Echoes of Hollow

With his hands hidden behind his back, Lykos slowly approached the river where his daughter had been left earlier. The girl turned upon hearing a small stone shift nearby and smiled.

"You’ll have to do better than that if you want to catch me, Daddy."

"Oh, really? Look how my little girl has grown! It looks like I’ll need to make a new bed soon, doesn’t it?"

Smiling, the girl raised her head confidently.

"But then, what do you think I have here? Oh, never mind... Sorry, I forgot..., you’re too grown up for something like this..."

"No, Daddy, wait...!"

Clumsy, she tripped over her own feet as she got out of the water and fell onto the stones.

"I want to see...! What is it?!"

Scratching her nose, she stood up with no trouble. Sitting on the stones, she continued to look at Lykos with her bright black eyes.

He tried to resist, but unable to withstand such cuteness, Lykos smiled.

"Show me, Daddy, please..."

"Alright, alright, but only if you don’t cry, okay?"

Sniffling, the little girl nodded.

With white fur spread across her small body and erect ears, her large, cute eyes were reddened, as was her little rounded nose above her mouth.

"How cute...!"

When set on the ground, the animal made an incredible leap considering its small size. But Lykos quickly caught it again.

"What’s its name? It’s different from the one you brought last time... Is it dangerous? Can I hold it?!"

"Calm down, don’t rush and speak slowly. What have we said before? One step...?"

"One step at a time..."

"That’s right, good."

Kneeling on the stones with a small smile, Lykos placed the animal on the ground and continued to hold it with one hand.

"Go on, try to touch it."

With a wide smile, her sadness vanished, and hesitantly, the girl tried to reach out one of her hands to the animal.

"Carefully, don’t forget..."

Swallowing the saliva in her mouth, she nodded as she pulled her hand back due to the scare.

"Great, keep it up."

The feel of the smooth, soft fur made a new smile grow on her face. One of her fingers, the longest one, had just touched it, but the tremor didn’t go away, and the cold sweat didn’t leave her hair.

"Very well, you’re doing great! Keep going, Eudora..."

Swallowing again, but with nothing in her mouth this time, unable to even breathe, she widened her eyes as all her fingers touched it simultaneously.

"That’s it! Very good, you did it! Congra..."

The happiness was so overwhelming that, with the animal in her hands, Eudora jumped in response to her emotion. However, feeling something warm spreading over her fingers and dripping down her face, everything vanished. The creature’s body fell lifelessly onto the stones.

"It’s... it’s okay..."

Acting quickly, Lykos picked up the remains of the animal and threw them beyond the river.

"Don’t cry, it’s okay... It’s normal, it took me weeks to do what you’re doing now."

"But..."

Sniffling, as she approached the river’s edge, she knelt to wash the blood off her arms.

"...Mommy did it on the first try..."

"Eh..."

Restraining his hand’s approach, Lykos forced his eyes and smiled.

"Well, your mother is..."

Putting his hand to his mouth, he cleared his throat.

"Thinking about it, what did I say about comparing yourself to others...?"

Sealing his lips and puffing his cheeks, she threw water on her face.

"That it’s not good..."

"And so...?"

Turning with her wet face and puffed cheeks, Eudora looked at Lykos with her shining eyes.

"But it’s Mommy..."

Even under pressure, he didn’t yield. Turning his face, Lykos resisted the cuteness.

"Even so. You shouldn’t do that..."

Opening one eye, he observed her. Her cheeks were still puffed. Smiling, Lykos placed one hand on her head and petted her affectionately.

"Everyone has their own pace, Eudora, and being slower in learning doesn’t mean you are or will be worse than others. Just follow your own rhythm."

After the child nodded, Lykos stood up, carrying her in his arms.

"Shall we go? It will soon be time for dinner."

***************

"Daddy..."

"It’s okay..., she should be back soon..."

There was no more noise in the city as everyone gathered with their families. As sunset approached, his veins bulged, his teeth grew slowly, and even under the fading sunlight, his golden eyes shone brightly.

With his fist, Lykos broke through the wooden planks that formed his house. His heavy and slow breathing revealed the abnormally rapid progress of his transformation.

"Eudora..."

He had called her many times before, but for some reason, the abnormal, gruff voice made the child flinch instinctively.

"When she left this morning, she... your mother... went to help others with cooking, right?"

Stepping back, the girl shrank away.

"Answer me!"

"No!"

Crouching and curling her legs, Eudora huddled in the corner of the room.

"Two men came and... they came..."

There was no need to hear more. With wide eyes, the sound of the door being smashed echoed nearby. Darkness didn’t matter, his steps were swift, and his eyes could see even in the darkest alleys.

"Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!..."

Each step crushed the stones beneath his feet, and with the continuous change in his form, his claws grew slowly. His eyes darted quickly across the area, searching for every trace around. But what truly led him to the answer was his sense of smell. An unusual odor, not coming from or going to that place at any other time, invaded his keenly transformed nostrils.

The bones in his legs cracked, taking on a new shape with each moment, curved but still maintaining a bipedal stance.

Following the trail, his claws tore through the walls alongside his path. Starting from the surroundings, the golden hue of his eyes began to give way to a new color, an intense and bloodthirsty crimson red.

With the continuous growth of his hair, his body was now covered. His claws had no more room to grow, and his fangs had reached their limit. Before the red doors, the remaining trail split into three paths, but, opening his mouth, which had elongated to resemble a snout, he made not a howl, but something far more terrifying. Sending a tremor through every house in the city, the creature roared.