The Forest For The Trees
Chapter. I Wonderland
July 17, 2005
"I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?"-Lewis Carroll
General POV:
There is just something about being in nature that makes you realize one crucial and often forgotten, but painfully simple, concept. Humans are not at the top of the food chain. We are in all actuality and sincerity, at the bottom. We are not the fastest, the strongest, the healthiest, or anything that is important in the Darwinian sense of self-preservation. The only things humanity had were a large; in proportion to our body, brain, the ability to use tools to protect ourselves from predators, and a group mentality of working together to achieve goals that one person could never do individually. But this comes at a price of course, As mentioned earlier, we are weak in body and our brain uses massive amounts of calories, if there are no objects to use as tools in our surroundings then we are useless, and if you are by yourself in the wilderness; you are basically dead. This makes humans ill-suited to surviving in most situations when it is but one individual. A child in this situation? Most would agree, it is even more unlikely for them to survive. But what about a child of a god or goddess? That is an interesting theory...
Dorian loved going camping with his dad. There was just something about nature he and his dad enjoyed. From the scenery to diverse trees and plants with each one having thousands of different uses, to even the unique and indescribable smells of the forest. Dorian could never tire of it. His dad would agree too. Nathan Blackwood was a biologist by trade but a true botanist by heart, and his son was already as knowledgeable as him when it came to botany, his son was a genius in the making. Earlier this year, Nathan was excited to learn from his son's school that Dorian would be accelerated two grades ahead next year because of his excellent academic performance regardless of his ADHD and dyslexia. So, to show how proud Nathan was of his son's achievement and knowing how much his son loves the outdoors like him, he and Dorian would be spending a week camping out in the middle of Yosemite National Park. Nathan might not have been the best father, with him being an only dad and working long hours every day to provide for Dorian, but he tried and Dorian at only eight years old understood that, so this was the least he could do for his son. Nathan brought two weeks' worth of food, their camping essentials, many layers of waterproof clothing, flint and steel, and kindling. You never know how bad things can get when you're far away from any civilization...
"Dad, how about right here, it is uphill and there is no incline. It would be the perfect spot to stop for the night." Dorian and his dad had been hiking for the past three hours heading deeper into the forest, they were so far in and off the beaten trail that they couldn't even spot any signs of people ever passing through this part of the park. "Well Professor Blackwood, if you think this is the best spot, who am I to argue with you," Nathan responded and as Dorian turned around to look at him, he could see the humorous grin that was spread across his face. Dorian rolled his green eyes at him for the dumb nickname his dad had given him years ago. If one were to compare father and son, one would instantly see the similarities between them; from the same sharp facial features and high cheekbones to the small lean both their noses had, they were practically identical. The only difference would be that Nathan had dark brown, almost black, hair and hazel brown eyes; Dorian had a light chestnut coloring to his hair and bright green eyes.
"Daaaaaddd," Dorian petulantly whined, "stop calling me that, it got old and unfunny after the hundredth time."
Nathan just chuckled at the response before finally looking at the clearing his son had suggested to stop and camp at. "Hmmm, not a bad spot to be our campsite for the night Dorian," Nathan commented.
Dorian being used to this just theatrically sighed and groaned out a "Buutttt?" His dad chuckled once again and replied, "But, this is wolf territory bud, look at how treaded on the grass is under us, and look at the prints surrounding the clearing. I'd say this is one of the spots or dens they use to rest and clean themselves, look at the number of bones in the clearing Dory, it would definitely be a bad idea to stay here for the night."
Dorian stopped what was on the tip of his tongue and looked more closely at the clearing in front of them. Bones were littered across the site and old paw prints could be seen also. Dorian walked towards one of them and leaned down to have a closer view of the print. "Dad... I didn't know wolves could be this large, look how gigantic this paw is." Nathan walked closer and stood right next to his son to see what he was examining. Nathan frowned and had an uncharacteristically severe expression on his face. "This is abnormal," Nathan replied, kneeling next to Dorian to study the print more thoroughly, "These are much larger than any gray wolves I've seen, it is almost double the size of their paws and the claw treads might be triple the length too." Nathan was pensive for a moment before saying anything to his son.
"Dorian, let's leave this section of the forest and go out on the main trail to find a used campground alright? I know I said we could go into the unventured parts of the park but after seeing this, I think it's best to be safe." Dorian after looking at his dad's face and seeing how intense and serious his expression was, just nodded his head in agreement and stood up to make his way over to pick up his backpack; but before he could do that, his dad grabbed him by his shoulder and began to hand him a red and silver colored cylinder-shaped object. "Son, this is bear mace, it might not be intended for wolves, but it is more than enough for one or two of them to run away if you use it on them, they can be scaredy cats like that," his dad joked, trying to lighten up the mood. Nathan looked Dorian in the eyes and said, "Look Dory, I didn't realize we trekked this deep into the park so listen when I say this, if anything tries to attack us, I'll fend them off with my mace and you climb one of these trees okay? Do you understand?" Dorian was about to refuse but saw the same intense look from earlier and went mute. All he could do was just nod his head. Nathan smiled, "Atta boy, c'mon, let's go find a spot before they're all taken up."
As they were leaving the clearing, hurrying to get on the main trail to find a campsite in the now darkening, twilight hours of the forest. They didn't notice two intelligent blood-red eyes staring at them through the thick thicket of brush. Watching their every move...
Two hours later after stumbling back onto the main trail, Dorian and his father, both severely tired from five-plus hours of hiking, were walking along the route back to the campgrounds to try to find a site that wasn't occupied yet. To keep his mind off of what they discovered earlier, Nathan was telling Dorian about the time he got stuck on the side of a cliff during one of his biology expeditions. "-and then Rick and Pam had to haggle with one of the locals to buy a car hood off of him so that I could climb on it and they could pull me up. And that's why we don't go into the mountains Dorian." Dorian just smirked and rolled his eyes, used to hearing his dad exaggerate every story he told, his dad has always been like this; smart and methodical at one moment then goofy and outrageous the next. 'But I wouldn't trade it for the world.' Dorian thought to himself while grinning, he took a glance over at his dad and saw him still monologuing to himself about his supposedly 'great' adventures he had before he had Dorian. That once again brought up the question about his mother. Dorian always wondered who and where his mom was, of course he had, almost everyone else had a mom at school besides him. He remembers asking his dad about it a couple of times before but every time he did, it brought a painful expression to his dad's face and he grew quiet for minutes at a time, seeing this, Dorian refused to ever bring it up again after seeing how much hurt it put his dad through.
Dorian stayed silent most of the time hiking back to the campgrounds, he had to, God knows his dad talked enough for the both of them twice over. Luckily, they found an unused campsite halfway back from where they originally hiked in from. It was a secluded clearing surrounded by the treeline with a medium-sized fire pit right in the middle, a little more spacious than most campsites, Dorian thought, given how vast the clearing was but more than perfect enough for the two of them. They hurried to set up camp before it got too dark. While Dorian set up the tent, Nathan started making the fire and cooking up some dinner afterward.
Thirty minutes later, the two were sitting on some tree stumps next to the fire, eating their meals. As they were eating, the important question from earlier today came up, "So Dad, what do you think those tracks were earlier? Were they actually wolf prints or something else? Maybe a bear and a wolf had a kid, so it could be a wolf-bear or do you call it a bear-wolf?" Dorian childishly pondered.
Nathan just chuckled with an amused expression on his face before turning to look at Dorian with a raised eyebrow. "A wolf-bear Dory, really? I know you're eight years old but I know you are smarter than to think that." Nathan replied before his smile slowly slid off and he gained a pensive expression before sighing. "In all honesty son, I don't know. I've been across the whole country and never have I seen canine prints that large before. Hell, I doubt even if I went to Alaska or abroad they'd be even half that size." Nathan admitted before adding, "What I do know is that, we should be more cautious from now on." Nathan looked over at his son and said, "In all seriousness Dorian, I think we should call the trips quits and leave first thing in the morning bud."
Dorian's eyes widened before vigorously shaking his head left and right before pleading. "Dad, we can't! We've been planning this trip for months. When would the next time ever be? You work all the time and I never see you. We can't just cancel the trip cuz we saw some stupid mutts' prints. C'mon dad, let's keep the trip going please...for me?" Nathan continued to stare at his son, whilst Dorian stared back at him earnestly.
Nathan, feeling guilty about how right his son was about them never spending time together, just sighed before smiling and nodding at him. Dorian stood and whooped in joy before running headfirst into his dad, Nathan, not being prepared, was pushed off the tree stump from his son's momentum and both of them fell to the ground. Laughter could be heard ringing out from the clearing and through the surrounding woods as father and son struggled to get back up while being entangled with each other.
"Son, slow down, I am not as young as I used to be." Nathan's voice could be heard as he jogged to catch up to his son. They had gotten up at first light and were now traveling further into the park, but instead of taking the main route, they were trekking through the woods to come out onto a completely different trail.
It would have been a nice, relaxing hike for Nathan if his son hadn't just decided to run the rest of the way to get to the trail before him. It was strange, Nathan was a solid 6'1 and should have been easily able to keep up with his 8-year-old pipsqueak of a son, but for some reason, Dorian could full-on sprint through the woods, without a worry of falling or tripping over roots and other shrubbery. It was almost like the roots moved out of his way or he unconsciously knew where each individual root that punctured out of the ground was. 'Gotta be from his mother, no doubt', Nathan wistfully thought. "Last one there is a cow patty!" Nathan could hear what his son had said from ahead of him, he laughed before kicking up into high gear and chased after his son. A yelp could be heard from Dorian as his dad blitzed past him to get to the trail before him and laughter could heard from the father with equal amounts of yelling from the son as they raced.
"And what tree is that?" Dorian didn't even have to look over before replying, "Once again, it's another Douglas Fir, c'mon dad, I'm better at knowing this stuff than even you are, and you're the biologist here." Nathan raised an eyebrow," I'm a cellular biologist son, I don't study trees as a whole." Nathan chuckled," but yes, you're better at this than me." Dorian stopped and looked at him with an unimpressed face and said, "Why are you being so weird, you still haven't said where we are going either." Nathan smiled mysteriously and didn't say anything and Dorian, with an annoyed huff, continued to follow him.
After thirty more minutes of walking, they finally reached the end of the treeline. What waited before them was magical in Dorian's eyes. A gigantic waterfall, situated between two humongous slabs of rock was roaring down the side of a mountain. It easily had to be 2,000 feet or higher and at the bottom was a large pool of crystal clear water being fed by the waterfall and surrounding it were multitudes of different types of plants, from Mariposa lilies to Bluejoint reed grass. Strangely enough, there was no one here besides them two, even though this should have been teeming with people as it was midday in the middle of summer. "Well son, here we are, welcome to Sentinel Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the U.S." Dorian just kept looking on at the amazing sight before him, who knew something you've seen in pictures could look so radically different in person."Why did you wait so long to tell me where we were heading to dad?" Dorian asked still gazing at the majestic scenery. Nathan looked over to smile at him before also looking back to soak in the beautiful image in front of him. " I wanted to surprise you kiddo, I know you love nature as much as I do, and...it's also where me and your mother first met."
Dorian snapped his head over to look at his dad, now forgetting about the incredible sight that was in front of him. What he saw when he looked over at his father was a happy but wistful expression that marred his features, sadness equal to the same amount of joy. This was one of the first times he had heard anything about her from his dad and to find out this was where they first met brought a sense of otherworldliness to this already beautiful sight before him. "I see..." Dorian quietly said before wrapping his arms around his dad's waist. Nathan reciprocated the gesture by slinging his arm over his son's shoulder as they both watched the enchanting display for minutes on end with neither one talking. Basking at the view and enjoying each other's company in the comfortable silence.
The campsite the father and son used was a far cry to the one they used the night before. Whereas the first one had a wide and spacious clearing with a fire pit in the middle, the one they were using this night was about half the size in terms of clearing space and there was just a small hole dug in the middle to be used as a place to start a fire. The reason for this is, once again, the Blackwood duo got off the beaten path to further explore the areas surrounding the waterfall. As they were setting up camp, Dorian asked, "Hey dad, you think we could sit under the stars tonight?" Nathan looked up from making the fire and shrugged, "Why not, I checked the forecast for this week before we left and there shouldn't be any rain for the next couple of days."
Night swiftly bloomed and they hurried to eat their dinner of beef jerky and dehydrated apples and pears to set up their sleeping bags in the light of the fire that Nathan started. As they laid there under the night sky; the wonderous stars and blossoming constellations had come out in full swing for their viewing pleasure. It was a far cry from the loud and bustling nighttime of a city like San Francisco, their place of residence. You couldn't even say a portion of what they were seeing now in that city, due to all the light pollution and smog. "Dad, if you're a biologist, why did you choose to live in a city instead of out here or in a town?" Dorian blurted out, the silence finally getting to him. Nathan pondered for a minute before finally replying, "Your mother loved nature, if I ever had free time, we would go out to a national park or even just some random forest. We would get lost for hours and just walk around to look at the many different plants and species of trees and whatnot, it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. She was so attuned with nature that I thought she was Mother Nature herself reborn, she also had one hell of a green thumb." Nathan chuckled quietly to himself, clearly there was some inside joke to some of these statements that Dorian, himself, hadn't grasped. "Living out here would have reminded me of her too much and I just couldn't do that." Nathan glanced over at him from his sleeping bag and quirked a smile at Dorian, "Y'know, you remind me of her so much sometimes, like you just lose yourself when looking at all the different flora around you, it brings me back to when I was with her."
Dorian continued to stare up at the stars and was smiling while he listened to everything his father was telling him, it brought a warm feeling to his heart, hearing even one little detail about how his mother was as a person. His eyes slowly started to droop as he listened to his father tell him stories about what he and his mom did, and over time a tiny yawn escaped his mouth. Minutes passed by as he continued on in listening to his dad speak about her. "Dad, what was her name?" Dorian managed to yawn out, sleep slowly taking him away from the conscious world. "Her name? Her...name was De-." Dorian couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and plummeted into the sleeping world.
He was walking amongst fertile fields of barley and wheat, his hand slowly outstretched touching them as he meandered across the golden fields of crops. Across the valley, lush green hills were planted with an assortment of fruits and vegetables as far as the horizon went. Dorian continued to make his way down the hills into the central valley, seemingly miles away.
But he could see it, someone as a matter of fact, down in the center of the valley; the only place that the crops did not grow. What would have taken him hours, instead, took minutes. As he came closer to the figure, he slowly realized it was a woman, a woman that, strangely, he recognized even though he did not know her. She had long soft golden blonde hair that seemed to have been meticulously entwined with flower petals with soft peach-colored skin that was hidden behind a beautiful green chiton. She was lying down on the grass, leaning on one arm to look at the bountiful fields full of harvest that was away from him. As Dorian walked towards the woman and continued to gaze at her, she turned around and all the breath in his body seemed to have left at once. Her face...her face seemed to have been crafted by the angels themselves. Soft, supple, pink skin; a small but elegant nose, and a warm, almost too kind, smile greeted him as he got within feet of her. But the thing that drew him in the most was her eyes, they were green, greener than any plant, tree, or anything else that came to his mind. He didn't know how long he stared into them but when heard the most harmonious and melodious chuckle he had ever heard come out of her mouth, he snapped out of it.
Blushing in embarrassment, Dorian opened his mouth to apologize but before he could say anything, she patted the soft and velvet-looking grass next to her; clearly gesturing for him to sit. To not embarrass himself any further, he did just that without so much as saying a word to her. The two of them just stared out into the rolling hills of gold and green, a surprisingly comfortable silence instilled between them.
"I see you approve," the woman next to him suddenly said. Dorian glanced at her in confusion before she waved her arm around them. "The fields of my harvest? Who do you think toiled all of this?"
Dorian couldn't help but gape at her in shock, "You? You did all this? That's amazing! How long did it take you to do it?" It must have taken ages too, maybe weeks or months would be a conservative estimate, that was what Dorian expected to hear her say.
The golden-haired woman shrugged, "A few seconds, maybe a minute at most. I was waiting for my guest to show up here."
Dorian was waiting to hear a laugh to accompany her joke but she seemed utterly serious. She then turned to look at him and seemed to examine every detail of his body. Dorian felt uncomfortable, to say the least, those eyes felt like they could see right through him, there was a power behind those green eyes that he couldn't describe.
After a couple more seconds of agonizing silence, the woman muttered something to herself. He couldn't hear it all but he thought he heard something about 'cereal', and 'giving that man a piece of her mind'.
"Is there a problem with me being here?" Dorian blurted out, unable to stop himself. The woman glanced back up into his eyes and blinked in confusion. Dorian hastily went and extrapolated his earlier question, "I mean, this seems like a private place for you and I just stumbled upon it. I can leave if you want, didn't you say you were waiting for a guest?"
The woman stared a him for another second before hiding her mouth behind her hand and giggled at him, Dorian felt out of place, not knowing what to say or if he should just stand up and leave the same way he came from. The woman continued giggling at him and maybe his internal plight if she could hear thoughts. Before, slowly, it died down and she then looked at him with a smile he could not recognize, but he did know it was warm and it made him want to be closer to her.
"Silly boy, you were the guest I was talking about wanting to invite here," The woman replied and Dorian grew confused by that statement. Why would he be her guest, he didn't know her. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know where 'here' was. He was about to respond before the golden sky around them started to darken and crackle with thunder even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
The woman looked up and frowned minutely, she then looked back at him and smiled again, "I wish I had more time to speak to you but it seems like 'someone' has caught on to my little act." She slowly brought a hand up to his face and cupped his cheek. It felt warm. It felt like something he was missing his entire life suddenly appeared and he wanted more of it.
I guess it is time for you to leave my little sproutling, make sure to tell your father that I will be having words about your diet." The woman said to him before he felt a sudden tingling sensation across his body. He was...fading? He could see his arms slowly disappearing in a golden hue. He looked back up at the mysterious yet kind woman before him. She was still smiling at him and he finally recognized what kind of smile it was. He has seen it on the moms of his classmates when they looked at them. It was motherly.
"I will be watching over you, so make me proud..." He glanced back at the woman with even more questions still in his head. He was almost entirely faded when he heard the last word she said, but the word she said made him widen his green eyes in shock.
"Son..."
He flew forward out of his sleeping bag with a gasp. The last word he heard from the mysterious woman still ringing in his head. It was strange, where was that place? Why was it daytime there? Why was the sky a golden hue? These questions pervaded his mind for the next couple of minutes before he glanced up and looked at his surroundings.
He was back in the clearing he and his dad decided to use as a campsite, the fire still crackling behind him. He glanced next to him to see his dad snoring away in his sleeping bag and Dorian had to stifle a snicker at seeing a snot bubble blowing out one of his nostrils when he breathed out.
He looked up at the tree line, sweeping his eyes over it uninterestingly, seeing nothing but dark shadows and glowing red eyes he slowly started to lay back down into his sl... wait what. He quickly looked back to the tree line and, indeed, there were seven sets of glowing blood-red eyes piercing through the darkness and staring at him.
Fear gripped his heart as he stared back, still looking in their direction; he softly, in a whispery tone, said "Dad...pst daaad." His arm reached out to grip his face and he violently shook it. Nathan gasped and whipped his head back and forth to get the offending appendage off of him. His dad glared over at him, sleep still in eyes as he said, "Son what the hell was that for, you scared the crap outta me, man and I was having a good dre..." His tirade stopped once he saw his son not even paying him any mind. Slowly, he turned to look at where his son's gaze was resting, and what he saw instantly washed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Dorian, listen to me very carefully, I want you to slowly get up and back away. Don't make any sudden movements, stay low to the ground, and grab that bear mace lying in the bag behind you."
What words Nathan was about to say next died in his throat as the seven sets of crimson-colored eyes stalked out of the tree line. Nathan wanted to tear his hair out of his head, he missed the signs and they were so obvious it hurt. The gigantic-sized wolf paws that were easily twice or three times bigger than any wolf he had ever seen? The enormous pile of bones in the middle of a clearing? The non-existent amount of fellow hikers and travelers that should have been around here during the middle of summer? This wasn't a sign of normal animals in the area...This was a sign of Monsters...
What came out of the tree line and got close to the light of the fire was, in Dorian's opinion, something that shouldn't have existed. Standing on two legs, these 'wolves' were pitch black in color, their fur not even shining in the moonlight. Even when hunched over, they were as tall as horses. With the blood red-colored eyes added with the darkness of the night, they looked like demons instead of 'animals'. The one in the front was the leader if Dorian had to guess, seemed to...grin at him? Rows of razor-sharp teeth glinted back at Durian before another surprise easily trounced the one from before.
"Well, well, well...What do we have here boys, it seems like sonny and daddy went on a camping excursion. Not a good idea pops, considering y'know, what I'm smelling on the little one over there." The wolf drolled in an almost humorous tone as he stared at the father and son with an anticipatory look in his eyes.
Nathan blanched at the raspy, dark tone in the voice of the lead 'wolf'. His eyes darted over to the other 'wolves' as they slowly started to surround him and Dorian. Nathan pulled Dorian towards him in a protective manner making the leader of the 'wolves' chuckle and the other ones jeer at the two.
"Lycanthropes," Nathan hissed out. This word caused the leader to stop chuckling and look at him, he tilted his head to the side almost like a dog would before he clapped his hands. In approval maybe?
"Bravo, bravo mortal, you knew who we are, but that's kinda insulting isn't it? You didn't say my name, I might have let you leave alive while I tore your little runt apart if you had; but now, we can get to the fun part." The lycanthrope said dismissively before taking another step towards them causing all the others to follow his lead and do the same thing.
"Stop where you are Lycaon, not another step from you," Nathan said while he ground his teeth, a furious but fearful look on his face as the now-named, Lycaon, acted as if he did not even hear him and slowly sauntered his way towards the pair. Dorian could not even move, frozen in shock at seeing this monster walk toward him. It was like seeing the executioner make his way to deal out the sentence.
"It's King Lycaon actually. Y'see, you forgot to add the king honorific in front of the name. A common mistake honestly, but..." Lycaon's smile was all teeth and hunger. "A mistake no one ever makes twice." All Dorian could do was stare at the monster still steadily making his way towards him, all his minions following his lead one step behind him. Nathan glared at the monster before letting go of his son and grabbing his left hand with his right. On his ring finger was a wedding band and when he twisted it, out popped a dual-colored blade of gold and silver.
It was a foot-and-a-half-long kopis, an ancient Greek blade that curved slightly midway down the blade, formidable against shield users, but lycanthropes? That was yet to be determined. As mentioned earlier, the kopis shone with two different colors, obviously, different metals were mixed together when it was being forged. It shone sinisterly in the moonlight, reflecting its golden and sliver aura onto the surrounding area.
Lyacon, a mere ten feet away from them, looked surprised for a second before laughing. When he laughed, his minions did so too and all of them let their guard down for a moment. "Silly human, no mortal steel, imperial gold, or celestial bronze could ever hope to maim me. They pass right through m-Aughh!" His speech was cut short when the blade of mixed materials stabbed deep into his right thigh, and for odd some reason, instead of blood, Dorian could see gold dust leaking out of the wound.
Nathan narrowly managed to pull the blade out and sidestep, the ground where he was mere seconds ago, was now gouged out by wickedly long and sharp claws. He glanced behind and widened his eyes before rushing back towards Dorian. Confused and terrified, Dorian whipped his head to look behind him only to gasp in shock as he saw a lycanthrope mere feet away from him, salivating jaws were wide open as it prepared to make a meal out of the unfortunate child in front of him. Dorian quickly snapped his eyes closed in fear, waiting to feel the immense amount of pain coming his way any moment now. After a second or two of nothing happening to him, he peeked out of one of his eyelids only to fully open them in awe as he saw his father standing in front of him with half his arm inside of the lycanthrope's mouth. Dorian could clearly see the shining blade of gold and silver puncturing through the roof of the monster's mouth and into the brain cavity, instantly killing the creature. Suddenly and without warning, the monster's body started to turn into golden-colored sand and was wisped away by the winds, leaving nothing behind but a single three-inched-long incisor lying on the ground where the monster once was.
Quickly after, Nathan stood over him, practically shadowing him with his size and presence. This was when Dorian finally noticed the cut on his dad's sword arm, a long and deep-looking cut that went all the way from his bicep and down to his wrist. Dorian looked on worriedly as his father stood against the five other lycanthropes and their leader, preparing to face off against them when he already was wounded by the now-deceased one from before.
Lyacon, now much more aware of what Nathan held in his hands, opted to use his advantage of numbers against the mortal human. Lycaons' minions all surrounded him to protect his injury as it slowly healed. "Sliver..." Lycaon growled out through gritted teeth, "Who gave you that weapon human? Silver is a rare ore to give to a mortal to protect a mere halfbreed." The wolf stated, slowly standing back up to his normally hunched form. The wound he gained earlier had almost fully healed by now. Lycaon pondered on his options before he made a series of growls and yips, speaking to the other werewolves. All the lycanthropes backed up except for Lycaon. He didn't say anything for a moment before grinning something awful and began saying, "You can't take us if we all rush you at once human, so how about a challenge eh? Me and you, one on one. I give you my word as king that my subjects won't intervene or go after your little halfbreed while the duel is still ongoing. If I win, you both die an agonizing and horrible death of course but... If you win, I'll let you both leave the forest alive, me and my subjects won't attempt to kill you while you are escaping my kingdom as another bonus. So how about it then, fair deal?"
On the surface, it was a magnanimous offer, but underneath it all, it was a taunt. Nathan just scowled, knowing while it might have seemed like an offer, he and the wolf king both knew this was the only chance for him and his son to theoretically come out of this battle breathing. "I accept your terms, king of werewolves, he who goes back on their word shall be forever cursed to walk on all fours for the rest of their days. Swear it on the Styx Lycaon, or always be known as a coward like the master of Olympus said you were long ago." Lycaon quickly adopted an ugly expression on his face from being reminded of his past before growling out his agreement. Two booms of thunder could be heard to signify the oaths were sworn between the two parties.
Nathan glanced at his son, he was shivering from terror, everything that happened finally catching up to Dorian these last few minutes. Nathan kneeled down to place his hands on his son's shoulders, "Dorian, listen to me, I just want you to know that I love you and I will try with all my being to make it out of this alive, you've made me so very proud. Prouder than any father could ever hope for. Just know that my son."
Dorian couldn't help it, his lips quivered and tears started flowing down his face, he finally cried out, "I'm sorry Dad! I should have listened to you and we wouldn't have been in this mess, I'm so so sorry Papa." Dorian kept crying while holding on to him. Nathan just softly smiled and comforted him in their, quite possibly, last moment together.
The battle was a farce, who would even suspect that a mere human could hold themselves in combat against a monster of this level. The fight did not last long at all. One should not be surprised when it pertains to a normal mortal against an ancient king now turned werewolf. While clearly Lycaon had won the duel, surprisingly, he didn't leave the fight scatheless. A long cut went from his shoulder to his hip; another deeper cut could be found on the side of his jaw, making it possible for someone to see the inside of his mouth, and finally, one of his ears was cleanly sheered off. It shows how capable Nathan, even though he was a 'measly' human, was actually capable of. On the other hand, one only had to look at Nathan to see who came out victorious. His left arm was viciously torn or bit off just below the elbow, half his face was clawed off and blood was pooling profusely from his still corpse.
Silence enveloped the clearing, all was still after the battle between human and monster. The lycanthropes continued to look on quietly seeing their leader have trouble against a simple mortal, thoughts circulating between them about humans not being as weak as they originally thought.
The silence was finally interrupted though, two beings broke it simultaneously. One was the panting gasps of pain from the werewolf leader, Lycaon slumped down to one knee, hissing to no one as one hand gingerly reached down to touch the laceration that was across his chest, whilst the other came up to his head to gently touch the lancing needles of pain. A nub was that was left of his left ear.
The other figure that disrupted the silence was the single human that was left. All that could be heard from him was the crunching of leaves below his bare feet, he was slowly making his way towards the prone person in the middle of the clearing. Dorian's face remained impassive as he got closer to his father, not even when he was walking through the red and viscous pool of blood below his feet, did he react. When he got right next to the corpse that used to be his father, his expression did not change an iota. A calmness had enveloped Dorian, all he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears steadily pounding away. He kneeled and stared for a moment down at the man that he loved with all his heart, he could see the tears across his face, the blood still gushing out at a steady pace and slowly draining the pink hue that his father's skin usually had. His arm was even worse, barely hanging on by a tendon, with the lower half looking like it went through a meat grinder. Dorian silently wondered if there was something wrong with him, it was his fault his father died, his fault they were still out here in this damn park, his fault that he guilt-tripped his dad into staying here because of selfish want, his fault that he was even born, his fault that he-
"Hehehe, he wasn't as much of a weakling as I thought. I'll give him respect by saving his head for last hehehe. Well runt, how would you like me to end you hmm? Through the chest? A slit throat? I'm in a good mood, so I'll let you decide boy. After I rid you of this world, I'll travel to both of the halfbreed camps and kill all that I see and turn the submissive into loyal subjects under me. The age of gods will be destroyed and in its place, the age of monsters will reign, " Lycaon smugly monologued, his wounds slowly knitting back together, he turned to the still comatose-looking demigod with a savage grin on his face.
'Ba-dump...ba-dump...ba-dump..ba-dump..ba-dump..ba-dump' Dorian heard what the lycanthrope said, but for the life of him, he couldn't concentrate on anything but the vision of his now dead father, and the sounds of his heartbeat reverberating through his head like an echo. The noise was so loud, like a pair of gongs slamming into each of his ears. 'ba-dump. ba-dump. ba-dump.'
"Hey boys, I think we broke him, hehe, maybe we can go after his whore of a mother next, I heard goddesses feel juuussst right. Well before I rip her throat out while she's screaming; huh, I wonder what gods taste like." Lycaon half-joked, basking in his own self-centered glory while looking at his minions, all his subjects just jeered and cheered in support of their king. Lycaon chuckled before starting to make his way towards the halfbreed, a quarter way there his foot became entwined in something. he looked down in confusion before noticing what his foot became caught on. It was a root? Lycaon planted his other limb next to it to help with leverage as he began to try to rip his foot, only to yelp in pain as his non-trapped foot suddenly became stuck in something sharp. He looked at his other appendage to see that was trapped in...vines? Two-inch-sized thorny vines were wrapped around his right foot and the vines slowly crept their way up his leg like a snake.
'ba-dumba-dumba-dumba-dumba-dumba-dum' His heart was beating so rapid now that he couldn't help but think he was about to have a heart attack, it was the only sound he could even hear that it became deafening. This heat in the pit of his stomach was slowly snaking its way up to his chest and then into his head. He didn't know why, but he became overcome with one singular, all-encompassing feeling. It felt like fire was shooting through his veins and the pressure kept building and building inside his head that he thought his skull was going to pop until all in an instant...something cracked...
'It was nagging at him, this emotion he had been feeling building up inside of him was...He was sure he had felt something similar to this before, maybe a tenth of what he was feeling, but still, an emotion kindred to this...Happiness? No... Love? Not even close... Jealousy? Nothing like this...Anger? Something remarkably similar but it didn't hold a candle to this...Ah... He finally figured out what he was feeling...It was... wrath, rage, injustice, hate, wroth, and righteousness all wrapped in one... It was...
...Vengeance...
"Boys, come help me dig my feet out of this treacherous ground, the first one to do so will have first dibs on the halfbreed's carcass, I give you my wor-" Barbed hooks on vines in the numbers of hundreds, the same size as garden hoses, spliced through the clearing, entangling some of the werewolves like snares, embedding themselves deep into the monsters' skin. Lycaon blinked in confusion and in growing horror as he saw the halfbreed he mentioned before, in the middle of the clearing with his hair covering his face and head down low. Before he could question it, Lycaon saw what looked like bramble bushes, except the bushes were the size of school busses, shooting up from under the ground and snagging the rest of his subordinates up and encasing them in its spiked prison. Lycaon could hear the cries of suffering and see the looks of utter terror on their faces as they were torturously ripped apart by branches of bristles and impaled upon sleek spikes before they were covered completely by the foliage.
Lycaon could only look on in a growing amount of distress at seeing his pack meticulously and systematically being cut down in front of him even though he could barely see through the building-sized bushes of spines and barbs, but the screams slowly died down. One by one, the cries of bloody murder faded until all he could hear was silence and his own panting breaths. What made it even worse, was that he was still immobilized by the still snaking spiked vines, digging deeper and harder into his flesh the more he tried to move.
Not knowing what to do in this situation, Lycaon fell back into his most natural state of mind. Self-glorification and grandiosity.
"Well, it seems like the pup does have some bite to him, ha, I like that in a person. When you're back into a corner, you either cower or bite back... And you did the latter, good job runt. But all these little thorns and bristles you brought out won't do a thing against me. I'm a cut above the rest of those dogs, I'm the original after all hehe. You killed my pack and I killed yours too so let bygones be bygones eh? So whad'ya say?" Lycaon said with an impish grin while looking at the thorned jungle in front of him.
He could see movement through the vegetation before a hole appeared, cutting a large swathe through the spikes and spines. Dorian walked out of it with an expressionless look on his face and stopped a few feet in front of him to stare at the remaining lycanthrope. What Lycaon instantly zeroed in on when he saw Dorian was his eyes. The eyes were said to be the gateway to the soul and when Lycaon looked at Dorian's all he saw was cold, unforgiving, hatred... The once bright forest-green eyes had changed, had darkened. Now where they once stood was a green that bordered on black, a promise of retribution burning and writhing under the glacier of coldness.
"No." Lycaon blinked, coming back to reality before comprehending what the demigod just said. He growled lowly, "You can't kill me, all you could ever do with those little thumbtacks you have at your beck and call would be to give me papercuts." Lycaon chuckled at his own joke, there was nothing this youngblood could do to him besides bruising his already sore ego and giving him some scrap-
"Silver," Dorian stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Lycaon finally felt a shred of dread as the boy knew what his weakness was and before he could say anything, he and the half-blood both heard a horn sound in the distance.
While Dorian did not know who or what that was, Lycaon most certainly did, and from what Dorian could tell, it was bad news for him as he could see the lycanthrope struggling to free himself from the thorned vines and roots that encased him. Dorian, feeling the tiniest bit curious as to why the 'king' was acting this way, watched on and waited for the arrival of whatever made that sound to reach them.
To be continued...
Wooo man, this one was a long one for me, I'm still not used to writing so sorry if it is not up to snuff for you fanfic freaks. Anyways, another PJO OC but I like this one way better already, I kind of had the idea of it for a while now. Sorry if it took so long for me to set up the story with a character that's already dead but I wanted you to see how close Dorian and his dad were. Some authors just go straight to the action but I wanted this to be slow in the beginning, not just for the story but also to help me write too.
So yea, been watching Naruto and Batman the Animated Series lately, and both shows have some that can control plants(well wood for one of them, but who cares) and in PJO, Demeter is probably the least interacted with Olympian so I thought I'd spread some love lol, and I just like the thought of being able to control vines covered in thorns and bramble bushes and other spikey things, it sounds like such a unique power. Who knows maybe later on, Dorian can experiment with posions and other things like venus fly traps or something. Oh and I hate the Nathan fight scene vs. Lycaon so I just scrapped it, I mean seriously, a regular dude fighting against the king of werewolves? not interesting at all. So sorry if it gets sloppy during that part of the story.
Time Line: Dorian is 8 in 2005, PJ and the LT starts supposedly in 2009, so yea same age a my boi percy. But I will say, Dorian isn't going str8 to camp any time soon.
Hope you enjoyed and review what else I should include or if I fumbled the ball on anything or any edits I need to make. Thanks!
