The moon's rays filtered through the clouds like the signal fire of a lone sentinel. Storm clouds raced across the sky, obscuring the moon's ethereal glow. The silence of the night was pierced by a thunderous explosion that briefly illuminated the starless void. A middle-aged man with a burnished beard and gaunt appearance slowly trudged across the floorboards of the now-burning two-story apartment. The man's skeletal figure was clad in a woolen overcoat and dark military fatigues. Red pools of fire burned in his sockets where his eyes would've been. The raging fire illuminated the gleam of the wicked smile that seemed to have been curved on his hideous face. His skin burned and healed at a rapid rate. He walked nonchalantly through the house, seemingly unbothered by the flames that licked at him.
"Come out, come out, little heir of Thane, you know there's only one way this ends". With a monstrous strength that defied his seemingly feeble appearance, the "old man" suddenly swung a double-edged axe that seemingly shimmered into existence, splitting a mahogany cupboard in half. " Enough of this", he growled. Tossing the axe to the side, he let out an animalistic roar, muscles rippling as they bulged and writhed beneath his skin, his bones snapped and rearranged themselves with loud popping sounds as the man's body contorted at unnatural angles. Within seconds, a large furred beast with jagged, lethal claws stood in his place. He stood in silence, drool pouring from his mouth, which curled in a canine smile, revealing a row of jagged teeth. He slowly moved through the house, barely making a sound.
In a nearby bedroom, a boy no less than 10 years old silently clung to the underside of the single twin bed, tears streaming down his face as images of his mother's broken body flashed repeatedly through his mind, the feeling of utter helplessness magnifying the hopelessness he felt.
The door to the room exploded violently as the abominable creature burst through it with a savage growl. Terror-stricken, Morgan Thane silently prayed for help. The low growling of the beast sent chills down the spine of the last surviving Thane.
"After all this time, vengeance at long last", Zagrul thought to himself. Maniacal laughter resounded through the house. "You know what they say; vengeance like a fine wine is best served with age." With a roar, the monster hurled the bed to one side of the room and with it, Morgan, who lost his grip from the shock, slamming into the wall. His vision blurred, blood flowing from a cut on his forehead. Morgan got up with a hiss as a wave of pain flared through his side. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at the monstrosity that towered over him, drool dripping down his fangs that gleamed like pristine daggers illuminated in the inferno that raged around them.
His heartbeat sped up audibly, blood pounding thundering in his eardrums as his eyes wildly searched the room, desperate for an opening that did not exist.
"Yes", the thing hissed. "Who could've thought the last runt of the Thanes would die cowering in fear before me, what a poetic sight to behold". Throwing his head back, the creature laughed, the sound echoing through the burning mansion like thunder. "Come on, don't you want to avenge your mother, the wretched whore! Didn't you watch as I tore her limb from bloody limb? I can still hear her screams. Does it not fill you with fury? Come then, young one, avenge her with all the power at your disposal."
The taunting voice of the monster and the images of his mother's last moments snapped something within Morgan. Unbeknownst to him, his brown eyes started to glow with ethereal golden light. "Oops, it seems I touched a nerve," Zagrul laughed wildly, the sound reverberating through the crumbling building with a tone of finality. "Come now, come at me with all you've got, avenge her… if you can," the creature said mockingly. Screaming with fury, Morgan rushed forward with inhuman speed only to be grabbed by and slammed against the wall with terrible strength. He felt his bones break and let out a muffled scream, and then spat out a mouthful of blood. "That's it, once more with feeling, scream for me", Zagrul howled in triumph, his beastly nature bristling in anticipation of devouring the prey he'd painstakingly bound his time for. Morgan stared with bloodshot eyes as all his strength abandoned him, realizing what a foolish thing it had been to fall for the creature's taunts. "So this is it? This is how I die."
"Mom, Dad, where are you? Help…me," he thought.
His vision blurred as he watched the creature's jaw open impossibly wide and clamp down on the side of his neck with alarming finality. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his consciousness started fading. As his consciousness faded, he saw his mum call out to him in the distance." Morgan....Morgan..." He stretched out his hand weakly towards the source of the voice, then everything went black.
Zagrul watched as the boy's body suddenly went limp. As he prepared to snuff out the child, a terrible premonition slammed into him, making his hair stand on end. Suddenly, despite the searing heat, the room seemed to become colder. The shadows grew darker. Zagrul froze, all his instincts screaming at him to put as much distance between him and the anomaly that was unfolding.
"What trickery is this?" Zagrul snarled. The space in the room seemed to ripple and crackle as if under tension. Bolts of electricity surged as a vertical slit formed impossibly in the air, as though the space itself had been sliced in half. With a beastly snarl, Zagrul suddenly lunged forward, his razor-sharp claws whipping through the air with deadly speed. The air exploded outwards, hurling Zagrul across the width of the room. The fissure widened, then disappeared, and the electricity dissipated, revealing the lean figure of a man clad in a dark robe with sparks crackling all over his body. The mysterious stranger was 6 feet tall and wielded a long staff of polished rowan wood. The man's robe was embroidered with gold etchings depicting the head of a roaring lion that seemed to move fluidly as though it were alive. A hood covered the man's face, revealing only his mouth, which was curled upward ever so slightly in a gentle smile. "It's been a while, Zagrul."