Chương 3: Beginnings (3)
CHAPTER 0.3
"Stennick, stop! Something's wron-" The old man tried shouting at his son once he realised something was not right.
The spit stake drove straight through the stranger with little resistance, as if his innards were made of soft mud. When he tried to retract the weapon, it was suddenly seized by an impossibly strong grip within the pierced stomach.
The old man tried to warn his son once he discovered this man was not normal, but he was cut off by the still surrendering hand. It moved instantly and with scary precision. Grabbing onto his throat and raising his whole body up, his feet almost an inch off the ground. The hand that was pointed at the girl turned into a fist that came down like a hammer against the axe's head mid swing.
The impact gave off the ringing of two bare metals striking harder and louder than a town bell in a storm, startling everyone. This being the final action that woke Claden from his schocken stupor.
Stennick stumbled forward by a sudden force of impact yanking down on his stance, but managed to keep his grip on the axe handle. Only in that moment of blinking, the stranger's fist came right back up and was close enough to graze part of Stennick's cheek on the bounce.
It felt nothing like bare skin knuckles to Stennick, only a sensation of cold metal that fractured his cheekbone and dislodged his eye on the connection. Sending him backwards over the fire pit. The stranger only then turned his head towards their father and put both hands around his neck. No matter how hard he grasped for some degree of freedom, it was impossible to gain anything from the tall man.
His expression still hadn't changed, but now the old man could see past the black spots pooling in his eyes that there was a light of emotion behind the stranger's.
It was the light of mild curiosity; he held back his strength to intentionally choke the life out of him, he could have broken the frailer man's neck instantly, but was instead watching in anticipation.
'He's no human or elf, this is some sort of monster from the Ether. A demon.' The old man thought.
The stranger started talking again too, still in the strange language they still couldn't recognize. Stennick was still recovering from the blow to the head to even try and listen, while their father was quickly losing all sense of hearing and vision.
He kept talking, almost like he was lecturing them in the last few moments; when suddenly he was interrupted by a rock being flung past his head from behind. The stranger stopped speaking and his neck turned completely backwards while the rest of his body continued to strangle, confirming even further he wasn't human. He turned his head to see Claden standing there with a face full of tears that were ready to fall at any second.
"Let him go!" He shouted through a sniffle and another toss of a rock.
The stranger only stared the boy down as the rock made contact with the small of his back. It clanged and rang dully for a second. Claden was too busy fighting his tears to see the body language of the monster man change and stiffen slightly.
Something was finally causing him distress, as more words came out during his lecture; they changed to a strange stutter, repeating for a moment before a pulse of tension ran through all of his body.
"Peshal nat'a compedest- Peshal-Peshal-Peshal, P-p-p-p-p-p-"
The stake in his abdomen cracked and shattered from the pressure, covering the sound of the old man's neck snapping from the sudden surge of force. All of this happened in the mere instant before the stranger's human form disappeared.
In a quick flash of light, the stranger was gone, and in his place was something none of them had ever seen before.
The stranger was now a foot taller, featureless with a smooth, silvery skin that reflected the light of fire like a polished mirror. It was still shaped like a human, except there was no longer any hair or features to its face. There wasn't even a mouth or nose on its metallic head, only four glowing grey gems set into his head like two sets of dead eyes.
He dropped the now dead man to the ground, his body slumped to the dirt with a little thud. Claden heard the fall, but his eyes were locked onto the stranger's metal form. His fear and tears having turned back into shock.
The stranger took a step forward with his backwards body, his limbs shimmered like rippling water before reversing shape so he faced correctly. He took two more steps before attempting to outstretch his hands to grab for the boy.
Claden only managed to stumble backwards several steps before falling over his own boots. Just when it seemed like he was next to die, a flume of smoke erupted from the campfire beside them.
Stennick was barely clinging to consciousness, holding the broken part of his face with one hand and flinging the grey haze of fire magic with his other hand. Having a fire already started, the magic energy he spewed right against the firepit was a lot more potent.
The fire grew wild and shot forward with the intensity of a coiled snake pouncing on its prey. Shoving the stranger back several steps. It lasted several seconds before he spent everything he had inside his body.
Once the flames dispersed, it was clear the only thing the fire did was move the stranger slightly. Stennick was barely able to keep his unharmed eye open after expending so much energy, but he forced himself to stay conscious enough to shout a final word to Claden.
"Run!" Hoarsely escaped his mouth before a metal foot slammed down on the nape of his neck.
The liquid-like metal of the foot had changed shape during the stomp, flattening into the resemblance of a Guillotine blade, cleanly severing Stennick's head from his body.
When the metallic demon looked back at where Claden had been sitting, the boy was gone. He fled into the woods, not ever daring to look back at the fresh corpses that were once his family.
The forest went back to its regularly hush noises after the chaos ended. The little girl with the dislocated shoulder was still whimpering by the log, not knowing what had happened during all the screaming and sickening sounds of bodies breaking.
The stranger changed back to its human appearance after another flash of light, and once he finished surveying the scene, he spoke only to himself.
"Alright, time to get started." He mimicked.
[End of Prologue.]
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