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Raseri

The sound of loud snoring echoed off the walls of the cave and despite the foliage providing cover, it still managed to leave a ray of sunlight shine on to Bjørn's face. This Triforce of sleep hindrance consisted of snoring, sunlight, and too much heat, so Bjørn was forced to open his eyes and wake up. He pointed his eyes down at Styrka, who snuggled close to his chest and then over to Gnistra who had owned his right arm, laying on top of it. Turning his head, he found the giant Grizzly Bear wrapping her colossal paws around his shoulders.

It was obvious that he had little to no way of escaping. To top it off, he found that the arm Gnistra had been sleeping on fell asleep. Bjørn pursed his lips together, 'How can I walk out of the cave without waking the björnar?' He tried to raise his finger to stroke his chin in thought, but the bears had prevented him. 'Hm, I could always just continue to lie down but the heat from the bears was suffocating and to top it off, they snored so damn loud! Odin, I am doomed.'

A lightbulb had suddenly lit up in his mind and a plan was conjured deep within his psyche. With a smirk, he used his left arm to scratch the ears of Styrka. The bear cub cooed and rolled over to his back, he then pushed Styrka across the rocky surface of the cave and made him snuggle next to his sister on his right arm. Now, all he had to do was to escape the Mama Bear’s grasp and-

Growl…

Bjørn stopped completely, he had heard and felt the Mama Bear’s growl, it made his whole-body tremble and stopped him in his tracks. If he woke up the Mama Bear, instinct had told him he would die. He would die. There was no argument and no debate from his conscious; instinct told him so and thus he listened; he would die. So, Bjørn stopped and waited.

…

And waited.

…

And waited until the Mama Bear loosened her grip on Bjørn, taking opportunity, he very slowly and very carefully slid her paws off his shoulders. She still was leaning on him with her weight but at least he was out of her grip. He scooted himself across the ground, gently picking up the bear cubs one by one and placing them next to their mother.

As Bjørn’s arm woke up, he stared at the family of bears, a brief smile adorned his face. At first, he was going to leave the bears and explore the world, but now, he has a purpose. He was going to protect these bears and give them a better home. They had been so kind to him, they fed him and welcomed him to their home. Bjørn could never do that to anyone else he randomly met.

Not anymore.

He shook the dark thoughts to the corners of his mind; 'It isn't the time for that. Happy thoughts.’ The Barbarian thought to himself. He crawled his way out the cave so as to not wake the bears up, once he was out, he stood up to his feet.

“Now, where to?” Bjørn asked himself. He had concluded that if he wanted to make a new and better home for the bears, he would have to chop down wood and make one himself. Suddenly, he flashed back to yesterday when he arrived in the forest. “Oh, that’s right!” He slumped down on all fours and like an animal he began to sniff and track where he had been before. He crossed the stream he fished with Mama Bear, and trekked on for minutes before he finally found the trees next to the river he arrived at. He still saw the imprint that his body left on the sand, it seemed like it would be there for some time now.

He smiled, that would be a good story to tell Mama Bear and her cubs. He looked over to the giant logs, humming with thought as to how he could move them to a good location to set up the cabin. Then, an idea popped into his mind.

He would simply pick them up.

Bjørn flashed his pearly whites. First, he picked up one log and put it on his right shoulder. He used his free hand to pick up the other log and balanced it on his head. The last one was all that remained, it was also the most difficult. Bjørn crouched down, keeping the log on his head balanced as he picked up the log, and put it on his left shoulder.

As Bjørn turned to look behind, he blinked and noticed that there was another log that he had left behind. He pursed his lips together and frowned, he wanted to pick it up, but he wasn’t confident that he would have room. Maybe he could just kick it along with him? ‘I mean, I know it’s a tree sized log, but I could kick it.’ Bjørn thought to himself.

Thus began the struggle of kicking a log along with him, not that he wasn’t strong enough, no, but the log on his head nearly fell on multiple occasions. Luckily for him, he was quite able bodied. Eventually, Bjørn made his way to a small - very small - clearing that was still well hidden by trees. Bjørn dropped all of the logs he’d been carrying gently onto the ground. With a big sigh, he sat down, wiping the sweat off his brow. This had been more difficult than he previously anticipated.

He then realized he had a left-over log, he remembered that the log still had its branches and leaves on it. He flashed back further into yesterday when he punched the last tree. Bjørn nodded slowly, it was painfully obvious, blindingly obvious in fact.

“I’m dumb,” Bjørn decided, placing his hands on his hips, “How did I forget the other tree?” He glanced at the wooden logs he dropped, beginning to dust off his hands; having had come to a conclusion.

He was stumped.

In the mess hall of the Day and Lunar guards sat a trio on a lone table. That trio consisted of Jade Tango, Darkest Vesper, and Sparkling Water.

“The Zanedum exhibit was terrifying!” Jade blurted, “If the painting of him was any way accurate, I fear for the ponies who fought him directly.”

“I-I-I-Is the sword real?!” Vesper’s whole body was shaking from the sheer mention of his name.

Sparkle held a hoof up to her mouth to hide her obvious smile, “Man, Aqua really got you two, huh?” Jade huffed and crossed his hooves.

“Well, it’s not our fault that Zanedum looks like every horror movie monster combined into one.” Jade frowned. “Like seriously, does he not look like your worst nightmare?”

“He does to me,” Vesper added.

Sparkle shook her head, “What stories haven’t your parents told you? The tale of Zanedum is an old fairy tale made years ago to ward off anyone from coming to Tartarus. Not only that, but it is very useful when telling you foals to go to sleep. Zanedum would come out of the closet unless they went to bed on time, that was the rule.”

“WHAT?!” Jade shrieked, slamming his hooves down on the table, Vesper went slack jawed. Sparkle cackled like an old cartoon villain, slapping a hoof on her forehead, she damn near fell over too.

“That’s nightmare fuel,” Vesper shook his head absolutely gobsmacked and as he opened his mout the speak another word...

“VESPER YE LAZY EEJIT!” A loud - and quite proud - Trottish voice tore through the merry air, Trottish music could be heard. Vesper snapped his head towards the door where Captain Umbra Eventide stood with a glare. If looks could kill, Vesper would be on the stairway to Heaven.

“I-I-I-” Vesper tried to speak, but his brain failed to conjure the words to try and make up a pitiful excuse.

“DINNAE AH ME YE DUNDERHEIDED CUNT!” The Bat Pony stomped her way towards Vesper. He was too scared to get off his seat, this made Eventide even more livid. “GIT AFF YER BUCKIN’ ARSE!”

“Y-yes, Captain!” Vesper shrieked as he stood at attention, sweat pouring down his face and his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

“YER POST IS LEFT UNATTENDED! YE BETTER TROT YER GIDDY ARSE DOON TH’ HALLS ‘N’ TAE YER POST OR AH WULL STICK TH’ PLATE YER EATING AFF O’ UP YER ARSE LIK’ A DVD PLAYER!” Eventide boomed, her voice blowing Vesper’s mane back.

“Y-YES, CAPTAIN!” Vesper saluted and trotted as fast he could through the doors to the mess hall.

Captain Eventide glared at the mess hall doors. It was quiet in the mess hall, no one dared to utter a word in fear of setting her off. She turned to the guards who were astounded at the events.

She smiled.

“Aw, everypony, you didn’t have to stop chatting so that Vesper could hear me speak, I yell loud enough.” Captain Eventide chirped before turning to merrily trot through the hole in the door that Vesper made.

A long pregnant pause filled the room like water in a bucket, no one dared to make a noise - they didn’t even breathe - but then the bell rang, signaling the end of their meal. The once silent room was now filled with the sounds of moving hooves, plates being cleared into trash and put in a pile for the maids to clean. Jade let out a gasp for air, having held his breath even when ponies began to pack up.

“By Princess Celestia’s Sun, that was terrifying, Vesper was not fillying around.” Jade shuddered, still shaken up on Captain Eventide’s strange ability to switch accents like hats.

“Well… Since we’re both off duty, we could explore the Royal Garden.” Sparkle suggested this brought Jade’s gaze to meet her’s. As he opened his mouth, a quote from Vesper burned bright in his mind.

“And if you don’t tell her how you feel, somepony else is gonna beat you to the punch.”

‘This is it,’ He decided, it was the perfect opportunity to get her somewhere secluded - and somewhat romantic - and confess his feelings towards her. Lady Luck had chosen this day to be his luckiest and he was not going to waste it.

“I would love that,” Jade smiled softly and with his agreement to her suggestion, Sparkle led the way to the Royal Garden. The pair were still in their Day Guard armor and merrily trotted down the halls of the castle, passing by the Lunar Guards who stood unmoving in their post. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the garden as they opened the gates to the secluded place.

It was not by all means your standard typical garden, each and every plant had vastly more colors than a rainbow. Despite the orgy of colors might having somewhat of a distasteful effect on the eyes, the two didn’t let it bother them. The grass under their hooves felt like carpet as it was so very neatly cut it was hard to tell the difference. There was a plethora of signs that pointed towards certain types and colors of flowers. It was almost like a library showing you places where to find the one book you like. The sights were indeed beautiful, but what really tickled their pickles was the smell.

Despite being vegetarians, they weren’t enamored because it smelled like it’d be good to eat. Instead, their lips formed smiles for the smell was as if Terry Crews dumped Old Spice all over the place.

Jade poked his nose around the flowers and filled his nostrils with their scent, which Sparkle found amusement of the expression that Jade made each and every time he did so. Eventually, Jade picked up on the looks she gave him and turned his attention away from the flowers and to the mare.

“What?” Jade asked.

Sparkle giggled and held a hoof to her mouth, “Oh, it’s nothing, really. It’s just that you look so cute sniffing those flowers,” Jade’s face turned red, she had called him cute; It was official, Vesper is the greatest wingman known to ponykind. “I could have never thought the Jade from grade school who was the biggest bully around would be sniffing flowers.”

Jade snorted, “I still am that Jade, I just don’t show you that side of me anymore.”

“Oh, really?” Sparkle said coyly, wearing a smug look on her face as she did so. The Pegasi trotted up to Jade face to face and gazed up at the stallion.

Jade did his best to hide his blush from her being so close to his face. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at her, “Y-yes, really.” Jade puffed out his chest.

“Alright then, bully me.” Jade’s eyes widened, seemingly nonplussed at the challenge. “Go ahead, bully me, ‘Big J’.”

Jade averted his eyes from Sparkle, “Don’t call me that…”

“Oh~, Big J’s flustered?” Sparkle teased, “Come on, bully me.”

Jade sucked in his teeth, his eyes slowly making their way to meet Sparkle’s. He knew she was playing him, and frankly, he didn’t mind. “Alright, pipsqueak, who do you think you are to tease me like that? I’m the one who’s doing the teasing around here, punk.”

Sparkle merely laughed at Jade’s attempt, “You’re not as mean as you think you are! You’re a big ol’ softy!” The Unicorn gave an expression of defeat.

“Okay, okay, maybe I don’t have the intimidating aura I used to have, but I can be intimidating when I want to. I just can’t be like that around you, you’re too cute to scare, like a puppy.” Jade pet Sparkle’s cheek and saw a blush forming on the Pegasi’s face.

Sparkle shook Jade’s hoof off her cheek and stomped her own onto the ground. “I am not cute!”

“Yeah, I agree, you aren’t cute.” Jade nodded as a smirk formed across his face, “You’re just more beautiful than any of the flowers here.” This seemed to have hit something deep inside her heart as she began to lose all the blue in her face for a crimson red. Jade thought he saw steam coming from her ears because she was just so red.

“What are you mongrels doing here?!”

Their nice moment seemed to have been cut short as their faces were stripped of joy and replaced with horror. They recognized that voice; Prince Blueblood.

The two turned to face their prince and gave a steep bow, “I am sorry if we disturbed you, my prince, we are just-” Blueblood shot Jade a glare and shut him up.

“I’ll have you know that this is the Royal Garden, not some garden for peasants.” Blueblood growled, glaring daggers into them. “Who gave you permission to come here?”

“N-no one did, my prince,” Sparkle muttered out, her voice as shaky as a leaf in a hurricane.

“Then why are you here?!” Blueblood yelled. Something snapped inside of Jade and he rose to his full height, glaring into Blueblood’s eyes.

“We’re here because in the Guard textbook it is stated that we have permission to visit the gardens any time during our leisure.” Jade blazoned with fury in his eyes, however, this fury was quickly drowned by fear as Blueblood clenched his teeth.

“Guardsmen! You clearly don’t know your place, so allow me to educate you. First, there is you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, my dick, the Captains, and then, me.” The Prince jabbed a hoof into Jade’s chest, forcing him to take a step back. “I could have you fired, guardsmen, I could have you being chased out of the capital and maybe, I might just do that.”

“Wait!” Sparkle shrieked; her voice desperate. “Forgive him, please! I-I’ll do anything! Just please don’t fire him!”

Blueblood’s eyes flicked over to Sparkle and then back at Jade, “Oh, you won’t have to do anything…” The Prince grabbed Jade by his mane and forced him to be at nose lengths from the grass. “Eat it.”

“W-what?” Jade asked.

Blueblood’s eyebrows furrowed, “Eat the grass you cow, and I expect you to moo like one too.” When he failed to comply, Blueblood pushed Jade further, pressing his face against the blades of grass. “Eat it, cow!” Jade looked over to Sparkle who didn’t have the courage to look him in his eyes.

Eventually, Jade swallowed his pride and took a bite of the grass. This made Blueblood smirk, “Now, moo.”

“M-moo…” This was the most embarrassing moment in his life, he nearly lashed out and beat Blueblood to a pulp. However, he had to hold himself back, otherwise the opportunity that Sparkle gave would go to waste. He continued to munch on the grass and moo like a cow. It was apparent that his masculinity was fractured, and tears began to stream from his eyes, saliva began to leak through his teeth as rage was burning inside the fires of his gut and Blueblood twisting his hoof into the back of his head was just fanning it. 'Fuck. Blue. Blood.' Is the only thing that was in his mind.

Blueblood finally had enough and kicked Jade’s head, knocking off his helmet. “Consider this a warning, cow, mess with me again and you’re done.” He huffed and trotted off, leaving the two Day Guards alone in the garden.

Sparkle gazed at Jade, with vivid concern in her eyes as she heard the animalistic growls of the Unicorn. Jade’s face was still in the grass and he slammed his forelegs onto the ground. Tears flushed down his face and his eyes burned red with fury. “Damn him… Damn… Him…!” He seemed to be on the verge of screaming and that would likely cause attention, so Sparkle did as best she could to quell the urge.

She embraced Jade.

Sparkle hugged Jade tight with both her forelegs and her wings. Her wings folded over his head to hide Jade’s saliva and teared smeared face. The pony sobbed quietly into his friend’s hooves, unable to take the level of embarrassment he suffered.

“Shhh, let it all out… It’s gonna be alright.” Sparkle whispered into Jade’s ear, this only made him hug tighter. The mare rubbed Jade’s back, as if comforting a foal.

“It’s all gonna be alright.”

“All done at last!” Bjørn declared, dusting his hands off from all of the hard work he’s done. He placed his hands on his hips and stood with pride. He saw the cabin he built for himself with a door large enough that he wouldn’t hit his head on when he walked inside. It was always a wonder why people don’t think of all the tall people when building doors, you never know when an eight-foot eleven Goliath could show up one day.

He turned his head towards the other cabin he made, this cabin was both bigger than his own, but smaller at the same time. While yes, it was tall, it was rather short in length and width, only a whopping thirty feet wide and twenty feet long. The door to the cabin was - to keep it frank - a big doggy door for the bears. The cabin he will sleep in was for him, their cabins were right next to each other, so they would be neighbors.

It was time to call the bears, so Bjørn cleared his throat and prepared himself. Throughout the weeks he spent with the bears he found a way to call them; he called it a 'dog whistle' except he won’t be whistling and it’s not for a dog, so, not like a dog whistle at all. He cupped his hands over his mouth to make his voice louder.

“KOM HIT TRE SMÅ BJÖRNAR!” Bjørn called out, his voice echoing across the forest. At first, he received silence in response to his call, but then he heard the bushes rustle behind him, and he turned around to face the Mama Bear marching with Gnistra and Styrka following right behind her. The Barbarian smiled at the Mama Bear and walked over to give her a hug, the bear stood on her hind legs and returned to hug whilst licking his face as well as his hair. The Mama Bear thought Bjørn had wanted her to groom him, so when Bjørn wanted to let go of her, she pulled him in close to groom him some more.

“Mama, stop it, I just wanted a hug, that’s all, let me go.” Bjørn giggled as the Mama Bear licked a sweet spot. The Mama Bear groaned in response almost as if saying ‘No, your fur isn’t presentable, let me fix you’. After a few more seconds of grooming, she let Bjørn go and went back down on all fours.

He looked down at Styrka and Gnistra who were playing with his bare feet, nibbling on his toes. Bjørn chuckled as he walked towards the cabin he made for the bears. “So, I made a house for you three to stay in, I hope ya like it, it took me a few days to make it.” The Mama Bear approached the oversized doggy door and sniffed it, attempting to spot any dangers only to find none. She raised a paw and pushed the door, it was pushed upwards so that she could go in. The cubs didn’t even wait for the Mama Bear’s approval before fumbling their way inside, the Mama Bear glanced at Bjørn as if asking ‘Will you be coming in too?’

Bjørn shook his head, “Nah, I’m gonna chill and explore the place, seems like a good time too. I’ve only been to the cave, the river, and the cabins, it’s time for me to stretch my legs, bro.” The Barbarian flashed his pearly whites as he got a nod of approval from the Mama Bear before she went inside the cabin.

Bjørn picked a direction and walked, using the big sticks that the trees provided as a trail back. He picked up the sticks and stuck them into the ground, making them jut out like spikes. Bjørn did this every five trees he came across, meaning he had to pick up a lot but that really didn’t bother him. He merrily journeyed his way deeper into the forest he called his home, he really didn’t try to leave, there was no reason to. He had everything. A home, a family, food, water, everything but friends.

…Friends…

Bjørn narrowed his eyes as he began to go into deep thought. What is really considered a friend? Someone who cares about you, listens to you, and appreciates you? If that was the definition, he could say he rarely had any friends. I mean, there was Jandar and Nick.

…Nick…

The Barbarian shook his head; he had to move on, Nick moved on, it’s just right for him to do the same. For Jandar, he was always a friend, he respected him, got him through a tough time, and Jandar listened to his ideas. Especially his dumb ones. His really really dumb ones. Other than Jandar there weren’t really many others, I mean, sure Theo counted as did Quul.

…Quul…

Bjørn’s heart twinged as he thought about her. Her black hair, her pale white skin, her fluffy cat ears, her attitude… Her beautiful face…

‘No! Stop doing that!’ Bjørn thought to himself, slapping himself across the face. He got rid of all the thoughts crawling their way into his heart and focussed on exploration. As he brushed past the branches and the bushes he found himself on a trail.

Trail.

Trails led to somewhere, and as soon as he turned left, he saw a giant castle in the distance, he had also spotted a bridge going over a gorge. His eyes widened with astonishment, ideas and thoughts swirled in his mind.

'Should I go into the castle? What if there are people there? That would ruin my hermit life! I might have to kill them. However, talking to people is nice. I could keep them around, but should I? Should I go back home? Was this enough exploring? The castle looks old, it must be abandoned. Old and abandoned places mean bandits, but if there were bandits, I would have found tracks of them or maybe even have met them during his weeks here. So, no bandits. No bandits equal no people, no people equal continuing the hermit life, abandoned castle means weapons.'

He looked down at his right hand, he had missed the feeling of the Björnbreaker in his fist. To be fair, he could have made a spear with the sticks and the rocks, but at the same time, he’s a Viking. Vikings don’t like spears.

It was decided. With a pep in his step and a gleam in his eye he began to make his stroll towards the castle. As he made his way to the bridge, he noticed that it was old looking and likely rotten and weakened from the elements. So, he decided he would carefully cross the bridge. Carefully.

‘Sneaking across the bridge…’ Bjørn began to sing. He had no idea where it came from, but it just felt right to sing it. With the utmost gentleness and precision, he had successfully made his way across the bridge and was free to approach the castle at any speed he wished.

So, he fucking booked it. He sprinted towards the castle with insane speed. He felt the wind go through his hair; the cold breeze felt nice against his face. ‘I should run more often,’ Bjørn thought to himself as he began to slow himself down, reaching the steps leading to the open gates. An aura of wariness washed of the Barbarian, the gates were open, so any animal, any creature, beast, demon, or otherwise could be in this castle.

He prepared himself and clenched his fists, while he had no weapons, he was by no means defenseless, being a two timed heavy-weight boxing champ on his home island was no easy feat. Bjørn gently walked inside the castle, his eyes darting from left to right, waiting for something to jump out and stab him, however, it never came. As he got deeper and deeper into the castle he found himself in the throne room.

He saw the murals and the banners on the walls that had been affected by the elements, it was clear that this castle was far older than he previously anticipated. What caught his eye wasn’t the decay, the cracks in the walls, or anything of the sort. It was the throne itself. It was a weird looking throne, it looked more like a cushion to sit on when talking with friends rather than a mighty chair to order people around in. What really made it special was the hole in the ceiling that shone light down upon it like some holy throne.

He noticed the other throne which was covered in shadow. ‘Edgy,’ Bjørn thought to himself as he approached the big throne, as he did so, an intrusive thought in his mind told him to sit on it. Seeing no harm in it except maybe ticks and other bugs, he simply sat down on the throne bathed in sunlight. Bjørn sat with his legs folded and his hands clasped over themselves.

“I’m a fucking King,” Bjørn said aloud, making his voice echo across the dead castle. He chuckled to himself, and folded his arms over his chest. “This is kinda nice.” He admitted.

And it was true, it was nice, it was also a very nice place to think. A good thinking throne. The Barbarian began to think of the future, of what he would do, of what he could do. Bjørn could always just live out here in the forest until he dies of old age, that was certainly an option. He quite loved this life and would hate to leave, but then again, at the same time, he wasn’t familiar with the outside world.

What if there’s an invasion going on, just how Zariel was invading the Material Plane? What if he’s in a new country or continent entirely? What if he’s in another world entirely? Questions surged on in his mind and he eventually decided that he would have to walk out of the forest one day and explore.

But then again…

Mama Bear would miss him, and he can’t just bring a bear and her cubs on a journey with him. They’d get hurt, or worse. Bjørn frowned, just thinking of the Mama Bear and her cubs dying hit a certain part of his heart that he didn’t like. He wouldn’t let them die, he couldn’t, he already lost too much to lose more. He will not lose anyone again.

…

The hair on Bjørn’s back stood up.

Something was happening.

Something bad.

“Oh no,” Bjørn muttered, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as he stood from the throne. He jumped high and far and rolled into a sprint.

Something was happening.

Something bad.

His mind couldn’t keep up with his body as all thoughts were thrown out of the window, he even jumped over the gorge, not even bothering to take the bridge.

Something was happening.

Something bad.

Bjørn’s heartbeat accelerated as sweat began to pour down his face, the Barbarian was off the path and into the forest. Following the sticks he stabbed into the ground, he was moving so fast that some would mistake him as a cheetah running on hind legs.

Something was happening!

Something bad!

Bjørn ducked and rolled under the branches that were short enough for him to run into, he began to jump on the roots of the trees and to the next. Terror was the only emotion in Bjørn’s heart. He felt this feeling before.

SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING!

SOMETHING BAD!

Bjørn leaped as far as he could, he began swinging from the branches like an ape, he saw the cabins in the distance coming closer and closer. He was almost there.

SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING!

SOMETHING BAD!

Bjørn yelled as he swung himself and flew across the air, tumbling across the ground and rolling to his feet. He had made it to the cabins and…

His feet felt wet.

He smelled blood.

He heard the tearing of flesh.

He tasted the iron in the air.

He saw a giant lion with a scorpion tail and wings eating the Mama Bear’s corpse. He saw as the Manticore ripped her ribcage open and began eating the goodies inside like a pinata. If that wasn’t worse enough, he saw the mangled corpses of Styrka and Gnistra decorating the grass.

Styrka and Gnistra were dead.

The Mama Bear was dead.

And now so was his joy.

Bjørn’s right hand quivered and slowly made its way up to his eye, his breathing became fast in pace almost as if someone was stealing his oxygen. His other hand reached to his head as well, his pinky was directly under his left eye, feeling the tears that were flooding down his face. His heartbeat wildly, he felt like he was going to croak from grief, he felt like his whole chest was burning!

Briefly, his mind flashed, seeing Pip’s lifeless and bleeding body in the bath house.

He failed to protect his family again. He failed to keep his promise again!

A deep bestial growl rumbled across the forest and that brought the attention of the Manticore over to Bjørn at last. The beast-, no, the demon growled right back, baring its teeth at him. Bjørn growled as his breathing quickened once more, his body began to bulge and bulk. Bjørn glared at the heavens before letting out a primal roar.

The roar shook the forest for the beast inside him was awakened, a spiritual and transparent image of a gigantic grizzly bear formed on top of Bjørn. The ancient beast spirit’s eyes were red with fury, and it let out a growl as it began to shrink down to fit Bjørn, the spirit shrunk to Bjørn’s body, and the spirit stood on its hind legs. Its claws fit Bjørn’s hands, its head fits Bjørn’s, and its tail fits Bjørn’s as well.

The beast went back into Bjørn’s body and the Barbarian’s pupils shrunk so much that only white was his eyes. His hand and forearm began to spasm and crack as it slowly grew fur and turned into paws of a bear. His head shook violently, left to right and right to left before it looked straight up. His neck slowly grew fur as well as the rest of his face, his mouth grew more into a snout with razor sharp teeth. Bjørn collapsed to all fours as a small brown tail poked out of his back.

This man was reduced to nothing more than a wild animal.

And he relished it.

With a roar so fierce and powerful it would put hurricanes to shame, he began to approach the Manticore. Bjørn stood on his feet, saliva overflowing out his maw; he was ready to feast. The Manticore was fearful, how could it not? But when you push a rat into a corner, it will bite.

Bjørn rushed the Manticore, his maw wide open for it to see and his arms wide apart ready to slash into it. The Manticore pounced on Bjørn, using its wings to get airtime before crashing down onto the Barbarian. The Beast-Man caught the Manticore with his arms before it could bite down into him and slammed it onto the ground.

The Manticore could do nothing but yelp in pain as it was on its back, defenseless. Bjørn raised his claws to come down and stab into the Manticore, but the beast was smart and kicked the Barbarian with its hindlegs. Bjørn rolled with the fall and went to his feet, the Manticore got into a defensive position and hung its scorpion stinger right in front of it, almost as a warning.

However, all reason was lost to Bjørn as the primal urge to rip this fucking cat to shreds had completely taken over. The Beast-Man rushed the Manticore with the same open arms as last time, and aiming carefully, the Manticore stabbed its stinger into Bjørn’s right shoulder. Piercing his skin and sending its venom into his body, he would have likely died in minutes if it wasn’t for a-

-Natural Twenty.

Bjørn grabbed the stinger with his two bear claws and clenched it tight. The Manticore roared in pain before shock took over as the Barbarian lifted the beast in the air via its tail. The Manticore scrambled and flapped its wings to resist what Bjørn had in mind, however, it was simply no match for the Barbarian’s strength, and he slammed the Manticore hard against the ground.

The Manticore yowled and kicked, desperate to force Bjørn to let go, but Bjørn wasn’t quite done with the Manticore’s tail. He opened his maw wide and chomped down hard on the tail, he began shaking it like a dog toy. The Manticore kicked Bjørn’s head several times in a forlorn attempt at making him let go. Kicking the Barbarian only seemed to bring him more determination as he pulled hard on the scorpion tail, tearing it clean off.

The cry of the Manticore could be heard from miles as Bjørn spat the tail out, blood and venom gushed from the Manticore’s stub of a tail now. The Manticore knew this wasn’t a battle it could win, it flared its wings and prepared to take off. However, Bjørn wasn’t willing to let it go easily and lunged over towards its right wing, biting into it and making a hole into the wing.

The Manticore seemingly had enough of this utter and total domination and slashed its claws into Bjørn’s chest, digging four trenches across his body. Bjørn clenched his teeth and took a step back, the Manticore took the opportunity to try and take his head off with its teeth. Bjørn leaned back and evaded the bite for a slash across its eyes, this sent the Manticore reeling. Taking initiative, the Beast-Man unleashed slash after slash into the Manticore, burying his claws into the belly of the beast and cleaving a huge chunk out of its body. It was at this point the Manticore was too weak to fight back as it was mauled.

Bjørn tore out a chunk of its wing with his maw and slammed his foot onto the Manticore's chest. He spit out the wing and glared up to the heavens, letting out one last loud and primal roar. And as he roared wildly to the sky, he was unaware of something.

Three fillies were watching him.

Author's Note:

Unedited, just had to pump one out (pause), I'll edit it tomorrow.

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John bostock

John bostock #1 · Jan 18th, 2023 · 2 · ·

Can't wait for next chapter 🙂

vustrunreyth

vustrunreyth #2 · Jan 18th, 2023 · 1 · ·

I'd be more scared of a nine hundred pound chiwawa then a nine hundred pound pit bull. Those little demons are bad enough when they are small enough to punt. Could you imagine one the size of a horse?

Onyx Vesper