Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Blood beneath the road

The forest was too quiet. Not peaceful quiet, not the kind that settles after dusk when creatures retreat into burrows and nests. This silence pressed inward, thick and deliberate, like something holding its breath. Kael stood still among the towering trunks, his fingers resting loosely on the hilt of his blade. He did not turn his head. He did not call out. He simply listened. The Devouring Mark beneath his skin pulsed once, slow and heavy, as if acknowledging an unseen presence. He exhaled calmly and shifted his weight slightly, adjusting his stance without appearing to do so. If something hunted him, it expected fear. He would offer indifference. A branch snapped above him. Not loudly. Just enough. The shadow dropped from the canopy without warning, landing ten paces ahead in a crouch so controlled it barely disturbed the fallen leaves. Its body was lean, fur dark and coarse, muscles tight beneath skin that seemed almost stretched. Amber eyes burned with unnatural awareness. A Forest Wraith-Hound, but larger than any he had studied. Its jaw opened slowly, revealing teeth too long and too numerous. This was no ordinary beast. It watched him like a rival, not prey. Kael drew his blade in a single smooth motion. Steel glinted faintly in the filtered light. Neither moved. Seconds stretched thin. Then the beast vanished. The ground where it had crouched exploded as it lunged forward. Kael pivoted at the last possible instant, angling his blade to intercept. Claws met steel with a shriek that echoed through the trees. The impact traveled through his arm like a hammer strike. He slid back three steps before anchoring himself. The beast twisted mid-air with unnatural agility and struck again from the flank. Kael ducked low, felt wind slice past his scalp, and slashed upward toward its exposed side. The blade bit through fur and grazed muscle, but resistance was immense. Not deep enough. The beast landed behind him without sound. Kael spun just in time to raise his forearm. Claws tore through cloth and scraped flesh. Warm blood flowed down his wrist. He did not look at it. Pain was confirmation that he was alive. Nothing more. The hound circled now, pacing slowly, head low, tail stiff. It had measured him. Kael adjusted his breathing, steady and controlled. He remembered his father's quiet instruction from years ago: never chase the beast. Make it commit. The Devouring Mark pulsed again, stronger this time, responding to the twisted qi radiating from the creature. Corrupted energy. Artificial. Interesting. The beast lunged once more, faster than before, aiming for his throat. This time Kael stepped forward instead of back. The claws grazed his shoulder, slicing skin, but he closed the distance completely and drove his elbow into the creature's throat with full force. The impact staggered it just enough. In that narrow opening, he thrust his blade deep between its ribs and twisted hard. The howl that followed was wrong. It carried something almost human within it, a distortion that made the air tremble. Black mist erupted from the wound, thick and violent. Kael did not retreat. He released the Devouring Mark fully. The air folded inward. The mist bent toward him unnaturally, drawn into the mark as if gravity had shifted. The beast thrashed wildly, claws carving trenches in the soil, but the more it resisted, the faster its corrupted qi drained. Energy surged into Kael's meridians like wildfire. It burned. It tore. Foreign and unstable. His vision blurred as pressure mounted in his chest. If he allowed it to run wild, it would damage him from within. He clenched his jaw and forced it downward, compressing the chaotic qi into his core. The beast's struggles weakened. Its amber eyes dimmed slowly until they went dull. Within moments its body collapsed into stillness, fur losing sheen as if years had passed in seconds. Silence returned to the forest. Kael staggered back and dropped briefly to one knee. The stolen energy churned violently inside him, slamming against his meridians. This was different from devouring fragments of destiny. This was living corruption, dense and aggressive. He closed his eyes and visualized pressure, compressing the energy into a tight sphere within his dantian. It resisted fiercely, lashing against his control. A thin line of blood slid from the corner of his mouth. He ignored it. Slowly, strand by strand, he crushed the chaotic qi into submission. Minutes passed before the sphere stabilized, rotating heavily but obediently. When he opened his eyes, the world appeared sharper, colors slightly more vivid. He rose and approached the corpse. Something metallic glinted faintly beneath the fur near its neck. He crouched and brushed the strands aside. An iron token hung from a cord embedded into flesh. Not natural. Not accidental. He cut it free and examined it carefully. A broken sun pierced by a spear was engraved on its surface. The Ashen Fang Clan. They were not supposed to operate near Veyron territory. He turned the token over. Binding runes were etched faintly along the back. The beast had been modified. Controlled. Sent. Kael's expression cooled further. He allowed his senses to expand subtly, letting the Devouring Mark hum faintly beneath his skin without drawing in energy. Residual qi signatures lingered far to the east. Human. Concealed, but imperfectly. Observers. Testing him. Instead of pursuing them, he wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it calmly. He lifted the beast's corpse over his shoulder and began walking back toward the estate at an unhurried pace. Let them watch him leave. Let them believe he had not noticed. As he neared the clearing where trees thinned, he spoke without turning his head. "If you intend to test me again, choose something stronger." The wind shifted faintly through the branches, but no answer came. Back at the Veyron compound, he dropped the corpse in the courtyard. Servants stiffened at the sight. Word would spread quickly. That was acceptable. His mother arrived first, composed as always. She examined the claw marks on his shoulder without alarm and handed him a clean cloth. "You adjusted your stance late," she observed quietly. Kael nodded once. "It was faster than anticipated." His father stepped forward moments later, gaze settling on the iron token resting beside the corpse. "So they've begun," he said calmly. "Yes," Kael replied. There was no anger in either of them. Only recognition. His father placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Good. Then you will grow faster." Kael allowed a faint smile to touch his lips. That night he descended into the underground chamber beneath the estate and sat cross-legged in darkness. He released the compressed sphere slowly and began refining it carefully, strand by strand. Power flowed through him in measured surges, strengthening muscle and bone. His breathing deepened naturally as the energy integrated into his core. Hours later, when he opened his eyes, the air around him trembled faintly. He was stronger. Not overwhelmingly. But undeniably. Far beyond the estate walls, cloaked figures observed from a distant ridge. The broken sun insignia glinted faintly at one of their collars. "He devoured it," one murmured. "Then he truly exists," another replied from the shadows. The first figure's gaze hardened. "Prepare the second test." Beneath the estate, unaware of the exact words but fully aware that something in the world had shifted, Kael closed his eyes once more. Let them test him. He would consume every trial they sent. And when they finally understood what he truly was, it would already be too late. The Devouring Mark pulsed in the darkness, steady and hungry.