A/N: I know I should be writing the next chapter to Light of My Hearts but I've been wanting to write this little prequel to Shadow of Beauty for awhile. PrpleLily sends me lots of good vibes and prompts for extra chapters/scenarios so thanks for feeding my creative fire!

WARNING...this has gore and violence and is also pretty angsty. Just warning if you are sensitive to this.

Blind Rage

100 years ago...

It was a late fall afternoon and the sun was shining. The cool crispness of autumn had begun to nip the leaves and transform them from spritely green to fiery colors of orange, yellow, and red; life burning away like a phoenix to be reborn next spring.

Kendrick was following after his father in the canyons to the north of their mountain home. He was presently one hundred-seventy-three years old, an older teenager by giant standards and nearing the age of venturing out and establishing his own territory. He was almost as tall as his father and had been growing rapidly. His face had begun to grow faint facial hair which he fervently hoped would fill out like his father's thick beard. Alec told him to be patient. It was rare for a male giant to be smooth faced after two hundred years.

"Look here, son." Alec pointed to a particular banding in the canyon wall.

Kendrick moved up behind his father.

"What do you see?" he asked the teen.

Kendrick gave a puzzled squint, "I...don't know."

"If your eyes don't know..." Alec prompted.

"...ask your nose." Kendrick filled in the blank then scented the rock wall, "It's a vein of silver."

"Very good." His father smiled, pulling out a chunk of metal fashioned into a chiseled hammer. "Think we'll get that."

It was a pastime for both father and son to hunt for ores and other natural riches. Kendrick had already amassed a collection of his very own that he hid in a separate place than his father's. Alec let his son share in his findings. (His hoard of gold and ores was already substantial.) Neither of them really spent any of their riches save for gambling games with Alec's gnome friends. It just seemed they couldn't help themselves when it came to finding and collecting the valuable resources. Together, they stood side by side and worked on chipping out the silver.

Kendrick all at once caught the scent of humans coming from atop the canyon wall.

He sniffed and lifted his head from his digging, "There are humans somewhere nearby."

Alec smelled the air and nodded, "Several. They're probably traveling across the plain at the top of this canyon."

The younger giant moved, acting like he wanted to see what his nose told him.

"We won't bother them." Alec stated firmly. "Most likely they won't even know we're down here."

Kendrick frowned but nodded, resuming his silver collecting.

When they finished, they moved along, walking unhurried through the canyon. The granite walls were very tall, even taller than the two giants but gradually it became shallower as they neared the end of it that opened into a rocky plain that separated the mountain range and the North Woods. Soon their heads were level with the top of the canyon wall. Alec slowed his steps, scented, then squinted, but seemed to dismiss his action and kept walking.

Kendrick turned and smelled the air too when suddenly sharp burning pain hit his cheek and his brow. He flinched with a snarl, hand coming up to swat away whatever hit him. But he was instantly distracted when his father's anguished scream echoed all around him.

"POP?!" he turned quickly.

Alec's hands were gripping his face, covering his eyes. He staggered and fell into the canyon wall. Rocks collapsed in a small landslide. And then Kendrick saw the fluid and blood pouring from under his father's hands and down his neck.

"POP!" Kendrick shouted, running to his side.

Alec was groaning and making horrible pained noises as he leaned into the rock wall and held his face. Kendrick grabbed his father's upper arms to steady him. The sight and smell of the blood made his hearts drum mercilessly with panic.

"Pop!? Pop! What happened?" he tried to pull his father's hands away so he could see.

Alec was moaning and growling, heaving with pained breaths but wouldn't move his hands.

He managed to rasp, "My eyes...my eyes!"

And then several voices nearby at the top of the canyon wall bellowed, making Kendrick's head jerk.

"Keep firing! Don't stop!"

"Bring them DOWN!"

"Kill those monsters!"

Kendrick held onto Alec and flinched when more hot lances of pain hit his back and shoulder. He looked at his father and saw several arrows penetrating his skin, some smoking as if they had been lit on fire. Over Alec's shoulder he caught sight of several small figures rushing across the top of the canyon wall to get in a different position. It sank in immediately that they were being attacked by humans.

Why?! What did they do? Why were they attacking them?

He didn't have time to wonder as another flaming volley of arrows shrieked through the air and struck them. Kendrick snarled in pain but managed to think clearly enough to grab Alec's shoulders, pull him away from the rock wall, and lead him toward the exit of the canyon. There were ropes stretched across the exit.

"Nonononono..." Kendrick growled repetitively, panic impaling its razor claws into him.

With an urgent shove he put Alec out of the way and stepped back. He dug in his feet and surged forward in a powerful charge, slamming full force into the net of ropes meant to bar their escape. Most snapped loudly against his force, some burned cuts across his arms and chest as rocks and dust fell around him. The humans were screaming and shouting from all sides. Kendrick stumbled out of the canyon, nearly falling on his face. He found his feet, scrambled back around, grabbed Alec, and pulled him through. In seconds they had fled the canyon and were plowing through the forest away from their attackers.

"Hang on, Pop! Hang on. We're going home." Kendrick panted, trying to keep his father from falling and hitting things.

Alec groaned painfully, "I...I can't see."

His feet seemed to stumble as his arm was draped over Kendrick's shoulder for support. The younger giant got a horrifying look at his father's blood smeared face when his hands moved. Instead of the sharp yet kind amber eyes he'd always known, bloody black sockets gaped back at him. Kendrick breathed in short horrified gasps.

"Oh...Pop...no." he whispered.

What was he going to do!? His-his dad didn't have eyes! They shot out his eyes!

"D-don't worry, Pop. I've got ya. We-we'll make it home." he choked, trying not to let the tears in his eyes halt him from helping his dad.

What was he going to do? What could he do? Would he even make it home alive?

What seemed like days to reach home was really only thirty minutes. By then Alec was barely conscious and Kendrick was exhausted from supporting him. He brought Alec to his bed and helped him lay down. Frantically, Kendrick rushed to fill the kettle with some water and start a fire to heat it. He fumbled several times until at last a fire was going. Again, he rushed back to his father.

"I got some water warming, Pop. What do I do? What do you need?" he asked, grabbing his hand.

Alec's bloody eyelids were shut and swelling, concealing the horrific empty sockets. But he wasn't awake anymore. The fear took hold of Kendrick like an owl crushing a mouse in its talons. He didn't know what medicine he could give his dad. There was the salve they used on small injuries. But Alec didn't have eyes anymore! That salve wouldn't be enough.

The only thing he could think to do was start pulling out the arrows and clean up his dad's face. Kendrick removed Alec's shirt to begin picking out the arrows, not even caring about the ones in his own body. Several of the arrows came out with his shirt but a good portion were deep. When the water warmed, he took a cloth, wet it, and began cleaning all the blood and fluid from Alec's skin. The young giant was starting to shake.

"Oh Pop...what have they done to you?" he whispered with grief.

His father never got hurt. Never. And now...he...he might...

Tears stung Kendrick's amber eyes even considering it. He shuddered.

All at once a thought hit him: The gnomes! Maybe...maybe one of them knew what kind of medicine would help his father? Or at least numb his pain?

He hurriedly put a blanket over Alec and hugged him the best he could, "I'll be back, Pop. I'm gonna find some help."

...

The gnomes who lived in the woods nearby had their homes underground and the untrained eye would probably never see them. (which was how they liked it) However, Kendrick used scent and memory to locate the hidden entrances beneath the oak trees they preferred. Normally his father always told him to not tread through the gnomes' hidden village and when approaching be gentle and quiet with his steps.

Kendrick was too fearful for his father's life to remember those words.

He thundered through the trees, sounding like a hurricane bearing down on the hidden village.

"MELVIN! MELVIN? HODGE? ANYBODY!?" he shouted, sliding to an earth-tearing stop.

At first no one answered. It was afternoon so the gnomes were likely working nearby or down in their tunnels. Kendrick moved around the trees until he found Melvin's burrow. The middle-aged gnome was Alec's closest friend.

Kendrick dropped to his knees and shouted at the entrance, "MELVIN!? MELVIN!"

It took a few long seconds but Melvin finally came charging out of his home like a poked badger.

"GODDAMN YE BOY! WHY ARE YOU YELLIN- ...HEY!" he cursed when the giant snatched him up. "PUT ME DOWN YE FUCKIN' GIT!"

But then the startled gnome saw the desperate look the young giant had on his face as well as the arrows poking out from his shoulders and neck. He squinted behind bushy brows.

"Melvin! Pop's hurt!" Kendrick stated urgently.

"Hurt? Alec?" the gnome sounded perplexed.

Kendrick couldn't hold back his tears, "H-humans attacked us in the canyon. They..." he gritted his teeth, "They shot out his eyes..."

The gnome was struck mute as the information sunk in.

"I-I-I don't know how to help him..." Kendrick cried, leaning into the oak tree over Melvin's home. "Please, Melvin. Help."

Uncharacteristic from his normal attitude, Melvin patted Kendrick's palm beneath him and said soothingly, "Easy lad. Easy. Just put me down and I'll get our doctor."

Big tears dropped from Kendrick's eyes, he did as asked, and Melvin rushed down into the underground to find help.

...

Later...

In his serious hands, Kendrick brought Melvin and the gnome village's doctor and wife to their mountain home to see Alec. The older giant was still unconscious but breathing. Kendrick set the tiny gnomes down on Alec's chest and they looked him over.

The gnome doctor kept shaking his head and mumbling while his nurse wife handed him things.

"Do you have any poppy milk?" the doctor asked Kendrick. "I only have a wee bit...not near enough for someone his size."

"I...I don't know."

Melvin pointed to the top shelf in the kitchen, "Yer Da keeps stuff for ailments up there?"

Kendrick looked, "I don't know which one it is..."

"Find one that smells strongly...faintly like a polecat." The doctor instructed.

Kendrick rushed into the kitchen area, sorting through the various things kept on the top shelf. He sniffed them until he found a little clay pot that smelled potent and brought it to the gnome.

"This?"

The white bearded gnome nodded, "Put some of that in a little warm water until it looks white. It will soothe his pain if he drinks it."

"Is...is he going to die?" Kendrick asked almost timidly.

"Just get that put together lad!" Melvin told him sternly.

Kendrick did as he was told and brought back the cup to show the doctor, "Like this?"

"That should do. You must wake him to administer it."

Kendrick moved the gnomes over to the table by the bed, leaned forward, and shook his father's shoulders, "Pop? Pop you gotta wake up and drink this."

Alec roused albeit with pain scrunching his face. He wouldn't open his lids.

"K-Kendrick?" he rasped.

"Here. Drink this. It'll help with the pain."

He helped prop his dad's head up and put the bowl to his lips. Alec drank the mixture and grimaced from the bitter taste.

"My head hurts..." Alec complained groggily. "I...I still can't see."

Kendrick had a heartsick look on his face hearing that statement, "Just...just rest Pop. Melvin and their doctors are here."

Alec sniffed the air and managed a greeting.

"Alec. My name is Pritchard. I'm the doctor of our village." The gnome beside Melvin announced.

"Hello."

"Alec...there's no delicate way to say this: your eyes are gone. You...are permanently blind." Pritchard sounded very regretful.

A heavy silence hung for several moments. Alec exhaled deeply as Kendrick squeezed his hand. The doctor began preparing his sutures to stitch Alec's lids shut and began explaining what needed to be done to keep the empty sockets from getting infected, but Kendrick was fading into his own head.

Blind...his father was blind... It didn't seem real. It seemed like a terrible dream playing out until finally he'd awaken to those same amber-colored eyes he'd known all his life. He'd never see those eyes again.

WHY?!

His father never did anything to deserve such a fate. He was kind and gentle to everyone and anything he met.

WHY?!

Alec had always told him to be quiet, placid, and gentle when around humans and he'd win them over. It hadn't worked even when he was a younger child. In the wake of their fear and rejection Kendrick had learned to ignore the smaller beings, not to go near their settlements nor making contact on purpose. It seemed a good course of action...until today. They were ambushed and attacked for no reason.

WHY?!

...

The first couple of days were rough for both Kendrick and Alec. The doctor had to stitch his eyelids shut (no easy task given the size of the job). Alec was in pain and didn't move much. He was quiet too. Most likely depressed and processing how his life would change irreparably now that he was blind. There was a couple times Kendrick wasn't sure if he was breathing in the night and would awaken in a panic to check. The young giant did everything the gnome doctor told him to do in regard to changing his father's bandages and applying the salve that would allow the sockets not to fester or get infected.

However, a different thing was festering.

Every time he looked at his father, Kendrick grew very sad. He found himself crying in private outside after replacing his father's eye bandages and having to look at the gory red and purple sunken lids. But soon sadness was beginning to drown beneath a very dark, very potent swell of anger that grew with every passing day. Hissing snakes of venomous thinking grew louder and angrier in his head.

Your father was blinded for no reason.

The humans that did it are still out there ...living their lives...seeing the world around them.

They don't deserve that...

They need to pay for what they did...

Kendrick tried to ignore those thoughts in favor of focusing on his father's care.

After a week had passed, Alec was attempting to move around the mountain home. It was truly disheartening for Kendrick to see him fumble around their home, following the walls, and bumping into things awkwardly. Kendrick helped him as much as Alec would allow. His father didn't snap at him but he made it clear that he would move on his own.

Kendrick had never seen his father so helpless. He had been a mountain, wise and unshakable in any circumstance. Now...The hissing darkness inside him was starting to sound more and more appealing as its roots took hold.

"What are we going to do, Pop?" Kendrick asked one afternoon while they shared a meal.

Alec lifted his head, cloth covering his bandaged eyes, "What do you mean, Son?"

Kendrick shoved his food around with his spoon, "What are we going to do about those humans who attacked us?"

His father paused and seemed to "look" toward Kendrick, "Nothing."

That answer made the anger boil harder, "Nothing?"

"Nothing." Alec's voice was firm.

Kendrick slammed his utensil down, "HOW can that be your answer?! Those little bastards blinded you! Aren't you even angry about that?!"

Alec straightened his back, "Of course I am. But revenge will solve nothing."

"We CAN'T just let them get away with what they did to you!"

His father's voice hardened, "Vengeance only sounds like it should be right... but it is a hole filled with blades. It will only trap you and bring more suffering."

A snarl escaped the young giant, "So we do nothing and those humans could come back and try to kill us again?!"

"ENOUGH." Alec growled loudly. "No more talk of this. What's done is done and nothing can change that."

Furious, Kendrick shoved his chair back and stormed from the table.

"Kendrick!" his father barked.

Habitually, the young giant paused in the doorway to listen though he seethed.

"Swear to me that you will not take revenge...that you will let this settle." Alec's voice was hard yet subtly pleading.

Kendrick snarled in his throat but didn't answer.

"Kendrick..." Alec persisted.

"I need some time alone." Was his short reply before leaving out the tunnel door.

...

The sun was getting low in the sky as Kendrick sat near the top of their mountain home staring out across the forest. Normally, he could sit in the quiet of nature and calm himself. But the longer he thought the angrier he got. The angrier he got the more agitated he became.

"He's wrong. You know he's wrong. You need to do something about this." The dark thoughts hissed persuasively.

Kendrick tried to ignore it. He stared out toward the horizon. The forest seemed to go on forever. He knew out there, there were human settlements nestled comfortably in the forest. Per his father's wishes he avoided those places.

"If you don't do something, they will. You have to stop that from happening."

His fingers began to fidget.

The day after the attack Kendrick had left their home and returned to the canyon where they were attacked to ensure the humans were gone. They were all gone but their scents remained along with several discarded objects. He remembered the scents...in fact he'd never forget them.

"Your father says the humans fear you because you are bigger and more powerful than they are. Why not use that power? You know it would be easy to wipe out every last one of them." The thoughts smiled with bloody fangs, "You know where they live. All you have to do is get rid of them and they'll never bother you or your father again."

Kendrick stood up slowly. Both of his hearts were drumming a call to war. That was all the convincing he needed in that moment.

...

That night...

It was dark but Kendrick didn't need his eyes much. His nose was leading him to the scents he sought. As he made his way through the huge forest, he wasn't certain if he'd find any of the humans who attacked them. But as he neared one of the villages inside the forest some of the familiar scents sprang up his nose. The rage he had bottled up since his father was blinded was no longer bubbling, it was overflowing and spilling out with hot intense desire for vengeance. His eyes no longer saw a quaint little human village sleeping peacefully in the night, it was a target that needed to be annihilated.

His breathing rose until it summoned a roar that echoed out through the trees. And then he charged. Trees stood no chance of slowing him. They were snapped off and broken like tall grass. The log wall that bordered the village was exploded through with one powerful kick, sending huge chunks of wood into the nearby buildings with devastating force. Kendrick's rage poured out through his kicks first. One building was destroyed and scattered like a pile of hay. Then another. And a another. Screams and panicked shouts began piercing the air. The symphony of devastation had begun.

Humans began fleeing their homes, some realizing far too late that it did no good. Like cockroaches fleeing from beneath a shifted tile, they were crushed under massive angry boots. Kendrick grabbed a section of the log wall, ripped it from the ground, and slung it into a section of houses. They exploded to pieces.

And then his nose picked up the scents of some of the men who had sparked his wrath crawling out of the rubble of a house. He stormed over and turned one of them into a bloody smear across the ground. The second scrambled to his feet and tried to run. He only got a few yards when Kendrick overtook him, snatched him up in his hand, and squeezed until he burst. The slickness of hot blood running through his fingers pleased the darkness reveling inside him. He tossed what remained aside with violence and sought more.

Five more familiar scents caught his attention and he sent their tiny bodies splattering against trees and what remained of the wall. He roared thunderously.

The little log homes were stomped to piles of wreckage in seconds, killing anyone inside. No one was given a chance to arm themselves. Survivors trying to flee were exterminated in a similar bloody fashion. Kendrick didn't care. All he knew was he was destroying everything; collecting the debt that needed to be paid for robbing his father of his sight and trying to kill them both.

And it felt good.

Soon an eerie silence fell around him. The screams had stopped. Only the crackling of a few errant fires could be heard along with the heaving breaths of the young giant. It was gone, the entire village was demolished. And still he wanted more.

It wasn't enough. There had to be more of them.

Suddenly he smelled fear and turned his head. Again, the scents were familiar to him.

There were more.

He turned with a hissing snarl and began to hunt the escapees. As he bulled through the forest, he noted the scents were intermingled with horses. That's how they got away so quickly. Both of his hearts were pounding thunderously in his chest, almost mimicking his quaking steps. His wrath was demanding more.

Given his massive strides it didn't take Kendrick long to catch up to the fleeing humans as he trailed them. When they felt and heard him coming they whipped their horses into a dead run, urging them to go faster. With a powerful kick, Kendrick felled a tree and ripped it out of the ground, wielding it like a bat once he stripped the branches from it. He charged at an angle and with a mighty swing he sent men and horses flying. Bones shattered against trees. Blood stained the ground behind tumbling bodies. Men and horses shrieked, some never to scream again. A couple somehow managed to be missed by the lethal strike but their horses panicked, bucking and kicking violently until they were free of their riders.

Kendrick came to a quaking halt and tossed his tree weapon aside, growling and breathing deeply. Of the nine riders four were certainly dead. The other five were in various states of injury.

"Thought you could escape me...didn't you?" he rasped dangerously.

One by one he began crushing the flailing men beneath his merciless boot. The crunch and subsequent silence following fed his vengeance.

"You thought you'd get away with it...thought there would be no consequences." He growled, tone rising.

Finally, only the two men who were unseated by their horses remained. They weren't badly injured and made a frenzied attempt to run and hide. Kendrick only had to take two long steps to overtake and catch them in each hand. The men struggled and fought as he lifted them up. He gave them baleful stares as he gripped them. A slight tightening of his fingers saw their upper arms break which made them scream louder.

So simple. So effortless.

"NO! PLEASE! MERCY!" they cried.

Kendrick narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip more. The men kicked frantically, struggling to breathe until finally they were crushed like empty aluminum cans. Kendrick exhaled and dropped the bodies with a [thud]. But when he inhaled, he smelled fear.

Corpses didn't smell like fear...only live humans did.

Very slowly he turned, scenting as he did. He could see several bodies strewn about the ground along with their horses. The fear was coming from that mess. Kendrick crouched down and began moving the bodies until underneath a horse he found a man trapped by his leg but still alive. He was apparently trying to play dead and deceive him.

Kendrick lifted him up and that vaporized the man's act, "OH GOD! NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!"

No pity could be found in the young giant's amber eyes as they burned like flames. Suddenly, the man pulled a knife and slammed it into Kendrick's fingertip. He barked a gasp of pain and dropped him. Injured the man scrambled to his feet and tried to run but was instantly caught and pinned to the ground by the giant's hand. Kendrick growled softly.

"Please! Please don't! I'll do anything! Please!" the man pleaded piteously.

Kendrick's lip lifted in a snarl, "You shouldn't have done ANYTHING. We never did anything to you and..." he stopped himself when his voice hitched.

A silence fell.

"Why did you attack us?" Kendrick hissed.

"I-I-I don't know what you mean!" the man pleaded.

Kendrick snarled, grabbed the man by his ankles, and lifted upside down off the ground.

"WHY did you attack us?" he snarled giving him a shake.

The man panicked and flailed but cried out, "The reward!"

Kendrick tipped his head, his rage stronger, "Money? You attacked us for money?!"

"There's...there's a reward for giant parts." The man groaned. "We'd all get a share if we brought one down!"

Kendrick jostled the man harshly, "How many of you were there that day in the canyon?"

"I-I-I don't know...more than fifty men...maybe?"

"How many of those were in that village?"

"Um...tw-twenty...something?" he quaked, "We-we split up after that day..."

"Who was your leader?" Kendrick's tone was hard.

Shakily the man looked beneath him and then gestured to the ground, "Him! The one in the blue shirt."

Kendrick glanced at the body he indicated, which didn't have a head.

His eyes narrowed, "And how do I know YOU aren't the leader?"

The color seemed to drain from the man's face, "I-I'm not! I swear it!" he wriggled like a worm in a robin's beak, "Please! Please put me down! I'm sorry!"

Sorry?

As if that would fix everything...as if it would restore his father's sight...as if it would take back every arrow and spear he'd been punctured with...as if it would wipe away every single time a human screamed and ran away calling him a monster as a child?!

A very evil thought entered Kendrick's head and it seemed to show through his eyes.

"Sorry...?" Kendrick hissed, then brought the man closer, "You will be."

He opened his mouth. The man screamed in terror, pleading desperately until he was stuffed inside, crunched, and forcibly swallowed.

...

The next morning...

Kendrick took his time returning home and only arrived at the rising of the sun. Much to his surprise he saw Alec waiting near their mountain home's entrance.

"Kendrick..." his voice met him and so did the scent of disapproval.

The young giant paused near the doorway, "Sorry I was gone all night without telling you, Pop."

His father scented and his voice became mortified, "You smell of blood."

Kendrick straightened his back but didn't say anything.

"Kendrick... WHAT have you done?!" Alec's voice built like an approaching storm.

The young giant gave a snarling expression, almost as if he was offended by the question, "I did what needed to be done."

Alec felt for then gripped his son' shoulders, shaking him, "I told you NOT to do anything!"

Kendrick seethed, "Those little rats were NOT going to get away with what they did to you! Now they can never hurt us again."

Alec shook his son angrily, "Kendrick...TELL me you didn't just kill in a rampage!"

Kendrick leaned closer, eyes hard, "I did what NEEDED to be DONE!"

[CRACK!]

His father's hard hand met his face, turning it forcibly. Kendrick's amber eyes were wide, boiling with barely contained rage. His father had never hit him before and it stunned him.

"You ate some of them, didn't you?" Alec growled with abhorrence. "I can smell the blood on your breath."

Kendrick was seconds from retaliating as he balled his fist. However, he just shook, dropping his arm.

"One."

"HOW could you do this?! Haven't I taught you anything?! WE DON'T DO THOSE THINGS!"

"And LOOK what it got us!" Kendrick snarled with fury, "All my life we've done nothing to hurt those humans. You always told me we could coexist peacefully if we just "left them alone". Well, you were wrong! Despite everything they hate us and they'll always hate us!"

"And now they have a REASON to hate us. Don't you realize what you've done?" Alec argued.

Kendrick fumed, "Do you know WHY they attacked us?! Because they wanted our body parts for money! They've always hated us...I've just given them a reason to stay away from us."

Alec shook his head, "This solves nothing, Kendrick! This will only make it worse. Vengeance..." his voice trembled slightly, "...vengeance will feel good in the moment. But someday...maybe not tomorrow, maybe not one hundred years from now...it will have a price."

A growl rumbled from Kendrick, "If it keeps this from happening again, I'll gladly pay it."

For a long moment, Alec was silent until he sounded sad, "I think...this is the first time I've ever been ashamed of you, Kendrick."

The young giant stiffened, jaw moving slightly. His anger was suddenly lanced. He made a noise of enraged frustration and stalked away.

....

From then on, Kendrick began seeking out his own territory and home, close by but away from Alec. Though this was natural for his species, it always felt like the tipping point between father and son's ideals. Kendrick never hated his father and Alec never hated his son. But treatment of humans was always a point of contention. Despite Alec's disapproval, Kendrick eventually found and wiped out every village within their forest, forcing the humans to flee and stay out of the North Woods for more than a century. (exactly as he wanted) He developed a keen hatred and mistrust for the species and they in turn grew to hate and fear him as a notorious monster.

But even as he grew up and became independent, the very statement of Alec being ashamed of him that day stuck in his hearts. Subconsciously he began to modify his ideals. Rarely if ever did he kill indiscriminately. He saw no need to harm women and children and treated them neutrally. He established a boundary where the humans could live and he could live and he did not seek to eradicate them if they did not trespass that boundary. Trespassers, slayers, and poachers who crossed that line were dealt with in a brutal fashion.

Alec said a price would be paid for his vengeance and truly he never believed it. But after a time, he discovered that price was loneliness.