Chapter 9: The Monster's Birth
645 Words
Chapter 9 – The Monster’s Birth
Reino’s uncle had stolen his crown, his family, and his freedom. Broken and chained, Reino prayed in desperation for strength—not from the gods of light, but from the shadows. And the shadows answered.
The night was heavy with silence.
Only the wind moved, whispering through the broken boards of the storehouse where I lay chained.
But I was not the same boy who had been thrown here in despair.
The curse had entered me.
And now, it breathed with me.
At first, there was pain—fire racing through my veins, twisting, reshaping, burning away the weakness of my body. My legs, once brittle and crooked, straightened. My bones hardened. My heart thundered like a war drum.
I stood.
For the first time in my life, I stood tall, without help, without pain. Tears stung my eyes.
It was everything I had dreamed of.
And yet… something was wrong.
My hands trembled, not with weakness but with hunger. Black lines pulsed across my skin, faintly glowing like embers from a dying fire. Inside me, a voice whispered:
More.
The door creaked. A guard stepped in, torch in hand. His eyes widened when he saw me standing, unchained.
“You—how—”
Before he could finish, the shadows inside me surged. They moved faster than thought, wrapping around him like smoke. His torch fell, sputtering against the dirt floor.
The man screamed.
I reached out, trying to stop it, but my hand closed around his throat with a strength I didn’t recognize. The shadows pierced him, drinking him dry. His body collapsed at my feet, lifeless, empty.
I staggered back, clutching my chest.
“What… what did I do?”
The voice purred inside me:
You did what was necessary. You survived. Do you feel it? The power?
And I did.
The weakness was gone.
My legs were steady, my body strong. But along with it came a gnawing emptiness, deeper than hunger.
I wanted more.
The farm was quiet, the moon casting its pale glow over the pens and huts.
Cows shifted uneasily, sensing something unnatural in the air.
Then, the screams began.
I don’t remember how I moved from the storehouse to the yard. The shadows carried me like a storm, lashing out at anything that moved. Soldiers, farmhands—they tried to fight, but their blades passed through the darkness as if striking smoke.
One by one, they fell.
I remember faces twisted in terror.
I remember the heat of blood spraying across my skin.
I remember laughter—terrible, ragged laughter—and realizing it came from my own throat.
The curse guided my hand, and I let it.
Because in every death, the hunger lessened for a moment.
And in that moment, I felt whole.
By dawn, silence returned.
I stood in the yard, surrounded by bodies. The soil drank their blood, blackened and sticky. Smoke rose from burning huts.
The farm—the only place I had once thought could be a home—was gone.
My chest heaved. My hands shook. I tried to tell myself this was victory, that I was finally strong.
But the truth settled heavy in my heart.
I had not saved anyone.
I had not avenged anyone.
I had only destroyed.
And still… the hunger whispered.
This is only the beginning, Prince Reino.
You have tasted power.
Now take more.
Take back what was stolen.
Let the world bow before you—or burn beneath you.
I looked toward the horizon, where the palace towers pierced the morning sky.
My uncle’s throne waited there.
I clenched my fists. The blood on my hands had already dried, but the shadows still pulsed within me.
And I swore to myself:
If I must become a monster to take it back…
then a monster I will be.
- Writer
