Greyskin

Chapter 2. They grow so fast.

Once the child was separated from the mother, it began to grow. The fel energies within were restrained by the closeness of the mother and her blood, but now it could go rampant. The blood within the child boiled, the power unleashed and unrelenting. It began to grow by the hour.

Within the den of the demons, there were only two older demonkin females to take care of children. All other young females were taken away shortly to grow separately, to stop males from assaulting them. So those two caretakers were the ones to feed the young greyskin.

The child would drink them dry. His appetite was monstrous, unending as if wishing to extinguish all life. When the caretakers ran out of milk, they used blood. There were plenty of women used for nothing but breeding, few extra cuts would not harm them.

Nourished by blood of weaker beings, the greyskin grew up quickly. Within a week, he was like a small child, walking around and observing the world. He was silent and others thought he was blind. But his eyes worked fine, even if they looked to be damaged.

After another week, he looked about nine years old. Demons grew up quickly, but not this fast. The fel energies worked on making the body strong, increasing the power of the greyskin.

At some point, the child wanted more. It wanted meat. And meat was a privilege of the hunters and the shamans of the den, only scraps given to the weaker ones.

When the child approached the campfire and reached for a piece of meat, his hand was caught by a muscly, red-skinned orc. He lifted the child up and looked at him with contempt. Then, he carried the child towards the exit and pointed at a cave below theirs. He explained to the child, that only hunters were allowed to eat as they needed strength to fight and defend the den, to hunt for more food and to produce strong children.

In reality the orc grunted few simple words.

"You. Kill. You. Eat."

Then he threw the child outside. The kid didn't argue, the word of the bigger man was the law and such. He got up and climbed down. He didn't know that within the cave lived a demon beast, a strong animal with demon blood. It was giving trouble to hunters and it's meat was bad and hard to eat, which would give the orcs stomachache. So, they ignored it, as it protected their cave as well.

When the child stood before the entrance, he looked within. The grey eyes were able to see into the darkness easily, fel energies created perfect sensory organs for the child. What the child saw was a monster, few meters in length, something average between a tiger and a bear. It had overall figure and form of a tiger, but it had much thicker muscles, half meter long claws on each front paw and a massive maw like that of a bear; a fearsome beast to face.

But the child didn't know fear. All he knew is that his blood was boiling, calling for release and for a kill. It wanted more blood and death. So, the child let the blood control him. He simply charged into the den, trying to punch the beast.

In truth, that was a dumb plan. The beast, seeing as the child didn't seem to pose much danger, just looked at him with surprise, only to receive a hit of such power, that it couldn't be dismissed simply. The child was molded by the scourge, making him stronger than any peer, perhaps stronger than any adult in the den. If only the child understood it then.

Having received a sizable impact, the beast was pushed back slightly. A small child versus a monster few times its size, it was an uneven match, but it wasn't a one sided battle.

Enraged, the monster lashed out and pierced the child with its claws in the stomach, pinning him against the wall. Normal kid would squirm and cry, but the greyskin just growled at the monster. He felt no pain, only fire burning within, driving the child forward. As the blood gushed out of the wounds, the child struggled to fight on. The fire burned hotter, making the kid push on.