Arcadia Gaiden-Beast

The large black wolf strides out into the small clearing I have claimed for my runs. She seems cautious, only stepping forward when she recognizes my scent. Bellowing at her causes her to back off. She calls out, a sound reverberating throughout the forest.

Donovan... What has become of you? Why to you become agressive at my presence?

Another fell roar, and I charge her. Still being slightly larger, she takes the hit when my jaws snap shut on her front left leg. A crunching of bone and a swift jerk of my powerfully muscled neck, and her leg rips free. The very trees seem to cry out in pain along with her.

Stop! Why are you doing this?!

Before I can land the final blow, her pack arrives.  For the moment they are confused. The twins run over to me and stare at me questioningly. A single swipe with my right arm bisects the one to my right, and the left is impaled upon my claws. Their dying thoughts are filled with horror, and I feel fresh strength surge through my body. The amount of blood dripping from my flesh increases.

The rest of the pack charges in. The first leaps up to rip out my throat. Leaning back, I watch with a sadistic glee as my ribs snap shut on it, repeatedy opening and closing as if chewing. The mangled corpse hits the ground with a dull thud. With a running start, I jump into a low hanging branch, hurling the now dead young wolf at my attackers. Jumping off the tree, I become a whirlwind of slashing and stabbing death.

Within moments, the pack is no more, and Vlithara is mine to play with. Blood is pouring from various points on my body, and the clearing is starting to die off. The great forst spirit tries to get back up and fails.

My... Children... YOU MURDERER!

A surge of unsuspected strength allows her to slam into me, tearing into my neck. She begins to make a choked gargling sound as she convulses. Her black coat is turning grey as  her eyes glaze over. The terror rolling off of her is a feeling that surpasses anything drugs or sex could ever provide.

What... are...... you.......

Rather than a roar escaping my jaws, a surprisingly serene and soft voice flows into the death choked air. "Despaire... Decay... Death... I am rot incarnate." All of this is coming to me as naturally as breathing. "Had you fought back the moment you saw me... Our positions may have been reversed. Now die." I begin to rip into her neck, feasting upon the great beasts body. another scream rocks the trees as her fear peaks, and she is no more.

Once dead, I cease my meal. There is a pixie somewhere nearby, and her horror is almost like a beacon, begging to be fed upon. "Deeeetraaa....." She tries to flee, but she's no match for my speed. I have her firmly in my grasp. She screams as my tail whips over-head and slams into her small torso. She dies seconds later. "Unfortunate."

The clouding returns as I loose another deafaning roar to the now lifeless section of forest. My mind finally slips away as the monster I have become extinguishes my conciousness.





For twelve years Donovan roamed Arcadia, leaving a trail of death and decay. Entire forests were rendered infertile, and for years all who tried to kill him failed. He ravaged the countryside and moved on to the southern lands, bringing with him terror and chaos. The Royal Courts designated him as a natural disaster, for as he fed upon the fear of others, he slowly grew larger and stronger. By the time he was finally stopped, he was twenty feet tall, weighing in at several tons.

The town that sheltered him in his first few month in Arcadia was the first to be razed to the ground. Official word is that Calypso tried to reason with him when they crossed paths. She was found mutilated by a traveler weeks after he had moved on.

For a time, people would evacuate if he was spotted anywhere near them. The creature was finally confronted by one of the beasts responsible for his form. A unicorn, daughter of Josiah, was the one to confront this monster. Using every bit of power she could muster, she removed the curse that had been festering in his soul since his encounter with one of her ilk.

As his body was purified, all that remained was a shriveled, drooling husk that used to be a human. His mind was so far gone, that she took pity on him, and took him back to the desolate ruins of Ionah. When they arrived, she impaled him in the chest. She reports that his last words were, "I'm sorry." He cried until death came to him. She buried him in the middle of what used to be the lake the town was built around.

She was one of the few spared from the extermination squads sent by the Court to kill of the unicorns. They fear another Donovan. And rightly so...