Mistwood Farmstead to the north of Abeth and east of Baatai. Other than bordering the Slumbering Sumit there is nothing of note but small villages such as this are the only places people like me are truly equal. My parents never let me forget this.

We are Wild Ones, people with animalistic features, descendants of the God Arrox who stole the law of nature and the law of madness, losing his sanity. Father says we are lucky to have so few features and that it keeps the “madness” away but aren’t the other races jealous of our luxurious fur. My father is the vice chief of Mistwood, because of his superior sense of smell, so I never understand why he hides his ears from the lord and that mom and I must stay inside when he arrives. We had a big harvest this year but I felt like I could lift twenty men today so I thought it would be a nice surprise for the town. Everyone was getting ready to move the grain into storage which should have taken all day but with how strong I felt I knew I could save us the trouble. The sun had shone a dark crimson light this morning, I couldn’t forget its beauty.

I ran up to the wagon “don’t worry everyone I got this.” I was so full of confidence, “what do you mean honey?” my mom looked so confused but she would be so happy when she saw how helpful I can finally be to dad. With a swift motion, the rough burlap sacks scraped my shoulder as I put a fourth of the wagon’s grain on my back. I could feel the silence. They must be so amazed, though it was a bit harder than I thought. Turning around feels like an eternity now, I first saw my friend Caleb clapping for me but his father was quick to smack the back of his head with a good thud.

That look they gave me as if I were some ‘Dirty Parasite’ that had infested the village. My own mother wouldn’t look at me and the only sound I heard was “Beast”.

‘Why?’

“Beast?” I questioned but what answered was a ringing bell of pain and my mind was the hammer. Soon followed by the sound of hooves it was the lord he was to be present when the priest of Rognir blessed our harvest. Surely he would answer what was happening. He had always complimented my father and said we were the most prosperous of the cultivation projects.

I wish I could say I acted swiftly, or at all, but it was simply too much and the rest is a blur. Caleb’s father the chief a strong Kanto man grabbed my father proclaiming us to be stupid wolves who really thought we could be sheep. When the hooves finally halted I began running as the lord ordered his rangers to take down the “bestial monstrosity”. I ran.

I couldn’t think I merely hated myself for not listening to my father and at those dirty humans acting a fool to conceal the jealousy and the wrath toward my people. It felt like I would go insane with these thoughts but I did not lose my way it was as if the forest were leading me to safety.

It had been a few hours of running and the once crimson light was swallowed by the shadows of the trees. Once I saw a crevice large enough to fit into along the mountain I climbed in and collapsed. Taken into the realm of dreams I had been shone many things I had believed to be unfathomable. Upon the end of the dream, I could only recall the cold clink of chains that dragged along a jagged stone floor and a guttural roar that shook my very soul. I could only imagine that it came from some divine beast.

For many days I followed the whispers of the wind and the murmurs of insects. Hunger gnawed at my mind but the trees urged me to move faster. As I moved further I noticed that I had begun to change, my footsteps became heavier and the pain of rocks or sticks faded.

As I stepped up to a wall of trees weaved so perfectly that you’d want to believe it was a work of nature but such a thing just couldn’t have been done without the assistance of… magic, had I stumbled onto the land of a mage. When blood began to stream down my face the thought of having been cursed crossed my mind until I felt the bone protrusions that had formed on my head.

The trees lowered their leaves as if bowing as they opened a path for me to pass through. As pale light came light spotlights through the earthy green leaves all sensation disappeared as I collapsed into the embrace of the dirt beneath my feet.

A booming voice rang out “How unlucky you must be, eh? To turn sixteen and have your adaptation begin without knowing yourself to hold the blood of a true born. Though maybe you’re lucky compared to those you used to know once a priest of A’eon were to find such a great heresy… well I’m sure you can smell it, like a bonfire of bones with the putrid scent of burnt hair.”

I had been too busy running but taking a deep breath, it stung and I couldn’t help but retch as there was nothing but air to throw up. ‘I… how could this happen?’. Only I am a beast but nevertheless, I can feel the ashes of my past burrow into my skin and grasp my mind like the razor claws of mountain wolves.

“Poor boy, you really had no clue, did you? Really believed yourself to be just one of those sheep. Well time to learn that you are the son of an Alpha, I’m sure that’s why they didn’t catch you. Now you may only know more after your trial.” As the voice came to an end I could hear endless scratching as light began to peek into the darkness that enveloped me.

It was all too much, what was any of this supposed to mean but before I could pull more meaning from his words I was dropped into a sandy pit. I took a knee to stand up but the step sounded almost halfway between a foot and a hoof. A searing pain attached itself to my left arm as a stream of crimson warmth began to flow down. Grabbing at my wound I saw it, a skinny pale green figure only three feet at most, gnashing its fangs and flailing about a stone shard.

So much fear and anger began to boil that it was about to burst when I saw its eyes staring into me. They were so human, disgustingly so, and they were gloating eyes of pity. I couldn’t handle it. My rage had bloomed to become full-blown wrath that wouldn’t go away until those dirty human eyes were gone. I had never fought before, I moved merely on instinct when it lunged at me. I gripped the makeshift blade and slammed my head straight down into the little monster’s skull, planting its face firmly in the ground. I had heard stories of goblins, of how they attack in packs during the night because they were weak monsters but I never thought I would kill one so fast. I had never thought I would kill at all. When I was finally back in the moment my hands had been drenched in blackish blood and its human-like face was no longer there to gloat over my existence.

“Now let your true adaptation begin.” He seemed smug for some reason now.