Son of Scathach
Chapter 1 Birth of an unknown hero
Scathach, queen of shadows, god slayer, the red death, she was called. Oh, yes, she had a lot of other intimidating names indeed.
As a matter of fact, almost countless names were, in her prime. Warriors she had under her tutelage all grown to become the most ferocious of heroes. The most devious of creatures trembled at the mere syllable of her name. Kings and queens bowed under her gaze.
But, it seemed, she had a problem. A baby problem.
"Sherron, WHERE ARE YOU!? MOMMY'S HERE!"
Yes, Scathach was rather pissed. Oh, this may prove to be a mild understatement.
"WHERE ARE YOU!?"
She was downright terrified. This itself is more than enough to send kingdoms into a panic. When a fearless witch that transcended humanity by killing gods is scared, you might turn out to be the dumbest person on the globe to think things aren't somehow seriously fucked up.
If you had some decent knowledge about the great Scathach, you will be curious about how on earth does Scathach have a baby. What man can be so suicidal to give Scathach a baby?
To explain this mess, we have to go back a few years, where this all began….
FLASHBACK (FEW YEARS AGO)
A golden carriage was rumbling along a moon-lit, unpaved and stony path at extraordinary speeds, its wheels creaking and moaning, as if protesting it might come apart at any minute.
There were two bulls leading the carriage, incredibly muscular and huge, mighty and towering. A phantasmal beast: the direct descendant of the Cretan bull, three times taller than a normal bull and a hundred times stronger, a dangerous breed which originates from ancient Greek.
Normally, this kind of beast would never be exhausted, much less afraid. But now, these mighty bulls were shaking in fear and panting in exhaustion. The reason was by no means, far behind.
A gargantuan monster was there, blocking the moonlight and splitting the clouds with a simple roar. A monster that even gods feared. Those monsters were called a great one. And a very angry great one, the thing turned out to be.
Tall as a skyscraper and large as several baseball stadiums connected together, the brute crushed everything in its path, the very earth crumbling beneath its body.
Its name was Kreed, the overlord of Oceanus, monarch of the waves and storms, the terrible earth shaker. Poseidon would have pissed in his pants.
It looked like something suspiciously close to a shark that had gone under some bizarre cyborg surgery. It had stygian metallic plates covering most of its body, veins alike volcanic cracks running along its entire surface, and tower-like crimson spikes protruding from every nook and cranny.
This monster seemed content on killing every single soul around, swimming through mountains as easily as through waves, its golden pupil-less eyes filled with insanity, locked onto the gorgeous carriage.
A lady was in the carriage, with a small baby bundled in white cloth, her magnificent pink hair in disarray, her white princess-like snow white attire ruffled up, her perfectly balanced body tensed up in fear for her child. The lady clutched the soon-to-be-infant close to her bosom, cradling the wailing baby and cooing.
"My baby, my love. My most precious jewel in this whole world. I do hope so much, so much that I could be by your side. Watch you grow up. Watch your life. Be in your life, always by your side. Oh, how I wish I could be there to scare off your girlfriends, to be there when you have your first child."
She kissed her baby lightly on the lips, her own red lips quivering and blackish eyes watering, the tears threatening to break out.
She took off from her wedding finger, a silver ring with ancient runes etched into the metal, with exorbitant, but tiny grains of diamond engraved into the very runes itself. It shone in the darkness like a dying sun, threads of light like silver comets, dancing around the circular metal, like moths to a flame.
She took out a long needle, the same length of her middle finger, and stabbed it deep into her chest, without the slightest hesitation. She gasped in pain, slowly pulling the needle from her still-beating heart with trembling fingers, eyes on her baby all the while.
She held the needle above her ring, letting only a single drop of ruby-colored blood fall. The drop of blood was drained instantly into the runes, turning it into pure gold as if Midas blessed it with his touch.
Ripping off her silver-chain necklace, she looped the ring into it and tied the chained ring firmly around her baby's neck.
"May this ring always be with you, my light. May this be my very soul, my very life. May this ring ward off all the worlds evil."
Another ear-splitting roar shook the entire land. It is time. She must leave to ensure her baby's safety. She WILL ensure his safety, no matter what.
Any other day, she would have been absolutely terrified, paralyzed by fear. But, no not tonight.
She was no longer the woman who had love with many heroes. She is a mother. And mothers are strong.
"Farewell, my child. Fret not, I will take care of the monster."
She halted and took a deep breath. The words she was about to spout were words she had said to countless heroes.
But this time, it was special.
"I love you, Sherron."
With the last words being said, she leaped out of the still moving carriage, her eyes still hovering over the place her child, as if ushering her royal bulls to run faster.
Another menacing, earth-saving roar shook the air itself.
She was afraid, but not for her life. The witch shall be here soon, she thought.
'All I need is to buy enough time.'
She held up her head high and flashed out a smile. A sadistic, blood-thirsty smile of the renowned war-queen.
Her tiara let forth a brilliant rainbow-colored beam, striking the beast right in its eye and catching its attention.
"Hey, big guy! Wanna play this rough?"
A deep growl emanated from the monster, a rumble so deep, it was as if giant boulders were being crushed against one another.
"Rough it is, then! Alright, I'll keep you satisfied! What do you say to that, eh, hot stuff?"
The beast let forth another deafening roar, and crimson spikes the size of almost two men, started bombarding the land like heavy rain.
The queen grimaced.
'I hope my blood wouldn't dry up too quickly', she thought.
"Ah, Cainhurst, my cursed blood, flow as thy may, for Yharnam is thy queen."
Countless heroes rose from the dust, as blood flew from her punctured heart. It was truly a grand sight, as men battled against the impossible.
But impossible is impossible, and the great ones are the very definition of that fact.
A dog cannot kill a dragon, but a dragon can easily squash a dog.
A FEW HOURS LATER
Her army was gone, her body devoid of blood. But, did any of that mattered? Her baby is safe. And now, at last, the heroine arrives.
'About time.' She thought bitterly. 'If only she had arrived sooner.'
Despite her bitter thoughts, the battle that occurred was breathtaking, to say the very least.
A void opened in the sky, as a humungous iron gate with intricate designs opened, and countless spells and curses flew through.
Although the warriors and mages of the land of shadows may prove to be too weak in direct combat against a great one, they could cast magic via portal/gate.
Of course, there were a seldom few that could encounter a great one directly. The god-slayer Scathach, of course.
Oh, it was such glorious battle to behold, even in the nearly dead warrior queens' eyes. Shadows dashed across the starry sky, gigantic explosions here and there, the spikes of the beast turned against itself as thorns.
After what it seemed like hours, the beast fell, being subjected into a deep slumber, as all great ones do.
The battle was won. The world was calm once more, and the greats one subdued into sleep.
Scathach walked over to the queen, unable to fathom why she had used her life to weaken the beast. The warrior queen was a very selfish woman, so it doesn't make any sense in her noble act of self-sacrifice.
But before she could ask anything, the pink-haired woman opened her mouth.
"My son, please, I beg of you. SAVE HIM. Please, be his mother."
Scathach stopped thinking.
'A son? Her child? But, then, how…, the child must surely carry the lineage of the ancients, the old blood…. This is really serious.'
The pink-haired woman raised a weak hand and grasped Scathach's boots.
"Please, my son, my little Sharron. My last wish. My hope. The power against the great ones flows deep in his veins…, take him in as your warrior if you wish, but please…, my baby needs a mother, you…."
Scathach furrowed her brows at the last request. There it is again, the bizarre wish of Scathach being her boy's mother.
"Why me? We have a lot of women whom have had the privilege of taking wonderful care of children. Why me?"
The dying woman gasped out the words with a rapidly fading breath,
"Because you are the strongest. As much as I fear you, I trust in your …, battle prowess, and, the kindness, in your heart."
Scathach's eyebrows shot up. What did the women just say?!
"P-Please. I beg of you…."
Scathach looked into the eyes of the dying women and sighed. All there was left, was the ferocious, undying flame of love for her child, even in her dying breath.
She didn't have much choice, did she?
"Very well, I accept"
Scathach said the words as curtly as she could, nodding her head firmly.
The eyelids of the warrior queen closed, a peaceful smile on her face.
"Thank…, you…."
She took one last breath, and stilled.
Scathach signaled her men to bring her the baby, and sighed deeply.
"No, I thank you. You have given me a purpose, aside from dying."
With that, Scathach turned and left, her purplish-black hair billowing in the night breeze.
The full moon shone on her and the baby, as she took the frail thing from her men, cradling it to sleep with utmost care.
A smile was on her face, as the gentle rays illuminated the baby, her son.
"Let us head home, shall we? My little prince of shadows."