Vars swung the sickle a couple of times to get a feel of his dexterity with it before Mother walked into the clearing again.
Her jaw was crooked with the bottom pushed to the right of her upper jaw. She looked at him in silence and nodded her head as if she respected his strength. Then her body seemed to glow and the atmosphere changed.
Vars could feel the shift in the air. The temperature around Mother began to drop as her snot-green coat began to gain frost on it. Then suddenly her body released an outburst of frost.
'Ohh shit. Now I gotta be even more careful to not get touched. This world is going to be razed to the ground before I can be Sovereign.' Vars thought gripping his weapon tighter keeping his eyes on Mother.
Mother shook her coat causing frost to shake off her bony figure and took one more pause as she held Vars' gaze as if she were silently pleading for him to win this fight. For but a second it was just a mother admiring her eldest cub one last time.
Noticing this moment of weakness Vars took the initiative. With the extra dexterity given by the Shadow Weapon, he was faster than before.
He flanked her from the right crossing the distance instantly. To Vars, his speed felt absurd it was as if he was one with the wind. From Mother's perspective 1 minute, he stood there staring at her cautiously, and the next a curved blade was hooked under her left head.
He jumped over her dragging the blade and rope with him. He yanked the chain sharply pulling Mother along with her. Her body whiplashed smacking into the ground with such force that a crater around 2 feet deep was created around her body.
Vars hopped back gaining some distance just to be safe. He didn't feel the extra weight attached to his hook until he noticed Mother no longer had two heads. At the end of his hook not only was it the head of one of his zombie siblings but his whole body.
"It seems your talent doesn't last forever. I was hoping to kill you in one go but it seems I overestimated myself. Well, I guess this is goodbye Mother," Vars said as he changed the shadow weapon into a two-handed mallet.
He dashed to the crater and just to be safe he jumped into the air before throwing the mallet. The force of the throw sent the mallet flying as fast as a bullet.
*BOOM*
The mallet caused the 2-foot crater to become 3 feet deeper. When he landed he walked to the crater and Mother's body could be seen in the middle crumpled with her midsection flattened.
The green essence flew to him signifying that the threat had been put to rest.
{You have collected the essence of a Lv. 2 Zombie Ice Wolf. You have gained +2 Vitality and +2 dexterity. You are now Lv. 4.}
Disregarding the notification he walked to Mother's body and laid her head on his lap. He had no words to say and any words he tried to say got stuck in his throat. He did the only thing he could do. He wept and wept and wept.
Physically Vars was in the best shape of his life but mentally he was destroyed. He tried to focus more on fighting and gaining strength but he couldn't hold it in anymore.
The first time something like this happened he could do nothing but watch as his parents burned to death. This time he played the biggest role in destroying his pack. The mixture of guilt and anger caused his mind to fracture a bit. Consumed by the pain he blacked out.
Deep in his subconscious Vars came face to with the demon Mother mentioned. It was more wisp of a shadow in dim candlelight than a body. Bright yellow eyes peered back at him with a sinister smile.
"It is not yet time for us to meet little sapling, you have more growing to do. In the mean time I promise not to go for joy rides until then. Do grow nice and strong for me. Ta ta." said the demon in a surprisingly soft, charming voice.
With those words, Vars felt as if he was brought back to reality. In that split moment, he felt the most fear he had ever felt in his life.
Just the presence of that thing exuded so much pressure that he a paralyzed. He was unable to do anything but listen to this terrifying being hidden within him.
Finally coming to reality he looked down at his lap and realized just how scared he was. Mother's head was crushed. The fear caused him to clench his hands while he was still holding her. Mother's skull looked like a freshly squeezed lemon.
'No no no no no no what have I done? Why?' Vars thought as the fear turned into pure rage. His Cosmic Energy was building up as if it was going to explode. He grabbed his head as if he couldn't hold it together. That is until he felt something lick the side of his face.
"Hey get up. I get it your family is gone and you had to be the one to kill most of them. You don't get to the top by being a little bitch.
Take this moment, remember it, ingrain it into your being, and never let it happen again. Now let's start making our claim on this entire forest" said a soft voice as if it was carried on an icy breeze.
'That voice...' Vars thought before looking to his left.
There stood Bloodbag in Snow's body. To Vars, it felt as if a whole day had passed due to the mental rollercoaster he had been on when in reality it had only been about 12 minutes.
The sun was still high in the sky looming over the tall trees of the Dark Wood Forest. Vars stared at Bloodbag taking in his words while allowing his rage to dissolve. Looking at Mother's remains one last tear fell before he wiped his eyes.
"It's about time you showed up. I've made a lot of progress as you can see. I was close to replacing you with my own creation but I suppose it's better this way." Vars said as he stood up and looked Bloodbag in the eyes.
"What do you mean replacing me? I am one of a kind bucko plus I was up during most of it anyway. Proud of you by the way" BB said as he winked.
"So that whole time you just faked being unconscious for what? As I fought the Alpha and Mother your first thought was to do nothing?
You do realize 1 scratch from Mother and it would have been the end before the beginning so why? Some spirit you are. If that's the case I guess I will replace you." Vars said angrily as he towered over the wolf's body.
"Oh hush the Alpha underestimated you so much to the point that he wasn't even aware of his death. Mother was definitely a close one and I would have intervened but with that Shadow Weapon, you didn't need it." BB retorted as he sat.
"Oh don't give me that you still should have helped that's what a pack does!" Vars shouted fed up with just about everything.
"You fail to remember I've known you since birth. This was a teaching moment for you that you needed for yourself. Vars, although you have the spirit of a wolf you are a human.
You have to learn to stand alone when you need to and that you don't always need help. You learned this before all those times the Alpha left you behind at night to find your way back. You proved to yourself that you are strong and that was my goal." Bloodbag said with a comforting tone.
While he was in Snow's body he had her voice which in his case is a good thing as it played a pivotal role in calming Vars down.
"Fine, I suppose you know about my new talent also so I will use that and then we'll go hunting, I need to vent."