Unholy Player

Adyr stood in silence, watching the light fade from the wolf’s eyes.

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He simply felt the soul leaving the body, a strange sense of peace washing over him, as if bearing witness to a personal ritual.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, his muscles relaxed, and a calm settled over him. It wasn’t his own, not entirely. It belonged to the thing inside him, the monster. Its hunger had finally been satisfied, its thirst for blood quieted since yesterday.

Now, with the fight over, his attention shifted. From the corner of his eye, he caught movement—tiny figures watching him through a crack in the cave wall.

The pups.

The moment they realized he had seen them, they scurried back into the shadows.

Adyr walked over slowly and peered inside. Five wolf pups huddled together, trembling, drawing what little courage they could from one another’s closeness.

"Sorry, boys. That’s how the world works. You should know it by instinct," he muttered with a sigh. Though still small now, in a year, they would grow into ferocious beasts like their parents.

Then, reaching behind him, he unwrapped the bundle of leather tied to his back and pulled out the Dawn Raven.

Since yesterday’s meal, it had looked healthy, but signs of hunger had begun to show. Normally, it fed at least one person a day. By now, it was starving.

Adyr loosened its muzzle and released it toward the pups.