The Void Wolf

The desert shook violently, but that wasn’t exactly a new occurrence. A team tasked with surveying the area for any signs of the City-Eater didn’t even seem affected by the earthquakes.

“This is a fruitless effort.” A Parvian man said as he looked at the endless desert. He tied his horse down to a temporary post and approached an old man.

“That doesn’t matter, it’s a task we were told to carry out and we shall do so.” An older man with grey hair responded. Experience showed through the deep wrinkles on his face and he didn’t seem to be bothered by the nature of the task.

Various teams were scattered in the desert and the past week of searching gave them nothing.

“Hey, what’s that, Old man?” The younger of the two pointed at a greyish spike protruding from the ground.

“Rock? Wait…” The Old man approached and touched the spike that didn’t have the texture of any stone he knew of.

“This almost seems like a horn or a bone.” The Old man squinted at the shale-colored protrusion that was stood at three times the height of a normal person.

The ground shook again and after stumbling the man looked up to see that the sands were shifting again. Another spike began to slowly emerge from the sand and shortly after another. A loud rumbling accompanied it and soon the sands began to rise.

“Move!” The Old man began running back to the post to retrieve the horses.

The younger man was a bit slower and had only come to his senses when dozens of spikes were protruding from the ground.

“Shit, wait for me!” He yelled.

The old man untied his horse and led it toward him while trying to keep himself calm, “Damn it, come on!”

The younger man climbed onto his horse and urged it to run which it was more than happy to do.

Sinkholes and cracks appeared in the ground as it overturned causing the two men to panic even more. As they looked to the side they could see a different team further away being swallowed into the ground without a chance to scream.

“Run, boy! If you value your life you’ll run!” The old man yelled to his horse which was already running far past what its heart could endure.

The earth below them continued to break and shatter threatening to engulf the two. They ran for minutes before the shaking subsided and they were finally clear, but they continued on after that. They were still a day away from the outpost which was set up a half a day away from where they currently were.

A giant cloud of sand obscured their vision from where the source of the quake started.

“Easy, easy, calm down!” The old man attempted to calm his horse, but it was a miracle that it was still standing. The younger man fared no better as his horse was already on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Eventually, the remaining horse also fell to the ground and died soon after from overexertion.

The younger man sighed as he turned around to look at the plume of sand that began to settle.

“It looks like a mountain…” The man blocked the sun from view and squinted his eyes before he felt his whole body go numb.

“Old...man…” He called out weakly.

“What is it?” The old man finished saying a prayer for the horse that saved him and turned around to nearly have a heart attack.

Massive. That was the only word to describe the creature whose head was sticking out of the sand. It had one horn that pointed into the air, while its four red eyes looked on. The black x-shaped pupils could even be seen from far away. Two tusks emerged from either side of its face and its hundreds of teeth could be seen as it opened his mouth and began inhaling. Meanwhile one of its arms which were longer than the metal airships created by the Tel’vians began to slowly rise into the air. At the end of its arm, that was covered in pieces of armor like segments and spikes, were five gigantic fingers.

The full scale of the creature was four miles high which made most mountains look like small hills, but thankfully its entire size couldn’t be seen.

The Behemoth slammed its fingers into the ground and began attempting to pull itself out while filling its lungs with fresh air. Once they reached capacity, it unleashed a heavy roar that shook the skies and gave a sound to the rage that had built up since it had awoken. Birds flying near its immediate vicinity had died on the spot and fallen into the sand below.

“Aaaah!” The old man covered his ears and huddled down before it finally subsided.

The Behemoth began clawing into the ground and causing huge amounts of sand to fly, but it wouldn’t be satisfied until it was free.

…

Gicae opened his eyes with clear shock and even fear as he saw a vision of what happened.

“It’s real…” He whispered to himself.

The Behemoth was one of three Primeval Beasts that were said to have been born after the First-Flame. It was said that each of the Beasts held dominion over a certain part of the planet and defeating one would cause its conqueror to ascend. In this case, Kara was the best form of proof, but fighting the Behemoth allowed her to breakthrough with her swordsmanship which led her to ascend. Still, the keyword was "defeat", they were said to be born from the Divine Realm to serve as a trial for powerful figures they would be effectively immortal.

He shook his head as he realized that only those who lived before the Collapse would know of such information. All the races on the continent would be caught unaware and try to subjugate such a threatening beast, but it would be fruitless.

Gicae understood what that the massive battle in the East would be better titled a massacre. He stood up and went to go inform the others in order to prepare. He was certain that Ira would be there and it would be best to prepare an ambush even if he didn’t defeat the Behemoth.

…

It took a single day for the news to flip the continent on its head. The City-Eater emerged in the empty desert sitting near the Parvian-Grenitian Border. A call was put out for all Mercenaries and that included Ira, but he was nowhere to be found.

During the crisis spreading throughout the world, where was he? Ira was laying on a bed with Raveria resting her head on his chest in a comfortable sleep. In order to accommodate her, Ira slowed his heart beat so it wouldn’t be too loud and even softened his ribcage with his self-adaptation. It was amazing how far he was willing to go in order to serve as a pillow for his daughter who was in the process of soaking his shirt in drool.

At the foot of the bed, Avery was inspecting her sword even though it was God Steel and couldn’t be broken by anything except for something at a greater level which couldn’t be found in the Mortal Realm.

There was a knock at the door and Casey soon entered before quietly closing it behind her.

“They’ve found the so-called City-Eater.” Casey smiled as she looked at Ira, the real City-Eater, showing no concern.

“Is that so? Was it perhaps a dragon?” Avery asked.

“No, It was said to be the bigger than a mountain. The King even sent someone to request our help.”

“What’s happening now?” Ira asked softly as his interest spiked.

When he recalled seeing the Wolf before he entered the Void, its form was around 1000 feet tall. Hearing that there was a beast taller than that didn’t really surprise him. He was aware the Wolf could choose its size because he did the same to actually eat the entire city. Though doing it caused him quite a lot of backlash and he wouldn’t do it again until the last sigil was fully removed.

“It was said to still be contained within the ground but no one is wasting any time. They practically begged if we, more specifically you, could come to assist them. My mother and I will go along with a few of my sisters and nieces.” Casey said.

“I’ll go then...but after Raveria wakes up.” Ira smiled as he looked at the small girl resting on him.

“I’m coming with you,” Avery interjected.

“Who’s going to watch Raveria?” Ira asked seriously.

“Why not bring her with us?” Casey suggested much to the clear rejection of Ira’s eyes.

“Not to the actual battle. We can set Valkyries at a safe distance and create defensive arrays just in case. It’s better than leaving the inexperienced Valkyries to watch over her while both of you are gone.” Casey explained as she watched the building aggression in Ira’s eyes disappear as he began to consider it.

“Nothing can happen to her while the Sun is up, Ira.” Avery stated confidently.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Ira wanted to refuse, but if both he and Avery left Raveria would become distraught which had the potential for major consequences.

“Well, we still have time to decide. If you come with something better in the meantime I’ll agree to it, but the creature in the Desert poses a threat to all of us so we have to get rid of it.” Casey spoke with a clear seriousness.

As she left, Ira realized it would be dangerous to Raveria if it turned out the monster was hard to kill. Both he and Avery needed to be there to increase the chances of winning against it. Then there was the fact he could consume its blood and grow stronger.

Ira slowly sat up and placed Raveria on the bed which caused her to open her eyes to look at him.

“Daa.” Raveria gave a tired smile before falling to sleep again.

Ira smoothed out her lengthy black hair and kissed her on the cheek while thinking of a good compromise where his daughter's safety was assured. As of that moment, bringing her near the site of the battle was the worst possible decision.