Phoenix: The nuruk beast.

Chapter Twenty two: Questions and Answers

Lydia had realized her mistake too late as the beast dug its silver claws into the soil ready to pounce. Lydia called to Aldrich warning him to run away but he was still frozen in fear. The beast moved with great speed towards him and with a swing of its arm, it sent Aldrich crashing onto the mountain beside him. Aldrich had barely gotten a chance to stand up when the beast pinned his two hands down with its paws and unhinged its jaws letting out a devastating screech that knocked Aldrich out completely. Just as it was about to finish him off, dozens of arrows came down on the creature each one after the other being fired by the archers of the mountains. The creature fled back into the forest with arrows still raining down on its back. As Lydia looked at Aldrich in his unconscious state, she wondered what happened to him.

"Is he alright?" Evelyn asked, Lydia crouched beside him and pressed against the side of his neck with two fingers trying to find a pulse.

"Well he isn't dead." She announced to Evelyn. The both of them together with the twin knights tried to lift Aldrich in their arms, the moment Aldrich was lifted a few inches from the ground he was dropped almost immediately.

"What does he eat?" one of the knights asked in confusion as he rubbed his wrist.

"We just need to get him on horseback." Lydia said to him, they called on one more person to help them lift him, and after a strenuous ordeal which was carrying him, they finally got him atop his horse. After tying the horse's mouthpiece to Evelyn's saddle, they rode off back to Dameran.

Aldrich could once again see himself in a forest covered in black mist, and like last time the mist began to spread all over his body. Like the last time, he lost feeling on whichever part of his body the darkness touched. Just before he lost feeling in his neck, he felt a splash of water on his face. He opened his eyes and found himself laying in his den. He saw his father, Lydia and Evelyn sitting around him as they inspected him. Evelyn was holding an empty cup.

"What happened?" he mumbled to them as he struggled to sit up,

"That there, is what we want to find out." Lydia said, Aldrich shut his eyes as he felt his head pounding once more. He gave a silent groan and said slightly out of breath.

"Well Lydia, I'm sorry but I know as little as you do."

"Hence why we are at your house instead of an infirmary." She turned to Archer and asked him, "I don't suppose Slage might have some kind of ailment perhaps."

"No, why do you ask?" Archer said with his gaze still on his son.

"He passed out suddenly." He shot Lydia a stern look and said;

"That doesn't---."

"When he saw a beast" Archer's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that, his eyes widened and for a moment he looked as scared as Aldrich once was.

"W-what kind of beast was it?" he asked in a lower voice, Lydia leaned towards him and said,

"I should be asking you that." She glanced at Aldrich and continued, "I always knew Slage wasn't normal, and you probably know that more than anyone else so tell me, why does this beast scare him so much" Archer sighed through his nose and looked at Aldrich,

"Because it was made to kill him."

"Kill him?" Lydia said looking slightly aghast.

"His kind, rather." Aldrich's puckered brows showed his rising interest upon hearing his father's last statement. He glanced at Evelyn who still looked indifferent about it and looked back to his father.

"My kind." He said waiting for an explanation. Archer leaned back to his chair, he balled his trembling hands into fists and began;

"Long ago, a certain race special humans thrived on the face of this earth. Even amongst the gifted, this race was indeed a rarity, this was because the offspring's they bore had the same gift as they did. An unnatural bodily strength that rivalled that of a god. The people of this race were known as titans." Aldrich couldn't begin to process what he was hearing. And his widened eyes and lack of words spoke well for him.