Beast
by Lan the Orc
A blur of red destruction teared through the forest, crushing tree trunks and rocks alike in unbound rage. Growling, crunching and screaming quickly became his language, and rage was his only message. He ran, he jumped, he stumbled, he fell and he dug, but there was nowhere he could flee from his hurt,  no way to stop his heart from reminding him of the hard relentless truth. He was so trapped in a prison of his misery, that he did no notice the shadow that moved through the forest, jumping from shadow to shadow in a strange Gothic acrobatics. The beast had been going on rampage for close to half an hour before exhaustion took its toll, as he fell to his knees releasing one final, lonely hurt. 

The beast breathed heavily, its long and thin chest rising and falling erratically with every sob , his two upper arms, thick and corded, held him steady as he cried his heart out, thick blackened claws digging into the earth, while his two lower arms, wrapped tightly across his chest in a failed attempt at comfort. The big rounded head with a short snout glanced, came closer to the ground, as he slowly became the ball he had never wanted to be. The fluffy haired beast, with arched legs as thick as trees and a body as large as a small house, now lay there on a far away forest, broken, angry, with wood, rocks and mud tangled in his crimson red hair, soft muffled whines leaving his snout.

The shadows gathered a few feet from him, a sleek androgynous form slowly coming out from the pool of darkness, their body covered by thick ebony robes that looked like flowers, with long strips of vines made of black velvet.  Their face, impassive and analyzing, looked upon the mess their friend had become, a hint of reproach crossed their face, before it was replaced with the practiced facade of fake concern. They approached  him calmly, the robes floating soundlessly over the ground.

"I told you it would end like this" their eerie voice  sang, like the cold tendrils of a monster from the Unknown "We both knew it would never work. Not with your condition."

He stopped growling, coal black eyes glaring at the shadowy form, the pained whines replaced by a deep viceral growl. The growl soon turned into a roar, as he raised to his full height, muscles brimming with power. 

"You can stop the show now. You know I’m the only friend you have left" They said, their deep violet eyes staring dispassionately at his angered black eyes. They lifted a hand, a dark orb of thick ooze forming with a gesture. "Now, drink this, and our contract will be completed"

"She was willing to accept me, she was going to help me through this" he screamed, his hard decided steps shaking the earth as he closed the distance between the two. "She had done the research, she had paid the price, and now..."

"Now she’s dead, like all the fools who attempt to tame the arcane energies without proper training" They said, a sneer clear in her silken voice. "Calling upon the High One, without even an adequate sacrifice, you’re lucky to be alive Claude"

He led out a loud growl before he threw himself at the demon, a red blur clashing into a sea of black, cursing, growling and grunting following the two . Thick tendrils covered in spines came from their hands, hitting him all over his body with their purple flesh, his swipes and bites only  meeting  metal, as the worn shadows coalesced  and condensed around their body, taking the brunt of his attacks. A flash of green threw him back, piercing through all the unfortunates trees in his way until the ground broke his fall. His consciousnesses flashed for a minute, as bones and flesh mended in seconds thanks to his boiling blood. he struggled to his feet, still dazed after the hit he had just taken.

"I will forgive your...outburst" they said as their form melded into the earth and reappeared just a couple of feet from the beast "It is obvious your sickness is still blinding you."

"My humanity is not a sickness" He replied, his voice loud and low. He bent forward, his whole body adopting the six legged stance that his tribe was known for, limbs tense with anticipation for the hunt. " She taught me that. And you, YOU took her from me"

"A necessary evil I assure you, she was-" a loud roar interrupted their excuse, the air around the pair grew thick, as gold speckles started coming out the beast’s paws, a thin cape covering the deadly claws just as the canine like head shifted, becoming more wild, more savage, his eyes loosing the glint of intelligence, leaving behind only the red pupils full of grief. They let out a sight, their pupilless eyes glinting with a dark green flame as they pulled all the shadows from the forest to their hands.  They cursed softly, like a soft caress before a strike, they glanced at their one shot at freedom, and cursed the fates one more time.

The two forms clashed once more, gold and emerald twisting under the moonlight, the sounds of destruction following the relentless encounter they had devolved into. Lost was the sense of grace and control, the masks that each wore to please the world. There was only anger and grief for both, their souls longs corrupted by the madness of immortality and myth, bound to fates neither could escape. The beast forever looking for a silver star, and the witch trapped by their own kind. This was neither the first, nor the last clash both would have, but it was certainly the most primal and the most bloody. Or so would the witch remember it, as it clutched the remains of their severed arms,as they ran towards the west, a long frustrated howl announcing the Pyrrhic victory of the beast.