! OH LORD, PLEASE GRANT SAFE PASSAGE TO THOSE THREE UNFORTUNATE SOULS!" A man in preacher garments spoke to a crowd gathering at the central part of town while holding a peculiar paper. This paper was the one and only ''ELIMINATION NOTICE''. This type of notice was one of the most important documents posted by both the Church and Hunters Corporation in tandem to eliminate threats towards the public.The notice is as follows: "
Postee: Church of ELOHIM and Hunters Corp. Notice to Public: Regarding the recent murders of the family of three, specifically, Mr. Roan, Ms. Tabitha, and little Tilldan from the Roadside Inn. The family was a victim of a vicious attack of an unidentified creature. It has come to our attention that the predator may, more than likely still be within reasonable distance of Ruby. As warning to the public, do not venture into the forest without proper protection of a professional. We are also offering a reward of 1 gold for any information regarding areas witnesses have seen the predator, as long as can be confirmed. We are also offering a 10 gold reward for the capture of the predator, whether Dead or Alive. Thank You
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As the crowd was reading the notice, more and more hatred permeated into the air until it became difficult to breathe. The preacher feeding more hatred to the crowd, he yelled: "DEATH TO ALL BETRAYERS!!!!" "DEATH TO ALL BETRAYERS!!! DEATH TO ALL BETRAYERS!!!!" **************** In a certain manor, you could hear the chant of many town goers. In the central room of the manor, there was a meeting going on discussing certain topics regarding the town of Ruby. The individuals were the current Governor, Charlize Rubee, the head of the local church, Froeder, and head of the local Hunters branch, Irschel. There was only two topics these three individuals were discussing: the farm and the family just murdered. "As I have explicitly said before, the church may bring in their own assigned personnel to manage the now vacant farm. You may also increase the going rates of crops and other edibles within a reasonable range. I must remind you that you have the responsibility to distribute the good throughout the town and surrounding villages that previously had relations with us. I also agree to giving, both the Church and the Hunter full authority to sweep the nearby forest to locate, eliminate any and all threats to the public, and our beliefs."(Charlize) "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Miss Governor!" (Froeder and Irschel) ******************* Meanwhile, Marissa was running through the forest looking for shelter, out of sight from any trouble. She received a massive prychological blow that seems to have affected her personality. Now it seems like any traumatic or intense event triggers a savage response, she has no way of controlling. She instinctively feels that the beast is slowly swallowing her. She may end up no longer being her, she needs to find a type of balance, no longer wanting to hurt innocents. Especially after what she did to the family, you could argue that it was self-defense towards Roan and Tabitha, but what about little Tilldan? Everytime the thought pops up, she throws up, it''s even more sickening thinking about it as she saw the face she made: a happy, yet content face.No matter how much the thoughts revolve, they all go back to one place...THE DAMNED CHURCH. She looked toward the sky: "Hahah, they speak about righteousness, gratefulness, and kindness, yet they label poor innocent farmers as heretics for not getting their way. WHERE"S THE RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THAT?! HOW MANY HAVE DIED UNDER TWISTED BELIEFS, HUH, ELOHIM!!!!!??? I SWEAR I''LL NEVER PRAY TO YOU AGAIN.I promise, I''ll kill those bastards who ruined everything, every church member will end up in my stomach and end up as shit! I promise this to my TWISTED SOUL OF HATRED, heheh." *Pant pant pant* After venting towards the sky, she looked towards a small burrow of a mole she found. She killed it and ate it, then laying down. Looking towards the ceiling, various forms of actions were playing in Marissa''s head. She was determined for vengeance and retribution, she no longer cared if she had to be suicidal. Every course of action has to be thoroughly thought out and executed, especially right now as there will definitely be an elimination team scouring the forest. No matter what, all actions have to be cold blooded and non-remorseful. "With this twisted hatred you''ve given me, you''ll definitely fear me and apologize for what you all done, heh." Marissa said while looking very harrowingly. Side Story One: Character Profile Name: Marissa Birthday: January 17, 1347 Race: Former Human, Were species Occupation: None Background: Marissa was part of a religious farming family responsible for distributing crops and other edible throught the town of Ruby and surrounding villages. Unfortunetely, the family and her were murdered by the very same church they trusted over a money dispute. That wasn''t the end of it all, after dying, she came back to life becoming the very hated by many. This is just the beginning for her... Name: Thomas Occupation: Teacher, Preacher of Elohiminism Race: Human Birthdate: July 20, 1300 Background:If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Thomas was born from a slum family in the capital, growing up, he was in a gang, a brutal life. He didn''t believe in the Almighty until he was saved from death by a traveling priest. At 17, deciding to leave the life constant violence, he traveled with the priest, learning the path of preaching. After ten years, he was given the opportunity by the Church to be a Holy Knight. Holy Knights were the enforcers of the belief system, they would be sent to protect Priests in hostile areas or nations to spread the beliefs of Elohiminism. He''d seen his fair share of blood shed. After fifteen years, he retired to become a teacher at a small school in Ruby. He and several subordinates were in charge of assassinating Marissa and her family. Name: Charlize Rubee Occupation: Governor Race: Human Birthdate: December 21, 1320 Background: Descendent of the hero Laurel Rubee, the founder of the town of Ruby. She''s essentially in charge of all administrative necessities, except for taxes which is handled by the church. It is rumored that she is very fair to the public, while being very cruel to criminals, secretly abusing them. Name: Froeder Race: Human Birthdate: ??? Occupation: Preacher of Elohiminism Background: An elitist preacher selected by Church Headquarters to manage Ruby. This man is very secretive, and the very one who orchestrated the farm murders. He''s the one who gave the final warning to Johnson. Very blinded by belief and cruel to those who don''t follow the Church''s teachings. Name: Irschel Race: Human Birthdate: November 11, 1297 Occupation: Lead Huntsman Background: Irschel is in charge of all administrative duties of the local Hunters Corp. branch. He has a long list of achievements for trapping and elimination of criminal or dangerous beasts. He is not a devout follower of Elohim, in fact, believes religion can causes more harm than good. He is a fair and just man who''ll properly to investigate without being blinded by hate. He has a wife, Herriet, and five children: Michael, Carrie, Alessa, Jemra, and Tulip. He is the hunter in charge of capturing and eliminating Marissa. Chapter Five: Biding Time Like a Predator One Day Later..... During the night: Marissa was sitting in the fetal position, trembling. All the memories from what happened at the farm to the inn, all clear as day. She knows deep down that everything was out of her control, everything changed so much, so fast. But still I..I killed that family, and I ate them..... I enjoyed it so much. It''s not me, it really isn''t, but it''s definitely going to be in the future. It''s knawing at me from within, swallowing the weak, powerless me. It feast on my mind, spirit, and heart, but I need it to make them pay. I need this beast, me, to challenge the church and other enemies. I just need it.... I''ve learned a few things about myself since everything went up in flames by church. First is: I''m a lot more informed about how blind and naive I was growing up. I always thought that if we followed the path of a devout believer, everything else would fall into place. Who would''ve thought they were so greedy and controlling, that they would kill innocents over a small disagreement. Now looking from the outside in, they''ve probably done similar acts before to spread their influence. Now I know better, I know I can''t go in blind, I can''t be softhearted, and I definitely can''t regret any of my future actions. The only way to do this is.......TRAP AND ISOLATE! "HeHe" Marissa chuckled as her eyes glinted ************************** *Twic Twic Twic* Marissa climbed up to the top of the tree thats covering her burrow. No matter how you look at her, she looked she lived in the forest for years. She was crouched on a tree branch, looking towards a direction of a certain smell, carried by wind. It was a unique smell, diffferent from the animals in the forest, a lot...cleaner. After smelling for awhile, she determined that it was humans coming from Ruby. She squinted her eyes knowing that it wasn''t just them, many different scents were coming from all over the forest. "Hah, I''m becoming more inhuman by the day. Thanks to this, I know I have to leave now! They''re spread out, so it''ll be easy to follow them from a distance and avoid at the same time." Marissa jumped off a tree and sprinted toward a direction with a smaller group of people ********************** Three hours ago.... Ruby was placed on lockdown, not allowing any civilian to leave their houses. In the central market area, Irschel and Froeder were on a stage in front of a crowd of people, 27 to be exact. The people were mixture from the church, hunter''s, and general population. This is an official gathering of the ones participating in the elimination of the Crypt. If you looked out in the crowd, you could men and women in leather armor, carrying swords, shields, bows and arrows. They were ready to dart into forest at any given time. Irschel looked into crowd, breathed deeply in and said:This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Quiet down. As you all know, we are here now to eliminate a Crypt, a threat to the general populace. This creature murdered the family that owned the inn on the tributary route. We believe that it is a smart, humanoid type, which makes it more dangerous. Any of who don''t want to participate after hearing this information, may leave now. Anyone?"(Irschel) *Silence* "Alright, now I need you to break off and form into teams of five, if possible. The Hunter''s Corporation will give each team a messenger pigeon, pen, and paper for constant updates to the mission and safety of the participants. We will also give each person a whistle to blow for any sudden dangerous situation, that way we can immediately respond and locate the team in trouble. With the mission briefing ove, I''ll be passing this stage to Father Froeder for prayer."(Irschel) Froeder came to the center of the stage and asked everyone to bow their heads: "Dear Almighty Elohim, our creator and protector. Please bless everyone of these individuals as they embark on a dangerous journey. They will be following your teachings and protecting what we learned from you. They will be confronting a betrayer of your virtues and love. OH ALMIGHTY, PLEASE BLESS THEM. AMEN!"(Froeder) "AMEN!!"(Crowd) "Head out!"(Irschel) The crowd, marching in teams of fives begun marching to the forest with torches, chanting prayers and death threats. The forest was no longer quiet as the crowd of hunters entered the forest and heading into different directions. All the animals were scared off. *********************** "I think we should rest, we''ve been traveling for a few hours now, with all this equipent."(??) "Yeah, let''s stop here and refuel for a little while. We also need to send a update off to the chief as well." A man with a special hunters outfit and a badge with a falcon insignia on his left breast said. They lit a small fire using their torch, started eating jerky and drinking water. "I can''t wait to get this over, I have a bar maid waiting for me back in town, haha."(??) "Is that all you think about?! How about we just try to survive the night and gain achievements?"(??) ""HAHA"" Two other members laughed along. "Stop bickering, let''s get ready to search again. The sooner this is over with, the better it is for us all."(Leader) ""Aye, Aye"" The team members responded "Before we leave, I need to drain the vein, if you know what I mean, Captain, heh." A team member said "Don''t go too far, stay within distance so we can hear you."(Leader) "Aye"(??) The man takes about forty steps in, checks the surrounding, settles near a tree, sets his equipment and starts to urinate. While urinating, the man hears small branch break by the nearby bushes. He picks up his two-handed sword, goes towards the bushes, and releases a powerful thrust. As he pulled out his sword, there is a racoon, twitching at the end. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he turns around to walk back to the rest site, As soon as he did.... *Whish* Something appeared in front of him, before he could reach for his whistle, he felt something warm dripping from his throat and chest. He looked down, horrified to see his neck and chest gouged out before forever blacking out... "It seems I need to be more careful, hah." The creature said before disappearing into the forest to bide for more time. Chapter Six: Chase! *HWIS* *HWIS* *HWIS* One by one, you could hear a chain of whistles in the distance, converging into one location. Every person participating in the hunt, all arrived to the first whistle''s location within thirty minutes. All of them surrounded one unfortunate body lying on the ground. As you looked at it, there was a hole in the chest and a large bite that gouged out the side of the neck, footprints leading to a mountain. There was a lot sadness, and a lot more hatred spewing out of the eyes of the hunters.They were brandishing their weapons to chase!!! "WAIT! We need to wait for the chief to arrive. Just because we know where it went, doesn''t mean we can handle it or even a possible nest! " One of the hunters said "We don''t know the terrain of the mountain either!"(??) "We''ve alraedy sent a messenger pigeon to the chief, he should be here anytime." The leader of the corpse reponded, somewhat panicked. *********************** *schwip schwip schwip* As the group was in discussion, a tall, bulky man, with greyish-brownish beard, and fierce hawkish eyes showed up on scene. This man was Irschel, the current chief of hunters in Ruby. The atmosphere around him now was deifferent from the gathering, it was a grieved expression, and yet, a determined one as he gripped his fists. He walked over, bent down on one knee, closed the eyes with his hand, and apologized with a long sigh. Afterwards he looked towards the group, specifically the affected team, and addressed them, plus the others. "There''s no doubt it''s a humanoid type, it probably followed you all for quite awhile, after killing him, it immediately retreated towards the mountain. This means it has intelligence beyond the normal range, we have to be more careful. We know where it''s going so we can probably corner it, we''ll give it no means of escape, I know this place like the back of my hand." Irschel smiled "How are we going to corner it?" (??) Irschel only smiled. *********************** "Hah hah hah, I lost control again! I''m definitely done for if I don''t get away, I''m dead!" Marissa was looking around frantically, she was lost! Even though she played with Luna in the forest, it mostly by the small pond where she stayed! Now, she has to continue running towards the mountain, in hopes to climb it!The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "That''s strange?" Marissa looked to confirm the strange pattern of steps she heard. When she looked back, it was an unbelievable sight! The hunters were spread out by twenty-five steps apart in a semi-circle formation! This was definitely to corner her, but why would they choose such a line up? As soon as she drew closer to the mountain, she got her answer..... There was gorge separating the forest and mountain range! The more she looked, the more dread set in, the gorge had a more rocks than stream. The width was too wide to risk jumping over, the only choice was to run alongside the gorge in hopes of finding some kind of bridge or smaller part of the gorge to jump. As she was preparing to run... "You''re trapped" A calm voice rang out. Marissa trembled. Turning around, she saw multiple people with swords drawn walking from the forest. Indeed, she was surrounded as the formation was collapsing toward her. No openings at all.... "Is this the end?" Marissa said as she put on a defeated smile. "So you can talk? Woman?" The man in the middle talked. She could see the man squinting towards her to study her face. She can see him, but he couldn''t see her as he was still somewhat in the dark. *Step Step Step* You can hear the pitter patter of people drawing near her. "Do you have a name?" As the voice drew closer "I think it''d be better if I didn''t say...."Marissa said while gulping "Well you must know why we are after you, right? You killed an innocent family... you must be put down for the safety of others..."The voice was now fifteen steps away, the torches were now lighting up Marissa''s features. The man, Irschel, looked and was overcome with massive shock. Before he could say anything, a disturbance came from behind! *GWAHHHH* Everyone looked back to investigate the noise. Marissa didn''t waste this chance and broke through the line pushing two men away, scratching one. Irschel immediately responded.. "Seven men and myself will chase after her! The rest go back to investigate that noise! GO!" Irschel and his group chased after Marissa while the others went back to check on the two left behind to guard the corpse. ***************** Twenty minutes before... "We ended getting the shitty part of this mission in the end, hah" A man said as he kicked the corpse acting like it was it''s fault. "Quit that, you should be more respectful to the dead, otherwise you''ll be cursed" The other man reprimanded. "Who cares? They''ll propably kill that thing and get all the credit!" *Smash* the first man punched a nearby tree *twitch twitch twitch* ""What the hell was that?!"" Both men looked. The corpse was starting to twitch uncontrollably. Both men ran up to it.. "Hey, hey, are you okay?!" The man crouched down and lifted the "corpse" up by the back of the head gently. It wasn''''t responding, the man lowered his head to listen for breathing and.... *CHOMP* "AH AH AHHHHHHH, it bit me." The man stumbled over while applying pressure to his neck. The other man panicked, pulled out his sword and swung. The corpse tackled him in mid-swing and the man pushed it off. He got back up and looked towards his attacker. It raised it''s head up, the man was horrified by what he saw... It''s face was that of humans, yet it had a snout, elongated arms, claws, elongated heels, protruding back, sharp fangs and deep red eyes. "Wha...." Before he could finish, he was attacked.. "GWAHHHHH" Chapter Seven: What the FUCK!? On this night, you can see the moon, and stars spread out in the skies. As you turn your view to below, a forest can be seen, many plants and animals live there. But tonight, it is silent, a type of dread can surely be felt throughout. As you close in, a group people running towards the same direction can be seen. Faces full of concern and fear painted all over them. *Patter Patter Patter* A disorganized group of men and women with swords drawn came upon an unbelievable scene. A man or some kind of wolf was feasting on a man''s intestines. It looked straight at them with it''s bloody red eyes and blood filled fangs, snarling at them. There was another man in a pool of blood not far away, a long deep gash from his left shoulder down to his right side, just underneath his armpit. They started to move in unison to surround the beast and help the other man barely onto life. While surrounding the beast, they pulled the man back to provide emergency treatment. They started spreading blood clotting solvent made from herbs to stop bleeding. The beast, seeing the group take it''s meal immediately reacted by attacking, but retreated as a torch was shoved in it''s face. It start rolling on the ground, howling in pain, few of the members thrusted the swords, stabbing into one of it''s sides. It immediately swiped, hit a man in the arm, and then climbed a tree, disappearing. "What the fuck was that?!" The appoined leader yelled " I don''t know, it''s too dangerous to let it escape, let''s go after it!"(??) "NO! It''s too dangerous, their may may be more of them!"(Leader)Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. While the group started arguing about their next move. The injured man started screaming and gasping for breath. He started acting wildly, clawing at the woman that was patching him up. She was thrown away, gathering the attention of the others. "What the hell are you doing?! We''re trying to help you!"(??) *Huff Huff Huff* Soon you could a ripping sound, it was disgusting. The sounds coming from the man, he was arched over, legs and arms started elongate, claws growing out from his nails, it''s spine started to stretch, potruding out. He looked straight at the group, teeth were falling, fangs growing in place, mouth and nose turning into a snout, eyes glowing red. "What the FUCK!?" Fear started to set in, the woman, attacking out of fear, swung her short sword as fast as she could. The now beast, jumped, dodging her, it pushed her into another member, causing a torch to be thrown off to the side. Soon the fire started to spread into the nearby bushes, the wind pushing the flames into trees, eventualy setting them ablaze. The beast, distracted by the flames, tried to get away, but it was immediately decapitated by the leader. Pandemonium soon spread throughout the forest. The group of hunters started to immediately leave thd area as there was no way to stop the flames. "shit...." One man said "We''re going! it''s too dangerous here!"(Leader) *************** The group managed distance themselves from the flames. While they retreated both the man and woman that was injured in the previous confrontation, started to get sick. The first symptom was paleness with cold sweats. Extreme pain all over the body, forcing others to carry them. As they arrived at the rendezvous spot, they set them down, and sent a messenger pigeon to Irschel, explaining the current situation, this will definitely result in a retreat and regroup. "Blurgh" The woman that was pushed aside started vomiting up blood and coughing. She started rolling back forth in pain, as her screams started to turn into howls. The man was exhibiting similar signs, but was worse as he was starting to look similar to the beast they just killed. It was just too crazy.... "Just what the hell is going on..." Chapter Eight:Chaos! Part I What is Chaos? Complete disorder and confusion spread among the forest as flames kept spreading. Animals running all over, yelping, howling, or roaring in pain. Trees falling over, becoming ash, the wind carrying the flames as it swallowed more and more forest... Irschel and company was chasing Marissa through the forest. She was increasing distance as she started running all fours and looked exactly like a dog or a wolf. In the front, you could see a opening coming closer, while Irschel was 30 steps behind. "not good..." Why? It''s because open field means shes an open target for arrows. Not want to be trapped she started to run as fast as possible! She didn''t want to die! Not without making the church pay.. She entered the field, as expected, arrows started raining down. "guh!!" She was skimmed on the leg by an arrow and felt immediate pain. They managed to slow her down, when a net came in. They managed to capture her, she was a trapped fish. "There''s no where to go. I have a few questions to ask, I hope you can answer."(Irschel) "Chief!! We''re suppose to eliminate her on capture!"(??) "Be quiet!" Irschel stared fiercely at his team of followers. *GULP* The group back away like scared puppies. "You''re probably scared, but I need to know. Are you Marissa? Daughter of Johnson and Olive?"(Irschel) Marissa was looking around for an escape path, but it looked like she wasn''t going to get second lucky break. She sighed while the group surrounded her with pointed swords.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Yes." "Why are you still alive and why are you like this?"(Irschel) "Hah, I survived because Luna saved me. And I don''t know." "Do you realize what you''ve done?"(Irschel) "Yes... I couldn''t control myself...I lost control." "Then I have no choice, but to eliminate you now!" Irschel shouted as he walked towards Marissa while drawing his sword. As he walked, he started to see a change in Marissa expression, she went from scared to smiling. He was taken aback as he hesitated. "If you''re going to kill me, I might as well tell you... The church labeled my family and I as heretics because my father couldn''t afford the tax rate. He wasn''t given room to negotiate nor given any choice, but to obey! The church deserves DEATH....DEATH!!!!" Marissa was screaming while blood was pouring out of her eyes, smiling. Irschel was surprised by not only the information, but her expression. He immediately concluded that she couldn''t control whatever she had, almost like a split personaility! He couldn''t but sigh... "Hihh, I''m sorry, wish I could help, but I don''t want the church as the enemy. It''s best for you to perish, not only for others, but also yours....?!?!'''' Irschel looked back as he started tasting smoke and ash. The forest was ablaze, as it was spreading towards them, but also Ruby! "Oh no!!!! We need to evacuate Ruby!!!!" Irschel was no longer calm. He no longer had a clue to what the hell was going on! With his experience combined with a larger group of people, this was suppose to be smooth sailing, but shit hit the fan... "I wonder if the other guy managed to escape?" Irschel said while looking at a certain direction. "CHIEF!!!!!!! WE NEED TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!" The leader of the other group accompanied by 8 others yelled while sprinting towards him. "What do you me......" ******AWOOOOOOOO****** Howling came from behind, as if chasing the group...Headaches kept coming. Hey!! What the hell is going on?!"Irschel was clearly pissed. As the group drew closer, you could see humans running all fours, they looked like wolves, but didn''t.. Irschel broke out from his thoughts and issued orders quickly: "You all grab her, and let''s retreat quickly.!" "What about them?!" The man spoke while pointing towards the other group. "They''ll catch up, they work as hunters, survivors. Let''s Go!"(Irschel) And thus chaos started to begin... Chapter Nine: Chaos part II Thomas was sitting at his table drinking tea, a relaxing aroma spread influencing the atmosphere around him. There were others around sitting around him doing the same, laughing while enjoying the atmosphere. You would think the setting was peacefull, but in fact Thomas was tapping his finger, which was noticed by the others. "Yo, why do you look like you''re not having fun?! This is a celebration of success!" Crool wrapped his arm around Thomas''s shoulder, breathing smoke into his face. Thomas scrunched his face and pushed him away, while thinking about something. "Seriously, why do you have to be a buzzkill? Can''t you let loose once? Or maybe we need to get some women, hehe." Johns said with a bit of satire on his face. "Will you all shut up? I can''t help shaking this feeling of foreboding." Thomas said to himself, trying to ignore the foolishness of his peers. In all honesty, he had the right to feel nervous as the forest is burning and forcing everything to the town of Ruby. If he knew, he would have abandoned it all and head towards the capital. " Hiccup, I just think he''shis boring hicc..." The last guy, Moore, said while obviously very intoxicated. These group of men were the one''s responsible for the murder and raze at the farm. There were two missing, Oshi, died at the farm, while Klube, was killed by Thomas after he asked for more payment. Did he think the church would allow itself to be pushed around by one insignificant guy? Thomas took a sip of tea when there was a knock on the door. Johns answered the door clearly annoyed, but when he saw the person in front was from the church, he shut his mouth. The church member walked in, looked straight at Thomas and said: "Come to the entrance, Sir Froeder wants to see you." Thomas clearly looked displeased by the man, but only replied "Okay." Thomas got up and followed behind. "Can you tell me what''s going on?" Thomas asked while following the church messenger. "I''m forbidden to say, but you''ll figure it out once we there!!" Church messenger said while clearly looking distressed. As Thomas got closer to the entrance he could see smoke and ash filling the skies. Heat could be felt with each step, drawing more sweat, he immediately knew what was wrong. He finally arrived next to Froeder, and asked: "Do you know what caused all this?" as he looked around seeing dead animals, such as wolves, bears, and mountain lion lying on the ground. They shot by the archers lined up at the wall separating the town and the forest. Froeder frowned while replying: " I don''t know, but hopefully Irschel will arrive here soon so we can find out!" He was clearly mad at Irschel''s incompetence in letting it get this far. They had one thing to do, one thing!If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "The reason I called you was to let you know to get prepared for departure. Every church member is preparing to leave as soon as possible. This place is a lost cause." Froeder said while looking sinister. He honestly didn''t care about the people living in the town, they were just a means to an end. Thomas said while looking in the distance:"Alright, I''ve been wanting to go back for awhile now. I''ll just leave those bastards behind to fend for themselves." Bastards describing Crool, Johns, and Moore. In the middle of the conversation; Irschel came along side two men and one woman running for their lives. As you take a closer look, you could see that they did not have the net with Marissa in it. "hahahah, Froeder, we need to evacuate the town! Danger is coming!!!" Irschel voiced out while crouched, hands on his knees, panting heavily. Everyone one else had already been left behind and killed. He looked at Froeder and said: "There''s more than one Crypt! We were ambushed while chasing after the original! That''s not all, once you get bit, as long as you aren''t torn apart, you become like the original! They become these wolf-like humans and they''re going to be here very soon! Evacuation is needed!" Irschel said with fear as he remembered the events from the forest. Thomas and Froeder listened to the point there faces could no longer be straight anymore. They were surprised! It was surprising to hear about a Crypt that can turn others into something like itself. It was no wonder this mission failed, there''s no counter for something like that. Thomas couldn''t help but ask: "Did you at least kill the original? There are species out there with hive minds, where a group follows a leader. Once you kill the leader, maybe the rest will die too." Maybe he was on the right path, but it can only be learned through actually doing it. "That''s beside the point!! We need to get everybody and leave. Ruby is done for! Did you all notify Governor Charlize?!" Irschel had already lost his mind as it went into survival mode, as most humans do. "Don''t worry, Charlize has already been notified. As for the evacuation, it''s impossible to leave in such a massive group. All church members will be leaving withing thirty minutes to avoid the destruction. It''s a shame, but we can only pray for their safe passage." Froeder said self-righteously putting his hands together to pray. "HEY HEY, what are you saying?! There''s so many lives at stake here! DON''T YOU CARE?!" Irschel''s subordinates chimed in. before they could say anything else, Thomas drew a short sword from his sleeve and cut them repeatedly at the throat. They died while being aggrieved. "Small lives don''t matter." Thomas said while making his way back to prepare for departure. Irschel couldn''t believe it! These assholes killed right in front of him and he couldn''t do anything at all. He realized how frightening Thomas was. He made a decision to leave with his family otherwise they would''ve left behind his family and friends behind if he hadn''t come back! Family comes first, he gritted his teeth and ran towards his house. Froeder looked on coldly and laughed: ''''In the end, humans will be humans." He walked off into the distance, no one knowing what he was thinking. ************* In a certain location of the forest, Marissa was trapped in the net, struggling to break free. The flames were rapidly spreading and unknown human like beasts were wreaking havoc. She needed to break free quickly! Using her claws to shave away the net, she was making progress when she heard heavy steps come in from behind. She looked back and muttered: "shit..." Chapter Ten: Chaos Part III Ruby, a beautiful town with hustle and bustle of 8000 residents living in harmony. With a central entrance that serves for the most trade business, and three smaller entrances for hunters to use. Accompanied by the spectactular church as the main tourist location for prayer. You wouldn''t be able to tell that this was the town of Ruby. Pandemonium: That''s how you would describe the current scene in front of your eyes. Many residents were running, screaming, and fighting for survival. Off in the alley, you could see a group of men tearing the clothes off a woman. Looting was occuring in all the stores and restaurants. Where are the owners? Laying in a pool of blood, while different people steal everything. Lost children crying for their parents and a large group fight to the death for horses. The church tried to keep quiet about their departure, but could never keep the power of a prostitute down. That''s right, corrupt church members would obviously have certain ''habits''. Now, what are they ever going to do? "These fucking peasants are ruining everything! GOD DAMNIT!!" Froeder no longer had his calm demeanor as the sight before him just made him angrier. "I originally wanted to use the residents as bait to hold back the animals and other possible monsters, but corpses should suffice as well. Have the holy knights surround the carriages, we''ll use spears to hold them all back! Let''s go." Froeder issued his orders while boarding a luxurious cabin. Inisde were his fellow clergymen, Thomas, and Charlize. They were ready to plow through crowds at full speed. On the other side... A door slammed open in a somewhat big home, revealing the bulky figure of Irschel. He was in full survival mode, not thinking about the noise. He struggled to get through the crowd of people, he even killed a couple of people trying to steal his horses and carriage. As he walked in, he saw his family already packed up, huddled together in one corner. He sigh in relief as saw his wife, Harriet, with long brown hair down to her waist, even in older age, she was still beautiful. Then you had his two sons who were like mirror images of him,Michael and Jemra, they were in front holding swords protecting their three sisters, Carrie, Alessa, and Tulip. After calming down, he immediately addressed his family: "Though it hurts deeply to abandon everything, there''s no choice anymore. You can already smell the smoke coming from the forest. We need to go now!" Harriet was terribly saddened and asked: "What about everyone else?" She was always kind and gentle towards others, the type of personality that wouldn''t hurt a fly. His kids also shouted the same question. Showing a face of regret, he shook his head and voiced his determination: "They''ll survive, humans always find a way to escape peril." They all entered the carriage and rode towards the nearest entrance.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. In Thomas''s house, Crool, Johns, and Moore were scrambling around to find documents of evidence to go against the church, nothing better than getting even. They were all attacked by Thomas while they were intoxicated, nothing like death to sober you up. Thomas could''ve killed them, but left them behind to burn with all the evidence. They knew Thomas kept records of every mission he partakes in. In hopes they survived, they could punch his face! "Don''t give me that look, you three had this coming for awhile. I just wanna see how rats survive when cornered, anyways good luck, haha." Crool thought back to what Thomas said. He was so angry, it was nearly impossible to escape having been cut behind the legs. All three men were rummaging when... *creak* They heard the door open. They pulled out there swords thinking they were looters. Crool hid behind the door, signaling the other to get in position. Soon, they heard someone walking slowly up the step, time felt like an eternity... *Thump thump thump* The steps stopped right at the door, as they could hear heavy breathing. Everyone was ready to defend themselves when... "I know you are in there, I can smell you..." the voice of a girl rung out. They was confused as to who it was and how this person knew they were in there. A scratching sound soon came from the door, they were now scared. Before Crool could even get away, a large hand broke through the wall and dragged him away. Johns and Moore were terrified as they limped to the nearby window, pushing at eachother just get to the window first... *Creaaaaaak* The squeeky door was opened to reveal a young girl with white hair, eyes, and fangs coming out of that charming smile. She was surrounded by two wolf-like men snarling while on all fours. Johns and Moore lost their minds, they knew this girl, but they were terrified, pissing their pants as they saw the monsters feasting on Crool''s body. "I''m sure you guys recognize me, I sure recognize you. You look different on the other side of fear, huh. I can give you only one option, these guys beside me are insatiable, so as long as one you kill the other and tell me where Froeder and Thomas are, I''ll let you live." This girl was extremely cruel and manipulative, way different from how they remembered her. They considered her proposition and looked at eachother. Moore swung his sword before Johns could respond, decapitating him. The girl looked on and smiled. *clap clap* "Hahaha, what a show! This is what it feels like!!" She was very merry, while Moore was very grim. "You....I mean Marissa, a deal is deal...You''ll let me live right?Haha" Moore asked Marissa snapped her finger and replied: "Of course! Now tell me where Thomas and Froeder are..." as her face became ferocious. As expected Moore spilled whatever beans he had. Marissa nodded and smiled... "Good. Die." Marissa swiped her claws slitting his throat as he let his guard down. She ripped off his head and ate it like an apple. "Now then..." Marissa made her way to the central entrance. Chapter Eleven: Chaos Finale Let us rewind time back a little to find out how Marissa escaped the forest. Normally people would think that a person surrounded by ravenous beings can only have one ending. Marissa isn''t a normal person. Currently she was surrounded by every wolfman that survived the forest fire. They were sniffing and grunting at her as the group circled around. Not long after, the pack lowered there heads in servitude towards her. Marissa, surprised by the action, didn''t know what to do next. Marissa decided to ask them to get her out of the net as a test. They immediately started biting and clawing the net, tearing it apart. Upon seeing this, it was confirmed that she could give orders and they would obey. Many thoughts donned on her, but they all led to one conclusion. She was a wolf-woman, a mut between a human and wolf and somehow it onto others. Like pieces of a puzzle falling into place, a feeling of clarity started to spread all over. A true transformation of the mind, body, and soul. A gentle smile floated on her lips as she looked at all the wonderful pawns at her disposal. "My my, I''m finally free of all restraints. How about it my cute puppies? Do you want to go play with some church goers?" Marissa was licking her lips at the thought of the coming massacre. *AWOOOOOOO* Howls spread all over the burning forest as the wolfmen started running towards the town. Marissa only chuckled as she decided to head towards Thomas''s house. Back to present time... "Why are you doing this?! As people of God, you should be compassionate and help others, not condemn them!" Screams like this echoed all over as the church carriages escorted by spear wielding knights were stabbing anyone in the way. These actions were cruel and dastardly as all of the members siply ignored it all. In the cabin, Froeder was growing impatient as the speed was too slow. Charlize was drinking Tea with Thomas as they seemed more calm. "It''s better to go a little slow so that we don''t damage the Carriage" Charlize was saying as she looked outside towards the raging flames. Thomas nodded and added " It''s also a good opportunity to see the new generation of holy knights perform, though a little subpar from my days." Froeder could only shake his head and say: "I have a feeling things won''t work out like we please. There''s so few of us and so many of them. Humans tend to have a mob mentality if their survival is at risk. To them we''re the common enemy. What Froeder said makes sense. There''s no telling what people will do just to survive in situations like this. First will be shock and realization of the situation. Second, hysteria will settle in as large groups start fighting and killing eachother. Finally, looting will occur among the winners and they will leave as far as possible. Thomas nodded his head while saying: "The more complex a person, the easier it is to break them down." Everyone had a chuckle when something suddenly slammed into the side of their carriage. The atmosphere around the carriage abruptly changed as screams of terror resounded. Froeder slammed the cabin door to complain when his face changed. He saw people getting torn apart and thrown into the air. The carnage was heading his way, and he immediately gave his coachman the order to hurry and ignore everything else. The people outside also noticed the situation change and started running towards the entrance. People would fall and be trampled to death. The carriage was rushing towards the entrance when a large group of people slammed into the horse carriage, killing many. However, the carriage lost both wheels on the left side, resulting in it rolling on its side.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The river of people continued run, ignoring the carriage completely. Froeder, Thomas, and Charlize staggered to get up as the surroundings spun around them. Charlize swung open the door, crawling out, followed by Froeder and Thomas. After exiting, they saw people getting torn apart by wolfmen. Thomas immediately drew his two short swords to defend against the approaching beast. The beast arrived in front of him, swiping his right claw from below. Thomas jumped back and swung both swords at the beasts right arm, separating it from the body. "Grroowwwwlllll!!!" The beast rolled on the ground because of the pain. After rolling, it got back up and snarled at Thomas. Thomas was smiling at it, provoking it further. The beast dug it''s hind legs in the ground, ready to launch itself again. "Kyaaaaahhhh!!" Charlize screamed as another one came from behind and bit her shoulder. Thomas thrust his sword swiftly penetrating the skull, killing it instantly. The one armed wolfman didn''t miss this chance, launching itself, it swiped its claw from the left. Thomas rolled, dodging the blow, he then appeared behind it, separating both hind legs. It was laying helpless, Thomas walked up to it with cold eyes and ended its life. "It''s been a while, Teacher Thomas." A voice rung beside his ear, he immediately jumped and rolled away, getting back into his stance. He looked at the owner of the voice and was flabbergasted. He knew this girl in front of him! Scrunching his face in displeasure, he responded: "Marissa...." *snap* Marissa snapped her fingers and said: "Bingo! You''re still a heartless son of a bitch, hehe" Marissa smiled in provocation as she spoke to Thomas. Thomas on the other hand wasn''t taking this well, he was confused and infuriated at the fact she was still alive. "What''s wrong? Unhappy to see me?" Marissa squinted her eyes. "Hmph, I killed you once, I can do it again." Thomas responded is disdain. Froeder was inching back, ready to run for it the first chance. Charlize didn''t look too good, she was starting to show signs of transformation. She looked at Froeder backing away, anger starting to cloud her mind, jumping at him. She managed to pin him down, gasping for breath, she heard a voice come into her mind. "Kill him" was repeating in her head, it felt like a command she couldn''t refuse. Cold sweat, shivers, claws growing out of her fingers, pain started to spread all over. Froeder saw this and kicked her off. He tried to crawl away, but was grabbed from behind by Charlize, or what used to be her. The cause of her quick transformation was because Marissa was within the facinity. "NoNoNoNo, let go of me!!!!" Froeder started struggling while being pulled by Charlize. She bit into his throat and munched, Froeder was finally dead. "Clap Clap Clap" "Though a little anticlimactic, I can scratch one more off the list. Good job, my puppy!" Marissa was petting Charlize like a dog. Thomas just watched on as he started to realize how frightening his former student has become. Immediately forming plans to escape, he was using his peripheral to find a path. "Trying to escape?" Marissa snapped her finger, many wolfmen and women appeared, surrounding the two. "It''s only you and me now. Only one can leave. Fighting is your specialty after all, come on, fight me!" Marissa was taunting him with all her power. Thomas was looking on and upon realizing he was trapped, he agreed. "Okay, I accept, I hope you keep your word, HAH!" Thomas abruptly approached, swinging his sword. Marissa bent down to dodge, but the other sword was thrusted at her. She used her claw to knock the thrust away,and rolled away. It was a close call! She knew she hadn''t any fighting experience, so the only choice was to rely on transformations. Thomas immediately readjusted himself, and kicked her face, causing Marissa to tumble back. Taking this chance, he stabbed both swords down, one of which impaled her should as she dodged. She used her strength and broke the sword off, leaving the other piece in her shoulder. The hilt of the sword was swung at her chin, knocking her back ten feet. Upon realizing the losing situation, she started to transform. White hair started to envelop her, arms and legs started to elongate. Her back started to stretch, at the end of her spine, a tail started to appear. The fur was fully formed with blood red lines like veins, white eyes with a reddish tint. The transformation was complete... Thomas was backing away, he was staring straight into the face a giant white wolf. It stood Six-foot tall and eight-feet long, snarling right at him. This was the first of it''s kind, a Crypt like this could cause catastrophe, so he needed to kill it! The rest of the pack kneeled and worshipped their creator. *AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO* The howl reverberated throughout the town, stopping everything in it''s tracks. It lowered its body in a hunting posture, Thomas stanced himself as if he was going to thrust. Marissa launched like a cannon, opening her mouth to bite him. Thomas thrust with all his might as the two conneced, and passed by eachother. "........."Thomas stood there as blood started to pour out of his mouth. Looking at him,his entire left side was ripped off, intestines sliding out and ribs showing. He fell over.....Dead Marissa fared better as she only had a sword stunk in the side of her mouth. She used her paws to swipe it out, transforming back, she stood there naked among the blood and coming flames. "Finally....done ... it....hahah..." Marissa fell over. Chapter Twelve:Ends lead to New Beginnings Four days later, you could see several men surveying what used to be Ruby. Wearing the official scouting uniform of the South Georges Kingdom, they were dressed in light leather. Walking through the ruin and crisp corpses, there was no signs of the creatures reported by survivors. The more likely scenario was being trapped and killed by the flames. The more unlikely focused on their escape. If they did escape, usually clues would be noticeable, but the town is now wasteland. Stuck with nothing, the scouts could only report the findings back to their superior. The leader of the group, a man with sharp looks and a slender body shook his head while sighing. On his shoulder was a messenger hawk, the fastest bird species at their disposal. Taking a white parchment and feather pen, he wrote a few words down and tied it to the hawk. He pet the hawk while addressing it: "Sorry for this, Kilwa, I need you to do this favor for me." Kilwa, the hawk only bobbed it''s head in understanding. After securing the small parchment, Kilwa flew towards the capital. "I can''t believe such a devastating event took place. This will definitely affect the country''s economy and overall reputation going forth...hah." The leader was shaking his head in worry. This one event may lead to much more peril in the future. (I just hope that''s not the case.)He thought while the team and him retreated. Behind them was many crosses raised to honor the dead. A few hours later... In the sky, a hawk can be seen flying over a largy city. The city was beautifully decorated from the wall to the castle. The wall made by thick cement stood fifteen meters high with columns lining each of the four entrances. The streets made of brick and marble, making for smoother travel. Houses and other buildings made from a combination of wood as the walls and roof, with brick as the floor foundation. The bigger buildings were made of beautiful marble.The layout of the city is: Residential homes frgeuent the South end, the barters market to West end, merchent guilds to East, and the Elohim Church garter the North, and the slums outside the wall. The castle, located at the centered, was surrounded by another wall with many knights guarding it. The entrance was two beautifully sculped bears fighting, forming an arch over the entrance gate. Past the gate, was a garden of beautiful roses, violets, and freshly cut hedges, a path of red brick in the middle leading up to the castle. Looking up at it, it was made from black marble, four spiral towers at each corner, a black steel door at the front. Behind the steel door, a luxurious hallway with hustle and bustle of maids, butlers, and knights could be seen running around. One man, wearing a white robe, with beautiful golden threads stitched in, walked towards a door with a emblem of a bear with a golden crown. With heavy steps, the man, Prime Minister Hahn, arrived in front of the door solemnly. He opened the door, revealing a large oval room with columns leading up to a magificent throne. There sat a man with a majestic atmosphere, golden blonde hair, blue eyes, a sharp nose, and a burly stature, he was the embodiment of authority.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Hahn walked within five steps, knelt and lowered his, addressing the man on the throne, "Your Majesty, King Sorel Georges III, I, Prime Minister Hahn greet humble you." King Georges seemed disinterested as he sat there with his chin resting on his hand. Simply looking at the Prime Minister, He responded, "Please rise." Hahn gave his thanks, responding to the order. Hahn looked at his king, breathed in, and addressed him, :"My King, I just received the scouting report from Ruby." The king nodded as if to say ''go on''. Hahn continued, "According to the report, the town of Ruby is confirmed to be a complete wasteland. There''s no evidence of survivors or the creatures the refugees described. There''s only two ways to look at this; either they died in the fire or they mixed in with the survivors. From what the first reports say, the creatures transformed from humans and started eating other humans. The fact there is chance they could transform back is cause for alarm. I suggest we use this excuse to purge the slums outside of the outer wall." The king shook his head, Hahn confusedle asked, "What do you suggest? Your Majesty?" King Georges smiled while saying, "Firstly, don''t you think purging the slum will cause more unrest, counter-productive if i say. Secondly, I think we should find those things and try to utilize them as weopons. The recent movements of the Toshin East Alliance is concerning, so we need some type of edge. Even if the church disagrees, we have to fortify MY kingdom. Thus, we should wait until torn up corpses start to appear, so we can follow the creature'' tail." As if lightning struck Hahn, "Brilliant! I think this could work! I will immediately gather a specific group for this task!" (We need to do this secretly and avoid the church''s eyes) Hahn thought to himself as he walked out of the throne room. King Georges smiled at the quick wittedness of his retainer. Breathing out deeply, he said; "I know you''re there Beal, hope you enjoyed the eavesdropping!" "Sorry Georges, it''s my job to protect you after all." A man stepped out of the shadows and responded. This disrespectful man, Beal, was wearing a black uniform with an emblem of a black serpent on his chest. King Georges laughed while saying "Any news what "Leviathan" has in mind for the wolfman corpse that''s been collected?" Beal simply looked on without saying anything. King Georges laughed, " I just hope you keep your end of the deal or I''ll make sure you pay the price." "Don''t worry, you''ll get what you asked for.." Beal said while fading in the shadows. "Not fun at all,haha." King Georges laughed. What sort of plans happening in the dark, no one knows... On a small trail full of pot holes, a shabby carriage was slowly traveling alone. *Clack Clack Clack* The carriage was jumping up and down until it came to a sudden stop. The horses pulled it over a larger rock, causing the wheel to break off. Inside the carriage was a few elderly people, two children(boy and girl), and an unconscious woman. With a loud thump, her eyes shot open and jumped out. She was crouched over growling, the others were taken aback. An older gentleman cautiously said, "It''s okay, calm down. We saved your life. Do you remember?" Marissa shook her head and answered "I don''t remember, is it true you saved me?" "Yes, we found you laying on the ground with no clothes and a fever. We managed to avoid the fire with this carriage, but it seems were stuck now." The old man said while shaking his head. Marissa wasn''t listening, she had too many thoughts. (I''m alive! I''M ALIIIIIIIVE!!) She started laughing freaking out her fellow travelers. "So where are we going?" Marissa looked at the old man. The old man, Ron replied "We''re going to the Toshin East Alliance. They will actually let us in their main city instead of the slums like the Southern Georges Kingdom" "So were not going to Georges? That works out for me..." Marissa smiled Truly a new beginning