The Cube

In today's Greece, around 1500 B.C

The forest was brimming with vitality and harmony. One could hear the chirping of birds and see the abundant life through the densely packed trees, making it almost look like a scene of the Garden of Eden.

Without any warning, the entire forest was engulfed in an eerie silence. All the animals, from the tiniest insects to the largest mammals, stopped making any noises. Even the birds that were chirping and singing moments ago went quiet and the deer, which were grazing on the forest floor, immediately froze in place with their ears perked up to the sky, as if they were listening for something.

The only sound that could be heard was the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the treetops.

The atmosphere was tense and unsettling as if something was about to happen. This scene lasted only a few moments before everything fell into a frenzy. Birds flew as fast as they could away from the trees while the wildlife ran in any direction as fast as their legs allowed them.

Just moments after the wild animals vanished, the ground beneath them began to shake violently, causing the trees to sway and topple over. The vibrations were so strong that the earth was torn in two, and a deep ravine appeared, splitting the land in half.

As the intense vibrations continued, all the rubble and dust on the ground began to shoot up into the air, creating a heavy film of particles that obscured visibility and made it difficult to breathe. The particles swirled around in the air, forming a thick cloud that hung over the area like a dark curtain.

It lasted only for a few minutes, but within that time the forest had become completely devastated. This once majestic forest that was brimming with vitality only moments before now looked more like a devastated wasteland.

As the violent earthquake finally began to subside, and the thick cloud of particles finally settled, one could see a strange cubic figure lying down in the ravine that had just opened by the earthquake. 

It took a few seconds for the earthquake to completely settle down and allow one to fully see the cubic figure properly. It was a large metallic cube buried halfway in the ground, with strange markings all over it.

The metal it was made from was so dark that it almost made it look like a hole in the ground, with only the strange markings in white to remind you that it was a cube and not a hole.

These markings stretched all over the cube and were arranged in a fixed pattern, creating the illusion of large chains that held the cube together and locked something inside the cube.

The cube remained in the same position for almost two years, with weather and vegetation attempting to erode it, but seemingly not affecting it.

After almost four years it finally seemed like it had a substantial effect. The vegetation and constant weather had managed to erode a small part of the pattern that was etched on the cube.

Something strange happened as the pattern fully disappeared from that part of the cube. The metal where the pattern had formerly been slowly crumbled to dust and scattered with the wind, leaving a gaping hole in the cube.

The hole created some sort of reaction from whatever was within the cube as the cube began to vibrate violently, for a whole minute before finally settling down. 

A milky white gas with a golden hue began to slowly seep out of the hole. This milky white gas began to slowly gather above the cube into a small cloud and remained there for a while.

Its behavior almost made it seem like it was waiting for something or searching for something.

Whatever it was doing, it seemed like it found its answer, as it shot away from the cube, out of the ravine, and into the forest.

The milky white cloud moved at speeds akin to that of a meteor car, and within only seconds it reached a wolf a few kilometers away from the ravine, crashing into it.

Strangely it did not shoot the wolf backward or go through it, instead, it just disappeared within the wolf.

The wolf stood there silently, almost as if frozen in time after being hit by the milky white cloud of gas.

After a few seconds though something happened. The wolf fell to the ground and began convulsing with foam coming out of its mouth.

While convulsing its body began to slowly grow, reaching almost 1.5 times its original size within only a matter of seconds. Its fur also began to change rapidly with it slowly turning snow white, making it stand out like a sore thumb in the vibrant forest.

After lying still on the ground for a few moments, the massive wolf slowly opened his eyes, revealing to the world the striking sight of his golden pupils.

___

The only sensation he felt was an icy coldness that permeated every nook and cranny of his consciousness.

He could not think, not move, not feel anything else, all he could do was feel this cold that seeped into the very essence of his soul. 

How long he had been in this state he did not know. It could have been months, years, decades, or millennia… at some unknown point in time, his consciousness had faded away, leaving only fragmented remnants of his former self behind.

His purpose of being here or who he was had all been eroded over time.

Suddenly he felt something, something that wasn't cold. He did not know how to describe it, but it felt as if his soul was slowly being filled with this feeling, was this warmth?

This sensation gradually awoke fragments of his consciousness, making him partly awaken from this tormenting hell that had gradually consumed him into nothingness.

He remembers his name, he was Lucien. Lucien was unable to remember where he was from or why he was there, but he finally knew who he was.

But he was unable he bask in this feeling for long as he began feeling another force, it was as if something was beckoning him to go somewhere, how to follow it he did not know though.

He remained in this state for almost a full minute, before the soft beckoning transformed into a suction force that dragged him away.

The suction force dragged him away from the cold and towards the warmth.

Before long the suction force began slowing down as Lucien reached the source of the warmth. The warmth began to slowly melt the ice that froze over his consciousness as he felt more and more present for each second that went by. 

But he was unable to remain like this for long as the suction force soon appeared again, this time a lot more violent as it dragged him away with much more force this time.

It continued to drag him until he felt like he hit something, causing him to black out.

___

The giant wolf's eyes darted around everywhere as if it attempted to absorb its surroundings into its eyes.

His heavy body lay on the soft grass, and the wind hitting his face brought a feeling he thought he had forgotten - the feeling of home. Every one of his senses was screaming at him, giving him new sensations that he had long forgotten what felt like.

The constant assault from all his surroundings made him feel alive, he was alive. 

Why it was so important for him to be alive, he did not know, all he knew was that he never wanted this feeling of happiness to go away.

As he continued to look around, he also began to remember things. He remembered what he was laid on was called grass and what was constantly hitting his face was called wind.

What he could remember was limited, but that did not bother him too much.

It took him a while to be able to calm down from all these new senses that assaulted him and memories that popped up in his head.

When the feeling of being assaulted by all these new senses went away and only the feeling of being alive remained, he suddenly got an idea.

Lucien rose to his feet, his powerful legs supporting his body as he stood at almost a meter and a half in height and almost three meters in length. His white fur and golden eyes added to his majestic appearance, making him look like a creature straight out of a fantasy book.

He stood there for a few moments scratching the earth with his foot back and forth, to slowly get used to the feeling of his legs and how to use them.

Suddenly, without any cue, he leaped forward at full speed, almost instantly reaching speeds close to 90km/h. At his current pace, there was nothing in this forest that could outrun him.

As his large body dashed through the forest, all the creatures were startled by the sound of his heavy footsteps pounding against the soil. The adrenaline pumping through his veins made him feel as though he could run like this forever.

Without anything to stop him, he continued to run around in large circles for close to an hour before he suddenly sensed something.

He tilted his head upwards and smelt around. It was as if a sixth sense of sorts told him that something was around.

Lucien continued to smell in the air for a few moments before he found what his senses were telling him about. He had managed to find a weird white scent, that smelt disturbingly good.

This scent seemed to have done something with him as he instinctively stopped moving and his ears perked upwards.

It was as if his instincts had taken complete control over his body as he slowly began to move toward the source of the scent.

At instinct, Lucien began to exclude a thick bloodthirst that gathered around him as a dense cloud that would deter even other predators.

The trail lasted for almost an entire kilometer before he finally reached the source of the smell.

Only a few hundred meters ahead of him stood a large deer that reached almost two meters in height.

Seeing the deer made his instincts go into overdrive as he slowly lost all his rationality. Only moments after he had seen the deer, he began running towards it as fast as his legs were able to run.

His current speed was closer to 100km/h, and he managed to reach the deer in a matter of only a few seconds.

When the deer saw the huge wolf running towards him it was too late, and he had no other choice other than to accept the fate that the world had given him.

When he was finally in range Lucien leaped forward with his mouth wide open while aiming at the neck of the deer.

He was almost an entire second in the air before he made contact with the neck of the deer. His teeth went straight through its thick hide as if it were butter and bit down.

The huge weight of Lucien on the deer's back caused it to fall backward straight into the ground, the force with which Lucien leaped made them roll on the ground almost twenty meters away from where the deer fell.

Having the deer on the ground with its neck between his teeth, Lucien continuously applied more and more strength to his bite until he heard a crack, and he let go of the deer.