Warning: This chapter contains gore. I also included art at the chapter end. If that is something that bothers you, I recommend skipping, or reading until the bolded line if you would not like to see the image. Separate from that is a reference to sexual assault, so be warned. Other than that, tread carefully and enjoy.

Xoris had heard countless tales of the slaughter raids before. Of villages burned as random, unorganised Beasts fought side by side to lay waste to them in instants, of Humans eaten, or worse. It was a horrible, messy thing, and yet, as he stood before the sight of screams and ash, he found it had to empathise with the horrific actions. He rubbed his bare hands across his face, his gloves left behind in the cart. It was simply because he was tired. He knew that he cared, deep down. That he didn't want anyone to be hurt. He was simply desensitised because of the lack of sleep, that was all.

As a wild Pruul dashed in front of him, its tall, skinny legs raking along the ground as it screeched in a pitch that could barely be heard, he saw Rajul take hold of his sword. "Dekhr, feathery things," he swore, pulling himself out of the caravan. "Are you ready?"

Xoris swallowed hard as the Pruul screeched again, twitching its long, scaly tail before a vomit like liquid fire sprayed from its throat, coating a thatched house in flames. He widened his eyes to force the lethargic feeling to dissipate before grabbing the sword at his side. "As much as I ever will be, I suppose."

With a nod to each other, they burst forward, Xoris having to wince and duck as cinders flew and smoke tingled along his exposed arms. He could already feel a rapid, burning twitch coming from his neck as tears of irritation dripped like sweat into his undershirt. His legs brought him to a stop as he choked on the powdery air. It was only for a drip, but that halt was all the time the Pruul needed to lift its leg, the sharped talon hooking right through his belt into his side. A gasp of pain wracked at his lungs as he looked up at the Beast standing much taller before him. In an instant, he was reaching with his arm to slash the Beast's leg, drawing a thick line of red as it cut through the scales. It cawed as it drew back, but not before its long neck began to throb.

"Look out!" He heard Rajul shout before the Pruul opened its beak to release another molten wave. Xoris' nerves jolted as he ducked to roll backwards. A sizzling noise hit his ears, and he seized up for a moment at the sound. It took him a moment to realise the edge of his cloak was on fire, and a few drops were trying to eat their way through his armour like holes. They went out soon enough, but something about the tainted, black edge of what had once been a pristine article of clothing bothered him.

He stood up, wishing he was at a height where he could reach the Pruul's eyes, but they were much too tall. An image flashed through his thoughts for a moment, of when he had first used his power, and how his feet had left the ground for an instant. He went to discard the thought, the familiar fear of fighting with gravity unnerving him. And yet... The Pruul reared back, flapping its wings to throw him off balance. He doubted he could take it down with his sword alone. Rajul had already plunged his blade deep into the chest of another, nearly identical one behind him, and yet, now matter how much Xoris wanted to do the same, it wasn't his style.

With a step back, he focused more on the eyes that looked to the sides, surveying the area. As the one attacking Rajul fell to a bloody heap on the ground, he noticed that that left five more. A glance out of his right arm told him there was a stone prayer building not too far. He hated the idea forming slowly in his mind, but without a better one, he took off towards the building.

Xoris knew the Pruul were following, and he knew they were faster than his scrawny, human-sized legs, but at least with a head start, he could pray that he'd reach the cracked walls of the building before they reached him. A snap sounded at his ankles, and he tripped as a beak caught around his shoe, but he quickly tugged out of the Beast's grasp, making the final stretch to the church.

A sigh of relief washed through him as he saw a ladder propped against the side of the wall, reaching the roof where a large bell sat. I thought I was going to have to climb it. A discarded corpse of a man lay on the first rung, but Xoris had no time to mourn his death. Instead, the surprisingly light body was lifted away, and he was throwing himself up the steps as the screechs grew closer behind him. Splinters dug into his hands, catching awkwardly in between the pointed teeth of his left, but he couldn't pluck them out. Not now.

As the stone shingles met with his forehead, he reached his palm up, biting the edge of the roof to keep his balance as he pulled himself up. The metal of his shoe slid for a moment on the stone, but he regained himself as the five Pruul finally reached the building, circling their feathery bodies around it, only slightly shorter than he now was on the roof.

Xoris knew that in a moment, they could hop up to eat him, and that would be that, but as he looked at the ground below him, the familiar sense of nausea and dizziness was returning. He took a deep breath. Calm down. You've already done this before. Xeth was a floating maw covered in eyes and teeth, and if he could defy gravity, then so can you! Even as his hands shook, he forced his eyes to open, knowing he didn't have much time. Pausing for just a moment, he gulped, before taking a running leap off the edge of the roof.

He didn't know what sound wrenched its way out of his throat: a scream of terror or a cry for battle, but as his body dropped to eye level with the Beasts, he was running up to that place in his mind, welcoming the cooling sensation of heka into his body. For a moment, he could see out endlessly in all directions as he made eye contact with each creature. His body felt light, a stark contrast to the Beasts' statue-like forms, and a sense of pride filled him as his feet maintained the space of a hand above the ground before his feet tapped it lightly. He would have laughed at having conquered falling itself if something didn't feel so... wrong.

He glanced up at the Pruul again, nothing but lifeless, grey forms. They had just been attacking a village, killing innocents, and yet part of him felt as though he had done the same. But that was ridiculous. They were only Beasts, and this was for the village, all to save a hundred or so people. As more screams rose in the distance, he snapped out of whatever daze he'd been in, turning to take off in a new direction.

A house collapsed to his left, causing him to stumble a bit past Rajul. The man was struggling with some Serpentine-like Horror, a long, fleshy thing with hundreds of squirming legs, but even as he went over to help, Rajul threw a glare at him as if to tell him to find another enemy to take down. As the tell-tale screams came within earshot again, he nodded, praying that the general would be all right alone as he discovered the source of it. He only needed to run a bit more forward. It seemed like most of the raid had been the Pruul and Horror, given the emptiness that was starting to settle around him. Whatever the Beast he was looking for was, he was convinced it would be the last.

As he pushed on through a town square, dilapidated shops all around him, Xoris was almost convinced he had missed it when he caught the sight of pure white hair from an eye on the back of his neck. He wheeled around. It can't be... he thought, but there was no mistaking the unnaturally pale skin, void of all colour save for creeping red patches on the woman's exposed arms and legs.

"A Vampire?" he announced in shock as the Stained finished running the waved blade of her dagger through the man's body she was holding, a grunt being the last sound he'd make before he hit the ground. She tossed the corpse aside, and Xoris noticed that a rather large blotch of red was spread across the side of her face, holding one crimson eye captive while the other maintained a steady grey. "What... What are you doing here? Raids aren't supposed to have Stained, just Beasts." The whole concept was that they came entirely driven by a collective, mindless instinct to kill Humans, while Stained at least had enough intelligence to stay on a battlefield.

"I could ask the same of you." She wiped the blade off on her azure tunic, a dark blue sash around her waist pooling up most of the Human's green blood. "It was simply the Higher Beast's will. Now are you simply going to stand there, or help?"

"What?" Xoris shouted again, taking another step back to draw his own longsword. "No, I'm not helping you... you monsters! I'm putting an end to your terror and the suffering, right now." He pointed the blade at her, unsure what to do. What did she mean, Higher Beast? Was she a general to the Beasts? He had so many questions, but was he meant to ask them, or just kill her? What was it his job to do?

Instead of registering his shaking blade though, she just pushed it aside tentatively with the tip of a clawed finger. She blinked up at him, almost seeming to be confused. "Wait. Are... are you fighting for the Humans?"

"Of course I am!" He brought the blade back on point, using two hands to steady the hilt by the side of his face. "I'm not some sort of sadistic killer like you." He didn't trust how open she was leaving her body, as if she had more than enough power to not even need to prepare for his threatening stance. He tried focusing his gaze on her, with the hopes that perhaps the coaxing heka would slow her possible movement, but she just continued to blink at him, the red eye not even looking as though it could focus on anything.

Her face remained blank as she continued to speak. "How can you fight for them? Do you not feel the pain of this world? Do you not care about the countless lives they are destroying just by being alive? What kind of Stained are you anyway, being able to ignore the Higher Beast's will? Some sort of Half-Human, half-Horror?" She drew her face closer, a fang poking out of her mouth as she inspected his face closely.

"I'm Xoris, the Thing of Eyes and Teeth. I am a paladin to the king, and a hero that's going to bring an end to the war and save Humankind! Now I ask that you stand down, or..." he trailed off as she shook her head, her long white hair swishing at the gesture as a smirk drew across her face.

"Oh goodness. Don't tell me you think a title means anything more than the fact that they've wrapped you around their finger." A small smirk pulled at her face as she stood there, staring at him. Something about the way she held herself so confidently, long hair trailing over her elegant features could only leave him to stand there dumbfounded.

"I'm not wrapped around their finger! O-or anyone's fingers. There were no fingers involved in this. I was sent to stop the slaughter raid, and that's exactly what I'm doing." He nodded fervently at her, but she only burst out laughing.

"So why are you just standing there with your sword pointed at me, albeit with a horrible stance? Really, did no one ever teach you how to use such a thing?" She darted out from under the blade, sweeping under his flank as though she were dancing, body as tight to his back as her dagger to his throat. Her deeper voice trickled into his ear. "Even so, you're hesitating."

"Perhaps." He flicked an eye on his neck up to look at her continuing to leer behind him. "But so are you. Why? Is it because of a Higher Beast? What is that?"

She let go, a single finger tracing down his arm as she swept past him. "See, I'd love to help, but that's privileged information. Unless, of course, you'd like to join my army."

Anger tore through him at the suggestion, and he grabbed her wrist, holding it above her head as he glared down. "I will never join you. I hate you and your kind."

The fanged smirk returned. "Then why are you holding my hand, hm?"

Instantly, his face felt hot, and he released his grip, watching her slip away. She turned after a few steps, tossing her hair over her shoulder to look at him one last time. "You should come and find me again sometime when you're ready, 'Thing of Eyes and Teeth'. There's a lot of things you could stand to learn, but until then, I'll be waiting."

Then she was walking away, back completely turned to him, almost in a sense of trust. He had never seen a Vampire like this. Any experience he had had before were of fast, speechless creatures, with their only goal to be to sink their fangs into any inch of skin they could find and spread the Stain. Once the man had died in her arms, it had been like she was another person. Thinking, collected, mysterious...

D-did she not have an urge to kill me? Am I really so far from being Human that they'll treat me like I'm on their side? The notion hung heavy in his chest as he dropped his sword, staring at his hands. They could only blink back at him, just as lost while he stood on an empty street.

"Xoris!" The gruff shout echoed down the path behind him, and he turned his head, trying to wipe away the useless tears that had formed on his face as the general stormed up. "What are you doing? Kill the Vampire!"

Xoris didn't bother to turn to look. He already could see the girl's head fading in the distance. He didn't feel like catching up with her, or killing anything, or should he say anyone else. "There's no point now. That was the last one. The raid is over."

Rajul was beside him now, puffing heavily as he wiped the crimson blood of the Horror off his shoulder, smearing it down his arm. The sight of it unnerved Xoris, but he had no idea why. It wasn't his. He wasn't a Beast to be killed without a second thought.

Despite the shaky look he was giving the man though, Rajul pulled the black scarf off his mouth, continuing to push. "Come now. It's not a raid if you don't get them all. Why? Is it because that one had a nice body before it died?" He tossed the girl another glance, and something about the predatory look in his gaze made Xoris' skin crawl. "Don't worry. I'll even let you have a turn with it after I'm done having my own fun."

Xoris glared down at the general, eyes narrowing. "You disgust me."

The greasy man crossed his arms. "Why? You used to be a soldier, so you know we have to kill them all. What does it matter what comes before? Acting as though you're any better."

The last part came under his breath, but Xoris ignored it. "She's a per-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. That wasn't right. He tried again. "She doesn't deserve that. No one does." Slowly, he sheathed his sword back at his side, turning back towards the kingdom. "Come on. We're leaving."

"'She?' So that's it, huh? You're going to protect your kind and refuse to fight again?" Rajul's already deep voice dropped lower, softer in rage. "What do I have to take away from you to force you to do your sekhif job this time? This is why I have no idea why that fool of a king hired you. Can't be trusted with the most basic task." His thick hands were up in the air as he swore, and yet, despite everything he'd said, one line in particular stuck out to Xoris.

"What do you mean, this time?" He turned his head to get a more centred look at the general. "You've never taken anything from me." He dove his hands into the small satchel clipped on his belt, but everything was there, his Aevida holding just as many chips as it had before. Rajul said nothing though, choosing only to turn his face away in discontent.

A flicker of anger coursed through Xoris. "Rajul!" he shouted. He didn't care for titles or respect right now. He wanted answers from someone, anyone. "What do you mean, this time?" His voice slowed to a darker, threatening tone. "What did you take away before?"

In an instant his hand was out, roughly grabbing the man's shoulder to turn him around to face him. The violet eyes on his cheeks met Rajul's brown as he shook in terror as his gaze. Say it. Just say it! Xoris tried to force the thoughts out with the energy that was steadily running through him.

"I... it was an order. Make sure you protect the fort, no matter the cost." He could see Rajul trying to grit his teeth, hold his mouth close to stop the words from coming out, but Xoris only gripped him tighter, trying to suck every word out of him. "I just thought... if that knight being hurt caused the first attack, then surely, if he died, then..."

Air was rapidly pulled in through his nose as he clenched his teeth together, ignoring Rajul's winces in pain as a few sunk into the soft flesh of his shoulder. Blood was rushing to his face, feeling hot as it coursed through his veins. "You. Killed. Luke!"

He knew it had been odd, one of the Fae passing away to a wound that should have healed in no time at all. But who was he supposed to turn to and trust at a time when his own body hadn't even felt like his own? A low growl ran through him, as he stared the man down. The fresh taste of Human blood flooded through his hand, tasting sweet and slippery with its thin consistency. "Why? Why do it preemptively? You told me what had happened after I'd already taken care of the entire hoard."

"I couldn't trust you to carry through! If we went out there, and you faltered, I couldn't run back to slit his throat then."

Xoris knew the words wouldn't be coming out so easily if it wasn't for his hold on the man's mind, and yet, the confession sounded cold and heartless in his flat tone. "You shouldn't have done it at all! I am so tired of being led around by orders, and having to be the victim of every whim of your king! I say your, because I will serve him no longer."

He swallowed another mouthful of the blood continuing to run through his palm, its light flavour giving him energy. His stomach growled once again as his senses dazed for a moment.

Something about Rajul now seemed like nothing more than already caught prey. A sense of hunger seized him as he thought of how satisfying it would be to feel the throb of a fresh pulse under his teeth as he bit through soft flesh. Thoughts like these didn't come from a separate place. He knew that. It was like a craving for anything else; he could choose to deny or indulge in it. He simply wasn't in the mood to push it back down right now. Rajul wasn't worth the effort.

There were begs for mercy, there were screams and cries, but they fell upon deaf ears as the mouth on his face opened unnaturally wide, enough to fit a Human skull between the rows and rows of fangs. He wished it wasn't so salty from tears, or that strands of hair didn't get tangled around his teeth, but he couldn't deny that it was a wonderful feeling to be able to eat as he pleased.

It wasn't until there wasn't much left in front of him, the last strip of tender muscle being swallowed, that the thoughts began to sink in. Luke was gone. He had been killed by Rajul, and in turn, Xoris had killed him. He tried not to think any harder on the last note even as he sat on the stone, feeling more awake, full, and healthier than he had in the past four tallies.

He stared at the green on his trembling hands, staining the fangs on the maw it held. He clenched his arm to push a long tongue out of it, licking it off his palm. It... it's not that bad. All I did was kill a very horrible person. Luke would understand. He would have wanted this. And yet, as the mangled remains lay before him, he couldn't stop thinking of when he had returned to the keep.

"From what I can see, you're still my caring friend coming to see me as soon as he was able. Whatever majik or power you discovered, you used it to save my life. You don't even look any different. No fangs, correct?"

Tears began to well up in his eyes, dripping down every inch of his body as he stared up into the slit in the sky. "Yes, I do have fangs!" It came out high-pitched, nearly a scream into the empty village he had come too late to hope to save anyway. "I did Luke, I always did!"

He reached an arm up to wipe off his face, smearing some of the green of Rajul's blood off in the process. Ugly, heavy sobs came out of him as every emotion, thought, and memory he had pushed off while filling his mind of other things came rushing to him all at once, too much to handle.

He laid his head on the stone of the ground, his hands tight fists on each side of his face. "I just wanted to fix the system. I just wanted to save everyone, and I can't even save a village. I just kill everyone and everything around me!"

I can't work for the king, because he ordered you to be put to death if I retaliated. Does that make me a monster? He caught sight of the corpse next to him again. Does this make me a monster?

What are you anyway? That was what the Vampiric girl had asked him. He had thought he had an answer for that. He was The Thing of Eyes and Teeth; he couldn't deny that now, but was he Xoris? Was he the same person anymore, or had he lost that somewhere along the way?

No. I'm not even a person at all.

A gust of wind ran along his back, wispy and cool. He hiccuped, stopping his tears for a moment to blink dully in front of him. He had become a paladin, for Luke. He had fought the Fae, for Luke. He had killed, for Luke. A realisation struck him. The only thing he'd ever asked me to do was figure out who I was and what I wanted to do. He still didn't have an answer to that. Was it too late now?

He solemnly pushed himself up off the ground. It was a long, silent walk back to the caravan, and the Welk were all too happy to see him return. He made no motion to play with them though. Pulling himself up into the cart, he rinsed the blood off his hands, not caring if the water splashed all over the wooden floor. The exhaustion was coming back, this time from crying, and without a word, he leaned back on the edge of the carriage and fell asleep.

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If not, fair enough.

Either way, thank you for reading.

~Awgy