Night turned to day.

Clouds still occupied the sky, dispelled into small clusters. These same clusters shadowed the forest as far as the naked eye could ever hope to encompass. As winds shifted, storm clouds began shadowing the area. A looming reminder every stubborn step of the way.

The storms in this region meant catastrophic winds and rain which could resurrect ancient riverbeds. Gyone was in no mood to gamble against a deck loaded against him.

He had trekked miles away by this point. Surely, he should stumble upon some sort of shelter soon. Despite his two weeks of slumber, he felt fatigue linger upon his aching bones. He faintly pieced together old memories of his surroundings, culled to life with every step. How bristling these forests used to be, how lively the air felt to breathe.

Gyone received no such embraces. Something was amiss.

If houses and stables were spotted alike, further inspection only highlighted the rust and age this area had fallen victim to. One part of his mind longed for his old home buried within these trees somewhere, but he knew all too well he would be returning to an empty manor, overcome by the trees.

Gyone was keen on numbing his senses during long treks. His ability to mute pain had been bludgeoned into his being over so many years; this fatigue wasn't shit. Certainly, Gyone was fearless, but by no means was he flawless in execution. He has bled his fair share of blood over stupid mistakes. And right now, more than ever, it was his only hope.

Time passed sluggishly as Gyone's travels continued. Along the way, he carefully collected fruits from the lowest of stockpiles littered through wild bramble. But as much as he indulged, he never fed his hunger or granted himself any energy he so desperately needed. Nevertheless, he ate again and again.

Gyone's body began to fail him.

His steps chugged along. However, this was not to last as his legs began to crumple. The hunter toppled, caught a kneel on hand and knee. He gasped for air like it was being stolen from his lungs.

No mercy on this soul. This breath did not belong here.

Where here was, Gyone had forgotten. He looked to his right, off to a path which yawned into an endless oak thicket. To his left produced nothing but a blurry, inky green and black. He swore to fight on, head cocked on borrowed time. He then collapsed.

So much for willpower.

It was here in the eye of the storm where he laid until he awoke to the late afternoon sky. Still, the storm ensnared further. They were now more concentrated, with many more spanning a great distance onward.

He stood in haste and continued to venture forward knowing he would freeze to death in the storm at night. This, atop his cold sweat, would surely result in hypothermia.

The crippled hunter was gifted some slight relief: man-made light further down the road. Civilization. Finally, after trekking so long, his efforts were looking to pay off soon.

Rationale spoke for his own sake; he sat down to relax his withered being atop a moss-coated rock. Gyone let out a breath and parted the grass a cautious smile.

The evening was near.

The sun began its descent behind the Flamboro Mountains ahead so that Gyone was only receiving the last blink before nightfall. Time was not an ally to the stricken gun-for-hire; but rebel he did so well.

After a brief rest, Gyone stretched and stood to venture on. He feared he were playing the role of a target and harbored deeply-seeded doubts that his gift of life was not going to go uncontested. It was a thought that had been brooding while he sat; as the nomads would warn, Licentia feeds on lethargy. Don't let her catch you napping.

Gyone pulled up his scythe, Gale and began guiding the holster strap around his right shoulder. As though riled to, the sound of snapping twigs closed in. He retracted his previous process, immediately followed by brandishing his beloved weapon, prepared to fight even the most well-intentioned passerby.

He began with a stance that appeared slightly crippled from what his body was keen to, resulting in multiple cracks sounding from his leg bones knocking back into groove. Gyone held his ground, grasped tensely onto his weapon as firmly as he could muster.

Asymmetric in their nature, the concerning sounds drew nearer with each passing moment. He spotted rustling within the bushes. The fearless hunter braced.

This borrowed air was heavy; Gyone was sure those creatures were here to take it back. That unspeakable darkness. Was he so ready to fight another? Gyone dreaded the thought alone. Just then, the bushes parted.

To Gyone's surprise, a beast did not stand as it revealed, nor was it even a wild animal. But a domesticated puppy with a patch of tan fur blotched onto its right eye.

Bewildered, Gyone lowered and pet the dog softly on the head. At least it was something familiar. He took a knee. "How the hell did you get all the way out here pup?" he asked faintly.

The puppy closed its eyes. It then rolled on its back, revealing a well-fed belly. It was now more than apparent that this was a boy. He rolled his body in the soil and sat up, walked slowly towards Gyone with a seeded curiousness in his mud-brown eyes. Then he turned to the skull amulet. He sniffed it heavily then batted at it with a paw.

There was now a strange sensation.

Touch amplified greatly throughout Gyone's entire body; what a hell of an exploit. Only so much as a hair's poke rippled through like a jackhammer. "This must be a joke," Gyone thought aloud.

His body splintered with chills and he stood back up. The hunter wasted no time and continued to what awaited: food, water, a warm place to sleep.

One or the other-doesn't matter.

However, the puppy was curtailing close behind. It was only a few feet in when Gyone noticed he had an unwanted companion. He picked the puppy from the ground and stared, deadlocked with eyes just a few months old.

"Look pup, you can't go where I'm going. I'm sure someone's looking for you around here ... uh, somewhere."

Gyone scouted around with a crane.

The utter blanket of shadow through the canvas of trees was all he could see.

He placed the infatuated animal down, facing him the opposite direction as to shoo him away. Hard as the hunter tried to evade him further, the puppy was determined. For one reason or another, he was ready to follow this walking corpse wherever they may go.

Gyone finally snapped, buckled.

"Okay pup, you can come along! But only until we can find you a home ... Deal?"

The puppy licked him on the cheek. Clearest response he could ever hope for.

"Also, none of that." Gyone wiped the slobber away, shooting ugly eyes.

Suddenly, large, crashing noises in the distance bellowed through the air. Accompanied by a dark and hideous roar.

Gyone's sight darted into the thick where the sound came from.

Birds and animals scattered alike in a flurry.

A showcase of the deadliest predators and meekest of prey it had to offer.

Some managed to find their way onto the path, like a small pack of wolves as they quickly darted into foliage.

Or otherwise, what Gyone could tell were wolves.

"Whatever it is, it isn't the slightest bit human," warned Gyone. He brandished his scythe as if not to let his adrenaline go to waste. Soon, a peculiar sight took him hostage. "Wait ... what the hell?"

Gyone found no remnant of the dark ooze seeped into his claw wound. Only his own blood remained, not a morsel of tar residue. He was able to shrug this off to many things. Maybe the wind, maybe the consistency.

Maybe even the dog?

Unable to ward off an unnatural feeling though, Gyone found himself building an arsenal of excuses. He stood at attention.

Silence soon rang, but only for the moment.

Suddenly, three shadow beasts identical to the likes of the one Gyone had vanquished pounced from the forest with a vicious snarl, began downing fleeing prey in the crossfire with but a single razor chomp. With instinctive prowess, Gyone swept in the puppy quickly, bolted away as fast as he could. He patted the puppy on the head then hid the fearful dog in a nearby cloak of flora.

"Stay there," he said. "You don't want to get involved."

The puppy let out a whine as Gyone walked away. With intent, he faced the beasts head-on, almost with a pleasure-fueled smirk emboldened on his face.

These monsters gave into their desires all at once, pouncing for Gyone, trying to overwhelm him quickly. He swung his scythe confidently through the air which controlled the pack's reaction and caused a premature halt and an ungraceful landing.

They quickly reformed and surrounded Gyone in prowling wheel formation. Strange as it may be, primal beasts such as these of Licentia's lands rarely exemplified signs of a strong, cognitive hive mind. These monsters showed no hesitation, though. No vying for the head of the snake.

Just execution.

One violently sprang from the circle and attacked, but was slashed by the scythe in a collected counter attack.

The next tried to attack from behind in a fit of cunning, but alas, was unsuccessful in doing so. Gyone dug deeply into the beast's amulet on his chest with an upward stab from behind, brutally conquering another evil upon this earth.

Through the grit of his teeth, Gyone fulfilled a duty forced upon him. Escaping death required full compliance; and for the hero, he would rather die any other time than abide by an agenda.

The dying beast melted, just as expected. However, this steady flow of parries soon broke when Gyone was unable to deflect the third's swipe. It tore his left arm open, adding onto the prominent wound. He noticed something strange amidst the overwhelming pain. Sure, he bled - but what was he bleeding?

The markings had somehow absorbed the dark substance the beast had left behind like beckoned to, into the crevice of these cultic tattoos.

He tried to ignore this strange phenomenon and continued to fight, but couldn't seem to shake his suspicions no matter how long he endured. He made a stand, as strong and unbreakable as an aged wall.

This isn't right. I'm starting to feel it coursing through my blood! Am I turning into one of them? No ... Like hell I will!

The beast Gyone had reflected got on its feet and roared; mediocre in the wake of what preceded - eerily so, not even a similar octave. It charged at the hunter and jumped high, ready to dig claws into him. Gyone tried the same deflection, but proved to be a second too late.

Its strike connected with the hunter's chest just above the amulet. A fresh, three-way cut oozed blood and the dark matter in visceral tandem.

Again, the substance was sucked in, this time enough that all markings took their share of the residue as it coursed across the wounded hunter's body.

Suddenly, their hunger was quenched.

The eyes on Gyone's amulet began to glow with a venomous purple. So did the markings on his arm and head.

A surge of piercing pain laced through his body as though the pinning spikes of his new heart dug further in.

He collapsed to the ground, screamed outright.

His open wounds spewed the black tar and caked his entire body. From the amulet itself, the very base, too, unleashed a reserve to finish the unfilled craters in his canvas. This transformation left Gyone in a state of defeat with a flurry of regrets as it enveloped his neck.

Despite his stubborn will, Gyone had succumbed to this hideous evil. What were once his gleaming hazel eyes now glowed like the amulet itself after he opened them from a simple blink.

The cries halted, mutated into a wail.

He was lifted off the ground by a supernatural force, plucking him into the sky as the twisted transformation continued. It built at a rapid rate.

Gyone was gone.

An unfamiliar entity now took his place, parading his body. He was bathed by an aura of dark purple flame; a ring cauterized soil at his feet. He let out a terrible wail that created a shockwave, knocked the beasts aside in its awesome wake.

Even Gale had changed dramatically. It was much larger, and the blades were now a purple shade that matched the eyes of the amulet. The black substance consumed the handle, goo dripping off and appearing to throw itself back onto Gyone with a magnetic romance. Gale looked to be a tool of corruption and slaughter. A description that fit her wielder just as well.

The beasts were frightened, noticeably so. Though intimidated, they still fought. They rushed for him with famished chops. Their attempts were all in vain, however, and it only took one swing of the giant blades to obliterate the two survivors. A wave of unnatural energy chaotically spiraled from the blade's parted wind.

Deadly ripples toppled trees in its wake for several feet ahead.

He let out another wail while he stared at the sky, now engulfed in a bitter cold wind howling at ungodly speed.

The rain struck his body in a misty veil. He couldn't help but shiver.

Or burn?

Gyone's godlike abilities dissipated all the same, stubbornly detached as the black ooze slid off his body, forming a puddle around his feet.

It couldn't take the weather and began trudging away.

When he re-emerged from the sludge, his body had been pelted full of what appeared to be microscopic bite marks. He dropped his scythe, spared of the sludge, then dropped to his knees when his body flared, overwhelmed his nerves. And although he fought to keep conscious, he soon lost that battle and fell forward, absolutely inert.

His ooze evaded into the forest, sizzled like fresh pork in the rain; it was now the only prominent sound in the area besides raindrop crashes.

The puppy left his hiding spot, rushed to Gyone and attempted to wake him up with a butt of a nose, a bat of a paw.

It was no good.

Desperate to help his new friend, the puppybegan to run.