Solaris stood at the base of the tree, completely gripped by the captivating sight that had just revealed itself.
It was an unnatural turn of events. He had only wanted to go for his morning walk, and yet he now had to deal with this. All because he had decided to go another way. Maybe if he had simply gone left, he would have never seen this. Maybe if he had gone left, he would have continued his life the way it was.
But that was not what happened.
He had made a choice he now regretted, and at this very moment, he was going to make another.
Just beyond the small hill with the three trees and Solaris, two figures stood. One of them was dripping with blood while gripping her injured arm. Yet the object responsible for this injury was not something Solaris could properly define.
The creature was staggeringly tall, so large that the only way for it to look at the woman before it was to tilt its head downward with its dark yellow eyes. The being had a massive frame and looked as if you could topple an entire building onto it, and it would simply walk it off without care.
From the right side of its temple protruded a single horn, small yet jagged in appearance.
The monster's mouth jutted outward, filled with blood-soaked teeth. It had four razor-sharp fangs—two on the top and two on the bottom—each one large and curved like cruel blades. Its hard skin was a deep crimson, so dark it almost looked as if it had been permanently stained by the blood of countless humans.
Its arms ended in large, powerful hands with talons extending from the tips of its fingers. One of those colossal hands gripped a massive blade with no hilt or guard to speak of, the weapon appearing more like a brutal slab of sharpened metal than anything crafted for elegance.
The creature wore tattered human-esque clothes, yet it was anything but human.
Beneath the torn shirt it wore was a small amount of armor covering parts of its torso. The surface of this armor was made of deep grey scales that overlapped each other like the hide of some enormous reptile. A few pieces of plate reinforced certain sections, but the bulk of the armor consisted of those strangely large scales.
No words could truly describe the fear that instantly overtook the young man's body.
His muscles stiffened, and his breath caught in his throat as he stared at the towering creature before him. Solaris dropped the bag that he had been carrying,And involuntary whisper slipped from his lips before he could stop it, the single word breaking the silence of the courtyard.
"…demon…"
Having no better word to describe the sight that lay before his deep green eyes, Solaris subconsciously settled on the oldest explanation humanity had ever created for something so monstrous.
A demon.
As soon as the words left his lips, the original fear that had overtaken him instantly vanished.
As it was replaced with a new fear.
The demon had heard him.
It turned its head violently and stared directly at Solaris. The gaze alone made him feel as if the beast's eyes could kill him. The deep, dark yellow of its pupils fixed onto the young boy's body, narrowing into thin lines instead of the circular shape they once held.
The demon took a large step forward.
Solaris snapped out of the paralyzing fear that had tightly gripped his body. The invisible force holding him still seemed to shatter, and suddenly he could move again.
Adrenaline pumped through his body at an abnormally high rate, filling him with the overwhelming instinct known as fight or flight.
He chose flight.
Without letting the beast take another step, Solaris dashed forward toward the woman bleeding near the creature and grabbed her.
Grabbing the tall woman, he ran through the entrance from the courtyard into the school.
In a voice that sounded as if he hadn't spoken in days, he attempted to reassure the woman slung over his shoulder.
"…just… hold on a little… longer."
Through his fading breath, he managed to finish the small sentence.
Solaris ran through the large school until he found an emergency exit. Slamming into the door, he burst outside into a large alleyway.
Only to find himself face-to-face with the demon.
The massive beast stood just a few feet away from him.
"Let me… down. I have… to fight."
The woman on his shoulder pleaded weakly.
Seeing few options in the moment, Solaris realized that he had tried to save what looked like a helpless person. But now that assumption seemed completely wrong.
He had failed to notice something earlier.
The claws on her right hand were similar to the demon's… yet not the same.
They were different.
The claw on the woman's hand was a deep shade of blue, and it was incredibly cold. Solaris only felt the chill now as his adrenaline began to fade. The claw was made entirely of ice.
Thinking through the few options left to him, Solaris realized he had to make a decision.
Her… or him.
After only a brief moment of thought, he decided that his life was more important than that of this stranger.
Tossing the tall woman off his shoulder and onto the ground, he backed toward the door. His plan was simple—wait for her to engage the demon and then escape.
But the moment that thought formed in his mind, everything went wrong.
The demon suddenly leaped forward with lightning speed, shoving the girl aside with its weapon as it lunged straight for Solaris.
The sudden surge of adrenaline had already begun to fade. His body no longer knew what to do. His heart accelerated beyond what felt physically possible, and the pressure overwhelmed his mind.
His brain simply shut down.
Knocking him into unconsciousness.
This is the end.
Well… I guess I had a good life.
I mean, I never got to travel and see the other parts of the world where nature still grows.
I never got to meet a girl and have a family.
Did I even want that?
Of course not. There was no way I would ever do that.
But then… why am I thinking about it now, while I'm dying?
Maybe I shouldn't have been such a loner. Maybe I should have tried just a little harder to fit in.
Oh well.
It's pointless now.
These thoughts bubbled through the seemingly dying man's mind.
Yet that wasn't what was happening.
He wasn't dying.
In fact… he was thriving.
Moments later, Solaris awoke from the sudden onset of sleep.
He was standing.
Standing on top of something large.
His heart was beating at an accelerated pace before slowing back to normal
"I'm… alive? How?"
He slowly opened his eyes, and the blur of being asleep was nowhere to be found.
Still recovering from the shock of being alive, he began looking over his body, expecting many wounds. Raising his arms, he glanced at them carefully.
They were covered in a dark black color, and just beneath the surface, a deep orange glow pulsed faintly.
But the moment he blinked, the strange sight vanished.
Replaced by something else entirely.
His arms were now coated in deep crimson.
"AHHH!"
The sudden realization struck Solaris with staggering force.
It was blood.
A lot of blood.
It completely covered his hands and forearms in a sticky red coating that dripped as if it were still fresh.
Yet there were no cuts or gashes anywhere on his body.
Fearful that the blood might be coming from somewhere else, he quickly looked down.
And saw the source.
Just beneath his feet lay the massive body of the demon.
Its face had been completely caved in by extreme blunt force. The sword it once carried had shattered and now stuck out from various points in its tough skin. The arm that had originally held the weapon had been torn from the socket and jammed into its own gut.
One leg lay several feet away near the wall.
And directly beneath Solaris, a massive hole existed where the demon's chest once was. Its rib cage had been twisted inside out, as if something had violently clawed its way through the creature's body.
Chunks of flesh and muscle were scattered across the ground around it.
Seeing the grotesque scene, Solaris immediately emptied his stomach.
He vomited directly into the open cavity beneath his feet. Since he hadn't eaten anything yet, it was mostly stomach acid, which burned painfully as it rose through his throat.
He stumbled backward, slipping off the monster's body and landing among the scattered chunks of flesh before quickly scrambling toward the nearby wall.
"Why is this happening to me!? What did I do to deserve this!?"
Confused and terrified, Solaris broke down completely. Like a frightened child, he buried his face into his knees and began crying uncontrollably as tears streamed down his face.
He only looked up when a calm voice suddenly spoke nearby.
"Excuse me, son… did you kill this demon?"
The voice came from just above him.
It was deep and mature, yet strangely soothing to hear.
"…I… I… I don't… know."