2º - The Massacre

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It all began on a rainy night. All was silent, eerily so. No screams, no fighting… Nothing. However, like most tragedies, only the land bears witness to life's final hours. Sad really, to leave this world with no one there who cares to see your passing. The lord and his mate were still in their prime of life. It was this night that their precious pup was born, squalling and crying as the baby took its first real breath. And, maybe because of that, they were careless due to excitement and exhaustion.

The only thing left of the happy family's existence was their lifeless bodies. They were left together in their chambers. Quite ironic really. It was said that the lord was so enamored by his female that he would prefer to spend his entire day behind closed doors with his mate than making war plans to expand his territory.

"Well, now he has all eternity to do just that," the man thought to himself with a smile upon his face. Maybe because of his past or maybe because that was his nature. As he stood staring at a home that once housed a happy family, his enjoyment at taking away their bliss, ending their content lives, filled him with a sense of accomplishment and meaning. The sense of power it gave him to cause another pain and agony was a heady thing, one he craved above all else.

His thoughts returned to the gory scene he had just left. "A beautiful sight. A lovely woman bathed in crimson and her child baptized in his father's blood." He had slit the lord's throat before his mate's eyes, too weak to rise from her bed and offer aid. Her screams of pain and denial echoed in his ears. His cock was still swollen, aching from denied desire. He had wanted to toss the bitch to the floor and fuck her long and hard while her mate lay dead next to them and her new born pup watching close by. But he had refrained. He had not the time to play with her as he would have liked. He was a despicable man, deprived, and he knew it. Instead of recoiling from the darkness within him, he basked in its existence. Why should he deny and fear his own nature? No, he would live to the fullest, bathed in the blood of the innocent.

"Men, wrap this up; we are leaving. My cock needs attention," he ordered his men, making light of the massacre with crudeness.

Laughter from him and his men filled the night. His men were like him in many ways, brutal, fierce, without remorse. They had been in countless battles with him, standing by his side not because they were loyal but because he helped them fill their dark desires, their lust for death and destruction. None should take his men lightly as humanity had long since been breed out of them. Gazing at a few closest to him, he eyed the many scars several of them possessed, blemishes he knew were not all caused by battle. Self mutilation was one among many of the depravities a few of his men were capable of, psychotic bunch that they were.

"Sir? We have a problem." The shortest of all his men approached his leader. He stood as tall as his short stature would allow, gazing at his fearless leader with respect.

He felt his hands shake. There was no room for mistakes. Everything had to be perfect. He did not fear his leader, however, he was slightly apprehensive, not wishing to insight his wrath upon himself. He could be a mean son of a bitch even by their standards.

"What… is… the… problem?" The words left his leader's mouth with a slow and deadly tone, promising pain and death should his will not be brought out efficiently.

"Well… You see, sir… The child is… hum… well… the child was…" the shorter man grumbled, unwilling to be the bearer of bad news.

"THE CHILD WHAT, MAN?! SPEAK!" roared his leader.

"The child is gone, sir…"

Everything seemed to stop at that moment. The only sound was the rain on his head and the beat of his heart trying to leave his chest, as if it realized that it wouldn´t be beating for long. Alright, perhaps he was a little fearful of his leader.

In whispered words, unsure of who may be listening, the leader asked, "What happened?"

"Well, you see, sir, me and the boys were going to kill the baby, per your orders, but... you see..."

"You have only a few seconds to live if you don´t tell me what happened," his leader warned in deadly low tones.

The short man fell to his knees before his leader, his shoulders tensing in apprehension and maybe a little fear. "Sir, when we entered the room, there was a woman there, holding the baby. We didn´t sense any demonic energy, so we thought that she was a concubine."

The leader knew that was impossible. The mate between wolves was very pure and monogamous. Once the male chooses his "bitch," there was no other female for him. True to form, their mating had been a loyal one.

"However, it seems she is a miko. She used her powers to attack us, creating enough time to run outside. We were able to isolate her on the edge of the precipice. Having nowhere to run, she threw the baby into the river below. We lost the baby then."

Well, this wasn´t all bad. A baby couldn´t live long by itself, even if the baby was a demon, and it was launched into the river? "Well… It can´t be alive… Of that, I´m sure," the leader thought, reassured.

"And the women?" he demanded from the kneeling man.

"Right here, sir…"

The short man stood and motioned a couple men to bring forth a beautiful flower, for a human of course. Her skin shone as white as snow, her lips red, reminding him of strawberries, and long black hair falling just below her waist. She would do, at least for now…

"What a beautiful flower we have here… Tell me… Do you have a name?" he asked her with an interested glint in his eyes, his body still sexually charged from earlier.

The woman stood before these brutes, fearful for her life. She remembered how radiant her lady had been this night after the birth of her child. Her pup had been so beautiful. And the lord… Oh, the lord… How something so horrible could happen! They had been so happy, and in the blink of an eye, everything changed. She had left the lord and lady to go to bed when she had heard a loud scream. Something was wrong. So very wrong. Wasting no more time, she raced to the royal family's wing. The hallways were filled with blood and death from other servants. She covered herself with a barrier making her unseen, hiding her presence.

Her lord and lady's room was an absolute mess. They both were lying dead, their eyes still open. Blood covered the floor and walls. It was an image that she never thought she would see. She had to find the pup and fast. She took a closer look around. Her lady was on top of the bed. Her throat completely open. As for her lord, there was a trail of blood near his body. Almost like he had use his last strength to drag himself across the floor. And his body was in a very strange position. It was almost like he was protecting something. Which he was… Beneath his body was the new born pup. "He protected the pup, even though he knew he was going to die!" She could here steps near the door. They were getting close and she still had to retrieve the baby. "Please forgive me!" Discarding all care, she moved her lord´s body to the side, but was unable to pick the baby up from the ground before she was caught.

"Too late, sweet thing! GIVE US THE BABY!" an angry male voice yelled.

"I have to do something." In half a second, she sends a purifying ball of light towards the horrible creatures before picking up the baby from the ground and threw herself through the window. "Run… I have to run! Kami´s, give me strength." Up ahead there was a precipice, her destination.

Running on her heels were the monsters who murdered her lord. She finally got to the precipice, but she didn´t have much time left. Using her last remaining power, she created a barrier to protect the baby from the water as she threw the child in. With luck, someone would find it and care for it.

"Si liberum parvulus," ("Be free child") was her last farewell. She watched the baby fall into the water before she was in the hands of terrifying men. But not even then did she showed her fear.

"I don´t like to repeat myself, women. What is your name?" the leader demanded, irritated that he should have to ask more than once.

"Tell me yours and I shall tell you mine," she responded with false bravado.

"Hahahahahah… You've got spirit that's for sure. Very well. You may call me Shishinki," he laughed, smirking at her with amusement, his annoyance all but dissipated by her show of spunk.

"Izayoi… is the name of the person who WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!"

Without warning, Izayoi takes her dagger and attacks Shishinki, going for his stomach before any of his men could stop her. However, the mighty demon didn't flinch; he starts laughing manically. He grabs Izayoi by her wrists, restraining her easily before she could injure him again.

"Yes! Fight me more! Cry; scream until your lungs are out of air. That´s it. Fear me! HATE ME! I KILLED YOUR LORD AND HIS BITCH! You have every right to hate me. Go on!" he cried loudly, encouraging her attacks. He liked her spirit because it provided him the opportunity to break her. The only thing better than to kill someone was to break their spirit.

Izayoi couldn't respond to his fevered words as despair filled her heart. Her world was crashing down and there was nothing she could do to change the situation. "At the very least, I was able to save the baby… The heir of this land…"

"I´m going to my tent now." He approached Izayoi to whisper in her ear, "We are going to have so much fun, you and I."

She tried to fight him, she really did, but there was no way to defeat such a man. The last sounds heard that dreadful night where the screams of pain from Izayoi. The animals ran away, the birds stopped their singing… Even the rain ceased as if nothing could bear to witness Izayoi´s suffering.

Once the morning graced the lands with its presence, Shishinki knew what he had to do. He and his men were still far too close to the deceased lord's manor. They had to run and fast. As for Izayoi, she was the last witness alive of the massacre that took place last night. He also no longer had any other purpose for her. She was now used and broken. She had even stopped her screaming an hour ago, so he took his knife and stabbed her, ending her life. Izayoi didn´t even move to stop him.

The gods watched on and received her with open arms. She had saved the only person who could save the world, giving her life in return. They understood it had not been an easy choice for her. And so, she would have her reward one day. However, not just yet…

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*This chapter had a beta reader BelovedStranger! Thank you so much! :3