UPLOADED: 30/01/2022

EDITED: 17/02/2022

Calamity DxD

Chapter 2: Baba Yaga

''Where are you going?'' Ophis asked as Ryn turned away from the fountain and began making his way back into the outskirts of the village.

''There's something I need if I'm gonna do this. I'll be quick.'' He said without pausing. He passed the carnage that the monsters had left behind and went back to his and Kolya's home, and he shuddered as he passed the threshold to the house. Glass cracked under his tread on the way to his grandfather's room, and he saw what he was looking for immediately. On his night stand was a dark wooden box with a decorative brass lock on the front. He opened it and inside was a set of four crosses, each of different metals and different styles resting on cushion of red silk. Surrounding the crosses was a single thin gold chain, They each belonged to his family members, and Kolya had kept them as mementos. He picked them up and attached them to the chain, then put them around his neck and tucked them under his clothes. With his resolve galvanised, Ryn left the house after taking two photographs from the wall that had escaped being spattered with blood, knowing he would most likely never return.

Ryn exited the village and marched through the snow, any thoughts of stopping were the furthest thing from his mind. He followed the tracks left behind by retreating monster horde. When he invoked the name of his Sacred Gear, he felt something within himself change, like a whole new layer of the world was visible to him now. Everything he saw was awash with strange colours. Everything was silhouetted with the outline of whatever he looked at being white. There were patches of scrambled colours at various points on whatever he looked at, like static on a TV screen. The sky was an ominous purple colour and the clouds were floating masses of solid blackness.

His senses stretched far beyond what they once did, and he could feel strange sensations pressing at the edges of his mind. Somehow, he could feel roughly where they were and how far, and they seemed to have a sort of texture to them. Some felt rough, others hard. Some were small and some were large. But something distinguished them from the regular fauna that he'd passed on his hunt for Baba Yaga. Their smell, for one. The smell of the fauna was that of the Earth. Their scent was natural, while the scent of monsters was putrid and corrupted. Since awakening his Sacred Gear, Calamity Triple, crushing hopelessness had turned into a furious drive to crush Baba Yaga and her horde. He didn't care if it was the last thing he did, he would take them all with him.

''Zmeya, what the hell's up with my eyes? Why does everything look so weird?'' He asked in bewilderment.

[You see the world now as we once did. Look at the fountain.] Ryn did as she instructed and turned to see the gore-slicked fountain in the distance. [See the points of light on it? Those are structural and even spiritual weaknesses within the structure. Both objects and living beings have these points on them, and you would be wise to exploit them ruthlessly.]

[Without mercy!]

[Without... relent...]

''So what happens when I hit those weak points?'' Ryn asked.

[Stone will shatter. Wood will splinter. Flesh will rupture and bone will sunder. The gift of Curse Sight grants you an insight into how to destroy your enemies unlike any other. Everything you encounter will have different weak points and different numbers of them, but they will all be clear to you now. No weakness can be hidden from you.]

He was overwhelmed by his new senses, but he stayed focused on his task even as the Curse Sight made him feel nauseated. His fist tightened, the armour surrounding his hands creaking. He wasn't alone out in the frozen wastes, and he knew that whatever was coming his way had been at the village. Several of them came at once, barrelling through the snow, their fetid auras growing more pungent as the closed the distance. Tall creatures with gangly limbs and the heads of wolves slavered and growled.

''Vukodlaks...'' Ryn muttered through gritted teeth as he picked up the pace, sprinting at full tilt to meet their charge. He was faster than he'd ever been as the snow was no obstacle to him despite being shin deep, he ploughed through it. Ryn knew of these creatures from when Kolya would tell him stories as a child. They detailed depraved men steeped in dark magic and rituals, who would kill wolves and wear the pelts to change their bodies into a mix of man and wolf. They would stalk the night hunting for travelers and preying on farm animals.

[Men in the skin of wolves. To kill a wolf is a grave sin, and to wear their hide in such a manner is punishable only with death. Annihilate them, Slayer] The central head of Zmeya said. They appeared as everything else did with his new sight. They were outlined in white and all had their weak spots clear for him to see. Particular places on their chests, areas of thin fur and bone on a head or two.

''That's the plan.'' The first one leapt high with its teeth bared and claws flashing while the others flanked to either of Ryn's sides. Instead of blocking, he charged straight into the first wolf man, driving his shoulder into its chest as it descended on him. It yelped, and Ryn lashed a hand out and grabbed a handful of its mess mane, and drove his other fist into its head. Upon contact with the highlighted portion of its head, its lupine skull caved under his armoured fist and sent the body rag-dolling away, leaving a crimson trail in the snow. Black claws swiped at him from one side and he weaved under it, while another of the snarling things dove for his legs. It clamped its jaws around one of his greaves. Teeth cracked and gums bled, but they pierced ever so slightly into the strange green metal. The other one circled around, aiming to take advantage of its prey being pinned, but received a shock when it saw its lupine kin have its spine broken in half when Ryn stomped on it with all of his enhanced strength. The sound of its death echoed with a snap and a gargled whimper.

''You're next.'' Ryn said, kicking the dead Vukodlak off of his leg as if it were trash. The wolf man snarled as drool leaked from its mouth and it began circling again. Ryn's eyes kept watch on it as he set into a southpaw stance, his face in a vicious scowl. He could feel other monsters approaching, all on the way to stop them from reaching their master. At least with so many things getting in his way he knew he was on the right track. This Vukodlak had a weak point just above its sternum, and Ryn intuited that if he struck that particular spot then the wolf man would suffer cardiac arrest. ''I'm gonna have to fight methodically if I'm gonna get maximum mileage out of my Curse Sight.'' He muttered to himself.

''You are prey!'' It growled. ''You kill us, but you are prey!''

''Not fun when prey bites back, is it?'' Instead of waiting for the wolf man to move, Ryn moved first and closed the distance with a leaping punch as he grabbed the startled creature by the mane around its neck. Its face contorted around the studs and heavy armour that was driven into its skull, yet it somehow avoided death and swiped wildly with its claws, slashing down Ryn's face. The boy's grip faltered and he failed to strike his target on the creature's chest. The Vukodlak back-stepped and gripped its face, certain it had just split the human's head into three. It's remaining yellow eye widened when it saw that all it had done was scratch three red marks down his face.

''Wh-what? How!? You should be dead! How!?'' The wolf creature's words came out slurred as half of its teeth were gone and half of its face was a mess of pulped meat, fur, and shattered bone.

''Interesting you should say that. You'd normally be right, but I've been given a little something to help me kill mangey shits like you.'' Ryn replied. The Vukodlak saw that there was something off about his eyes. They were purple in colour, and where his pupils should have been rounded, they were instead reptilian slits. ''I've got a Sacred Gear, and it's pretty handy for killing monsters. I used to do it with my bare hands, but this little upgrade is working like a charm.'' Then they were on him, ogres like the one a few nights ago. Like silver-back gorillas on steroids and seven feet tall at the shoulder.


From a distance with her presence concealed, Ophis watched with keen interest. She was enjoying the show her most recent prospect was putting on, and so far he wasn't disappointing her. Sure, the creatures he battled were little more than detritus, dross not even worth her notice, but for a human they were a challenge. It wasn't that he was killing them that grabbed her attention, as anyone motivated enough and with the right tools could do so. No, it was his will to face them head-on that kept her watching. In her observation, humans by and large were typically easily frightened things who always placed their own worth above all else. When the right thing needed doing, very few of them had the grit to make the difficult choices or face the monsters at their door, both literally and figuratively. She could very well see why they were looked down upon by Angels, Devils, Fallen, and many other species, though some of them were just quieter about their disdain. But what she had said to Ryn remained true. Whether it was Dragons, Gods, or monsters, in the end it was always humans who rose to the challenge and ultimately defeated them. Lowly, weak humans. Cleaning up everyone else's messes. Doing what they for all their power and longevity, couldn't. Humans defied expectations again and again, taking what was once a world completely antithetical to their existence and conquered it, shaping it to their own designs.

She quietly approved of his brutal dispatch of everything that came his way. He fought as monsters did, ripping and tearing, punching and crushing. He was fuelled by fury and grief, and as such the way he fought in that moment made for a poor analogue for his true capabilities. But for now, it was good enough. Ophis could feel the malignant energies flowing into him as he drew upon Zmeya's power through Calamity Triple. The ability was known as Curse Sight. If one were to describe it, then it would be like having complete knowledge of the weaknesses within the structure of a blade. Under an electron microscope, one could see impurities and areas where the steel is softer or harder and more prone to breaking. Curse Sight was akin to an electron microscope in that it allowed the user to see these same areas of weakness and 'impurity' in everything they saw in the world around them. While Ryn gained no increases to his strength, speed, or defensive capabilities, he gained an incredible edge so long as he fought tactically. She had no doubt that as he fought, the three heads of Zmeya bickered and whispered, weaving their curses and dark powers. Zmeya never changed. Even after all this time, they still couldn't agree on anything. She didn't envy Ryn the task of taming that tempestuous beast. The world had no idea just how lucky it had been that Zmeya Gorynich, the Curse Weaver, Whisperer of Madness, Dragon of Calamity, had been slain and sealed. Perhaps she may have once ascended to the rank of Dragon King if she wasn't such a force of malevolence.

Orphis spied the tree line in the distance, and in her vision there was a haze over the woodland in the shape of a large dome. It was magical in nature and was a means of transforming that particular part of the forest into a twisted version of itself. That was Baba Yaga's domain. The old and mysterious magics that the hag employed were numerous and dark, requiring rituals and hexes that were blasphemies against nature. She considered warning Ryn about what he was in for, but ultimately decided against it. She wouldn't let him die, but she had no intention of stopping his one man crusade. It would proved valuable insight into what he was truly made of. If he survived against the hag then that would be enough for her to invest her time and energy into his development into a tool for her use. However, if he died before she could step in, then she would be disappointed and simply move on. There were always more Sacred Gear users and reincarnated heroes out there. If he killed Baba Yaga... that would be truly interesting.

Turning her attention back to the fight, she saw Ryn using his... martial arts, was it? He ducked, bobbed, and weaved, countering with jabs, crosses, and hooks. His rage had calmed somewhat, replaced by intense focus. His own body had sustained injures through recklessness and he realised that he would fall before even setting foot on Baba Yaga's doorstep. Each attack was calculated as he looked for openings to exploit. Blood flew in vermilion arcs as his studded fists collided with flesh and pulverised the bone beneath, sending monsters reeling and yowling. They attacked him from all angles without allowing him a second to breath as they raked their claws down his flesh, tearing his winter clothes to tattered ribbons. Even still, he evaded, attacked, and counter-attacked, punishing the smallest errors and exploiting the slightest gaps in defence. Then, as one lunched to bite at his throat, his hands caught the incoming death blow and held the ogre's crushing jaws open. With a violent twist, the bottom jaw snapped loose and the neck contorted unnaturally. As impressive as his display was, Ophis could see him slowing down despite his new-found power. She could keenly sense Zmeya's power slowly doing its work on him. He would need to get stronger and quickly if he wanted to resist her for long. Ryn's breathing was ragged and his movement were become sloppy. She was suddenly curious if he could kill these lowly creatures.

After a couple more minutes of brutal fighting, the last of them was dead. Ryn stared out at the forest as he felt its warped touch, recoiling from it as one would from a bad smell. The weight of corruption that hung over Baba Yaga's domain was palpable, so much so that Ophis felt what she believed to be the ghost of disgust stir within her. She could wipe it and everything within off the face of the planet with a thought, but for the sake of Ryn and her own curiosity, she relented. She observed him as he stood still and puffs of vapour rose from his mouth as he tried to recover from the exertion of the fight.


He had to keep going. He had to. Why bother with all this unless he was going to see it to the end, come what may? Even if he died, it was worth the attempt to avenge his village. No backward step. Those words became a mantra as he forced his tired, wounded legs to push onward to the foreboding tree line, where leafless branches stretched up to the grey sky like gnarled fingers. One step. Another step. Another, and then another. He pushed all thoughts of running away or how much pain he was in the the back of his mind as he kept his blurred vision on the trees ahead of him. Sooner than he'd realised it, he was at the threshold to the woods, a mere step into what he thought would be a vision of hell. The first thing that caught his attention were carvings in the trees ancient Cyrillic. The word forms and structure were all alien too him, with very little he recognised as modern Russian. Up above in the trees hung charms and talismans made from bones. They were eerily still as they made no noise. He was certain that there had been wind on the way there, but now there was nothing. No birds chirped, no twigs snapped. Even the sound of snowfall was gone. All that remained was unnatural, unbearable stillness. Sucking in a deep breath, Ryn disappeared into the darkness beyond.

Everywhere he looked with his limited vision, he saw the same carvings on every tree he passed, and he felt faint energies from each and every one. They felt different too, and he surmised that they must have performed different functions. The longer he thought about what the carvings did, the thought finally occurred to him that the hag likely already knew he was there. Human bones littered the ground and hung from lengths of twine tied to branches. Femurs, arm bones, ribs, skulls. He stopped suddenly. A knot of dread formed in his gut as he began to struggle to keep his legs moving. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to run.

[Press on, Slayer. There is no choice left to you.] The central head of Zmeya said.

[No... backward... step...] The left-hand, blue-eyed head intoned.

[Too late for cowardice, ape. Move.] The red-eyed one hissed.

Ryn tapped his foot on the ground anxiously. He knew there was no turning back now, and he hated that he was feeling the need to run away. To run away would be a betrayal of himself and the village. What would his parents think of him then? Hell, they were probably already scorning him for not being there when they needed him most. What was he supposed to say to Kolya or Natalya if he found them alive? There were no excuses he could offer. Ryn had completely went against Kolya's warning to not go after the witch, and he'd been so afraid of hurting Natalya that he'd been avoiding her when he thought he could get away with it.

''You have stopped. Why?'' Ophis' voice very nearly made him scream as he whirled around to see her eyeing him with her ever inscrutable expression and blank, grey eyes. He'd just about calmed himself down enough to recognise her, and for all of her unknowable mystique, he was almost happy to see the small Dragon God. When he didn't answer straight away, she tilted her head slightly.

''Because... I'm scared.'' He muttered with a tremor in his voice. It wasn't the bitter cold that was making him shake. Nor was it his wounds. It was terror, pure and simple. Several moments passed.

''I see. I am unsure of how I can help you with that.'' Ophis said. There were, in fact, several things she could do. However, endowing him with one of her snakes or her blessing were things she was content to wait and see if he deserved. One of her snakes ran the risk of killing him then and there, as it could destroy his Sacred Gear.

''Do anything, I don't care. Call me a bitch or a pussy or something. Anything to get me moving.'' He said desperately. Ophis shook her head.

''I cannot. I do not like words like that.'' That surprised him momentarily. What surprised him more was when she beckoned him closer. He did as she asked, then she gestured for him to lower himself. After he knelt down, she put a hand on his head and pat it. He half expected to be teleported back inside of himself, but nothing of the sort happened. ''You are doing well. This place scares you, yet you came this far anyway. That makes you valuable to me.'' She said, and despite the lack of any warmth in her words, in some way he knew she meant them. What surprised him more was that he actually felt a little better. ''Will you forge onward and face her? I do not expect you to be fearless. You are human, after all. Like rabbits, you are easily frightened, yet here you are in this nest of corruption. That is why I like your kind, and why I have taken an interest in you. You, Dobrynya Nikitich, have impressed me.'' She pat his head one last time and stepped back, letting him stand to his full height once again.

''Uh... thanks... Ophis. I guess I needed that.'' While he didn't feel totally reassured, he did feel the grip of dread loosen from him. The rest would be up to him to power through it.

''Good. I am glad I could assist you. Now go. She awaits.'' Once again as if he'd been dreaming, she was gone. Ryn took a deep breath and shook his limbs in an attempt to stave off his nerves, then looked away from where Ophis had been and back into the tenebrous woods. Off in the distance, he could see the faint glow of many... somethings. He forced himself to move forward and he was glad he could do that much. Those strange lights turned out to be various giant forms of fungus; mushrooms and giant toadstools lit up in fluorescent colours, while lichens and mosses crept up the tree trunks, equally as luminous. The ground had gone from hard and snow-covered to wet and soft, almost boggy. Strange insects chirped while various colours of firefly meandered around him. His boots began to suck through the mud. He tripped over something and he looked down to see a pale hand stricken with rigor mortis, then another, and another. Ryn threw himself against a tree, gasping as his heart hammered in his chest. Just how much of this bizarre hell was there to see? If this was the outside of the witch's domain, then what the hell was waiting for him in her house? Had those hands belonged to people he knew, or maybe lost people who had wondered too far off the beaten path? He had no intention of answering any of those questions. He just wanted to get in, kill her, and get out.

''Shit, shit, shit...'' Ryn muttered as he picked up his pace but he kept Ophis' words in mind. He wasn't about to let her down by running away, and he knew that if he hadn't encountered her, he'd already be dead without her help. If he was going to be useful to someone, then he'd be useful to someone alive and who had helped him. It was as he walked that he remembered that Baba Yaga had been at the head of a horde of monsters. If that was the case, then where were they? Ryn's eyes rapidly scanned the area for anything that might have moved, whether it be shadows against the trees or eyes in the darkness. Nothing save for fireflies. Had they all moved to wherever her hut was?

He tried to reach out with his senses, but what returned nearly gave him a splitting headache as it was all just a mess of auras, each malignant and filthy. It felt like a red-hot poker had been jabbed into his brain for just a moment, but the searing pain behind his eyes nearly knocked him off of his feet, forcing him to brace himself against a tree. His hand caught another effigy of bones and it came loose from the branch above and clattered to the ground. Shaking it off and pushing onward, he soon came to a wide clearing, where behind a fence of human bones with lanterns of human skulls mounted to it, was the hut. On two long, gnarled chicken legs terminating in long toes with wickedly sharp talons, was the home of Baba Yaga. Ryn eyed it from a distance, a sudden feeling of anxiety coupled with a rush of adrenaline and anger pulsed through him so strongly it almost made him dizzy.

''There it is...'' He whispered as he reached out with a hand and clenched his fist over the hut. He was so close now, but he knew he couldn't just walk in. He centred himself and thought back to the old legend of the hag that he'd been told as a child. To enter her house, one had to say a phrase. ''Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest and your front to me.'' The result was almost instantaneous as the legs of the chicken stomped heavily as it turned away from the rest of the dark forest and faced forward towards Ryn. He could see the sickly colours coming from the windows, all purples and lurid reds resulting from whatever witchery was being conducted within. The noise and movement drew the attention of unwanted arrivals as Orgres and Vukodlaks materialised from the shadows with their keen noses scenting the air in ragged huffs.

[Are you ready, Slayer? They will surely smell you and in this forest and there is no escape until the hag dies. As much as I dislike it, I will do what I must to ensure your survival.]

''Sure, thanks. I think you're just dandy too.'' Ryn snarked.

[Go and fight! Kill!]

[These are... unfavourable... odds.]

''Why not let me use your combined power? Or are you so petty you'll fight each other even now?''

[Do not presume to belittle us!]

[To do so would be preferable. It is my power that comes to the fore when the other two cooperate with me.]

[Perhaps for now... it is... acceptable.]

''If you don't work together and help me now then I'll die and you'll end up... back wherever the hell you were before. Just help me kill these things and the witch and you can argue about it later.''

[Baba Yaga is a powerful foe for one as weak as yourself. I am more than ready to provide what your body can handle. It isn't me you need to ask, Slayer.]

''Well? Are you gonna pitch in, you two? If I die, you're fucked. You said so yourselves.''

[We did... say this... 'tis true.]

[Unfortunately. I will assist for now, worm.]

''Good. Thank you.'' He was going to have to talk about their attitude problem at some point if he survived this. He knew they Zmeya was naturally predisposed against him because of his soul, yet another discussion he needed to have, but if they didn't at least push it aside for both their sakes, they could get him killed because of their stubbornness.

''Calamity Triple – Cursed Thorns.'' The second half of the invocation came unbidden, as if implanted within his mind by Zmeya herself and the Sacred Gear appeared, encasing his fists and lower legs in dark green armour plates. The gems on the backs of his caestus flared to life with purple light, and the spiked studs on his caestus suddenly blazed with dark magic power. His heart thundered against his ribs as his body strained with the fresh Draconic energy flowing through him. He wondered in that moment if his soul, that of the legendary Dragon slayer Dobrynya Nikitich, was the only reason his body hadn't already burned itself out already.

''So this is what you do then? You just make me stronger in combat?''

[What I have done is awakened the second of your many abilities. Cursed Thorns is the perfect partner of Cursed Sight, as the studs upon your hands act as barbs that will impale themselves into whatever weak points you strike on your target. They will not wound your enemies on their own, however, but will cause catastrophic damage when you hit the Thorns while they are stuck inside your enemy. Of course, take note that you have a limited number of these, so use them wisely. They will easily kill any lowly enemies you may encounter, but do not be so quick to rely on them should a powerful foe come your way.]

''So what is it you're doing, then? By controlling the other two, you're forcing different abilities to awaken?.''

[Correct. But if you think I'll do this just because you ask, then think again.]

''Whatever. Time to go see what it can do then.''

Ryn gently touched the crosses under his clothes and walked out into the clearing when the gathered monsters suddenly locked their beady and glowing eyes onto him. Bauks and Vukodlaks snarled and roared as their enemy approached, chomping at the bit to get to them and rip him apart.

Up above, the door to the hut opened and the monsters looked up, then bowed their heads, shrinking back in deference. It was like it was torn straight from the legend of the hag. A large mortar emerged from the doorway while a strange mist poured from within it. The mortar itself was made of dark stone, like granite or black marble, and lined with gold filigree depicting scenes of rituals and various arcane symbols. Ryn recognised the ancient Cyrillic upon it as the very same script he'd seen carved into the trees. Then, from the mist inside the mortar, a figure emerged, dramatically flourishing and throwing its hair back. Slender fingers tipped with black nails lightly gripped the rim and Ryn could finally see his target.

''You...'' He hissed with narrowed eyes and his blood coming to a boil. Two half-lidded, pale yellow eyes set into a bewitchingly beautiful face framed with flowing green hair looked at him, sadistic curiosity in her gaze. Her form was stunning too, with large, full breasts and an hour-glass figure covered by flawless pale skin. He would never admit it to anyone, but her appearance took him completely by surprise. He expected a hideous, withered creature covered in animal hides. But this... this was some otherworldly beauty of the like he'd never seen. He grit his teeth and glared harder, knowing this must have been some kind of illusion to make him hesitate.

It also didn't help that hers were the first pair of bare breasts his young eyes had ever witnessed.

''So you're what's been scurrying around my domain. My, my...'' She replied, her voice smooth voice was thick with amusement. ''Did you want something from me, little man? Are you an angry villager seeking revenge perhaps?'' Every word she spoke was laced with superiority as she talked down to him.

''Revenge doesn't even begin to describe what I want.'' He growled, and her eyes widened fractionally.

''Oh-ho-ho, really now? Well, I certainly hope you've got the stones to try and get your revenge then. I am many things, but a pushover isn't one of them.'' Green fire erupted from the palm of her hand, and a long object began to slide out from the flames until her fingers closed around a long staff, similarly decorated like the mortar she sat within. Gold banded the mammoth ivory shaft and Cyrillic script ran its length, and at the top end of it, a skull cast from black iron burned with the same green fire. If it wasn't a tool used for barbaric rituals, it might have been a work of art. ''I will grind your bones and the bones of your people with this pestle. I can feel the tantalising power radiating from you, and I simply must get a taste of it. Oh, the things I could make out of you.''

Baba Yaga snapped her fingers and her beasts leapt from their perches and down into the clearing in front of the hut at her signal. They circled him as they felt the energy radiating from him and they looked between each other to see which one of the beasts would attack first. Then, with a roar of challenge, a hulking ogre broke ranks from the left and ran in first, its hulking mass speeding towards the boy with its huge fists pounding the ground in a gallop. He saw it's head glowing in his Cursed Sight and decided it would be a good test for what a Cursed Thorn could do. He struck, breaking off one of the thorns of dark magic in its head, right between the eyes. It flinched back and circled again before charging once more. Before it could even register Ryn's movements, an armoured fist cannoned into its tusked face, striking the Cursed Thorn like a hammer hitting a nail. There was flash of dark light and the Bauk's head blew open as dark magical energy lanced out from the back of its skull. It collapsed in a heap at Ryn's armoured feet.

'Damn! It's like got hit in the head with a cannon ball or something!' Ryn thought, shocked at how much damage the Cursed Thorn had done. He allowed himself a smirk.

''Next.'' Ryn said while he scanned his eyes across the gathering of monsters, his Curse Sight taking hold once again. His entire arm throbbed with his muscles feeling as though they'd been unnaturally stretched. His body was having a tough time adjusting to the added power his Sacred Gear granted him, and if he survived, he promised himself that he'd train as hard as he could to get used to Zmeya's power or he risked it destroying him from within.

Then they all came rushing in. All he could see in any direction was black fur, slavering jaws, and yellow eyes in a filter of black silhouettes and white outlines. Ryn backed up as claws swiped at him from the right, countering with a cross that broke a lupine jaw. His left hand came up and blocked a bite as another Vukodlak clamped its jaws around his arm, its fangs just about managing to penetrate his hardened skin and flesh.

He swung himself out of the way of an ogre's shoulder charge and threw the werewolf on his arm into its way, letting the great mass of the ogre smash into the much lither monster. The jaws came loose, freeing his arm as blood rushed from the monster's mouth as the ogre had crushed its ribs and pulped the organs within. With no time to focus on that, he whirled on another ogre that had run up and stood on its hind legs with the intent to bite down on Ryn's head. His fist met its chin and with a snap that echoed out, its neck broke against itself and the ogre limply fell forward.

For all that he was doing, Ryn was being force back one step at a time as the tide of fur and fangs kept pressing in from all sides. Bobbing, weaving, sidestepping, blocking, countering, they kept coming as their kin fell with broken skulls, necks, and ruptured organs from body shots. He took any opportunity to hit what his Curse Sight saw whenever there was an opening. His back hit a tree just as a pair of jaws came at his throat from the side. He threw his head to the side and the teeth sank into the bark and gave him just the moment he needed to break out of the melee. He smashed the side of his fist into the back of the werewolf's neck and felt it give out under his force, then grabbed it and spun to throw it at its fellow monsters. They recoiled and Ryn broke through into a wider part of the clearing. This encounter was putting everything Kolya had taught him about boxing to its limits. There was still just over ten of the creatures left, and Baba Yaga watched the whole thing with rapt fascination.

''Excellent, excellent! You're single-handedly decimating the greatest horde of monsters I've amassed in quite a while. I don't know which is greater; how pissed I am that you've undone years of work, or amazed at how lucky I am that such an incredible ingredient has just walked half-assed into my territory.'' She cupped her own cheek, eyes alight with fury and elation in equal measure. Ryn ignored her as he delivered another hook to an ogre's head. His entire body felt like it was made of lead and his breaths were ragged. Several shallow wounds bled in addition to his old ones from earlier that day. He was beginning to wonder if he even had a chance. Sure, he could kill all of the werewolves and ogres, but waiting for him after that was Baba Yaga, a being that by the legends was a being of frightening magical power. She could very well simply be the one to finish him off once he was too tired to fight. No! None of that! He had to keep going or else she'd get away with taking everything from him. He'd accept death once he'd killed her and not a moment sooner.

[Yes. Keep fighting. I will never accept you as our wielder if this magical strumpet is enough to end you. You killed us in a past life. We, Zmeya Gorynich, first and greatest of our clan. With steel and human willpower, you destroyed our flesh. Would you insult us and dishonour your past self by dying here like this?]

''Yeah, yeah, I gotcha...'' He said pained. ''If I die you're fucked.''

[So long as we understand each other.]

''I'd have thought the other two would be talking shit by now.'' Ryn was curious about their silence, since whenever Zmeya spoke, all three of them had something to add. He caught a Vukodlak's arm as he back-stepped away from a vicious swing of its claws, then pulled the gangly monster forward and droved a fist into its chest and felt its sternum crunch under his spike-studded knuckles.

[When focusing my power into you to forcibly awaken new abilities, the other two defer to me entirely. You can probably imagine why they hate doing this. By the way, I can't help but notice that you only punch. You have greaves, you know.]

''I only know how to box. I'm no good at kicking.'' He grit his teeth as he grappled with an ogre and held its snapping jaws at bay as they were just inches from his face. He forced its head down and threw up a knee and the two met sending blood and teeth flying. As it tried to stand, he brought a foot down on the back of its head once, twice, and a third time.

''Get back, you filthy mongrels.'' The advancing monsters stopped dead as they heard their mistress' voice and she waved them away with the flaming pestle. She descended in her giant mortar down to the centre of the clearing while the Vokudlaks and ogres backed away into the shadows of the trees. ''You've done such a splendid job of showing me what you can do, little man. Truly, you have certainly impressed me. The smell of your sweat and your blood is getting me all hot and bothered.'' She chuckled and ran a hand down to her chest, cupping one breast. Ryn just scowled and spat on the muddy ground.

''I was wondering how I was going to get up there and strangle you. You've solved one problem for me at least.'' The witch just tittered with her mouth behind one hand.

''My, my, we've just met and you're already talking about choking me? Kinky.'' Ryn's face creased in disgust, and instead of talking further, he dashed forward with a fist cocked back. He threw all of his force behind it and met a solid wall of resistance as Baba Yaga's burning skull pestle had blocked the blow with the shriek of metal on metal. There wasn't a hint of strain or effort present on her face. Hell, her arm didn't even tremble as he pushed against her. ''Hmm, men who skip the foreplay and get straight to the action are boring. Are you sure you wouldn't rather choke me for a bit instead? If I like it, maybe I'll even keep you around.''

''Shut your damn mouth, bitch.'' Ryn growled and threw another punch, then another, and another before his arms became a storm of destruction solely focused on obliterating the witch in front of him. Even as she blocked the onslaught of attacks coming her way, she still spoke.

''Ah, I see. Strong, quiet type. Dark and brooding and out for revenge. I'm well acquainted with those. What I'm not acquainted with, however, is your scent. It's so curious and strange, yet intoxicating. What could it be?'' She tapped her chin with a finger of her free hand.

''Stop smelling me and fight me already!'' Ryn yelled as he flew into another series of attacks, all as easily stopped as the first barrage of fists. At this point she wasn't even looking at him, too busy lost in her own thoughts about what it was that was grabbing her attention about him. That didn't stop her from intercepting every strike he threw out as if her arm possessed a mind of its own.

''It's something unique. I feel like I've felt it before some time in the distant past, but for the life of me, I can't remember. Odd. It's so dark and oppressive...'' She mused absently.

[She can feel the power of a Dragon through your aura. The aura of a Dragon is alluring to most beings, and they can sense it and feel drawn to it even without knowing what it is. Perhaps you can use this to your advantage.] Zmeya said.

''Dammit!'' Instead of punching, Ryn grabbed the pestle in her hand and pulled it with all of his might. Distracted as Baba Yaga was, she couldn't resist it in time and almost toppled out of her mortar with eyes wide in surprise. Her slender fingers still gripped the grinding tool tightly, but her guard was open. With a feral grin and utter satisfaction overcoming him, his left hand came up and collided with the witch's pristine face with a loud dull thunk as metal met bone. Unfortunately, her head bore no weak spots. Her torso held one, and there were two on her back. That didn't stop him though, and he drove his fist home three more times, each punch more aggressive and rage-driven than the last. As the last blow came careening towards her, a barrier stopped his armoured fist short. With half of her face swollen and bloody, she glared at him, her yellow eyes flaring molten gold. A concussive wave of force blasted Ryn off of his feet and his back crashed into a nearby tree. Pain enveloped him as he felt something break inside of him, followed by a cough that tasted like blood.

''You know what?'' She floated towards him as he slumped to his hands and knees and spat blood onto the ground. ''I think I'll keep you as my pet after all. I've needed some excitement and those punches of yours really got the juices flowing.'' She chuckled and then moaned as her face reformed back to its previous perfect state. ''I don't think I'll even try to break you. No, no, you're much more exciting as you are now.''

''What are you on about... you fucking freak?'' He rasped painfully and met her eyes with disgust while she merely smiled at him benignly.

''I need to break in this new body of mine. You see, there was a pretty little thing from your village that I took quite a liking too. I'd been in the market for a new body and so I watched her and had my transference ritual ready to go while I set up my little horde for the past few months, and what do you know, it was you she screamed for the entire time.'' A wide smile stretched from ear to ear and showed far too many teeth. ''Of course, I wouldn't expect you to recognise anything of her while looking at me. After all, while I did take her body, it adapts its appearance to look how I did in my youth. Beautiful, wouldn't you say?'' She preened and groped herself once again.

''Nat...?'' Ryn pushed himself up to one knee and stared wide-eyed at the witch.

''Ryn! Ryn! Save me, Ryn, please! They're taking the children and I can't find Kolya anywhere!'' Baba Yaga perfectly replicated Natalya's voice as she mockingly looked afraid, then laughed. ''So I figured I'd take you as my pet and give the girl what she wanted. For all the time I watched her, she was watching you. Yet not once did you look her way, the poor girl. Not to worry though. This time you won't have a choice.''

Ryn's face never changed as he still stared at the witch, dumbfounded by everything he'd just heard. Natalya was gone. The sweetest girl he knew, his childhood friend. Her body was now a puppet, an empty sack of flesh defiled and filled with the foul existence of Baba Yaga. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve that at all. Natalya was too good and gentle a soul to be snuffed out and replaced by some ancient bog crone. She died not knowing the truth of how he felt, when if he'd just said something she could have moved on. Hatred and disgust for both himself and Baba Yaga threatened to rip his insides asunder in a storm of loathing. His singular desire beyond anything else was to rip the witch to pieces. Natalya was gone, and he wouldn't dare continue to let her body be desecrated any further.

Fear and pain were forgotten. What replaced them was an anger that he'd never felt or expected to feel in his lifetime. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears and liquid hate pumped through his veins like boiling oil.

[Sacred Gears are items fuelled by desire, Slayer. Give it direction and it will act. What do you desire most at this moment?]

'I wanna rip this bitch apart. There can't be anything left.' He replied mentally. 'She has to die! She has to die, she has to die, SHE HAS TO DIE!'

''I wasted no time in stripping her soul away and hollowing her out. Such a gentle thing had a very tenuous grasp on its vessel, it was quick and easy. Everything works as it should, and she was so wonderfully fit and well proportioned. You really missed out on a treat, boy.'' She looked him up and down, licking her lips. Her face flushed and her eyes became ravenous. ''I don't know what it is about you, but it's driving me crazy. There's something powerful and roiling within you that I just have to know what it is, and it's making my blood hot like nothing else. It's primal and powerful and I need it!'' She reached out a pale hand to cup his chin when she felt immense pressure around her wrist. It was so strong, she felt her bone's creaking and threatening to snap. Then in the same moment, she felt something rush past her head and a pain unlike anything she'd felt in many, many centuries. It was only through preternatural instinct that she even processed the blow coming, and it was her base animal brain that made her move her head. Warmth ran down the left side of her head and then down her shoulder. She could no longer feel her left ear.

The gauntlets themselves now extended up to his elbows, and across his shoulder were two great pauldrons. Surrounding Ryn's body was a smoky miasma of black energy edged with green like flickers of a flame. It twisted and morphed, splitting into three undulating pillars of smog, each one gaining a pair of different coloured eyes. They hissed and writhed while they watched Baba Yaga like snakes watching a mouse.

Ryn's mind was a whirlwind of murderous intent. Voices called out for vengeance, each one different but the same in the sheer hatred that filled them. Rationality left him then as any thoughts of restraint or mercy were purged from his mind. His Curse Vision narrowed and blocked out all else as their sole focus became Baba Yaga.

'Are they... no! They couldn't be!' Baba Yaga thought as she witnessed the dark miasma shape itself until all three of the smoky pillars looked like the heads of Dragons. Then it hit her. A wave of malevolence that made anything she'd encountered before pale in comparison. She thought it came from him at first, but Ryn felt distinct from whatever she was feeling. There was something else there, and it wanted chaos.

''If you're done, I'm going to kill you now.'' Ryn said coldly as he stood to his feet. Veins all over his head and face visibly bulged and pulsed, while the purple glare of his reptilian gaze took on an eerie glow. All three of the smoky Dragon heads opened their mouths and all at once as they hissed, setting her teeth on edge and her skin crawling. Baba Yaga still had the wherewithal to conjure up her magical defenses and green magic circles appeared in front of her and protected her from the merciless punch that she hadn't even seen him throw.

[You have uncovered an ability of Calamity Triple's that is near and dear to my heart. By directing your desire and channeling your rage, you've made the Sacred Gear respond to you. It heeded your call for murder and it answered with the Mantra of Hatred. Well done, Slayer.] Zmeya crooned in satisfaction, her smooth voice drowning out the cacophonous ocean of vengeful voices in his mind. Their words melded together into an incomprehensible storm of noise, but the meaning was as clear as day. Hate. Kill. Destroy. Vindicate. The hatred he felt was strange though, like it was tainted and twisted beyond what ordinary hatred should be. It felt... alien. He wondered then, with the last scraps of rationality that he had, if this was his hatred or Zmeya's.

As Zmeya spoke, Baba Yaga's magical barriers cracked one by one and began to break under the unrelenting barrage of Ryn's fists. To the ancient witch's utter disbelief, she was being pushed back by some village boy. But now the feeling she had before only intensified, and she finally understood what it was when she saw the three Dragon heads that had taken shape in Ryn's shadowy aura. She swung her pestle in front of her and smashed it into Ryn's chest and sent him flying back. He flipped himself mid-air and landed on his feet and slid to a stop, both fists raised as if he'd never been hit. He knew he was in pain, but whatever this Mantra of Hatred was doing to him made it so he barely felt it in that moment. There was no room in his mind for pain. The dark aura around him flared to even greater size like it was nourished by the attack.

'He's carrying a Dragon within his Sacred Gear! Of course, it all makes sense now! It's no wonder he made it so far and killed so many of my beasts. It bears three heads, and the level of negative energy I'm feeling... No! Could it really be that Dragon? Zmeya Gorynich, the Great Calamity Dragon of the Mountain? I see now why I ached to take him for myself as the child of two such as us could be unstoppable!' She swept the pestle in front of him and from behind her, magic circles appeared, each manifested burning skulls made of magic. They each screamed before launching at Ryn, cutting burning trails through the darkness of her domain. Ryn's hyper-focused state allowed him to evade most of them, and those that he didn't he punched. They detonated in plumes of green fire the put small craters in the ground and obscured him in a cloud of smoke.

Baba Yaga's yellow eyes swept across the clearing and narrowed when she saw the human leap from the smoke, ready to bear down on her again. The look on his face was almost neutral, but his purple, reptilian eyes were wide open as veins bulged in his forehead and temples. This pleased her greatly. To see such an expression of malice was a treat beyond words, and the sheer amount of hatred radiating form him was intoxicating.

''I love that face you're making! Come on, keep showing it! I want more!'' She cackled sent more burning skulls streaking towards him. They missed their target and shot off into the forest, where upon exploding, they doused the trees in baleful green fire, not so much burning the trees, but corroding them. An armoured fist slipped through her guard and struck her in the torso, and one of the Cursed Thorns broke off in her flesh. The blow itself hurt, that much she expected as she actually felt it rock her, followed up with a wave of nausea. However, she was more surprised at the Cursed Thorn. She felt no pain from that, but rather a feeling of cold. There was an alarming kind of wrongness at the thing buried in her gut that she found very disturbing. With a kinetic blast, she knocked Ryn back again as well as move away herself. She grasped at the coldly burning thorn of dark magic, only to find that her hand passed right through it.

'What is this? It feels... awful. I feel sick...' Baba Yaga thought and she winced. 'Perhaps that punch isn't the cause of my nausea, then. Just what has he done to me!?'


[How does it feel, Slayer?] Zmeya's voice cut through the cries and roars of anger. [Is it not wonderful? Hatred is a powerful source of motivation, and right now you're completely immersed in it.]

''What is this, Zmeya? What have you done to me?'' Ryn replied in confusion.

[It is not I who has done this. The Mantra of Hatred calls upon our well of negative emotion, and you have quite the deep reserves. Calamity Triple simply acts as a conductor for such feelings and channels them into a resource you can draw upon when needed.]

''It's smothering me... I can't think straight like this...''

[That's because your hatred has become your driving instinct. You wished for Baba Yaga to be utterly destroyed, and so the Sacred Gear granted you one of my most precious abilities. Violence and carnage will follow in your wake, just as you wanted.]

''But why? Why do you have something like this? Why would you need it?''

[Pointless questions, boy. Only when you begin to grasp my nature as a Dragon will you be able to comprehend the answers. 'Tis true that while humans are hateful, vile things at their core, the depths of a Dragon's hatred would surely drown you. Mine especially.]

''Ugh, not ominous at all...'' Ryn muttered.

[Hmph, better get used to it. It seems as though unlike my previous wielders, we'll be spending a lot more time together.] Ryn heard the smile in her voice. It made him uneasy.


''You seem to be off in your own little world, little man!'' The witch's hands crackled with arcs of electricity. ''Let's see if I can't wake you up!'' Thunder rumbled and electricity buzzed as lashes of crackling galvanic power whipped out from her hands. As if they had minds of their own, they homed in on Ryn, zapping and popping when the whip-cracked against the ground. She narrowed her eyes and focused while keeping herself distant from the advancing human. She didn't know exactly what he'd done to her, but the spot on her abdomen where the strange shard of dark power was embedded still felt really off. Cold spread out from it, and she felt as though the longer it was in her, the more enervated she was becoming. However, even as her hands began to show the most miniscule of tremors, Baba Yaga was determined to make this boy suffer. In truth, his silence was irritating her. Normally any would-be killers of hers were all bluster and bravado, always bragging about their previous conquests and their triumphs. However, here was one that didn't bother with any of that. As annoying as braggarts could be, the banter was half the fun. It was always such a rush to utterly crush their hopes and their self belief moments before snuffing their lives out.

''Say something you boring prick!'' The witch screamed out enraged. Her yellow eyes blazed brightly and her perfect teeth were bared as she raised her hands and joined them together. Yellow magic circles expanded out from her hands and down her forearms as she called down even more lightning. The ground sizzled and the air became thick with the smell of a rainstorm just moments before lightning, pure white and blinding, hammered down from the sky. Ryn, unthinking and unconcerned with injury in his hate-addled state, was clipped by a few super-heated bolts of magical lightning. Even as the ground rumbled with impacts like that of an artillery bombardment, his reptilian gaze remained locked onto her. His body was on auto-pilot, using only what left of his rational mind to even think about self preservation as he dodged and evaded at just the right moments to avoid serious injury or death.

''Cursed Thorn - Agonise.'' The hate-filled growl of Ryn intoned. Baba Yaga's eyes widened as an unearthly pain blossomed in her gut, spreading throughout her body. The place the Cursed Thorn was lodged in pulsed and throbbed with the spreading cold sensation that felt like a block of ice had taken the place of her guts. If she felt like she was weakening before, she was certainly flagging now, like her very strength was being bled from her.

''Dammit!'' Baba Yaga screamed. While she was a powerful wielder of destructive magic, she had by no means neglected her studies of restorative spells. Even as she threw fire and lightning at Ryn, she was whispering incantations at speeds that only one naturally gifted with sorcery could. Warmth and rejuvenating magic spread through her and combatted the cold, enervating effects of the Cursed Thorn, though she noticed that it was a slow process. Ordinarily, she'd have restored herself almost instantly, but there was something malignant and lingering about that boy's power that refused to abate.

She traded blows with him as he got up close, his fists clashing with the iron skull of her pestle as she deftly twirled it to meet his vicious attacks. When he'd launched his initial attack on her, she was taking great satisfaction in shrugging off whatever he threw at her. His punches were little more than soft taps against her iron-hard resistance, and she wasn't even trying. But now... now it was different. Each blow sent shockwaves up her arms that jolted her bones and caused them to ache.

'What's changed? I know that thing he stabbed into me has definitely had an effect on me, but that's not all. There's something else at play here. And the way he moves... it's like he's looking for something.' Baba Yaga thought while she fended off another strike, this time while Ryn strafed right and attacked her flank. An errant swipe went totally evaded as Ryn weaved out of the way and instead of striking at her, his fist met the black marble of the mortar she sat in and one of the Cursed Thorns was embedded in it.

'What's he doing!?' She thought in alarm as a right hand jab whipped out and hit the Thorn. With a loud crack, Baba Yaga lurched as her mortar split open, spilling the strange mist within all over the ground. No longer able to fly, she tumbled out onto the mud, caking her naked form with it. She looked at Ryn disbelievingly and was momentarily paralysed. She'd never been without her mortar before and now it was broken. She scrambled to her feet and stood, showing her lissom legs. The witch held out the pestle in front of her defensively, the iron skull burning with threat. There was nothing she could see of distraction on Ryn's face as it remained as it was. Reptilian eyes wide, veins bulging, lips drawn into a thin line. Then, something unexpected took hold of her. Fear.

Her grip on the pestle shook, and now that cold feeling she felt from the Cursed Thorn spread all over her body. She'd never been cornered. She'd never been on the back foot. So why had that changed now? Victory was always a certainty when some cretin came crawling into her domain, whether it was through power alone or through beguiling some poor fool with her games. But now, for the first time, she was confronted with the very real possibility of death.


[Look at her, Slayer. Can't you feel it? Fear bleeds from her and fills my senses like perfume. Her panting breaths, her thundering heartbeat, the terror in her eyes. You've done this.] Zmeya spoke not accusingly, but proudly. She was reveling in Baba Yaga's terror, and though Ryn didn't want to admit it, so was he. The witch deserved this.

''So what? I'm not interested in that. I want her dead and that's it!''

[Oh? So you're saying you don't want to drag this out? You know she'd never grant you a slow death if she could help it, so why show her that mercy?]

''Because I just want my village avenged, dammit! Whatever game you're playing with this shit is irrelevant.''

[Hmph.] Zmeya paused. [I suppose it is too early to expect you to understand... very well, then. Do as you wish, but it appears that while we are together going forward, I will need to educate you.]


While Ryn was having his back and forth with Zmeya, his body was moving on its own as Baba Yaga conjured everything she could at him. Fire spewed forth, roaring as it scorched whatever it touched. Ice exploded into being in great pillars from the ground and as deadly lances that hurtled towards, seeking to impale. Lightning struck from above and rent trees in two straight down the middle and blowing great chunks of the ground up into the air. With the elements came stranger forms of magic, as crows made of dark magic with their forms as black as night flocked and screeched, their bodies exploding into plumes of dangerous energy with whatever they hit.

With every spell cast, Ryn was quick enough to avoid the worst of it. Ice nicked and scraped his flesh while fire and lightning burned him through proximity alone. His clothes were in tatters and multiple small, shallow wounds crisscrossed his body. He was quick and strong, that much was true, but Baba Yaga held the advantage of range and versatility, and the longer the battle went on, Ryn came that much closer to losing their battle of attrition.

She summoned a wall of ice from the ground with a quick gesture when she spied Ryn lunge when he saw an opening. Just moments before he could enter her space, the wall intercepted his path and a great spiderweb crack appeared instantly as his left caestus collided with it with a thunderous crack. A second strike sent thick chunks of ice out in a shower and the witch saw Ryn's fist and most of his arm shoot through the hole he'd made. Then when he withdrew it, she took a step back when she saw the intense purple glow of one of his unblinking reptilian eyes, glaring at her. He burst through the ice wall and rushed at her, not stopping for anything as he closed the distance. Then he was upon her.

''GLRKH-!'' Baba Yaga choked out as his right hand wrapped around her throat and her feet left the ground. The spiked studs on his left caestus reignited, all Cursed Thorns restored. Growling, Ryn began to throw fist after fist into the witch's form, the strange metal of the caestus smashing into flesh and bone again, and again, and again. With a final punch to the side of her head, Baba Yaga was sent flying and her back collided with a tree, shearing bark from the trunk with a dull thud. She fell to the ground. At some point during that beating, she'd dropped her pestle. She looked up and with wide, fearful eyes, she saw the human boy approaching, his fists clenching and unclenching with the sound of scraping metal. He grabbed her by the throat again and with a snarl, he threw her into the air above him. When her back was to the ground, he punched up and the Cursed Thorns struck home in the weak points on her back. The Thorns were hit again with a follow up punch and caused their devastating effect.

''Cursed Thorns - Destroy!'' Ryn roared and black and green energy erupted through Baba Yaga's back and through her chest and midriff, blasting whatever was in their way apart. Too rapidly for her to begin to process, her body began to dissolve as the cursed magic of Calamity Triple ate away at her, consuming her in her entirety.

''AN ETERNAL CURSE UPON YOUR NAME! DOBRYNYA NIKITICH! I CURSE YOU...!'' Her final words echoed out as her body was completely atomised. The monsters that had stayed out of the fight stared uncertainly at Ryn, then slowly retreated off in different directions now that there was nobody to direct them. All was quiet for several long moments. Gradually, Ryn began to feel the crushing weight of hatred lift from his mind and his Cursed Sight relented and regular sight returned. His eyes switched from reptilian and purple back to human and green. Rational thought had felt like an impossible dream while he was locked inside his own mind with Zmeya and the countless screaming voices. His Sacred Gear vanished and he fell to his knees, then doubled over and vomited. Blood and black bile pooled beneath him and his breath was shallow and laboured. He sat back on his haunches and let his head roll back as his back came to rest against a tree that had avoided catching fire. Then he felt a presence off in the near distance and saw Ophis step out from behind a tree. He struggled to raise a hand in greeting as he didn't feel he had the energy to speak.

''Congratulations on your triumph, but I am afraid you do not have time to rest.'' Ophis said as she came to a halt just a meter away from his limp and exhausted form. He turned his head to her slightly. ''This space, without Baba Yaga to sustain it, will soon collapse. Everything in it will be erased.'' She then pointed up to where the hut stood still on top of the giant chicken legs. ''The children of your village yet live as she hadn't the time to prepare them for consumption.'' She didn't have to say any more to get him moving, as with gritted teeth he pushed himself to his feet using the tree to support his ascent.

Ryn saw that while Baba Yaga had been killed, her mortar, and more importantly her pestle, were still largely intact. He shuffled over with stiff steps and picked up the pestle, its green flames now extinguished. He had no idea what to do with it or even if what he was thinking would work, but he had no alternative way of getting inside the hut while it was still so high up. He stood in front of the hut with the pestle in his hand.

''Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest and your front to me.'' He recited the words again, thinking perhaps they would make the giant chicken legs lower the hut to the ground, and to his relief and with a flicker of flame from the iron skull atop the pestle, they did. Taking the pestle with him just in case he needed it again, he entered the hut, finding that what was inside wasn't a hut at all. The insides of the place were huge, like space was warped in an impossible way. The décor was like that of both an opulent home and a kind of laboratory, with all kinds of strange items and instruments lining various tables and hanging from hooks mounted to the walls. He searched the hut until he found what was essentially a jail with the village children locked inside, all unconscious.

''You see? They are yet unharmed.'' Ophis said from beside Ryn having appeared completely unnoticed by him. She looked up at him and saw tears streaming down his face and his shoulders shuddering with an odd expression on his face. ''Is something wrong? I thought that you would be happy?'' Ryn shook his head slightly.

''No, no, nothing's wrong, Ophis. I am happy. Really happy. I'm so glad that there's something left.'' He choked out, not bothering to hide his tears from her. Seeing that at least the children were alive and presumably well made him feel something he'd never felt before. He didn't know if it was just relief, joy, or something else, but it overwhelmed him in that moment. Ryn didn't care that he was crying. ''I couldn't save Nat. And I never found Kolya. But at least these kids are okay.'' He took the crosses from under his top and held them to his forehead as he thanked whoever might be listening for what he couldn't see as anything short of a miracle. After he had composed himself, he got the iron doors open and carried the children out two by two, one under each arm, all the while ignoring the way his hurt and exhausted muscles screamed at him to stop.

''I shall assist you.'' Ophis said once they were outside. ''I will teleport us back to the village.''

''Well, I'm grateful for that, but the kids can't live there now. Their families and homes are gone, and they won't survive on their own.'' He hesitated for a moment. ''Listen, Ophis... I'm not really in a position to ask much of you, but you said you were recruiting people? Would it be possible if you-''

''No.'' That word sounded final. ''However, I know someone who may be willing to help. He has connections to various places and powerful people, and so may have a way to help you.'' Ryn breathed what he thought must have been the thousandth sigh that day.

''Thank you, Ophis. That's all I ask.'' He said smiling at her. She was quiet for almost a minute before a silvery magic circle appeared, and out of it emerged a young man with silver hair and blue eyes, wearing a black leather jacket, red jeans, and black leather chaps. He eyed Ryn with an inscrutable gaze for a few seconds before looking at the children resting with their backs against various trees that were close together. An odd look briefly passed over his face when he saw them.

''I see. So this is what you meant.'' The young man said. ''Introductions can wait for now. These children need help, as Ophis tells me.''

''Yes. Our village was wiped out, so now the only survivors are myself and these kids.'' Ryn said. The silver-haired boy gave a single nod.

''I'll have them taken somewhere safe, you needn't worry about them. They'll be warm, fed, and comfortable. I know a few people who have resources to spare, and if they have a problem with it, then they'll be getting a visit from me.'' The look in the young man's blue eyes told Ryn that he meant every word.

''I'm grateful. Truly.'' Ryn said humbly. Magic circles appeared under the unconscious children and they vanished in flashes of light.

''An associate of mine will be ready to receive them. Was there anything else you needed to clear up? Ophis tells me that you agreed to join us.''

''There is. I need to lay my village to rest. After that, I'll do whatever you want.'' He said, his voice hollow. With that, Ryn limped off back through the forest utterly spent physically, mentally, and emotionally. He was totally numb as he got back through the tree line and out into the snowy plain, so caught up within his own mind that he didn't even notice the return of the sounds of nature; birds chirping, the wind blowing, and snow falling. It had been morning when he entered, and now it was getting dark. He knew that the silver-haired boy had followed him, but he didn't care. When they were greeted with the sight of the massacre, the young man balked but hid it well. Ryn wordlessly began gathering up the dead and took them to the village graveyard where he laid them down on the snow. The sights he saw no longer made him gag or vomit as he simply went about his work with a far away look in his glassy eyes. When he had gathered them and what parts he could identify, he went back to his and Kolya's house and took a shovel from the shed and started digging plots behind the graveyard.

It was well into the night by the time he was finished. They were buried and crude markers had been erected with their family names scratched into them. He quietly said prayers for each of them and said his final goodbyes. What he found odd when he'd bothered to notice it was that the silver-haired boy had silently and solemnly stayed with him the entire time, never offering to help but never getting in his way either. Ryn was grateful for both of those things. This was his duty. No one else's. He stared out at the graves for some time after he was finished. It was then the other boy spoke.

''It's admirable that you did this. You've shown a strength of character I've rarely seen in others.''

''Thanks.'' Ryn said numbly. ''What's your name?''

''My name is Vali. And yours?''

''Call me Ryn.''

''Good to meet you. Whenever you're ready to leave, I'll take you to our base of operations.'' Vali said. He didn't know it, but Ryn appreciated not having pity and condolences thrown his way. Vali was straight to business and Ryn greatly approved of it.

''Let's go then. There's nothing left for me here.'' Vali snapped his fingers, and the village was suddenly devoid of all life. Ryn didn't know what the future held for him beyond that point, but he knew that burying his village would always be the hardest thing he'd ever do.


Another big chapter done. I'm going to look at writing smaller chapters after these two introductory ones to make it more manageable for me, because this was a slog towards the end. So if the ending seems rushed, then it most likely was because I pulled an all-nighter to get it done. Poor Ryn's not quite gonna be the same after all of this. With Baba Yaga dead and nothing left for him in his village, it's off to starting the main meat of the story and meeting the Hero Faction. I think him getting encouraging words and head pats from Ophis may be OOC, but I added it because I thought it was cute. Also, good guy Vali taking care of those kids.

So I should explain what was going on with Calamity Triple. I am basing Calamity Triple's powers on curses and dark abilities, in-keeping with Zmeya's nature as an Evil Dragon. Kinda took some inspiration from Jujutsu Kaisen, not gonna lie. The ability names are going to be appropriately edgy. I like the idea of characters who are generally good people but their powers are rooted in evil. The good guy bad powers trope.

Cursed Sight: Allows Ryn to see the world how Zmeya saw when she was alive. He can see the physical and spiritual weaknesses in objects and living beings. Think Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and that's basically it, just not as broken. This makes Ryn think strategically in battle, combining Cursed Sight with his boxing skills for maximum effect. Striking weak points, either physical or spiritual can have various negative effects on the target.

Cursed Thorn: A partner ability to Cursed Sight and a manifestation of Zmeya's claws. Ignites the spiked studs on Calamity Triple, turning them into thorns of dark magic for a total of ten, five on each fist. They are best used on the weak points of a target, but can be used anywhere else too. When inside the target, Ryn will need to strike the Thorn for it to activate. This causes massive damage, and the damage varies on how many Thorns are in the target, how strong the target is, and if they are resistant to dark magic and curses. To my logic, Angels will take more damage from curses than Devils and humans, with Devils taking the least. However, Ryn will be more vulnerable to light/holy based attacks. If Ryn is more powerful than his opponent, chances are Cursed Thorns will deal an instant kill. It can have different effects when in a target such as; Agonise and Destroy. Agonise weakens the target by causing pain and slowing healing and can be activated remotely. Destroy is its primary function, requiring the Thorn to be physically hit to activate.

Mantra of Hatred: A volatile ability that changes Ryn's mental state to become one solely driven by hatred. It feeds from both Ryn's and Zmeya's pool of negative emotion, and those of Calamity Triple's previous wielders. This will make him more violent and instinct driven at the expense of critical thinking and tactics. Pain tolerance increases as well as his ability to ignore injuries.

Okay, so hopefully that clears up what the first and most basic abilities Ryn has. Hopefully they're interesting, and they will evolve and change over time.

While Zmeya is an Evil Dragon, I also wanted to lay the ground work that something isn't quite right with her, hence why the three heads are always at odds and will outright refuse to help each other and Ryn at times.

I should also mention that I'm interested in a beta-reader, so if anyone would be interested in working with me, I would be grateful and you should PM me. I always enjoy discussing and bouncing ideas around, but with nobody to do that with I tend to get stuck, so it would really help me improve and get more interesting chapters out. With that said, leave a review if you enjoyed and want to tell me what you think.