The monk ran out of the monstrous cave, panting. Even when the evil place was out of sight, he didn't stop running. When he finally stopped, he realized that he was crying.
Don't think about it, he ordered himself. Too late. In his mind's eye, he saw again, the blood, the blade protruding through her, the once lithe body crumpling up…
He hadn't meant to kill her. He had just been sneaking into Chase's palace, hoping to find some weakness... When he saw Eva about to accept evil, he lost control and threw his spear into her. Killed her.
A sob racked his body. Eva was dead. Dead and gone forever.
Chase Young stared at the liveless body, unable to take the new in. There will be hell to pay for this, he swore. Not just Guan would die, but many, many others.
Days later
"Attack!" The cry was repeated throughout the usual sleepy village. The men took up their arms and farmer's tools, ready to defend their homes while their wives and children fled.
They never stood a chance.
In a minute, the entire village was ablaze. Shrieks of pain filled the night air, as did the rusty metallic smell of blood. Tigers appeared out of nowhere, rounding up the would-be runaways together before ripping their flesh to pieces, making no distinction between gender or age.
No one was to be spared.
A beast-like figure appeared, seemingly half-man and half lizard. The men attacked it wildly, furious at the desecration done to their homes. Their battle cries quickly turned to screams as the monster dodged their blows with inhuman fluidity, as if it had been trained in martial arts.
It bared its teeth into a feral grin and swiped at the nearest man with a clawed hand, crushing his skull. Blood and brain matter splattered on its body and face. It licked its teeth with a forked tongue, relishing the taste of warm blood.
The terrified men huddled together as tigers surrounded them, forcing them together as a quivering heap. There was to be no escape.
The lizard monster growled menacingly and suddenly pounced on them. The razor-sharp teeth snapped at anything – limb hand, skull, anything- that got into its way, punctuating flesh like a knife through hot butter. It stuck with inhuman strength and uncanny efficiency. In a minute, there was only one man left.
The man knelt, his eyes searching the monster's gold ones desperately, for a trace of humanity.
"Please," he begged, tears flowing fast down his blood-flecked cheeks. "I have a wife – "
The beast gave a warning growl and lunged for the neck, lacerating the flesh to the bone with a sickening snap. The corpse was thrown onto the ground like a rag-doll.
Chase morphed back into his human form, drenched in blood. He pulled a scrap of flesh from his hair and tossed it onto the ground, a sneer twisting his face.
This was the fourth village in two days. With every kill, he felt Eva's presence, like he had opened up Death's door and her spirit was standing right beside him.
For that feeling, he would continue to kill until the day he died.