God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain let out a yawn and tapped the flat of his blade against the snout of the Fallen {Blackmane Lycan} laying flat on the floor.

His dangerous glare shifted from the others still standing,

"Choosing such a dangerous time to bare your fangs is definitely barbaric, don’t you think? Then again, maybe I was wrong to expect too much."

One of the {Blackmane Lycans} growled as he stalked forward with bared teeth,

"What the hell would an ignorant human know about us?! Stay out of the way, or we’ll tear you apart as well."

The Lycans were enormous wolf-like creatures with enormous frames, particularly around their chest regions.

They could stand on all fours, or they could assume a bipedal state, perhaps, depending on the type of creature they decide to hunt.

The {Goldhorned Stags} had been a popular menu item for the wolves, but since they had been welcomed into the Colony, the wolves had had no other choice but to join in as well, as finding game in the hunting grounds was becoming increasingly more difficult every day.

After they had been accepted into the arms of the Mother Goddess, they had quickly come to know that they had been decieved.

Perhaps in show twisted play of fate, the Mother Goddess wasn’t not some benevolent goddess that enforced the laws of nature. Of the circle of life.

No.

She was a herder.

A keeper of beasts.

And as a herder, she couldn’t have her herd eating itself without any limitations.

And so, she had blessed them with intelligence.

So much so, that rules were set in place to prevent casually stalking and eating prey.

Of course, game found in the hunting grounds were fair game. However, although the laws had made sure the predators were fed, it also meant they never truly had enough to eat.

The result of this was quite understandable with such context.

Cain sighed,

"I don’t care about any damn rules. Any one that spreads chaos right now is considered a nuisance in my eyes. And if you are a nuisance, I’ll do my very best to take care of you."

The wolf growled doubtfully,

"You are just a Human! Why do you care what happens between beasts?! This is none of your business."

Cain was silent for a moment.

Then he grinned,

"That’s not for you to decide."

What followed after those words was quite the gruesome scene, as the {Blackmane Lycans} charged furiously at Cain who proceeded to beat them within an inch of their lives. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Once they were properly subdued, Cain turned to face the {Goldhorned Stags} who looked just as fearful of him as they did the creatures that had just tried to eat them.

Perhaps even more fearful...

The leader of the herd, Bistror strutted up to him.

Cain ran his gaze over the rather magnificent looking creature. Its horns had a brilliant luster like they had been casted in gold. They were covered in beautiful runic markings as well.

The creature was large. Much larger than he was. However, there was a soothing air about it. Like the smooth evening breeze in a verdant meadow.

The Stag bent its forelimbs and bowed its head,

"Thank you for your help. My name is Bistror, leader of this small herd. May I ask for your name as well, human?"

Cain raised a brow, "Call me Cain."

"Cain." The dark, vibrant eyes of the Stag seemed rather intrigued by his presence and not that fearful at all.

The Stag turned to look at the pile of whimpering {Blackmane Lycans}. There was a strange emotion in its eyes,

"Thank you for sparing their lives, Cain."

Cain felt a huge sense of dissonance from hearing the beast speak like that.

He sighed and turned his gaze as well,

"You don’t want me to kill them? If I remember correctly, that one said something about sinking his teeth into your rump..."

Bistror seemed a bit embarrassed,

"Well, they cannot be held fully to their actions."

Cain raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

Bistror stomped against the tough ground,

"We all abide by the tenets of the teachings of the Mother Goddess. However, for those accustomed to devouring only flesh, keeping them is much more difficult, and incidents such as this are more common than you would realize."

Cain frowned, "Does Ana— Does the Any Queen know this?"

Bistror shook his head, "Someone of my lowly station cannot speak on the things known by the great Queen. But I assume she must not be aware."

The Stag raised its eyes to the sky,

"I have been thinking of leading my herd away from the Colony to find much safer conditions. To think something like this would happen before I could."

Cain tapped his fingers on his forearm.

’In the end, I guess it was unavoidable. That Anathe is a little naive, huh...’

Trying to get such a large variety of beasts to live together in complete unity and harmony was a pipe dream that could not be fully realized, even with the influence of a Celestial.

The fact did remain that amongst beasts, there would always be hierarchy. And said hierarchy existed for a reason.

Instinct created as a result of billions of years of evolution was not something that could be easily defeated.

Cain hummed, "I see. In that case, it’s good that I rescued you."

The Stag seemed confused.

Cain snorted as he pointed at the colony embroiled in destruction and chaos.

Things, for some reason, looked even worse than before.

The roars and rumbles were nothing short of apocalyptic as the enormous colony seemed to be collapsing from the inside out.

"I’ll need your help rounding up survivors and getting those out of control in order."

Bristror scratched his hooves on the floor,

"But such a thing is too dangerous. My kind is not a—"

Cain waved dismissively,

"Will you help me or not?"

The beasts seemed restless, not knowing how to respond.

In the end, it let out a sigh,

"Alright. But we are not built for combat."

Cain shrugged, "It’s a good thing I only need your backs then."