3 Things escalate

It was late at night, Daegon was fast asleep, exhuasted from his ordeal in the forest. Daegons father, Tripherion, sat by the window staring into the distance, with the breeze rustling his untrimmed beard as the flickering light of a dying candle painted his face in dancing luminescence. In his hands, a pipe lit, yet untouched as the embers within slowly faded. Sighing, Tripherion took a long look at the loft where Daegon was sleeping.

Daegon deeply immersed in a vivid dream, had no awareness of the outside world.

Gruesome scenes played in recursion in Daegons head.

In the beginning he hunted anything from rabbits to deer, a savage hunger ravaging his desire to consume. An unstoppable combination of stealth, speed and raw power lead his prey to the chopping block with no resistance.

The more he consumed and grew, the stronger he became, connecting with his inborn talents for magic he gained new fearsome abilities. A thirst for power that could never be satiated arose, driving him to consume even more!

RAWR!

An explosion of sound blasted from his jaw exposing rows of flawless white teeth. A feeling of superiority welled in his chest, confidence from the depths of his gut oozed into his every fiber of his being.

--

"Daegon! DAEGON!"

"huh, what is it?" A drowsy Daegon saw his father above him, shaking him by the shoulders.

"are you OK son?" His father leaning in to inspect him. "you were shaking and screaming, and I couldn't wake you"

Surprised, Daegon sat himself up in the bed to find his bed sheets shredded as if torn by knives. His left arm felt like it was on fire, and waves of dizziness assaulted his balance.

"What's wrong with me, Dad?" A scared Daegon gripped the sleeve of his father.

"Daegon, I can't say for certain what has happened to you, get dressed and grab a hat," Tripherion sighed. "There may be someone in the village who knows more. I'm taking you to see her today."

The pair set off as the morning sun breached over the treetops. Father and son walking side by side down the dirt lane between the dancing wheat fields.

It was mid afternoon by the time a village came into sight. A stream passed to the left of a cluster of stone buildings, which were gathered around a small stone fort. The village was set in a flatland and nestled between forest on either side. Rocks litered the countryside and a dirt pathway lead the way into the village.

Apart from coming to the village to help Tipherion sell harvests of grain to the Lord, Daegon hardly set foot in this place.

"Ok we're here." Tipherion glanced at the sign swinging from a particular building.

'The Lost Souls'

Bangs and the raucous laughter of men could be heard emanating out of the open door.

"Alright you stay here, an inn like this is no place for a kid."

Watching Tipherion enter The Lost Soul, Daegon sat by the street.

"Look what we have here lads." Just then a lanky teen appeared from the alley. "A bumpkin who's lost, aww"

'Oh great, Targon's here.' Daegon grimaced. Targon was slightly older than most boys in the village and liked to cause trouble for some of the younger ones. Daegon was no exception his 'trouble'. Every time he came to the village, somehow he would be sniffed out by this bully.

Three more boys followed at the heels of Targon like ducklings, laughing the four boys surrounded Daegon on all sides.

"Do you need us big boys to show you the way home?" One of them sneered.

"Yeah, brats like you should be taught where they're allowed to be." The four of them laughed.

"Leave me alone." Gritting his teeth, Daegon wished his Dad could hurry up with whatever it was he needed to do.

"He wants us to leave him alone guys." Targon pretended to be scared. "How's this for leaving you alone brat?"

An arm started swinging, Targon had struck out with his hand to slap Daegon in the face. A feeling bloomed in Daegon's chest and his arm started tingling, the slap which should have come hurtling at him like a meteor looked incredibly slow to him.

Daegon's body moved on its own, and instinctively reacted to the danger. Ducking, Daegon slipped the strike by millimetres.

'What was that?' Daegon's left arm now red hot, the feeling within his chest was rising higher and higher. He could almost hear a savage growling ringing in his ears.

ARGH. Daegon yelled, and clutched his face with both arms.

Thinking Targon had managed to hit Daegon one of the boys called out. "Ah. Don't cry baby, here have another one."

As the next strike came in, Daegon's hands moved away from his face. For a brief moment looking directly into Targon's own. Two red eyes with cat like pupils stared into his very soul.

Daegon's consciousness went black, the last thing he heard was the screams of a few teenagers.