Rise Of The Monster Slayer

Chapter 4: Betrayal

The Alpha’s presence felt like a weight, making it hard to breathe. Its terrifying aura froze the unranked recruits. Many dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in despair.

Aren’s hands shook, his knuckles white on his old sword. He had dreamed of fighting monsters, but seeing one like this up close shattered those dreams. This didn't look like a fight, it was an execution.

Captain Darius’s face was completely drained of color. His arrogant swagger was gone, replaced by the wild, frantic eyes of a cornered animal. He looked at the massive Alpha, then at the narrow gorge they had just marched through, the only path back toward the city.

“Captain!” one of the elite mages yelled, his voice cracking with fear. “That’s a Alpha! Our magic won’t pierce its hide! We have to retreat!”

Darius didn’t hesitate. “Fall back! To the gorge! Move!”

The elite hunters broke their defensive formation and bolted for the narrow passageway leading back to the safe zone. The unranked recruits, seeing the elites run, panicked and tried to follow them.

“Move! Get out of the way, you filth!” Darius roared, slashing the flat of his blade against a recruit who blocked his horse’s path.

Aren ran as fast as his exhausted legs could carry him, sticking close to the rocky wall of the gorge. The Alpha let out an ear-shattering howl, and the rest of the Shadow Wolf pack surged forward, hunting the fleeing humans. Screams echoed through the forest as the slower recruits were dragged down into the mud and torn apart.

Darius and the core group of elites made it into the narrow, rocky pass of the gorge. Aren was right behind them, his lungs burning, the horrific sound of snapping jaws right on his heels. Just a few more yards.

Darius spun his horse around at the exit of the pass. He looked at the dozen recruits which included Aren, still running toward the safety of the gorge, with the wolf pack closing in fast.

Darius’s eyes narrowed into cold, calculating slits. If the recruits made it through the pass, the wolves would follow them all the way back to the main road. The elites would never outrun an Alpha. Someone had to slow them down.

Darius raised his hand and looked at his lead mage. “Collapse the pass.”

The mage hesitated, his eyes wide. “Sir! There are still our men”

“They are fodders,” Darius said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he looked down at the trapped men.

“They were paid to die. Collapse it now, or you’ll join them.”

Aren saw the mage raise his staff. The crystal at its peak glowed with volatile orange light.

“No!” Aren screamed, reaching his hand out as he sprinted. “Don’t!”

The mage closed his eyes and slammed his staff into the ground.

A massive explosion ripped through the upper walls of the gorge. Thousands of tons of jagged black rock and boulders sheared off the cliff face, raining down in a deafening avalanche.

Aren trew himself backward just as a boulder the size of a wagon smashed into the ground where he had been standing a second before. Dust and debris choked the air. When the dust finally began to settle, Aren coughed violently, struggling to his feet.

A solid, impenetrable wall of collapsed rubble now blocked the pass.

Captain Darius and the elite hunters were gone, safely on the other side. Aren, along with four other terrified recruits, was trapped in the dead end with the Alpha and its pack.

“No…” Aren whispered, staring at the rocks. He pressed his bleeding hands against the massive boulders, pushing with all his might, but it was useless. They had been buried alive with the monsters.

They had been left as bait.

A low, rumbling growl vibrated through the stones beneath Aren’s feet.

He slowly turned around.

The lesser Shadow Wolves had stepped back, forming a circle. In the center stood the Alpha. It was staring directly at Aren, its glowing purple eyes filled with a cruel, almost human amusement. It knew they were trapped. It was savoring the terror.

The other four recruits broke. Screaming in absolute terror, they charged blindly at the rocks, trying to climb over the collapse.

The Alpha moved with a speed that defied its massive size. In a blur of black motion, it intercepted them. Blood sprayed across the canyon walls. It was over in seconds. The recruits were torn apart before they could even draw a second breath.

Aren was the last one standing.

He stood alone, covered in the blood of his comrades, gripping a rusted sword that suddenly felt lighter than air. He thought of Lily. He thought of the twenty silver coins. He thought of Captain Darius, safe on his horse, riding back to the city to drink wine and boast of surviving an Alpha.

A fierce rage rose in Aren, pushing away his fear. He refused to die cowering by the rocks. If he had to die, he would face it standing.

He raised his rusted sword, let out a raw, desperate scream, and charged at the giant beast.

The Alpha didn’t even bother to dodge. As Aren swung his blade, the monster simply swatted him with a massive paw.

The impact was like being hit by a speeding carriage. Aren felt his ribs shatter instantly. He was launched through the air, crashing violently into the stone wall of the gorge. He collapsed into the mud in a broken heap.

Pain, sharp and overwhelming, filled his body. He couldn’t breathe. Dark spots clouded his vision. He tried to move his fingers, but his body wouldn’t respond.

The Alpha slowly stalked toward him, its jaws dripping with saliva. It opened its massive mouth, preparing to rip his head off.

I failed, Aren thought, his vision going completely dark. I’m sorry, Lily.

I should have listened, Rowan.

Just as the absolute darkness of death began to claim him, a strange, mechanical chime echoed directly inside his brain, cutting through the pain.

[Host Vitals Critical. Death Imminent.]

[Detecting Ambient Monster Blood. Scanning Genetic Compatibility… 100%]

A shock ripped through Aren’s shattered spine, forcing his eyes wide open. The world around him froze as a glowing purple screen appeared in his fading vision.

[Beast Core System Activated.]

Aren's fading mind flickered. Even in his agony, part of him registered that something was different. The words imprinted themselves into his vision, icy and alien. Below them, lines of pulsing light shifted, symbols rearranging themselves into something almost alive. This was no ordinary system like the stories of adventurers told no menus of skills or convenient resurrection. Instead, a flurry of new text blitzed his awareness:

[Genetic Recombination Protocol: Initiated.]

[Warning: Host Genome Unstable.]

[Monster Trait Acquisition: Pending.]

Aren felt a tremor ripple through his bones, like claws scratching across his soul.

This system would not simply grant him power, it would force him to change in body and mind, fusing human and monster in ways never meant to exist.

As darkness closed in, he realized: survival would mean becoming something new. Something the world had never seen.