Prologue: The cockatrice

The Karbraland Great Forest was an extremely large area, completely covered in trees and plants of all kinds. Many of these trees exceeded ten meters, and some could reach fifty. Countless animal species had no problem finding all the food they wanted there. Huge grazers such as karkadanns, indriks, ophiotaurus and many other large herbivorous animals continuously ruminated in the forest undergrowth, and they often formed enormous herds consisting of several hundred individuals. And with so many herbivores, of course there were plenty of carnivores as well.

One of the most dangerous was the cockatrice. It was a rather singular creature and one that many would have defined as decidedly bizarre. Cockatrices were distant cousins ​​of griffins, but unlike them they looked like large dark green chickens with a long light green feathered tail. However, just because they didn't look dangerous didn't mean they weren't. They had hooked beaks and clawed feet so strong they could rip hair, skin, and flesh off an indrik with a single swipe. Although in the Karbraland Great Forest there were predators more dangerous than them, such as the terrible gramr wolves or even the dreaded bersekirs (giant bears at least four meters tall, with enormous teeth and three horns on their heads), the cockatrices were still predators at the apex of the food chain. They were very territorial and fought fiercely against anyone who dared to enter their area.

In the undergrowth of the southern part of the Karbraland Great Forest, near the great mountains that formed a long range, one of these cockatrices was prowling for food. Unfortunately, this particular cockatrice had recently been forced out of its territory, and it wasn't very familiar with the new environment it had ventured into in an attempt to find prey. Normally a cockatrice would have left its territory only during mating season, but for some reason the food in the forest had started to dwindle sharply and the herds had rapidly disappeared. The cockatrice's territory had basically turned empty, leaving it no choice but to move around in hopes of finding food. Even so, though, it hadn't eaten for days.

The cockatrice didn't know what was going on, but it knew it had to be very careful. It had a brain as big as a chicken's, but it wasn't stupid and it knew how to recognize alarming signals. It knew that now something new had arrived in the forest, a new extremely dangerous predator. Most other life forms hadn't noticed it, because that predator made sure to cover up its tracks every time and it did it quite well. But the cockatrice's sense of smell was one of the best in nature. It could detect an odor even twelve kilometers away and therefore it had been able to easily perceive that something new had made its appearance in the forest. And it had quickly realized that it was better to avoid it.

It was definitely a predator, because its smell often coincided with that of other animals that mysteriously disappeared. So far the cockatrice hadn't found any animals that survived the encounter with that predator, demonstrating how strong it was. Besides, it had never even found the carcasses of the animals, or even their bones. This predator appeared to be an insatiable beast that devoured anything.

Normally, a predator would have picked one prey and hunt only that, and for a day or even a whole week it would have been satisfied. It could happen, if that predator lived in a herd, that the hunted preys were two or three. But this mysterious new predator was different: It hunted and wiped out entire herds of animals and it left no survivors. It was as if its hunger knew no bounds and there was nothing that could oppose it. Because of this, the food in large part of the forest, abundant until a few weeks ago, was quickly becoming scarce.

The cockatrice had wisely stayed away from that mysterious predator, but now it was too hungry. It wanted to eat something and when it perceived the smell of a large number of rotting carcasses, even though it knew that the dangerous and unknown carnivorous animal would probably be there, it made the choice to head to that place. With luck, it could have stolen at least a few pieces of meat and escaped before the other predator noticed its presence.

The smell of death was unmistakable and easy to follow. The cockatrice didn't have to walk far. Its nose carried it to a small clearing among the trees, where it witnessed a horrific slaughter. The corpses of at least sixteen audhumlas were scattered on the ground dripping with blood and with their entrails ripped open. The big wild cows had literally been torn apart and must have died in a terribly painful way. The cockatrice was horrified by such bloodshed and immediately felt the urge to flee. Even a predator like itself would never have committed such a carnage. The animals killed just to eat, but the number of wild cows killed was far more than any creature in the forest could need to survive.

And at the center of that pile of corpses there was the culprit. Still intent on killing the last remaining audhumlas by tearing its neck open with its powerful jaws, a huge armored creature similar to a giant silver lizard at least five meters long loomed in the middle of the clearing, its paws and mouth covered with the blood of its victims, and clinging to the scales there were even some bits of gut that must have stuck there when it was butchering the wild cows.

The cockatrice backed away, hoping it hadn't been noticed. The last thing it wanted was to face that monster. However, the survival instinct clashed with the instinct to feed. The cockatrice desperately wanted to get a piece of meat. It was undecided for a few moments, then it chose to take a risk: trying to make as little noise as possible, it approached one of the wild cows' corpses to tear off one of their legs. Unfortunately for it, however, the other creature must have had excellent hearing, because its head turned and its gaze immediately fell on it.

The cockatrice gasped as it saw those ruthless eyes rest on its body. The other predator seemed surprised by its presence: evidently it didn't expect that another animal would ever have had the courage to disturb it or even try to steal from it. However, it was clear that it didn't like the attempted theft. The cockatrice knew it couldn't just stay still and wait; it had to act, and immediately. So it resorted to its first survival tactic: it spread its wings as wide as possible and puffed out its chest feathers. On its wings the feathers formed the design of two large red eyes, making it appear much larger. The cockatrice hoped this would have discouraged or at least confuse its opponent.

But the mysterious predator didn't buy it. Despite a moment of uncertainty, its gaze didn't show the slightest concern and indeed the creature began to advance towards the bird, clearly intending to eliminate it. Realizing that its trick hadn't worked, the cockatrice tried another tactic. It inhaled deeply, then opened its beak and released all the air it had accumulated in its lungs in a single, high-pitched cry, so loud that it could be heard for several kilometers.

This time the new predator backed away and an expression of dismay and pain was painted on its muzzle. At some point it even collapsed to the ground and put its front paws on its head, as if it wanted to protect its ears. For a creature with excellent hearing, a loud sound was extremely painful. The cockatrice had generated a real ultrasound, which for the mysterious predator was like having a claw planted in its auditory system.

The cockatrice took advantage of the situation and fled. The creature recovered after a few seconds and tried to chase it, but it was clear that the bird had the advantage: it was much better suited to running than its opponent. Its light and flexible body made it much quicker and more agile over rough forest terrain. The cockatrice was sure it could outrun its opponent.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Suddenly the ground shook and a hole formed under the cockatrice's paws. The big bird yelped in surprise, but it couldn't help falling in. When it managed to recover, the mysterious predator was already upon its body and was opening its monstrous fangs.

The cockatrice reacted instinctively: it jumped much higher than could be expected from an animal of its size, avoiding the other animal's fangs. At that point it opened its hind legs showing the claws, which began to radiate a strong energy and became the same consistency of steel.

The other predator dodged and moved to a safe distance. Its mouth dropped open and a growl emerged from it. "Mana... I should have expected that"

The cockatrice was furious at having missed its target, but it had no intention of hesitating: it opened its eyes as wide as it could and they began to glow with a soft yellow light. After a mere instant, the light exploded and condensed into a kind of ray that fired at full speed at its opponent. The mysterious predator retreated just in time, but the ray grazed one of its horns, burning the affected spot with such rapidity that the skin didn't catch fire, but was directly charred.

The other predator roared in pain, but the cockatrice didn't hear it; it too was all in pain. Its eyes burned. While that attack was the most powerful at its disposal, it was also excruciatingly painful, so it only used it in extreme cases.

Unfortunately, it hadn't been able to hit its target. Even though the mysterious predator was very large, it also appeared to be very agile. The bird's attack had only scratched it, and now it was clearly furious. "You little...!"

The cockatrice prepared to fire another ray; it didn't care if it would have been painful, what mattered was that it managed to push its opponent away. But this time it was less fortunate: the mysterious predator didn't keep a safe distance, but it charged and jumped on the bird. Before it could fire the hot ray again, the predator grabbed its head and stared up at it. The ray was thus shot towards the sky.

The cockatrice squealed in pain and flapped its wings as it struck its opponent in the face; although they were covered in soft feathers, the impact was strong enough to make the predator lose concentration for an istant and it let the bird go. The cockatrice tried to flee, but when the predator opened its eyes again they were red with anger. "Die!" it growled, touching its muzzle, where a strange symbol was engraved.

The symbol emitted a crimson light, and then a flame exploded and engulfed the cockatrice. The bird screeched in pain as the fire grazed its feathers and skin and cooked it alive. The cockatrice let out a few mighty screams that rang throughout the forest, then it fell to the ground still engulfed in flames and never moved again. The smell of burnt flesh spread rapidly, making the mysterious predator's nostrils quiver.

"Good. And with that, my experiments are concluded for today" the predator said looking at what remained of the cockatrice. "I would have spared your life as a thank you for your contribution, but... no, who am I kidding, I would have killed you anyway. In any case, thank you"

The being picked up the cockatrice's body and, although it was a little disgusted by the charred flesh, placed it in a tiny bag. After that it did the same with the corpses of wild cows and then it left. The predator walked for a while, until it arrived in front of a cave hidden by numerous branches.

Another creature similar to that predator emerged through them. "Haku, you're back!" it greeted it. "How did it go?"

"Hello, Darbi. It went well. My experiments worked" the predator replied. "And I got some more food"

The other creature seemed to smile. "Great! This is...". It stopped. "What happened to your horn?"

The predator almost blushed. "Nothing"

"Seriously? Because it's..."

"I said nothing happened!"