Beastbound: The Flesh of Power

The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood, mingling with the acrid tang of smoke from shattered lanterns and burned decorations. Leo stumbled through the ruins of the once-vibrant festival ground, his breath catching in his throat.

His feet splashed through crimson puddles, and the ground beneath him was slippery with gore. He desperately scanned the field, hoping, praying, that someone—anyone—had survived.

But there was no one. Only the twisted remnants of a celebration turned massacre. Pieces of bodies littered the field, grotesquely interwoven with the splinters of wooden benches and colorful banners.

The bright lights that had illuminated the village so joyously now hung dim, flickering in the oppressive silence. Leo's knees threatened to give way, but his instincts screamed for him to stay alert.

From a distance, Raze watched. His vision blurred, not just from tears but from the horrifying realization of the destruction before him. A deep, pulsating red mist began to rise from the mangled remains of the villagers, snaking its way toward the center of the stage. It coiled and spiraled around the ominous black-green egg, bathing it in a sinister glow.

The egg, which had always been cold and lifeless, now trembled. Faint cracks appeared along its shell, spreading like a web, until a sharp snap echoed through the silence.

From within, a small creature began to emerge—a lizard-like being, no larger than a cat, its scales shimmering with the same blackish-green hue as the egg.

The dragon above, its monstrous form framed against the burning twilight, seemed to observe the hatching with reverence. Slowly, it lowered its head, its massive jaws hovering near the tiny creature as if whispering an unspoken message. Then, with a deafening roar, it launched itself skyward, leaving behind a rain of flesh and bone fragments that splattered grotesquely onto the already defiled ground.

Raze's mind was a maelstrom of fear and fury. He clenched his fists so tightly his nails bit into his palms. His entire body trembled, but not from weakness—from rage.

The lizard stood on the stage, oblivious to the carnage that had brought it to life. Its tiny limbs wobbled as it tried to steady itself, its bright yellow eyes blinking curiously at the world it had just entered.

Raze's breath hitched as he took a step forward, then another. Each step felt heavier than the last, the weight of his emotions threatening to crush him. His vision tunneled, narrowing until all he could see was the creature. The destruction, the pain, the betrayal—it all led to this. This thing.

The lizard noticed him now. It chirped softly, tilting its head in confusion, and then scrambled to move away. But Raze was faster.

With one swift motion, he snatched it in his hand, his grip like a vice around its fragile body. It squirmed and clawed, but its small frame was no match for his strength.

Raze brought the creature closer, his breath ragged. His gaze bore into the lizard's terrified eyes, and for a moment, he hesitated. But the memory of the seer's words, the sight of his friends abandoning him, the screams of his village—everything culminated into a single, overpowering instinct.

Before he could second-guess himself, he opened his mouth and sank his teeth into the lizard's neck. Warm blood gushed onto his tongue, metallic and bitter, as the creature let out a shrill, pitiful cry. It writhed, its claws scraping against his hand, but he didn't stop.

He tore into it, swallowing chunks of flesh and bone, each bite an act of vengeance, of desperation, of survival.

The lizard's struggles weakened, and soon, it went limp in his grasp. Raze dropped what little remained of the body to the ground, his chest heaving. His mouth was stained red, his throat burning with the acidic taste of raw meat. He staggered back, feeling a strange heat coursing through his veins—a heat that wasn't entirely his own and he fell down fainting,