Under the backdrop of a towering black palace, he had entered a small courtyard bordered by stone planters of long-withered flowers. Harsh, craggy sable spikes jutted out of the stone of the buildings beside him, piercing the sky high above, which was littered with bright pitch-black stars, casting the area around him in an obscene midnight glow.
This was the 'otherworld' he had often seen in his dreams. It was all coming true.
Artemis nudged the woman to the side, stepping in front of her as he stared down the wolf-like monster.
How the hell did I get here? Was I called to this strange place, summoned here? Who is this girl? Is she the reason I came here?
He had so many questions, and no answers.
But the most important thing he had to deal with was the danger ahead.
The wolf hadn't fully recovered, so Artemis took the time to speak to the girl.
"Are you alright, Miss? Can you walk? If the answer's yes, I need you to run. Preferably as fast as possible, in the direction leading away from the beast."
She didn't offer a response. He could hear her teeth chatter.
She's too afraid...
She was visibly shaking, too afraid to even glance up at Artemis. All she did was stare at the menacing beast, as if she were anticipating its lunge.
As if she wanted to run, but couldn't force herself to.
"Miss, to be honest, I'm also quite afraid." Artemis spoke once more. "I don't know what I'm doing here. Sixty seconds ago, I was in my bedroom. Sixty seconds ago, I also had a sword. But I'm not going to squeal or cry, you know? I have a lifetime of experience fighting, so I'll be relatively fine."
Artemis smiled faintly.
"So don't worry. When you run and leave me behind, it will provide you more than a couple of seconds before this beast tears me to pieces. In fact, I'll kill it. Just hide somewhere safe for now. I'll come find you afterwards."
In reality, this was just a majour bluff. He hoped that he could lull her into a false sense of security, getting her to hide someplace that would keep her safe from the wolf-like beast, but also provide her cover from any other monsters that might be lurking nearby.
It would mean nothing if she ran from that place, only to find herself in danger elsewhere.
"Okay…" She murmured, finally looking back towards Artemis. "I'm- I'm sorry..."
She broke apart from him, not holding him up any longer as she started moving away from him.
He watched her run off into the distance. She would trip every so often, stumbling to her knees and landing in the gravel. Her hands were cut up and bruised, and the skin of her legs had grown scraped and chafed. But she continued as if it didn't bother her at all.
He could feel the breath of the beast hot on his neck, however. He spun around, barely dodging a strike of its massive paw, claws like scythes etching marks in the open air.
So eager... what a puppy...
While he was eager to act confident in such a dire situation, he was certainly learning that dodging shadows was not skin to dodging real monsters. While light was certainly the fastest, beasts were the brutest.
It spun around just as quickly, catching the length of his arm with one of its fearsome, dirt-matted claws. A large gash begun to spill warm crimson down towards his fingertips, the searing pain shocking him into the cruel reality of the situation.
He was certainly fighting for his life.
But he had done more that just train against shadows in that two years.
The wolf lunged at Artemis, causing him to lurch backwards to avoid its gaping maw. It chomped down on the air, an eruption of clacking fangs filling his ears. He quickly leaned to the side, pivoting his entire body as he punched with all of his momentum, burying his fist into its abdomen.
He could feel the squishy, pulpy sensation of its internal organs bursting against his fist. He stumbled back as the wolf fell to its side, letting out a harsh cry.
Under the aqueous light of the moon, Artemis's form was laid bare. His bones did not peek through the tightness of his skin, and his muscles were not withered and emaciated. He was not short and youthful, with a pallid expression that suggested he might die of illness at any moment.
He was tall, lithe and firm. His shoulders were broad, and his forearms pulsed with vitality. Even through his clothes, which consisted of a fine silk shirt and a slender robe, he was clearly not frail, not weak as those attendants would rumour.
Because the truth that others often spoke—of a person that cannot be readily perceived—can become false as quickly as that person changes in his solitude.
He couldn't bear to say a single word, couldn't bring himself to do anything but stare down the beast. Blood dripped down from his hair, trickling down his forehead and collecting against his eyelids. His upper face had been coated completely in crimson, highlighting the bloodlust in his gaze.
He wasn't even aware of when he had earned the wound on his head, but dizziness had already begun to overtake him. He had to finish the fight quickly.
I really, really want to blame someone for my bad day. I had planned to prepare for August's arrival, but now I'm forced to fight for my life. How fair is that? Have I acted too timidly in hiding myself away?
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg. Glancing down, he realised that the wolf had crawled forward, biting into his calf muscle while he had distracted himself.
The teeth chewing at his flesh were like dull, jagged razors. Each subtle movement he made caused them to tear away at his skin and sinew.
"Motherf-cker!" Artemis cursed through his teeth.
Artemis stomped down on one of the wolf's legs. It cracked underneath his foot, shards of bone digging into the sole. He let out a painful huff, bearing the agony as he lifted the limpid wolf up by its fur, and then unceremoniously threw it down to the ground, cracking its skull against the stone.
But for some reason, the fight didn't feel as if it was over. Beasts often traveled in packs.
He could feel the heat surge up in his chest as he caught sight of a silhouette at the edge of the courtyard.
Of course, it had to be someone else. It couldn't have just been a lone beast.
What a terrible f-cking day...
There was a figure standing far ahead of him. Violent, pulsating crimson irises peered through an ivory skull, mottled and decayed skin barely clinging to its surface. A bony hand clutched a series of chains that wrapped around the blood-strewn necks of smaller wolf-like beasts.
Their master? I'm going to blame you for all of this, then.
Artemis looked at the corpse of the wolf. Its shattered body sat at his feet, his blood trickling into the soil. He reached down, grasping at one of the exposed bones as he cracked it off, sliding it clean of the flesh. He then raised it like a vile blade towards the figure ahead.
So I'm going to kill you. And then I'm going home.
The reason he had secluded himself in his room was because he was fearful of what his family, his friends, his people would think of him if they had discovered what he had become. This Prince was more of a beast than the creatures that were trying to kill him.
His left eye pulsed with pain, concealed by the thick black patterned eyepatch.
What was the story he had given— that he had injured his eye to the point of disrepair?
When the scholar who had taken to tutoring him gave him the cursed opportunity to welcome a Spirit into him, to allow it to fester in his body, he welcomed it. He had childish fantasies of using its power to strengthen himself, and at the same time, accepting the price that it sowed.
The strength of this Spirit came at the cost of a life, it was a devourer.
And it had devoured his teacher whole.
Lark, I'm going to effectuate the contract. If you want to eat something, eat this fetid Monster. Bastard Spirit. If I can't rejoin my family because of you, then at least be useful now.
He lifted the eyepatch away from his eye. His left eye churned with silver, rampaging like an eternally stormy sky. He was ready to use the Daemonic Spirit to murder this terrible monster.
But as he watched the vile skeletal creature from afar, its head was severed clean from its body, falling to the ground as it shattered.
And terror stepped out of the shadows, wielding a fearsome onyx blade.