Prologue

Night had barely fallen, the stars just began to shine brighter. The full moon high in the sky, little bits of its reflective surface shined through the canopy. It left little spots of moonlight scattered across the floor.

A mouse scurried through a moonlit spot, its ears perked for any sound in the eerily night. An owl hood in the distance, and the mouse scurried off, leaves crunching underneath its tiny feet.

"WHY!?" The yell of a young man deep inside the forest scared the still awake birds and animals away. The night's quiet came to an end, one of chaos awoke.

"Why did this happen?" The man said, tears streeks stained the desperate man's cheeks. He turned his gaze up at the full moon. His hands were covered in soot, his clothes were in no better state. Holes covered the cloth and burn wounds decorated his skin.

The man fell to his knees, a yell tore through his throat. His head turned to the sky, his eyes narrowed, fists clenched tight, teeth creaking under the pressure. Fury coursed through his veins. "YOU DID THIS! YOU DAMNED GOD STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

Silent sobs racked his body, his voice fell to a whisper. "I lost everything..."

He tried to wipe the tears away, only to smear the ash all over his cheek.

Smoke clouds were seen in the sky behind the forest, if you looked well, you could even see the top of the flames above the canopy.

The light of the moon became brighter for a single second. It caught the man off guard. As he looked up to what the light called to his attention, his breath halted for a minute.

A stranger wrapped in a cloak of deep blue with silver accents, a chard, wooden staff with a silver orb clutched in their hand. The robes smelled like an endless night sky after heavy rain. Their face obscured by the hood, casting it deep shadows.

"You have angered the god you served so loyally." The stranger said, their voice was an echo of what it normally was, hollow of emotion and rough. "You may have escaped the fires, but now you blame someone of what was the fault of nobody. Fate has now decided your future and I can guarantee you, it is not a pleasant one."

The robed stranger lifted his staff, the orb illuminated the little clearing of the forest. As the light grew bigger and bigger, covering more of the night sky. The stranger slammed his staff down onto the ground. Cracks ran out of its point of impact.

"No..." The young man whispered desperately. His hands trembled in his lap, hazel eyes stared at the stranger and the magic they displayed.

With widened eyes the man tried to climb to his feet, only to not find the strength to stand. In a desperate attempt to get away he crawled backwards, away from the growing cracks.

The split earth followed the man where ever he decided to run. The sliver light had crept down the staff and lit up the cracks. It slithered towards the fearful man on the ground.

The stranger looked on without moving a muscle, the staff still firmly planted in the ground. Not even the movement of breath was seen from it. "With every passing cycle of the moon, you will hunger for evermore. It will never end, nor will it ever fade. Only the empty feeling of never ending hunger will consume you."

The fearful man hiccupped once through his tears, realizing he couldn't escape from the stranger and their magic. "I didn't mean to... I swear I did not realize I was cursing our god. Please have mercy!" The man pleaded in a desperate attempt to save his hide.

"It is too late for an apology now." The stranger answered without remorse. "It is the will of my master, and I shall succeed in carrying out his orders."

Hazel eyes stared into the endless night of the strangers hood that covered their face. The man kept his gaze firmly on the stranger, he did not want to show his weakness in this final moment.

The silver light reached him and enveloped his body. Pain he could have never imagined surged through his veins. He could not contain the yell that tore through his throat. It felt like he was both on fire and freezing.

The man doubled over as the wave of pain coursed through his veins again. He gritted his teeth against another scream. It clouded his mind as he stared at the stranger, his cold and merciless demeaner rubbed off wrong. Through his clenched teeth he made a promise to the cloaked stranger. "I will turn this curse against you and your damned master. I will take control of it and get my revenge."

The cloaked stranger scoffed and challenged. "We would like to see you try."

With those words the stranger disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the man behind in his suffering. Never they saw the way the man channelled the magic to his control, or the way the monster's fangs glinted in the moonlight afterwards. His smile would haunt all those who saw the beast.