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♞ C H A P T E R O N E ♞

" they strike to kill,
and you know i will. "
- mad woman by taylor swift -

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" where to begin...
gray or black? "

ALL HER LIFE, ERIS HALE had been searching for a sense of belonging—in her pack (before she was thrown out), in her friends (like she even had any), in other Fey, in mercenary groups. Still, she had yet to find it. Being a werewolf, she was an expert at finding—whether it was a thing or an object or a person, she could always find it. Yet, the one thing she couldn't find was the one thing she desperately needed, and that severely angered her.

To anger the Demon Wolf was a death sentence.

Still, Eris searched, taking her anger out on the Red Paladins she'd encounter on her journey. Four years had passed since she had been forced to suppress her wolf instincts by her horrid aunt, and she was finally beginning to scratch the surface of her potential.

Yet, she still wasn't as skilled as others in her pack were at her age many years ago. She had never been a very good werewolf.

Despite being a terrible human being—well, actually a self-rejected werewolf—and making Eris participate in flagellation, her aunt did prepare her for battle. It wasn't until awhile after she saw the Red Paladins ride away on horses after burning Lykos to the ground that she understood why her aunt acted in such a manner. Suddenly, the red coat she'd found in the older woman's closet made perfect sense. The woman was training Eris to be a Red Paladin.

Eris had never felt such a hatred in her heart towards someone else.

She sighed deeply as she ran her right hand over the dark hilt of her sword as it stuck out of its sheath on her hip. The cross-bladed sword had been forged uniquely by her, using a process known as heat treatment to get the blade down to its sleek matte black shade. She'd named the sword Erebos after the god of darkness. It seemed only fitting that the goddess of chaos and god of darkness be joined together in some way.

A sweet metallic scent filled her nostrils, and she wrinkled her nose as she zeroed in on the smell, allowing her instincts to guide her to the branch of a willow tree. The blood stain was fresh, made merely hours ago, and was so obviously human due to the rather putrid aroma arising from the substance.

She discovered faint boot prints in the earth below the branch, a smirk forming on her face as she realized it was the exact same print a Red Paladin boot would make. Lifting her black hood over her head, she headed to follow the prints along with the putrid scent of human blood.

She followed the track for a good mile before the heard voices flowing through the wind and into her ears. She quietly kept trekking until she finally discovered where the voices were coming from.

There in the midst of a clearing in the forest were eight—no, nine including the injured man with a cut arrow sticking out of his side sitting on a log—Red Paladins gathered around a pile of wood that would be a campfire by nightfall. Knowing it'd be a mistake, Eris focused on what they were talking and laughing about.

"—and the girl cried 'No, not my mother! Please no!'" A man with dark hair and an ugly beard cackled. His fellow brethren joined in—even the injured one. "I, of course, told her what a disgrace she was before I killed her as well."

Feeling the boiling hot anger rise within her veins, Eris immediately tuned out of their conversation. She felt her claws elongate, and then her fangs filling her mouth. Her vision turned red as it always did when she shifted.

Then, suddenly, she was grabbing the nearest Red Paladin she could and throwing him against a tree trunk. The force cracked his skull open before he fell lifeless onto the hard forest floor.

Eris faced the rest of the flabbergasted men and let out a loud and furious roar.

"It's the Demon Wolf!" the man with the ugly beard cried and ran towards their carriage to leave the rest of the men to fend for themselves.

Eager to prove themselves, the other men—except for the rather terrified injured one—were quick to draw their swords and begin their assault.

Eris's reflexes weren't as fine-tuned as they should've been as a werewolf her age, but they were enough to avoid every blow the rookie Red Paladins tried to hit her with. She knocked two of them off their feet with ease before slashing into another man's chest—the wound deep enough to penetrate his heart—with her long, tough claws. He fell onto the ground, blood spurting from his mouth.

Turning just as one of them swung their sword at her, she ducked away so that her back was a few inches away from his chest before grabbing his arm and twisting it towards the forest floor. She waited until another man raised his sword at her before she shifted the guy she was holding onto around. The force behind the sword cut into the side of the man's neck, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Dear God!" the man who accidentally killed his fellow warrior cried out, backing away from Eris in shock.

She shoved the guy's body to the ground, snarling at the man in front of her. Sensing the attack of the three men behind her, she swiftly turned, successfully slitting one's throat with her claws in the process. The blood clung to her claws, but she was too focused to think about how she'd have to clean the blood later.

Skillfully ducking and twisting to avoid the other two's blows, she kicked one away as she punched the other directly in the throat. While he began choking, Eris turned to the man quickly approaching behind her and stepped to the side just before his sword could nick her. She elbowed the back of his head before kicking his back.

She drew her knife swiftly, not wanting to have to sink her claws into another man's flesh. It was not a nice sensation in her opinion. Snatching the man by the forehead from behind, she pulled him back towards her before sliding the knife clean across his throat. She released him, letting his body fall to the ground with a thud.

There were only two more standing before her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the injured man trying to sneak—more like loudly limp—away and the ugly bearded man rummaging through the carriage.

Her focus was back on the two men in front of her in no time, placing her knife back in its sheath and drawing her sword instead. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt, her claws tearing into the tender flesh of her palms. The pain had stopped bothering her years ago, though. When she realized she had no control over her animalistic side, she just began to let it take over. Since then, she had found some sort of balance. She could control her actions—like holding her sword—somewhat while not acting in fits of rage.

She taunted the two men in front of her, pretending to strike when she really wasn't and causing them to flinch away in fear. They were afraid. As they should be.

With her eyes glowing blue, fangs visible, sword drawn, and blood dripping from her claws, she looked absolutely terrifying.

Her supernatural strength—while certainly not as heightened as it should be—was no match for the novice Red Paladins, and she easily disarmed them with two simple strokes of her sword, their weapons falling to the ground. With one powerful blow, she sliced through both of their necks, cutting their heads clean off.

A normal woman her age should've been afraid of the sight of a decapitated man—let along cause the scene—but nothing frightened her anymore. If she could carry the images of murdering her parents and other pack members in her mind, she could easily get over a few dead Red Paladins.

With a sigh, she calmly walked over to the injured man as he struggled to walk away. He was shaking with fear, and if he didn't wear that wretched red outfit, Eris might've pitied him, but he did, so she didn't.

In one smooth motion, she plunged her sword through his back, snatching it out quickly as he let out a strangled cry and fell to the forest floor.

Then, there was the matter of the ugly bearded man who had been bragging over his murder of an innocent Fey girl. Eris pulled out a blood-stained cloth from underneath her cloak and wiped the blood from her sword before sheathing it. She headed over to where the last Red Paladin was still rummaging through the back of the carriage.

He turned at the last second, his hands hidden behind his back and face set into an ugly sneer. "You are a disgrace. A demon-born disgrace! An abomination in the eyes of Go-"

Eris stared at him blankly as her claws—seeming to have a mind of their own—pierced his abdomen. She stepped closer, plunging her claws deeper into his flesh. Blood spilled from the man's mouth and fell onto her hands. She was about to say something when something pierced her own abdomen.

The pain was, in one word, unbearable. A burning sensation surged through her veins and throughout her whole body, almost causing her to let out a whimper. She managed to keep it inside, though, remembering where she'd felt this same fiery pain before. "Wolfsbane." She pulled her claws from his abdomen to snatch the arrow from her own abdomen, ignoring the way it tore through her flesh as she pulled it out. "Clever."

"An abomination—" the man sputtered out again, blood continuing to pour from his mouth. "You are an abomination."

Without hesitation, Eris shoved the arrow right through his abdomen—right where she had her claws a minute ago. She stared him straight in the eyes, her eyes no longer glowing blue. "An abomination I may be, but at least I'm a decent person who doesn't murder innocent children." Then, she snatched the arrow out harshly and shoved the dying man to the ground.

She released a shaky sigh, her hand reaching up to hold her wound. It burned the same as it had all those years ago. It wasn't enough to kill her, but it was enough to weaken her for at least the night and early tomorrow morning.

Since the Wolfsbane would stop her wound from healing for awhile, she knew she'd need to cauterize the wound so that she wouldn't lose anymore blood. So, she grabbed flint and steel from the back of the Red Paladins' carriage and headed over to the wood pile they'd created.

She quickly lit the wood pile, wincing as the flames grew larger and larger. Wolves and fire did not mix. Still, she unsheathed her sword, sitting down on the same log the injured Red Paladin sat less than fifteen minutes ago, and held it out towards the fire. She waited for the fire to heat up the sword a second before lifting her black tunic and undershirt and placing it on the wound without hesitation.

She hissed, wanting to kick and scream as her flesh burned and charred. When the process was finally complete, Eris stood, sheathing her sword and staring at the two horses hooked to the carriages.

They neighed, almost like they were trying to communicate with her. She cautiously approached them, reaching out to them hesitantly. They began to attempt to buck—as much as they could hooked to the carriage. They could smell her—her wolf scent. She'd never gotten along with horses.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" she exclaimed, swiftly reaching out and detaching them from the carriage. She quickly got out of their way as they bolted away, neighing ferociously and bucking as if someone was trying to ride them.

Once the horses were out of sight, knowing she needed to get as far away from the bloodbath she'd caused as fast as possible, Eris trudged away, becoming one with the forest.

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