Meaning To The Vow

If you fear, Your claws and teeth will chip oh-so-easily. 

If you feel worthless, 

I'd simply embrace you within my arms. 

Yes, I am the human within you, 

Coward and timid.

As if the world itself shuddered with every roar, the two beasts clashed outside, their violence shaking the earth beneath El Ritch. He pulled at the broken planks of wood with one hand, his other clutching the boy close. The house groaned with each impact, the walls threatening to collapse at any moment. 

We'll get out, El Ritch thought, forcing himself to believe it. We'll get out, and I'll give you the best life possible— 

A searing pain tore through his back, and his grip faltered. The boy tumbled to the ground as El Ritch spun around. 

Above him, four bipedal creatures emerged from the darkness, their cackling echoing like nails against stone. They'd been hiding, waiting for prey to stumble into their lair. 

Damn it... His thoughts froze as panic clawed at his resolve. 

The creatures lunged, jaws snapping at the air, and El Ritch let loose a guttural scream: 

"Grrughhh!" 

He meant to shout *Run,* but his voice was nothing more than a desperate growl. 

The creatures swarmed him, their saliva hissing as it splattered and burned his skin. He struck back with all the strength he had left. In a frenzy, he crushed two of their thin, wiry necks with his bare hands. Blood gushed from his mouth as he wheeled the limp body of one into the third, puncturing its neck. The final creature shrieked, claws slashing wildly, but El Ritch slammed it against the broken timbers until it fell silent. 

He swayed, his vision blurring, knowing he'd never survive this. But there was still one thing left to do. 

Turning back to the boy, who had curled into a ball in a corner, El Ritch tapped his shoulder. His voice was gone, his throat shredded, but his touch was firm. 

The boy looked up, trembling, his face streaked with tears. "I—I'm sorry," he whimpered, his words broken by sobs. "I'm sorry, Master. I'm not worth it. I'm not worth your sacrifice. I... I was born an orphan. If someone has to die, let it be me. At least then, I wouldn't be alone..." 

Each word cracked under the weight of his despair, and El Ritch's heart ached at the sound. He wanted to speak, to comfort him, but his body betrayed him. Instead, he reached out, patting the boy's head with a trembling hand, his touch gentle despite the pain that consumed him. 

I will live for you, El Ritch thought. 

He pushed himself to stand, but his legs buckled as a sudden blow tore through his throat. 

One of the creatures had survived. 

Its claw ripped into him, tearing his neck open. Blood gushed from the wound, spilling down his chest as he collapsed. The creature shrieked, snapping its jaws in the air triumphantly as El Ritch crumpled to the floor. 

He couldn't breathe. His lungs filled with blood, drowning him, and his vision darkened. The boy's screams faded into the distance, muffled and indistinct. 

---

With my life and beyond, 

The soul of mine, I give up. 

Grant me strength in this final hour, 

By death do I abide, and let this child receive all blessings of life. 

El Ritch closed his eyes.

He will live. 

All went still. 

 THE BOY

What are monsters, beasts, or animals? By what authority did we dare to make distinctions among them—and conveniently exclude ourselves? God is neither merciful, kind, nor all-knowing. The horrors that unfold in His domain are hidden even from Him as Man ascends to play God in His stead.

The boy stood amidst the ruins, flames licking the crumbled remains of what was once a village. His chest heaved, but not from exertion—it was something deeper. Rage boiled in him, raw and uncontrollable. 

He had no name, no story of his own, no recognition in this world. The only person who saw him as something more than nothing lay lifeless before him. "You dare?!" His voice in cold rage, humming through the village even in such cacophony as he turned, his piercing glare locking onto the bipedal monster that stalked nearby, its grotesque form twitching. 

"You, a beast born out of the misery of a chicken," the boy spoke in distaste. "Do you even comprehend what I've lost because of you?" 

The air grew heavy, an invisible force pressing down on the beast. It screeched, clawing at the ground, but it could not rise. 

"Kill yourself," the boy commanded coldly. 

The monster's body ruptured instantly, its insides splattering across the charred walls and debris. Blood and bile rained down, yet the boy barely flinched. He wiped the mess off his face with a slow, deliberate motion, his gaze fixed ahead. His hands trembled as they began to glitch and flicker like static. 

I don't have much time. 

The two remaining beasts, the bird-like monstrosity and the uncanny human-faced horror, had ceased their fight. Both had torn limbs dangling uselessly from their bodies, but their glowing eyes now followed the boy. Wariness crept into their movements. 

"Who... who... who... who are you?" The human-faced beast mimicked speech, its voice a horrifying mockery of humanity. 

The boy cocked his head slightly, unamused. "So you can mimic humans. Although, Of course, since you've feasted on enough humans to learn the sounds." 

He walked with eerie calmness, dragging El Ritch's corpse behind him. The flames around them flickered brighter, as if bowing to his presence. His steps stopped in the center of the carnage. 

"I had one person in this forsaken world who recognized me. Do you know what that means?" His voice softened, breaking ever so slightly as he knelt beside the lifeless body of his master. 

"I am nothing now. Nothing except what he believed me to be." His fingers brushed against El Ritch's cold hand. 

The beasts tensed, sensing weakness. They lunged together, claws outstretched, but froze mid-air, as if caught in an invisible grip. 

"Because of you both," the boy whispered, standing slowly, "I am cursed to live unknown. I am nothing, but I will ensure your deaths are far worse." 

The world around them cracked, folding into itself. Space unraveled, dimensions becoming meaningless. Height, depth, volume—everything dissolved into the incomprehensible. The boy's form seemed to stretch and fragment, a glitch in reality itself. 

"You, who possess sentience and yet no empathy for a lesser being, have no right to exist as you do. But I will grant you a gift—knowledge, power, and the universe itself. Your deepest desires will become your truths." 

[Scenario taking place outside observable pathways. Dimension warping sequence not possible. Scenario located: Crash! Crash! Crash! Not located.]

[Scenario located: Village Edhan]

The boy sat motionless, waiting for the inevitable—his demise. Without recognition, without a tether to this world, he was nothing. Powerless. Soon, he would simply vanish, only to begin anew. But that wasn't what gnawed at him. It wasn't the vanishing. It was the memories he'd lose. Born an orphan in this place, he had lived a brief, unremarkable life. Yet even the smallest moments felt priceless now, most of all those spent with El Ritch.

The words came to him clearly, carried on the wind, defying the chaos and the flames that engulfed the village: 

"With my life and Beyond, 

The soul of mine, I give up. 

Give every strength that I need, 

By death do I abide and give this child all the blessings one shall receive." 

His breath caught. He recognized the words immediately, and horror flashed across his face. "A Vow to the Heart?!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling. He knew what that meant, what such a vow required. It had to be stopped. 

"You are cruel to allow this!" He looked to the sky, his voice rising in desperation. "He is but a mortal! Cancel the vow! You are wrong for this—cancel it!" 

The moon, once radiant, now hid itself behind thick, brooding clouds. Lightning crackled, and sparks danced across the blackened sky. 

"This isn't what his path to chose?!" he cried, his voice raw and pleading. "The laws binds me and you but there you can break, make an exception, this is a cruel fate! He is a good man. A good man." 

The sky gave its reply in silence. The lightning ceased. The clouds stilled. The connection was severed. 

"No!" the boy screamed. 

His skin tore as El Ritch's body, lifeless and broken, began to unravel, fragments of the man's very essence seeping into him. The boy clawed at himself, but it was futile. He could feel the pain of another's sacrifice coursing through his veins. 

"I will protect you—" 

The words resounded in his mind, not in his own voice but in El Ritch's, clear and unwavering. The boy collapsed, his body trembling, shifting, reshaping under the weight of the vow. 

The remnants of El Ritch's final act surged through him, melding with his being, leaving him something... someone else. 

"From today, whatever your name may be... You are El Ritch. Live your life to the fullest. Marry, have children, and in time, give the answer to the question I asked you." El Ritch gave a toothy grin before melting away.