Aurelia sat trembling on the ground, her sobs barely audible over the growls of the massive wolves.
Their red eyes glowed ominously, and their black fur shimmered with streaks of purple as if darkness itself had wrapped around them.
Three of them circled her, saliva dripping from their snarling mouths. They looked ready to devour her in a single bite.
Behind a nearby tree, Olivia clung to Claude's arm, shaking as tears streamed down her face.
'Holy shit, those things are huge,' Claude thought, his wide eyes fixed on the monstrous wolves.
Their jaws looked strong enough to snap Aurelia in half. 'One bite, and she's gone.'
Olivia clung to his hand, tears silently falling down her cheeks as her body shook. But while she was frozen in fear, Claude's mind raced for a solution.
'We're just kids. What the hell am I supposed to do?' His gaze shifted to Olivia, then to Aurelia, who was still crying.
He swallowed hard. 'If anyone's gonna get out of this, one of us has to be the bait. Guess that's me.'
Taking a deep breath, Claude squeezed Olivia's trembling hand. "Olivia," he whispered, keeping his voice steady despite his shaking hands.
"I'm going to distract them. When they're chasing me, grab Aurelia and run back to the village. Find an adult, okay?"
Olivia's eyes widened in panic. "N-No! Claude, I can't leave you! You'll get hurt—"
"I'll be fine," he interrupted, forcing a smile he didn't feel. "Just do as I say. We don't have much time."
Before she could argue, Claude stood and bolted to the other side of the forest.
'Goddammit, I don't want to die again,' he thought, legs burning as he ran. 'If God is real, please send a hero or something.' He prayed silently in his heart.
He stopped when he was a short distance from the wolves, inhaling deeply. "HEY! YOU OVERGROWN MUTTS! YOUR FOOD'S OVER HERE!"
The cacodemons' ears twitched at his shout, and two of them turned their heads toward him. For a moment, Claude's heart lifted—until they turned back to Aurelia.
"Ugh, not enough, huh?" Claude muttered, grabbing a rock from the ground. He hurled it at the nearest wolf, hitting it square in the snout.
The beast growled in fury, its eyes blazing as it roared. Thunder cracked overhead, and a bolt struck the ground dangerously close to Claude, sending dirt and sparks flying.
'Holy crap, I almost got fried!' His pulse quickened as the cacodemons finally turned their attention fully to him.
The cacodemons didn't wait. All three charged at him, their massive bodies tearing through the forest.
Claude turned and ran as fast as his ten-year-old legs could carry him. The cacodemons roared behind him, and lightning struck randomly around the forest, scorching trees and ground alike.
"Hell yeah, I'm not dead yet!" Claude shouted, adrenaline pumping through him.
But his celebration was short-lived. A loud snarl came from right behind him. He glanced back—one of the wolves was nearly on top of him, its massive claw poised to strike.
With a panicked yell, Claude threw himself to the side, rolling down a steep hill.
'Oh, crap, oh crap!' He tumbled, dirt and rocks scraping against his skin. 'Please, no sharp rocks to the head! I don't want to die again!'
The hill seemed endless, but his thoughts still found time to wander.
'Goodbye, Sophia's chest... and Dalia's... curves,' he thought, despair sinking in. 'I'll miss you, Aubre, and those hips that broke the mold when God made them!'
As he tumbled, he winced at the idea of death—again.
'Dear God,' he prayed desperately, 'I don't need much. Just a step-sister, a step-mother, and maybe an absentee father. You know, the classics.'
Finally, his body slammed against something solid, halting his fall. Pain shot through him as the world spun.
Claude groaned, his vision blurring. 'Well, this sucks...'
Darkness crept into the edges of his mind as he lost consciousness.
Claude's eyes fluttered open, and pain immediately washed over him. His entire body ached as if it had been battered by a storm.
He tried to move but found himself pinned under something rough and heavy. His heart raced when his blurred vision adjusted to the sight of the cacodemons surrounding him.
'Are they eating me?!'
His breath hitched, his body tense and trembling. The thought alone sent a cold chill down his spine.
'No, no... this can't be happening!' Tears spilled from his eyes, unbidden, as fear gripped him like a vice.
He squeezed his eyes shut, praying. 'At least kill me before they start ripping me apart. Just…'
But he didn't lose consciousness. In fact, the pain seemed to fade, replaced by an odd, almost ticklish sensation.
Tentatively, Claude opened his eyes again and forced himself to look down at his body. He willed his hand to move—and to his surprise, it did. Slowly, shakily, but it moved.
He sat up, shuddering as one of the cacodemons loomed inches from his face. Its blood-red eyes stared into his, unblinking.
'Holy shit, what now?!'
But the creature didn't attack. It just... stared.
Claude's gaze drifted downward, finally realizing what was happening. His wounds—deep, bloody gashes—were being licked clean by the monsters.
"What the hell?" he whispered, dumbfounded. "Do you guys... like my blood or something?"
As if understanding him, the cacodemon in front of him nodded, its massive tongue hanging out like an overgrown dog.
There was a golden tattoo appeared on their forehead in the form of a ring. It reminds him of his mother's eyes.
The others stopped licking and sat back, their giant bodies lowering to the ground as they kneeled before him.
"Wait... what?" Claude blinked, completely lost. "What's going on?"
The monsters offered no answers, obviously incapable of speaking. His mind scrambled for an explanation, and that's when he remembered.
'A beast-master pact.'
He turned his head slightly, spotting the remnants of his blood on the ground. His heart sank.
'Great. No system to explain anything, and now I've accidentally bonded with some darkness-aligned monsters. That can't be good.'
Claude sighed, brushing dirt off his torn clothes. He sat cross-legged, thinking.
"Alright, fine. If this is how it works, then we keep this a secret. Got it?" He looked at the cacodemons seriously.
The wolves, surprisingly, seemed to understand. Their tails wagged slightly, and they gave him a toothy grin that could've passed for a nod.
"Good. You need names." He pointed to each one in turn. "You're Star, you're Moon, and you're Sun."
As he tested their names, he discovered something incredible: whispering their names caused them to disappear and reappear in a blink, as if teleporting.
"Huh. This could be fun," he muttered, leaning back against a tree.
The wolves lay around him protectively, their massive forms surprisingly calming.
The distant sound of voices calling his name broke his peace. Flickering lights bobbed closer, and Claude's eyes lit up.
"Over here! I'm here!" he shouted, waving.
He quickly ordered Star, Moon, and Sun to vanish, and they obediently disappeared just as the villagers reached him.
Dalia's voice pierced the air, filled with relief and panic. She ran to him, tears streaming as she knelt down and pulled him into a tight hug.
Theo was right behind her, wrapping his arms around them both, his usually stoic face crumpled with emotion.
"We thought we lost you," Dalia sobbed, holding him close.
Claude smiled faintly, basking in the warmth of their embrace. But his chest tightened when he realized who wasn't there.
Even now, in what should have been a moment of pure relief, the absence was impossible to ignore.