The village was restless after the Basilisk attack. Blackwood had always been dangerous, but Rank 5 monsters seldom strayed so close. The fact that the hunting party barely made it back alive set everyone on edge.
By morning, the wounded hunters were stable, but their bodies were still weak from the venom coursing through their veins. The healer women did all they could, but whispers of fear rippled through the streets like wildfire.
Aiden sat quietly on the edge of the training grounds, sharpening a dagger against whetstone. His movements were slow, methodical, but his thoughts ran in chaos.
I could've saved them last night…
The thought clawed at him mercilessly. He had felt it—the absolute certainty that his devour could consume the poison, strip it away, and leave the hunters whole. But he hadn't dared. Not in front of the entire village.
Now, the guilt pressed on him as heavily as the hunger itself.
"You've been distant."
Aiden froze. Elias's voice carried no hostility, but it was sharp, probing. The older hunter crouched nearby, polishing his bow. His amber eyes never left Aiden.
"I've just been tired," Aiden replied, forcing his tone casual.
"Mm." Elias hummed, unimpressed. He leaned the bow against his knee. "Strange, then, that you always seem full of energy when we're in the woods."
Aiden's grip on the dagger tightened slightly. He didn't respond, simply kept sharpening, the rasp of metal on stone filling the silence.
Elias studied him for a long moment before speaking again. "You've grown quickly, Aiden. Too quickly. Most lads take years to reach the strength you have now." His gaze narrowed. "And yet, you act as though you're holding something back."
Aiden's chest tightened. His mind screamed for a response, but none came.
Elias finally stood, slinging the bow over his shoulder. "Careful, boy. Power has a way of revealing itself whether you want it to or not."
Then he walked away, leaving Aiden alone with the whetstone trembling slightly in his grip.
---
That night, Aiden slipped into the forest again.
He told himself it was training. He told himself it was necessary—that if stronger beasts prowled Blackwood, then he needed to be prepared. But deep down, he knew the truth.
He was feeding the hunger.
The woods were alive with sounds: the distant hoot of owls, the rustle of underbrush, the faint trickle of a stream. Moonlight spilled through gaps in the canopy, silvering the mist that clung low to the earth.
Aiden's senses were sharper now. Every sound carried more weight, every movement clearer than it had ever been. He moved like shadow, his body in tune with the forest around him.
That's when he heard it—low growls echoing from the ravine ahead.
Crouching low, he peered through the underbrush. His eyes narrowed. A pack of Shadowfang Wolves—Rank 4s—circling around a carcass, tearing into it with snarls and snapping jaws.
But among them was something different.
A larger wolf, its fur streaked with silver, its eyes burning faintly red. Its aura was stronger, heavier. A Rank 5 Alpha.
Aiden's breath caught. He had already risked too much with the Direbear. Facing another Rank 5 so soon was reckless. Insane.
And yet the hunger whispered.
Take it. Devour it. You need it.
His body tensed, his blood singing at the thought of battle. He should have turned back. He should have chosen restraint.
Instead, Aiden stepped from the shadows.
The wolves froze, heads snapping toward him. The Alpha snarled, lips curling back to reveal bloodstained fangs.
The pack lunged first.
Aiden moved like lightning. His blade flashed, carving through the first wolf's throat before it even reached him. He twisted, ducking beneath the leap of another, driving his dagger into its belly and ripping upward in a spray of blood.
The hunger roared. His strikes were faster, stronger, guided by instinct as much as skill. The wolves fell one after another, their bodies dropping into the dirt, their essence feeding the fire inside him.
But the Alpha…
It circled him cautiously, its crimson eyes never leaving his. Its aura pressed down like a weight, making the air heavy, suffocating. Then, with a bone-rattling snarl, it lunged.
Aiden barely met its charge. The impact drove him back, his boots digging trenches into the earth. The wolf's jaws snapped inches from his throat. He shoved it aside, slashing across its flank, but the Alpha twisted away, blood spraying but not slowing it.
The battle raged, steel and fang clashing in a blur of motion. Aiden's body screamed with exertion, but the hunger screamed louder.
More. More. Devour it all.
With a roar, Aiden let the power surge. His blade sank deep into the wolf's chest, twisting until he felt the heart shatter. The Alpha gave a final snarl before collapsing, its essence flooding into him in a torrent of fire.
Aiden staggered, gasping as the devour burned through his veins. His vision blurred, his muscles spasmed. It was too much—too soon.
He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest. His eyes burned, glowing faintly in the moonlight.
When the rush finally eased, he realized he wasn't alone.
From the shadows, just beyond the clearing, Elias stood watching.
---