NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Her Turning Point
When Ayin regain her consciousness, her entire body ached. The rough ropes binding her paws and snout had cut into her skin, and the taste of blood lingered in her mouth. She lifted her head weakly, blinking through the haze of pain.
Zesh lay slumped nearby, his big form motionless.
His dark fur was matted with dried blood, and shallow breaths escaped his parted jaws.
Her surroundings came into focus—a crude wooden structure, the walls lined with rusted tools. The smell of sweat, blood, and decay was overwhelming.
A heavy boot slammed down on her side, sending a jolt of agony through her ribs.
"Still alive, are you?" It was the wiry man again, his grin wide and vicious. He leaned down, his foul breath making her stomach churn. "Good. We're just getting started."
"Why?" He straightened as he picked up a jagged blade from a nearby table. "Carla and Nakan are good family. Her husband is my old friend, so in a sense, I'm also their family. Although we've never really close since his death, I've always watching over them, trying my best to help. Obviously, your appearance didn't know escape my radar. But after all, you're sentient beast and with Carla's kindness, what could I say? So I let everything slide."
He paused before continuing with hatred, "WHY! it's because you're beast! Beast will always be beast no matter whether you have brain or not. They have helped you so much, yet you coerced them into having sex?!"
Ayin's eyes widened, but he didn't let her speak.
"You ungrateful shit! Abominable perversion! Creatures like you don't deserve to live! But I won't let you have easy death!" He motioned to the other villagers. "Hold her down."
The first cut was shallow, a slow drag of the blade across her side. The pain was sharp and immediate, making her cry out despite herself.
She wanted to go explain.
She was framed, she didn't do anything wrong, it was all a lie—But Ayin hesitated. Doing so would meant that Clara and Nakan's life will be ruined. And she has promised that she won't tell a soul about it, the truth. Pain after pain coursing through her body as she thinks about this, causing her to be muddleheaded.
"Not so tough now, are you?" one of the villagers jeered.
They worked methodically, taking turns inflicting pain.
They tore her fur, slashed at her skin, poured salt into her wounds, laughing as Ayin writhed and screamed.
Zesh stirred weakly, his eyes fluttering open. When he saw what was currently happening, a low, guttural growl escaped his ferocious jaw.
The wiry man turned to him, grinning. "Don't worry, beast. You're next."
Ayin forced herself to look at her brother, her heart breaking at the sight of his battered form.
Zesh's gaze met hers, filled with both pain and unyielding hatred.
The torture continued for hours, each moment stretching into eternity.
Ayin's body screamed in agony, her mind teetering on the edge of despair. But what hurt most wasn't the pain—it was the betrayal.
She had trusted them.
She had believed in their kindness, their heart. And now they stood by, complicit in her suffering.
Nakan's voice echoed in her ears—
"Only the dead are clean."
A fresh wave of anger surged through her, cutting through the pain like a blade.
…
Hours passed, though it felt like an eternity.
Ayin lay motionless, her body was a ruin of blood and bruises. Seeing her unconscious brother, something inside her gradually shifted.
The pain became a dull throb.
A growing fire in her chest eclipsed everything.
She thought of her father—his mangled bodies, the light fading from his eyes. She thought of her mother, her whereabouts, condition, lives, unknown. She thought of Nakan, who had smiled at her, laughed with her, only to sell her out to save himself.
And in that moment, she understood.
They would never change.
Humans, with their smiles and lies, their greed and cruelty—they were all the same.
At this moment, she heard footsteps and she couldn't help but flinched, prepared for another round of pain. But this footsteps are small, familiar, one she knew.
Upon her frantic telepathic voice, came a calm and collected mature voice, "I can't trust you."
With his hands behind his back, Nakan gazed far before speaking, "You misunderstand, and that is why you feel the knife so keenly. Betrayal is a word spoken by those who see only their wounds, not the hand that held the blade, nor the reasons that forced it to strike. Let me ask you: If a kingdom saw its ruin foretold in the luster of rainbow, what would it do? Would it not hunt the beast to extinction? Would it not scour the jungles, burn forests to ash, and erase even the memory of the creature, just to ensure its survival?"
Nakan pauses, his gaze to her meaningful.
"Such was the folly of an empire long forgotten. A witch had glimpsed the future—rainbow beast would lead to its demise. And so they waged war against the nature itself, slaughtering almost every magical beast, destroying ecosystems, breaking the balance of life."
Ayin furrowed her brow, digesting his words.
"Yes." Nakan nodded simply, "That's your story. Have you never wondered why your life turned into tragedy? How but a single human recognized you here? How you never saw more than five magical beast in this place? The Empire are afraid, so afraid that they did everything in their capacity to slaughter not only Elden beast, but every magical beast in existence."
Ayin couldn't be more shocked, she utterly speechless.
First of all, what's the Empire?
Where is it?
What power does it hold?
No, she remembered something—her father scream.
"Yes, it's him." Nakan sighed, "The man who blinded so much by fear that he forgot one truth: the rainbow beast was not the destroyer but a warning. The witch never spoke of claws and fangs tearing down their walls. No, it was their obsession, their blindness, their need for control that sealed their fate. The Empire's fall has been foreseen by many higher being, but the witch met her demise for saying it."
At this point, Nakan looked down on Ayin, "You see yourself as the betrayed, the victim of my choice. But have you considered the shadow you cast? I saw the rainbow in you—the one that, in time, would undo all that I have built, all that I hold dear. Not because you meant harm, but because harm was inevitable. Your trust in me, even your love—they are rainbow, beautiful, but you carry claws I cannot tame. I could not wait for those claws to strike, so I chose to act first. Does that make me cruel? Perhaps. But cruelty is the price of foresight."
If she hadn't realized it by this point, she might as well kill herself. After all, Nakan was a simple child. How could he even speak with, not to mention understand a sentence of what he had said just now?
His demeanor, the air around him, refined attitude…
He couldn't be Nakan.
However the boy didn't plan on telling her, "You call me a betrayer, but I am no different than the empire. It's just so happen that we have to cut down the same threat, you, an Elden beast."
Ayin opened her lips to speak, but no words came.
However, everything's clear now. And with that, the last vestiges of hope in her heart slipping away. When she opened her eyes again, they burned with a new purpose.
Nakan remained indifferent, "We will meet again in the future, and at that time, I will pay my debt."
With that, he left without looking back.
But Ayin's resolve was set.
The Empire, the villager—They would pay.
And she would make sure of it.