Power part 4

A large explosion engulfs the entire area after Skoll attacks the door with all the magical power he can muster. Smoke, dust, and large amounts of debris fill the air making it hard to breathe. Fenrir coughs, the dust fills his airpipe every time he tries to breathe. "Skoll." Fenrir tries calling out as he wheezes. "What the fuck happened?" He asks, but there's no reply.

Fenrir waits for the dust to settle before he can see anything. As the dust becomes less and less dense, he can make out Skoll's silhouette. He runs towards him to make sure he's alright. As he gets closer, and as the dust settles, Fenrir can make out the gruesome scene that lies before him. Skoll's mangled corpse is almost unrecognizable. It's as if someone had thrown him feet-first into a meat grinder. A combination of gelatinous meat and hard bones creates a pile of entropic diversity upon which Fenrir had never laid eyes on. 

Fenrir's feelings of remorse and sadness are quickly restrained by the cries of his sister. He pushes whatever feelings he has into the deepest depths of his psyche to save his sister from whatever torturous endeavor she is suffering from. He turns towards the sound and clenches his fists, his claws digging into the palms of his hands drawing blood. 

Fenrir unclenches his fists and takes a deep breath before rushing forward. Fenrir rushes through the dust and sees the door is still intact. Every fiber of his being is telling him to bust the door down instead of wasting time figuring out what happened to Skoll. He closes his eyes and clears his mind of all distractions. 'This needs to be handled properly, otherwise, I'll suffer the same fate as Skoll.' A tear drips from one of his eyes and falls to the floor. 

When he opens his eyes, a vivid circle of magical light appears in front of him. He's confused by the strange pattern and unrecognizable symbols. Despite these symbols being foreign to him, his hands instinctively move the symbols around like an interactive hologram. He realizes that these symbols are like instructions for molding the magic and making it do what the user wants. The pattern they are in just needs to be solved like a highly complex puzzle. 

After Fenrir solves the puzzle, the interconnecting lines rearrange themselves into a different pattern until they unravel themselves and disappear as fast as they had appeared. Fenrir figures that the magic on this door has been deactivated, so he uses his strength to bust down the door. However, the door doesn't give in. Fenrir tries punching the door once again with all his might only to have the same result. He tries over and over again, the sound of knuckles hitting on metal bangs throughout the tunnel.

After what seems like an eternity, Fenrir stops and looks at the bloodstained door. His knuckles bloodied and broken just like his spirit. He slams his head against the metal, screaming in agony. "WWHHHHHYYYYY." He screams as realizes he is powerless as an older brother. "I'm supposed to be there for them." His voice quivers as he starts crying and slamming the side of his regenerating hands against the door. All the training he had done in secret to become stronger to protect his siblings had been for nothing. This was his time to shine, but he found himself standing before an impenetrable force.

"I ca...save anyone." He growls with anger that he directs to the mistress of fate. His tears replaced by a furrowed brow and snout. His fangs bear to those who defy his resolve. 'Whatever it takes.' He tells himself. "SKOLL DIDN'T DIE FOR NOTHING." He screams as he repeatedly punches the door once again. After several minutes, he stops and slouches onto his knees. Every bone in his hands, broken. Every ounce of pride, gone. Everything sinking deeper and deeper into a dark void looking up at an obstacle that keeps getting taller.

He snarls and bares his fangs once again. Foaming at the mouth, he screams in anger. His eyes are bloodshot. Then he takes a deep breath and calms down. His eyes and facial expression become blank as all his emotions leave. He turns around and sits against the door, defeated. He stares at Skoll's mangled corpse, his expression unchanging as if nothing could phase him. Darkness looms over his heart, as he asks himself if this is what being powerless feels like, what Hell feels like.

He recounts the day they found out their mother had died. Suppressing their emotions around a stranger wasn't easy, but they all knew they couldn't let their guard down around Thomas. At least not back then. Fenrir could see the pain on Luna's face the whole time. No matter how much she acted like everything was fine, her eyes told a different story.

Skoll was different. His eyes were always filled with excitement and hope for the future. In the end, he died just like the hero he always imagined himself as. Fenrir sighs, knowing Skoll died in vain. 'Is nothing in this world fair?'

Fenrir remembers a fond memory with his mother a few years ago. She was tending to her garden while giving him some advice. Her soft hair was blowing in the wind, she kept using her hand to move her hair out from her face. With Fenrir standing next to her, she looks over her shoulder and sees Skoll and Luna playing tag. The smiles on their faces made her smile as well. "As the firstborn, you need to watch over them when I head to town for supplies."

Fenrir scowls at her words, all he wants is to be left alone. Playing these silly games never interested him. "I'd rather explore the woods, or read a book. I'm not interested in babysitting."

"You were always a recluse." Suriel chuckles. "But it's the responsibility of an older brother to protect his siblings."

"Luna is better than me at everything. I think she should be the one to take on that responsibility."

"Even so, you're more mature than she is. You're a natural-born leader. And leaders aren't the most physically gifted. They are the ones who can make tough decisions when one needs to be made." She stops what she's doing to look Fenrir in the eyes. "When I found the three of you in the woods thst day, something compelled me to save you. I believe it was the potential I saw in all of you. You were left to die, but this world has bigger plans for all of you."

"Here we go again about destiny crap." Fenrir crosses his arms. "Why can't you accept that everything is random? The gods don't interfere with anyone's lives."

Suriel sighs. "When I was still living in the astral plane, we had beliefs about a higher power than our own. Nothing happens without a reason. Our lives are predetermined, but that doesn't mean we don't have some control over them."

"Fine, I'll try being their older brother for once. But you're not going to convince me that what you're saying is true."

....

Two years ago..

Fenrir opens a locked chest thst he keeps all his books in. Books that he's been collecting for two years. Stealing them from the local village and random travelers thst wander near their homes. There's one in particular that stands out to him. A red book with a pentagram crudely carved into the cover. Fenrir opens it and starts to read.

It tells of a dark realm whose origins are unknown. By carving the pentagram onto your body as seen on the cover, you can connect your soul to the realm to feed off its power. It only grants power to those who commit acts that go against their morals. From what Fenrir can make of it, this realm feeds off the corruption and anguish of those who seek power. 'Do I gain magical power if I killed someone I cared about? I'm trying to protect them, not kill them. No, any act that causes me mental anguish would be enough'

....

Present day..

Fenrir realizes the only way to save Luna is to risk his psychological well being. In return, according to that book, he should be able to harness the dark magical powers that reside there. 'This is my last resort.' Fenrir thinks to himself as he carves a pentagram into his chest using his claws. 'This is the only way to save Luna.' When he's done carving it, there is a red glow that emits from the blood-soaked wound. It disappeared as fast as it appeared, his body healing the wound but leaving a permanent scar in return.

Fenrir takes the scar as a sign that it worked. With the first and easiest step completed, all he needs to do is to commit an act against nature. He takes a moment to think, his mind becomes blank. Thinking of atrocious things to do doesn't naturally come to his mind, it's always random.

After several minutes, a distressing thought enters his mind. A thought that would take advantage of the dark realm. Fenrir stands up and makes his way over to Skoll's body. He kneels over it and presses his muzzle against his brother's intestines. 'Devour.' An act so grotesque the thought of it makes his stomach churn. As he partakes in the act, he keeps reminding himself that this is the only way to save Luna.

He distracts himself by remembering how Skoll became the person he was. Reminiscing the time he saved Skoll from a near-death experience. A dead tree blew over from a windy day, Skoll had frozen up like his life had been flashing before his eyes. Fenrir had acted quickly enough to push him out of the way. Since that day, Skoll had regressed mentally by imagining himself as a great hero to pretend he was stronger.

Fenrir starts to gage and throw up the portion of his brother he had consumed, but the act is enough to satisfy the dark realm's thirst for corruption. The pentagram on his chest glows once again, and Fenrir feels a rush of magic course through his body like a waterfall filling up an empty ravine. Red flames engulf his body burning anything and everything near him. The rock beneath his feet turns red, and the vast amount of energy running through him makes him feel like he can do anything. However, he's not as optimistic as he should be. The thought of using a power that's not his own fills his heart with hatred. The immoral way to obtain it, as well as the lack of effort one has to put in, infuriates him.

He clears his mind before he gets too distracted. He has to focus on the mission ahead. He turns to face the door and sprints at it without any hesitation. Barreling towards it, he slashes at the door, cutting through it like butter as the metal turns red and melts at the slightest touch. Fenrir pushes what's left of the door away with ease as the rest of it melts into a liquid and enters the room. The room is bland, the only piece of furniture is a single bed. On the bed is a naked man who turns around after hearing all that noise and sits in stunned silence after seeing the raging monster that forced its way inside.

The man clumsily tries to get away, falling off the bed to reveal what he had been on top of, Luna. Most of her clothes are torn off, scratches all over her molested body. The blank expression on her face tells of a girl who had gone through something so terrible, her mind had detached itself from the experience. However, she starts to react when she realizes Fenrir is here to save her. She covers her privates with her hands and curls up into a ball in the corner of the room.

Fenrir glares at the man who starts begging for his life. Tears streaming down the man's face as Fenrir walks towards him. The man screams in pain as the heat from Fenrir's flames scorch his skin. The smell of burning flesh engulfs the room with a putrid and distinct odor. Fenrir stands over the man who is squirming in pain, watching as he suffers. After the man succumbs to his injuries, Fenrir continues to stand over him until his flesh turns to ash.

Fenrir tries to extinguish the flames that he no longer needs, but they seem to have a mind of their own. A corrupted soul, a wounded mind, these flames try to take over his consciousness. His desire to save Luna turns into dark aspirations to see her dead. Fenrir drops to his knees with a splitting headache as he fights these urges.

Seeing Fenrir struggle, Luna quickly grabs her clothes and runs out of the room. When she reaches the door, she sees an ungodly sight before her eyes. The remnants of Skoll are engulfed in a blue aura. His remains turn to ash. However, just a few seconds later, an arm reaches out of the ashes followed by the rest of Skoll. He climbs out of the ashes as if he had just climbed up a cliff. Skoll's eyes meet his sister's, a confused and dazed look on both their faces. "What happened?" He asks.

Luna isn't sure if he is asking what happened to her, or him. Either way, their confusion turns to concern as they hear Fenrir crying out inside the room.