Chapter 1

" My dear son, you have many talents, you are far more powerful than your father or I ever were. But the world would not be so accepting of who you are. What you are. Be well, my son. Find your own path in his world. Your father and I hid our presence in this world for fear of what would happen to you. But now, you must decide for yourself what kind of man you will be. I know you will do well. Take care, my son. Be well."

Those were the last words Nicolas heard from his mother before she too passed away. After such a long life, time had finally caught up with her, just as it would he someday.

Withing nothing more than the clothes on his back, a dagger, and the money left behind by his mother, Nicolas ventured out from the secluded woods, rucking his way through swamps and forests filled with animals of all kinds. The Wilds are a dangerous place for any unfamiliar with it. But Nicolas had years of experience trekking through the forest, hunting, gathering, surviving. But something was different this time. The air of the Wilds carried a scent unlike anything he had ever smelled before. It was thick with death, age, and decay. It was tainted.

A chill ran up Nicolas' back. He could feel the hair on every part of his body stand up.

" This scent is foul." He whispered to himself. " The scent of blood is thick. Death. But I've never smelled it so strong before. This is different." Nicolas decided to see for himself what exactly had happened in the Wilds. He went running through the forest, at a speed no normal man could easily reach.

The closer Nicolas came towards the scent, the louder the sound of screaming and fighting grew. He knew he was heading towards a fight.

He had been trained in all sorts of combat by his father, but training and actual fighting were two completely different things. Nicolas knew that well.

Eventually, Nicolas came to a clearing in the Wilds, and what he saw was grizzly, a field of grass painted red with blood. The bodies of soldiers and merchants strewn around vicariously. And there, brooding over the bodies, pillaging them, robbing them, eating them, were creatures of dark. Monsters, abominations. Darkspawn.

Creatures of death and destruction. Usually only seen down the deep roads. Usually, not to wander the higher world. Unless one thing was happening. A Blight.

Nicolas had learned of such a thing from his father, a man who had lived long in the world. Longer perhaps anyone could truly imagine.

But there was more. There just surrounded by the creatures was a young woman, most likely a daughter of one of the many dead merchants.

Nicolas could hear her screams as Darkspawn approached, ready to finish her off.

Without word or warning, Nicolas rushed the Darkspawn, catching one of them off-guard, and hitting the demon with a fierce kick so strong it completely destroyed the creature's armor and severed the upper half of the demon's body.

Blood and guts exploded everywhere, even on the girl's face, who screamed.

" What happened?" She asked herself, unsure of exactly what had just happened to the demon in front of her. However, as she reopened her eyes, she saw standing in front of her a giant man. She watched as the man battled the darkspawn, moving and attacking less than a man and more like an animal with a "Flair for dramatics." She was overtaken with relief. She had been in deep shock and terror since the attack started, and now, for the first time, since her father died, she believed she would be safe. It was so much. So much that the adrenaline keeping her aware wore off, and she had passed out.

Nicolas effortlessly dispatched the Darkspawn, taking note that the creatures didn't seem to have a sense for pain or any kind of feelings other than attack. other than kill.

" That's all of them." Nicolas noted, He looked around the forest area, now devoid of all life but his own and the woman behind him. " This is troubling. A Blight is coming.... No. It's already here. maybe that's why the presence of soldiers has been growing heavier." Nicolas spoke to himself. He looked down at the woman on the ground and sighed.

He bent over and picked her up in his arms and jumped into the tree.

...

About an hour later, Nicolas noticed signs of the woman beginning to stir.

"Uhh, what?" She asked. Suddenly, she looked up and nearly fell head first off the tree.

" Will you be careful?" Nicolas asked the woman. His voice was smooth. Strong but soothing and nice. The voice of a young man.

He stuck his hand out and grabbed the woman before she fell and pulled her back up carefully.

" Who? What are you?" The woman asked.

" Someone who just saved your life." He told the woman. " Now, tell me what happened."

The woman hesitated for a moment before deciding to speak up to her savior. "Well, we were on our way back to Lothering, after purchasing items for the shop. But on our way back, our caravan was attacked by Darkspawn. My father was the owner of the tavern in Lothering. He was killed.

Nicolas saw the sad expression on the woman's face. Understandable. She had just gone through a very traumatic experience and likely lost the only family she had.

" I'm sorry. If you want, we can go back and collect anything you might need, and I'll escort you to where you're heading." Nicolas told the young woman.

The woman hesitated for just a moment. " Why are you helping me?" She asked.

" I'm not gonna just leave you out here alone. Now come on, the longer we wait, the more likely it is we'll be attacked." Nicolas told the girl

He grabbed her by the wrist and stood up.

" Wait? What are you doing?" She asked, and then suddenly he jumped down with her. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"

And that concludes the first chapter. tell me, what do you guys think? Would you like to continue and see where it leads? Can you guess from the title and the description of the character in the auxiliary chapter what his race is?