The Ancient Elder

The Only Path Left

Thanatos had noticed than during his travels he was being watched, whether by human or not he could not yet tell but he knew they were there. A small child, a girl no more than 10 by his calculations. How she had survived the winds that had now passed was beyond him but he came to the conclusion that she was not human.

She had been following him since the mountain range he passed 4 days ago. If there had been a village or small town up in those behemoths he had not seen it. Yet he didnt know how she could have survived if there wasn't. A child up in those mountains would have perished in a day, never mind living into her almost teens. Yet there she was, hiding behind a rock watching.

Thanatos ignored her at first when he reached the salt plains that spread out before him like an endless sea. He assumed she would lose interest and go home and yet she was still lingering. To say she had piqued his interest was an understatement, he did not care for much but she made him curious.

As he walked he decided he would find out what she wanted. He was forbidden to enter any settlements no matter how big or small. Any travellers he met would avoid him due to his size and overall physique as well as the many scars he bore from fighting the creatures of the lands he went through. Yet maybe she was different, she had approached him and not the other way around.

So he peeked back under the knee high cloak he wore, patched together from the many hides he had obtained. Then in a flash he vanished, his speed untraceable to any and all as he sprinted the 100m that separated them. He was behind in her the blink of an eye, casting a monstrous shadow upon the child that barely reached his knees.

His voice a practical sonic boom as the bass in his voice made the immediate ground rumble he said "why are you watching me?". The girl froze as if caught in flash freeze, she then turned slowly to see the mammoth of a man standing before her. To say she was afraid would be like saying fish dont need water, it was an obvious fact. He kneeled down so they were eye to eye and repeated his question, his tone laced with clear annoyance "why are you watching me?". The girl stuttered before answering him "I....I...I....I was just...." in those mere moments of nonsense her backbone must have found itself again as she stood from where she was kneeling behind the rock and dusted herself off. Her voice now full of confidence "i was watching you because i thought you were a barbarian and ive never seen one before". He would have laughed if what she just said hadnt been so stupid.

"You realise that if i was a barbarian i would have killed you or worse right?" He spoke slowly assuming this girl was slow in the head, a trait he had seen many a time with the highwaymen he had encountered. She looked at him quizzicly, her head slightly leaning as if trying to translate what he said. "Im not dumb you know, you dont have to talk slowly", at this he couldnt help but crack a smile. This little girl was talking to him like he was the idiot, an act everyone else had been killed for.

He shook his head and stood to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. "You realise many have died  who spoke to me like that" his face contorted into a sneer as he spoke. "Well are you going to kill me?" She asked, not a single trace of fear in her voice. Almost as if she knew his answer. "No i will not, i dont kill little girls. They dont taste very nice" he grinned as he said this, his sharp canines pushing their way through to be shown in all their splendor. Surely this would frighten her away, he did not need a tail with him on his trials. Instead she patted his stomach for that was all she could reach and smiled at him before saying "good, in that case i wont eat you either".

To say he was shocked at her response was an understatement. He towered her 3 to almost 4 times over and could rip the head off a bear with ease. His speed untraceable to eyes human or not. Yet here she was, a 10 year old girl threatening him. He looked her straight in the eye as he spoke "you realise that im not human right, a knife or a gun wont kill me. It wont even break my skin". Her smile had not faded since her threat, in fact it seemed to get bigger. "Thats okay then because neither am i", he had already guessed this but he did not know what clan she hailed from.

"So what are you then?" He asked, his curiosity stronger than it had been in a hundred years. Before his very eyes she shifted into a wolf, only slightly smaller than the ones he has seen in the mountains. Yet he could already tell she was stronger and faster than them. She shifted back to stare at him with that annoying smile she had just moments before. "Now let me ask you, what are you?" His small grin now faded at the question, he could not show her his form for fear she would run and tell others of his whereabouts. Whilst he wasnt being pursued by anyone, he would rather not have that change anytime soon.

"I am like you, but i am much worse" he spoke, his deadly serious expression silently explained that he doesnt want to be pressed on the matter. Yet press she did, her curiosity clearly getting the better of her. "What does that mean?" She asked, her tone to innocent for him to be angry but it annoyed him all the same. "I am a lycan but i do not change into a wolf as you do. My beast is something else". His beast was that of the god of wolves, nobody was higher in the lycan hierarchy than him. He commanded all of his kind.

She looked at him clearly confused then shrugged instead, whatever was going through her head he was glad she dropped the subject.

"Where are you going?" She asked as she looked to the direction he was moments ago walking in. "I am walking this earth until i can go home" he replied, why he was telling this girl he did not know but he seemed..comforted in a weird way by her presence. "Can i come with you?" A question he had a feeling was coming and he already knew how to answer. "No, go home to your parents. They are surely missing you" he said, no remorse for the clearly blunt reply. He pulled his hood forward slightly so it covered more of his face and began walking again. But before he made it 3 steps from her he heard her whisper under her breath. "I dont have any parents, or a home. I sleep wherever i can hide from the cold." Her voice was full of sadness, a sadness even he could not bare to let idly stand.

He turned to her and saw that the sadness was genuine for it was written all over her face. He sighed to himself as he thought about how this little girl had changed more in him in 15 minutes than the world had in the 428 years he had been alive. Although this had been the first time he had ever been approached by someone that didnt want anything from him. Even the scum he had passed in his years who had nothing, no food or bed to sleep in. Had avoided him yet this girl had gone out of her way to follow him.

"You can follow me as far as the next town, you fall behind and i will leave you. You will enter it alone for i am not permitted to stand within or near it and you will stay there, Understand?" His voice making it clear that he would not negotiate. She looked up to him in hope as if she could not believe what she was hearing. In all fairness Thanatos did not believe what he was saying himself. He had been a cold and unforgiving man his entire life. Yet here he was offering someone to travel with him. What was it about this girl that he had felt it was necessary to help her? She was nothing special as far as he could see. She was just another orphan lycan like many out there. But he couldn't quite put his thumb on it. 

She raced to his side, smiling at him as they walked. Her walk forced into a jog simply to keep up, her smile never fading as they walked across the plains. Well he walked at least. He was lost in thought as to if he should have left her there or killed her to spare her this hell of life. But at the moment he made the decision it seemed like the only option he had left.

But he was not happy about where they were going, they were headed to Barbaros. A city known for its high count of murders, thefts and kidnappings. He did not care about all that, simply that he was being forced to take a detour of his original path. Yet there he was, walking to this city unbeknownst to him that his life would make a startling change to moment the city came into sight.