The narrow tunnel stank of damp earth and old blood. Water dripped steadily in the distance, and Kael's heart pounded in his ears.
The figure stepped closer.
Eyes like twin burning embers pierced the dark — not human, not any beast Kael had known. Its silhouette was tall, hunched, draped in matted fur and ancient cloth, and a long snout filled with jagged teeth caught the meager light. Its presence was suffocating, an aura so cold it seemed to steal the warmth from Kael's bones.
Kael's instincts screamed to run.
But he couldn't move.
The thing spoke.
"You carry the scent of old power… child of earth."
Its voice was a rough rasp, like stone grinding against stone. "And the pulse of blood long denied."
Kael forced his voice steady.
"What are you?"
The creature tilted its head, lips curling into something like a grin.
"I am Fenrahl."
The name echoed in the hollow space, ancient and weighty.
"One of the First. A Special Monster born when this world was young, when sky bled fire and earth howled with new life."
Kael's blood ran cold.
He'd heard whispers of Special Monsters in old stories told around dying campfires — creatures too ancient to have names, too powerful to be called beasts. Myths that adventurers scoffed at.
But here one stood.
"Why… are you here?" Kael asked, though his hand still hovered near where his dagger should've been.
Fenrahl's glowing eyes narrowed.
"Time… has made us ghosts," the wolf-like being muttered. "We, the first monsters, scattered, hunted, caged in the forgotten places. I… am but a fragment of what I was."
His voice dropped to a growl.
"I grow weaker with each turn of the sun. I need a vessel. A partner. A bearer of the old strength."
Kael's throat tightened.
"Why me?"
Fenrahl let out a sound halfway between a growl and a dry laugh.
"Because you bleed and yet refuse to die. You carry a Blood Stone, ancient and potent, though you've yet to awaken its truth."
Kael's heart skipped.
The stone.
The warmth he'd felt in his bones, the flicker of strength when all seemed lost.
"It's more than a relic," Fenrahl continued. "It is a Seed — of Power, of Memory. And with it… and me…"
The creature leaned forward, its aura washing over Kael like an icy wind.
"We can form a Pact."
"A… Pact?"
"A bond between two races. Bound by will, sealed in blood. Half my strength to you, half yours to me."
Fenrahl's gaze glimmered.
"You'll wield power no adventurer can match. And I… shall no longer fade into dust."
Kael swallowed hard.
It was madness. A contract with a beast older than empires. A bond that could kill him if his body failed to bear the strain. But deep inside, something stirred. A hunger. A defiance.
He'd run enough.
He was done living like prey.
Kael straightened, clenching his fists.
"What's the price?"
Fenrahl's grin widened.
"Your oath. Your blood. And your promise that when my brethren call… you will answer."
The tunnel seemed to darken further, the world holding its breath.
Kael stared into those burning eyes.
And nodded.
"Then do it."
The creature raised a clawed hand, sharp talons glinting in the gloom.
"Prepare yourself, Kael of Stone Blood."
A sudden, blinding pain shot through Kael's chest as Fenrahl's claws traced ancient runes in the air. The symbols burned with dark crimson light, searing themselves into Kael's skin. His vision blurred as the blood-stone in his chest pulsed violently, the warmth rising to a fire.
Their powers began to weave together — pain and strength, ancient memory and new fury.
Kael screamed as the world spun.
And then — silence.
Darkness.
And a single, whispered word.
"Awaken."
The pain felt endless.
Kael's body screamed, his veins alight with something ancient, raw, and primal. The runes Fenrahl carved into the air wrapped around his chest and arms, sinking beneath his skin like fire. His vision blurred — flashes of monstrous shapes, burning skies, and ancient battles he'd never fought, yet somehow remembered.
And then it was done.
Kael collapsed onto one knee, gasping, his chest heaving.
The oppressive aura lifted.
When he looked up, Fenrahl stood before him — less solid now, his body wreathed in tendrils of mist, as though his last remnants of physical form were dissolving.
"It is done," the beast growled, its voice both within Kael's head and echoing in the narrow tunnel. "We are bound, child of earth. My strength is yours. Call me when your blood burns for it… and I shall answer."
Kael swallowed, his chest still aching where the pact mark faintly glowed beneath his skin.
"How do I call you?"
Fenrahl's mouth curled into a sharp grin. "Speak my name in need. Will me forth. Our bond shall awaken."
And with that, the ancient being's form shimmered — collapsing into a sphere of deep crimson light, no larger than Kael's palm. It drifted down, hovering in front of him like a dying star.
Kael reached out, hesitating for a moment.
Then he grasped it.
The orb was warm to the touch, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He could feel a presence inside it — watching, waiting.
He tucked it carefully inside his pouch, securing it beneath his cloak.
"I'll call you when the time comes," Kael murmured.
No answer. Just the steady pulse of the pact sealed.
He turned from the dark, narrow tunnel and made his way back through the winding drains, emerging into the dense woods beyond the village walls. The night air was cold, the leaves slick with mist. The scent of pine and damp earth was a welcome reprieve from the reek of blood and stone.
Kael moved deeper into the forest, exhaustion gnawing at him now that the adrenaline had ebbed. His muscles ached, and his side throbbed where bruises blossomed under his skin.
He found a hollow between the gnarled roots of an ancient tree — a quiet, hidden place to rest.
Kael leaned back against the bark, letting the cold calm his burning skin. His mind reeled, filled with questions, with flickering memories that weren't his. Ancient battlefields. Names lost to time. A war between monsters and those who'd deemed themselves heroes.
And then — a voice.
"Found him."
Kael's eyes snapped open.
Too late.
A sudden, sharp pain tore through his shoulder.
An arrow..
It buried itself deep in his flesh, pinning him against the tree trunk. Blood welled from the wound, hot and thick.
Kael gritted his teeth, his vision blurring as movement stirred in the underbrush.
Figures emerged — cloaked, armed, faces hard in the moonlight.
One stepped forward, lowering his bow with a cruel smirk.
"You thought you could hide, beast? This time, you die slow."