The beast which looked like it had been carved out of the darkness of the night emerged from Beleth's shadow. The familiar visage gave the boy the rarely felt sensation of relief, for the friend he had not seen in days had answered his prayer.
The confidence of the two behind him reduced to dust. The man who had almost ended Beleth's life had jumped back the instant Noir showed himself.
The boy, exhausted, looked up to his loyal companion who was growling at the people wanting for his death. "Please do not kill them." He said in a trembling voice, "Just take me away from here."
"Are you truly begging for our lives ?" The woman raised an eyebrow as she cut open her left palm. "Did you use the same deception against my daughter?" The blood coming out the wound forming a solid line from which a sharp crystal erupted. The crystal then spread in two, one pointing at Noir the other at Beleth. Her face twisted in anger, "Do not get cocky, vermin!", she shot out the razor sharp blades at them.
The moment the crystals separated from her hand the sound of a whip echoed around them.
In an instant her arm flew off, her flesh and bones shattered as if they were blown off. The crystals never found their mark as Noir's tails returned to the shadow underneath her arm.
Her hand landed right beside her as some chunks of her flesh splattered on Toden's face.
The man who was standing took a step back before rushing to the woman. "Yilva!" He cried out as he ripped off one of his sleeves and started covering the wound. The old lady was just frozen in place, stuttering. As he tried to stop the bleeding he looked back at the boy and Noir, to his horror the wolf had sunk back into its own shadow. For a moment his eyes met Beleth's, with the boy's having the look of absolute pity on them.
The shadow which he had cast upon Yilva's arm got deeper and darker as Noir, now way smaller than before, jumped out of it . Toden yelled out in terror as the monster sunk its teeth into the right side of the man's face. Screaming in agony, the man thrashed around violently as Noir tore off chunks off his face, each bite more ferocious than the previous one. A few moments later the man fell down, silent. Still, the wolf tore chunks off his face.
"This is enough!" Beleth yelled out, now sat on the ground looking up at Noir and the two who tried to kill him moments prior. The antler growing from his head had retrieved back leaving only a bloody stain on the boy's forehead.
The wolf turned back at him, an ear stuck in his teeth.
"Noir… please stop this." he pleaded, panting as he tried getting close to Noir, crawling on the ground.
The wolf paid him no mind and just lowered himself towards the limp human beneath him, preparing to take a bite from the neck.
"Noir, I beg of you…. Please just take me away and…. let them go." He said as his vision got blurry, his energy depleted from running and constantly healing. Barely awake, the boy noticed something strange, small sparks falling from above. "Watch out." He mumbled as he reached out with his left arm. A momentary pain got him back of his senses before fading, replaced by a soothing warmth he could not feel moments prior due to the chemicals hitting his brain. It will be fine to close them just for a second. He thought before finally falling unconscious.
Beleth's words reached Noir's earholes, the wolf looked up sparks really were falling down, three in number. Small insignificant crimson sparks, or so they appeared.
Before he could even react, a spiral of flames sent Noir flying into a tree . His fur burned away revealing black plates of natural armour underneath.
Noir frantically looked around to find where the one responsible was hiding, however a fireball found him first, burning him slightly.
The smell of flesh filled the air as a dome or raging flames surrounded them. Erden slowly walked through them and as he did they turned black and red. The flames illuminated everything, there wasn't even a speck of darkness in which Noir could hide.
No words were spoken, Erden just snapped his fingers and the dome of flame began barraging Noir with fire.
Ignoring the pain Noir rushed to Beleth, a shadow being cast underneath the wolf.
However Erden was faster, just as Noir was about to reach the boy a fiery spear pierced his abdomen pinning him down.
Struggling to stand up the wolf whimpered in pain as he struggled to move, the closer Erden got to him the less Noir struggled. He finally stopped as one of his eyes popped up from his forehead, the eye followed Erden's every move memorizing even the smallest of details this time around.
The man stood tall over the monster, a small fireball forming in his hand, what had started at the size of an apple had shrunk and compressed to the size of a blueberry.
With no emotion in his eyes the man shot out the miniature ball of flames at the beast's neck. The moment it made contact, the eye on Noir's forehead exploded as the whole form of the beast turned into liquid blackness that devoured the small ball of flames.
Erden jumped back preparing to fire off another one, but his target had vanished only a momentary shadow left behind.
Once he no longer felt Noir's presence the man let out a sigh of relief. He turned back to Beleth and scooped the boy up. "I am sorry child." He shot a pitiful gaze at Yilva and Toden and murmured. "I was too passive."
Looking at the destruction around him made his blood boil, the blood covered snow, the ripped body parts, the burning trees. He walked to Yilva who was on her knees mumbling under her breath. The old woman raised her head with terror written all over her face. "Lord Erden." She looked back down. "Please kill that thing. Then find the other one and kill it as well."
His look of pity disappeared, replaced with emptiness, "The boy-Beleth begged for your lives even after you two tried to kill him." His eyes looked down at the boy who was sleeping peacefully. "He possesses a human heart, even if he is physically not one."
"The soul of my daughter will never rest in …."
"Shut your mouth." He said coldly, "I will overlook your actions for now, only because you were prompted by your grief." he walked past her. "However, you two should be ashamed of yourself. I saw how you two tormented him."
In the distance he saw the silhouettes of people approaching, as they got closer Erden said one final thing. "You owe your lives to me, thus you will speak only as a way to reaffirm what I say. The truth is to remain obscured."
***********************************************
The first thing he noticed was the softness of the surface he was on, the next was the warmth coming from in front of him. The boy slowly opened his eyes.
He was laying on top of many furs, under his was something soft that looked like a very pretty bag that was completely stitched shut.
His vision wandered in that unfamiliar place, it was a bit larger than his cell and a lot more cozy. The walls were decorated with tapestry and in the center of the room was a fireplace.
To the left of that place stood the man with the golden hair and for some reason a flaming leg. He was enjoying a red substance from a transparent tall bowl.
Beleth stood up as he felt no ill intent coming from that man. He was on a surface built to stand higher than the floor. "Excuse me." The boy spoke softly, "Where am I?"
The man smiled deviously, "Hell."