The Prince Who Was Reborn as a Monster

The Challenge of the Dread Prowler

The Ironback did not repeat its demand.

It stood before Kael with its amber eyes fixed upon him, waiting for an answer.

The narrow hollow seemed smaller beneath its shadow. Behind Kael, Murk had lowered himself close to the ground, his injured side carefully turned away from the ruler. The pale creature stood motionless, its silver-gray eyes following the Ironback's movements.

Kael understood the situation.

The ruler had recognized something in him.

Not his face. Not his name alone.

The resonance carried by his blood.

"You heard me," the Ironback said.

"I did."

"Then kneel."

Kael remained standing.

The ruler's claws scraped against the stone.

"You are a Lesser Monster. Your body is weak. Your core is unstable. You have crossed into my territory without permission, and now you stand before me refusing an order."

"I came seeking passage."

"You came seeking something else."

Kael glanced toward the pale creature.

The Ironback followed his gaze.

"That creature can locate relics. Its resonance reaches places ordinary monsters cannot sense. It belongs to my territory now."

"No."

The word escaped before Murk could intervene.

The Ironback's eyes narrowed.

"Explain."

"The pale creature is not yours to claim."

"It crossed my boundary."

"It crossed with us."

"Then you brought it into my territory."

Kael held its gaze.

"We came seeking a passage toward the eastern hills. We have not hunted your followers, taken their food, or challenged your authority."

"You have already challenged it."

The Ironback stepped closer.

"Your scent is older than your body. Your resonance carries the mark of a king. Yet you stand here in the shape of a weak creature, pretending that the past gives you the right to command."

Kael felt the words strike something deep inside him.

He had heard similar accusations before.

Not from monsters.

From men who believed his inheritance made him dangerous.

The Ironback lowered its head.

"Give me the pale creature. You may leave my territory alive."

Kael looked at the pale creature.

It had not asked to be brought here. It had not asked to become valuable to a ruler.

And now its ability to sense relics had made it a target.

"No."

Murk closed his eyes.

The Ironback's claws dug into the earth.

"You refuse?"

"I refuse to surrender someone who chose to travel with me."

The ruler's expression hardened.

"Then you will learn what refusal costs."

The Ironback moved.

Kael barely saw the first strike.

He threw himself sideways as a massive claw swept through the hollow. Stone shattered where he had been standing.

The impact sent fragments across his face.

Murk scrambled backward.

"Kael!"

The Ironback turned toward him.

"Stay out of this."

Murk froze.

Kael rose slowly.

His shoulder was still injured. His core remained unstable, and the hunger that had nearly overwhelmed him the previous day had not completely disappeared.

He could not win a direct fight.

He knew that.

But he could not surrender the pale creature either.

The Ironback watched him.

"Your body is barely capable of standing."

"Then you should have no reason to fear me."

"I do not fear you."

The ruler's mouth opened slightly, revealing rows of thick teeth.

"I am deciding whether you are worth killing."

Kael studied its posture.

The Ironback's weight rested evenly across its forelimbs. Its shoulders were broad, its claws thick enough to break stone.

There was no obvious weakness.

But its movements were deliberate.

It had not attacked Murk.

It had not attacked the pale creature.

It wanted Kael to understand the difference between his authority and its own.

"Why do you need a trial?" Kael asked.

The Ironback's eyes narrowed.

"Because you refuse to understand your place."

"Then explain it."

A low rumble emerged from the ruler's chest.

"Among monsters, strength establishes the boundary between those who command and those who obey. A creature that cannot defend its own claim has no right to make demands of another."

Kael looked toward the valley.

He remembered the tribute platform. The smaller creatures surrendering their food. The guards collecting resources. The ruler correcting them when they went too far.

The Ironback had established order.

But it had also made its strength the foundation of that order.

"You believe strength gives you the right to decide everything."

"It gives me the responsibility to decide."

"And if your decision is wrong?"

The ruler's eyes hardened.

"Then someone stronger will correct it."

Kael understood.

The Ironback did not believe its authority could be questioned by those beneath it.

That was why negotiation had failed.

"You want a trial," Kael said.

The ruler nodded.

"One."

Kael looked at Murk.

The scavenger shook his head.

"Don't."

Kael ignored him.

"If I survive, the pale creature remains with me."

The Ironback considered the proposal.

"If you survive, you may leave with it."

"And passage through the eastern route?"

The ruler's claws scraped the stone.

"You will earn nothing more than your life."

Kael accepted.

"Then let us begin."

They moved to the valley.

The Ironback's followers gathered along the edges of the clearing. Some watched with interest. Others looked toward Kael with something resembling pity.

Murk remained near the rocks.

The pale creature stood beside him.

Kael stepped into the open ground.

The Ironback faced him.

"Do not mistake this for a contest of words."

"I won't."

The ruler lowered its head.

"Then defend yourself."

It charged.

Kael moved before the impact.

The Ironback's speed was greater than he had expected. Its body crossed the clearing in a blur of dark plates and heavy muscle.

Kael threw himself toward the side.

The ruler's shoulder struck him.

He flew across the ground and hit a tree.

Pain exploded through his ribs.

For a moment, he could not breathe.

The Ironback stopped several paces away.

"Stand."

Kael struggled onto his feet.

His vision blurred.

He had known the difference between their ranks, but knowing was not the same as experiencing it.

The Ironback's body was stronger.

Its movements were faster.

Its attacks carried more weight than anything Kael had faced since awakening.

The ruler had not even used its shadow.

Kael forced himself to concentrate.

He could not defeat it through strength.

He needed to understand its movements.

The Ironback charged again.

This time, Kael waited until the last moment before moving.

The ruler's claws struck the ground.

Kael slipped beneath its forelimb and attacked the joint.

His claws scraped against the thick hide.

The Ironback barely reacted.

It twisted and struck him with its tail.

Kael landed hard.

A sharp pain travelled through his back.

The localized resistance he had developed against blunt impacts helped him endure the blow, but it did not prevent the damage.

He had learned that lesson before.

Resistance was not immunity.

The Ironback turned.

Kael tried to retreat, but the ruler was already moving.

A shadow gathered beneath its body.

The ground darkened.

Kael felt the change before he understood it.

The Ironback's shadow stretched across the clearing, growing unnaturally long. The darkness moved against the direction of the sunlight.

Then it struck.

A narrow band of shadow swept toward Kael.

He threw himself behind a fallen tree.

The attack cut through the bark.

The tree split.

Kael stared at the wound.

The Ironback had not simply struck with its claws.

It had projected its shadow.

A limited attack, but powerful enough to tear through obstacles.

The ruler approached.

"Do you understand now?"

Kael said nothing.

"You cannot defeat me."

The Ironback's shadow gathered again.

Kael moved.

The second shadow attack came from the left.

Kael had expected it.

He had watched the first strike carefully. The darkness had stretched from the ruler's feet before moving forward.

It required a moment of preparation.

A brief gathering.

A visible change in the ground.

That was the weakness.

Not enough to defeat the Ironback.

But enough to avoid its strongest attack.

Kael sprinted toward the ruler.

The shadow swept across the clearing.

He jumped over the edge of its reach and landed near the Ironback's forelimb.

The ruler turned.

Kael struck the joint.

This time, his claws found a narrow gap between the plates.

The Ironback growled.

Its body shifted.

Kael pulled away before the counterattack landed.

For the first time, the ruler had been forced to adjust.

A murmur passed through the watching creatures.

Murk raised his head.

Kael felt something close to satisfaction.

He had not overcome the difference in strength.

He had found a way to make it matter less.

The Ironback's eyes narrowed.

"You watch carefully."

"I have to."

The ruler's shadow withdrew.

Its body lowered.

Then it attacked without gathering darkness.

Kael barely escaped.

The Ironback struck him with its shoulder, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Kael tried to rise.

The ruler was already there.

A claw caught his side.

Pain tore through his body.

He rolled away, gasping.

The Ironback stood over him.

"Your tricks will not save you."

Kael forced himself upright.

"They already did."

The ruler paused.

Kael knew he had made a mistake.

He had revealed too much.

The Ironback's eyes moved toward the fallen tree.

Then toward the uneven ground.

It understood.

The next shadow attack did not gather in front of it.

The darkness spread beneath Kael.

He felt it too late.

A narrow tendril rose from the ground and wrapped around his hind leg.

Kael fell.

The Ironback's shadow tightened.

He tried to tear free, but the darkness held him long enough for the ruler to close the distance.

A heavy strike landed across his shoulder.

Kael's body slammed into the ground.

His injured side burned.

He could no longer move quickly.

The Ironback stepped back.

"Enough?"

Kael tried to stand.

His leg trembled.

He fell again.

The ruler watched.

Kael's claws dug into the earth.

He could still fight.

He could still attempt another attack.

But the difference between their ranks had become painfully clear.

His strategy had narrowed the gap.

It had not erased it.

The Ironback had adapted.

And Kael had run out of room.

The ruler's shadow disappeared.

Kael lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

Murk rushed toward him.

The Ironback turned.

"Stop."

Murk froze.

The ruler examined Kael.

"You are not strong enough."

Kael looked up.

"I know."

"Then why did you accept?"

"Because I had no other way to protect the pale creature."

The Ironback's expression remained unreadable.

"You would risk your life for something that cannot protect you?"

Kael glanced toward the pale creature.

It stood beside Murk, its eyes fixed on him.

"Yes."

The ruler's claws scraped the ground.

"That is foolish."

"Perhaps."

Kael tried to rise.

The Ironback stepped forward.

Kael's body tensed.

But the ruler did not strike.

Instead, it lowered its head and examined him more closely.

The air around Kael's core seemed to change.

The Ironback's nostrils flared.

Its eyes narrowed.

"What is that?"

Kael remained silent.

The ruler moved closer.

The pale creature began trembling.

The resonance between them had grown stronger.

Kael felt it too.

Something deep beneath the eastern hills answered the faint pulse within his body.

The Ironback suddenly turned toward the passage.

Its expression changed.

For the first time since their encounter, the ruler appeared unsettled.

"What have you awakened?"

Kael struggled to breathe.

"I don't know."

The Ironback stared at him.

Then it looked toward the eastern cliffs.

A distant vibration travelled through the ground.

The watching creatures scattered.

Murk moved beside Kael.

"What's happening?"

The ruler did not answer immediately.

It listened.

Then its gaze returned to Kael.

"You carry something that should have remained buried."

Kael's core pulsed.

The ancient record stirred faintly, but no words emerged.

The Ironback stepped back.

"You may leave."

Kael stared at it.

"What?"

"You have lost the trial. You have no claim to my territory. But I will not kill you."

Murk lowered his head.

The ruler's eyes remained fixed on Kael.

"Your resonance may attract something more dangerous than me."

Kael forced himself upright.

"Then why allow me to leave?"

The Ironback's expression hardened.

"Because I do not intend to die defending a passage from a creature that does not understand what it carries."

Kael looked toward the eastern hills.

The ruler had recognized his resonance.

It had also feared what that resonance might awaken.

"Will you allow us to pass?"

"No."

The answer came immediately.

"You may leave my territory. You may not cross the eastern passage."

Kael's claws tightened.

He had gained nothing.

The catalyst remained beyond the ruler's reach.

But he had survived.

And he had learned something that no inscription could teach him.

Strategy could create an opening.

It could buy time.

It could make a stronger opponent hesitate.

But it could not replace the strength he lacked.

Not yet.

Murk helped Kael toward the edge of the territory.

The pale creature followed closely.

The Ironback watched them from the clearing.

Before they reached the marked trees, the ruler spoke again.

"Kael Draven."

Kael stopped.

The Ironback's amber eyes held his.

"Your kind once commanded this forest."

Kael said nothing.

The ruler lowered its head.

"Your kind also brought its destruction."

The words followed Kael beyond the boundary.

He did not know whether the Ironback spoke from memory, legend, or something it had sensed in his resonance.

But the accusation was clear.

Aurelion had once ruled.

And something connected to its fall had reached this forest.

Kael looked toward the eastern hills.

The catalyst waited beyond the passage.

The ruler had refused him access.

And now he knew that his return was not simply a matter of reclaiming what had been lost.

The past had left wounds in this world.

Some of them were still bleeding.

Chapter 17 — End