418 It Is Futile
Caius pushed Raziel behind and quickly stepped in front of Tarok, arms raised in a gesture of surrender, his voice tinged with desperation, "Please...we have never offended your people. You don't have to do this. We are willing to give away everything we have," he pleaded, hoping to appeal to some shred of mercy in Tarok's heart.
Tarok, however, only scoffed at Caius' plea. In a swift, terrifying display of strength, he grasped Caius' face with one massive hand, easily lifting the old chief off the ground, "Offended my people?" Tarok echoed mockingly, his eyes glinting cruelly. With his other hand, he brandished the severed head of Selene, "Not only are you bloodsucking vermins trespassing on our territory, but this bitch killed some of my men yesterday. You think that's not enough of an offence? No, wait...even if you rats never did these things, your pathetic existence itself is an offense to us."
Raziel's body tensed with fury, his fangs bared as he watched the scene unfold. He was on the verge of lashing out when he felt his mother's arms wrap around him, her voice quivering with fear, "Please, son. Don't go. T-They will hurt you."
Raziel grimaced, and hearing his mother beg him to stay made him lose the strength to pull away her arms and instead tried to frantically find a way to help his mother hide, though he was dismayed to see the damn monsters surrounding them from every side.
But Raziel's attention riveted back to Grandpa Caius upon hearing a painful grunt escape from his throat.
He saw Grandpa Caius struggling futilely in Tarok's grip, trying to speak. Tarok seemed amused by Caius' efforts and tossed Selene's head aside carelessly to one of his men, "What? Are you trying to say something, old man?" Tarok growled, leaning closer to Caius' face, who was grimacing in pain while trying to cough out some words for mercy.
Tarok grunted in impatience, shaking his head, "Let me help you out."
*Creeschk!*
Without warning, he brutally tore Caius' jaws apart, causing blood to gush forth.
Blood streamed down Caius' neck. Tears of pain mixed with blood trickled down his cheeks, leaving dark red trails behind.
His lower jaw hung limply from his chin, detached from his skull, while his upper jaw was shattered into several jagged pieces. The wounds exposed the raw flesh underneath, giving a gruesome spectacle to anyone who dared to witness such barbarity firsthand.
His eyes were bulged to their extremities, though he was unable to move or speak, his face frozen in horror.
Tarok mockingly placed his ear over Caius' mutilated gaping mouth and clicked his tongue, "Still nothing? How much more useless can you be, old man?" The sight was horrifying, "Grandpa Caius!" Raziel screamed, along with many others in the crowd, witnessing the brutal murder of their beloved chief. Caius' lifeless body dropped to the ground, his mouth grotesquely hanging open.
"Yaarghh!!" Some of the hot-blooded ones couldn't stand to see their chief get brutally killed and rushed at Tarok with their weapons raised.
"Burn these bloodsucking rats including their little houses to the ground after plundering them! Let's hope these trash are hiding something good," Tarok ordered without even looking at them.
As the werewolves mercilessly tore through and burned down everyone without even discriminating between young or old or children, a palpable sense of despair and horror hung in the air. Raziel watched, heart pounding and eyes wide with terror, as his people, including his friends, Morv and Voren, were slaughtered and tortured to death without mercy, and those few stronger ones among them, driven by grief and rage, tried to fight back.
But their bravery was met with brutal force, and they didn't even stand a chance as they got cut down mercilessly, too.
The scene was a nightmare unfolding before Raziel's eyes, echoing the horrific premonition he had earlier. His body trembled uncontrollably in his mother's tight embrace, unable to accept the reality that was mirroring his worst fears.
In a desperate plea, Raziel lifted his gaze to the barely visible silhouette of Drakaris in the sky, "O Supreme One! Please help us! Please!! You can stop this now!" His voice cracked with emotion, a mix of despair and a faint glimmer of hope that the supreme one would intervene.
Would he really let this happen a second time? But to his dismay, the silhouette of Drakaris remained unmoved.
The werewolves, upon hearing Raziel's plea, erupted into mocking laughter. Tarok, in particular, seemed amused by Raziel's desperation. He slowly advanced toward Raziel, his menacing grin growing wider, "Look at this little brat begging for help in such a pathetic way. Do you seriously think that a supreme being like that is going to listen to a little trash like you?"
Aurelia's face was etched with fear, her body shaking as she instinctively tried to shield Raziel from the approaching danger. Her eyes were filled with tears as she kept mumbling to Raziel, "S-Stay behind me, Raziel…" Her voice was shaking with terror, especially as Tarok's malevolent aura was slowly enveloping them.
But her hands were still firmly holding onto her son, trying to pull him behind her.
Raziel, feeling the looming shadow of Tarok over them, resisted his mother's attempt to pull him behind.
He wanted to stay in front of her, to be her shield against the monster approaching them. Gritting his teeth, he faced Tarok with a defiant glare, his arms protectively around his mother, "Stay away from us..." he muttered, his voice a mix of fear and resolve.
Aurelia, trembling with fear, tried in vain to pull Raziel back, to keep him safe from these terrifying werewolves. But she couldn't budge the arms of her determined son.
Tarok, amused by the bravado of these weaklings, grinned darkly, "Since you said that, it only makes me want to not stay away even more," he sneered. With a swift and brutal motion, he grabbed Raziel's hair, yanking him upward. Raziel winced in pain, his hands desperately clutching at Tarok's powerful claw.
Aurelia, driven by her instinct to protect him, stumbled forward.
She fell at Tarok's feet, her hands rubbing together in frantic, desperate pleading, "P-Please have mercy on my son…He has a kind soul and would never offend your people. W-We will leave right away and never show ourselves before your people," she begged, her voice cracking with fear.
"Mother...don't..." Raziel strained to speak, his heart breaking at the sight of his mother groveling before the beast. He struggled against Tarok's iron grip, trying to free himself, to pull his mother away from this monster.
Tarok's scoff echoed with cruelty as he regarded this frail thing with contempt, "Show mercy on a kind soul like him? After he bared his tiny fangs at me? How senile are you? And don't fucking dirty my feet with your disgusting spit!" With a casual flick of his foot, Tarok struck Aurelia, sending her rolling backward, blood spilling from her mouth.
"Mother!!" Raziel's cry was a mix of horror and anguish while his blood boiled with rage. Even Tarok's minimal effort was enough to grievously injure his mother.
"I will kill you!" Raziel's roar was filled with unbridled rage and grief. He tried to claw at Tarok's throat, wanting to kill him on the spot.
Tarok's mockery was evident in his tone as he held Raziel at arm's length, easily fending off the brat's desperate attempts to attack him, "Oof, am I supposed to get scared of your little nails?" he taunted, his voice dripping with scorn.
"P-Please...he is just a child. He isn't a threat to y-your people..." Aurelia's feeble plea came from the side, her voice barely above a whisper. Raziel's heart clenched as he watched his mother, blood oozing from her fractured jaw, crawl towards Tarok in a futile attempt to save him.
A sinister grin spread across Tarok's face as he noticed Aurelia's vacant eyes shifting around, "How amusing. Your mother is blind, huh? Men, why don't you help her up. We can't have a senior like her stumble and fall," he sneered.
One of the werewolves roughly grabbed Aurelia, yanking her to her feet. 10:51
Raziel, feeling a surge of protective fury, shouted, "Don't you touch her!"
"Shhh," Tarok hushed him, placing a finger to his maw, "Usually, I would pull out the throat of anyone who even glares at me. But since your mother said you are a kind soul, I am going to give you a chance to save her life. So, all you have to do is express how sorry you are for baring your fangs at me. If I feel that you are sincerely sorry, then I will let you both go. "
Raziel's face contorted with anguish and desperation. He had no idea if Tarok was sincere or merely toying with them, but his desperation made him hope for the former.
Nodding shakily, he mustered all his courage and forced himself to say, "I...I am sorry! Please let her go!" Tears streamed down his cheeks, the hopelessness and desperation crushing him.
Tarok shook his head with a grunt of irritation. With a casual, cruel swipe, he slapped Raziel, sending a spray of blood from Raziel's mouth, "Is that how you apologize to this chief?! Didn't your mother teach you how to apologize to someone who can sniff out your insignificant life with just a single slap?" Tarok's voice was laced with contempt.
"I...I apologize on his behalf.... So please...don't hurt him..." Aurelia's voice, weak and trembling with pain, was barely audible as she pleaded for her son's safety. Her eyes were filled with unbearable sorrow and fear.
Tarok's response was chilling, devoid of any compassion, "You talk again, and a merciful death is the last thing your son will get," he warned in a cold, menacing tone, causing tears to well up in Aurelia's blind eyes.
"Now you have two more chances. If I don't like the way you say it, then your mother pays the price," Tarok stated, his smile dark and malicious.
Raziel's heart constricted in agony. Inhaling deeply, he offered a more desperate apology, "I-I am truly sorry! I will never bare my fangs at you or d-disrespect you," His voice quivered with fear and sincerity.
Tarok, however, remained unimpressed, wrinkled his nose in annoyance, "I can still smell your killing intent. You lost one of your chances, and so will she lose one of her eyes, not that it would make a difference to her, hahaha."
"NO!!! Don't!!" Raziel's scream was filled with horror, but it was too late.
One of Tarok's men mercilessly gouged out Aurelia's right eye, causing her to whimper in pain.
Blood poured from the bloody hole of her eye socket as she tried to lift her head, her lips forming her son's name, "Raziel...I…" It was as though she wanted to convey her final thoughts to him, but her head drooped the next moment before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
"How pathetic. She died already before I could offer you the last chance. You can only blame her for being so weak," Tarok remarked callously, looking at Aurelia's lifeless body with disdain.
Raziel's face became deathly pale, a painful lump in his throat as he gazed at his mother's body, his heart shattering into countless pieces. He couldn't find his voice, unable to even call out to her.
His heart continued to drown in pain and despair as his vision began to fill with darkness while Tarok's cruel laughter began to fade away.
The next moment, the darkness began to fade away as he found himself kneeling on the cold, rocky surface of a mountain, his surroundings startlingly different yet familiar.
His expression, once frozen in despair, began to show signs of life as he took in the new environment, realizing where he was now.
He was back where he was. He had failed. He couldn't save anyone despite getting a second chance.
Knowing the future didn't even make a difference.
"I told you... Trying to change anyone's fate, including yours is futile," came the deep, calm voice, rumbling authoritatively from above. Damn, he can't get a break, can he? What do you think of Drakaris? Is the supreme one bullying him too much or is there something more?
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