Why Do I Bite?

An earthy smell diluted by blood clung to his nose. There was a great pounding in his head. With every beat the world grew duller, more distant. He felt hot. Too hot. He should have been cold with all that blood gone. His skin itched all over, an unceasing irritation.

Kairan curled his fingers in the dirt. The once struggling breaths changed, replaced with a low thrumming growl. It stirred within him. Like an eruption, it exploded, surging with strength and hatred. A rage unbridled.

“Die beast,” Don spat.

Kairan caught the blade, felt it slice through his flesh, but he cared not for the flaring pain. It felt minor now.

He lurched upwards, throwing his surprised executioner off-balance.

Don fell to the floor in a daze. He barely registered his feet flying out from under him and, as a result, could not guard against the force bearing down on him.

Kairan slammed both his fists down onto Don’s chest.

Arms and legs recoiled under the force, miming a short spasm. There was a crack as Don’s ribcage shattered. He gave a final half-choked cough, spluttering blood.

Kairan wasn’t done; he grabbed a knife off Don’s belt and stabbed him through the jaw. He gave it no lingering thought, neither the brutality or the very fact that he’d taken a life with his own hands. Instead, he looked for the next one.

“Don!” yelled the rotund man, his own rage took hold, but it was fleeting, quickly replaced by fear as he stared towards the beast that had slaughtered his friend.

Kairan’s face was splashed red with blood and a few splotches of green, but it was the snarl and twisted hatred seeping from his eyes that sent the rotund man’s legs shaking. “Butcher, beast.” He fumbled at the words.

Kairan tore his destroyed shirt off and with a guttural bellow, challenged his opponents.

Immediately he ducked, as an arrow came whizzing overhead.

His feet dug into the dirt as he repositioned and launched forward in full sprint. With neigh unstoppable momentum he slammed his shoulder into the shield-bearer, knocking him aside.

Kairan changed focus, narrowly dodging the first of the rotund man’s flurry. An oppressive one that left little space for mistake. Kairan disregarded his safety and lunged. He grunted as the spear pierced him but didn’t relent. “Weak!” he yelled. Rage slowly suffocating his thoughts.

He caught the rotund man’s arm and with his left hand, delivered a palm thrust against the man’s elbow. It snapped, revealing a shard of jagged bone sticking out through the flesh.

The man let out a shrill scream.

Kairan threw a kick at the shield-bearer stunning him a moment further. Then slammed the same foot into the rotund man’s leg fracturing it inwards, the man let out another scream and arched backwards. In response Kairan struck his lower jaw.

The man dropped to the floor, leaning on his other elbow as he held a hand to his mouth, whimpering. Blood pooled beneath him, surrounding the chunk of tongue Kairan had forced him to bite off.

Just then the dwarf returned. Finished attending to their boss’s wounds.

“You!” Kairan snarled, “You’re next!” The dwarf adjusted the grip on his axe and charged.

“I’ll kill you,” the dwarf yelled back, followed by a mix of cursing.

Kairan ducked away from an arrow, scooped the spear from the ground and spun round, levelling it at his waist. As the dwarf closed in, Kairan lunged forward.

The dwarf slipped beneath the spear. He gave a bellow, heaved and swung his axe into Kairan’s stomach. Digging deep. But nowhere near deep enough.

Realizing this, the dwarf retreated.

Kairan felt his wound, sticking the tips of his fingers into the gap of flesh. The rage burned stronger, dulling the pain and urging him onwards. “I’ll take your mouth!”

And that he did.

He flipped the spear and drew his arm back. The muscles in his arms tensed and bulged as he prepared to throw.

Kairan slammed his forefoot into the ground, contorting his body and putting every bit of energy he could muster into the throw. So much so, it threw him off balance.

With tremendous speed and power, the spear flew forward.

The dwarf took a step back in anticipation, trying to gauge the spear’s trajectory. For a brief moment, his accelerating instincts made the world feel slow. He felt the spear drift past, a near miss. He relaxed, then movement caught his eye.

Kairan charged forward blindly, his arms swinging through the air as he recovered from tripping. This short burst was the fastest he had ever been.

The dwarf swung his axe in wild arcs, but it was no use. Kairan ploughed into the dwarf with the force of a bull, ripping him off his feet and into the air.

What followed was a grisly sight for any onlooker.

Kairan forced his hand into the dwarf’s mouth, little regard for the teeth that broke his skin. There was twist, a sharp crack and finally a tug. Kairan stood back, clutching the dwarf’s lower jaw in his fingers.

Another arrow pierced his flesh. He ignored it and snatched the axe from the floor, tired but ready to meet the oncoming clash from the shield-bearer.

He beat back the man’s futile attack. Strike after strike, the shield-bearer could do nothing but defend, yet even that became a struggle. Kairan’s ferocity mounted, until the shield gave way.

Kairan tore through the splintering shield and delivered a finishing strike to the man’s neck. He ripped the axe head out and swung again, cleaving the man’s head off his shoulders.

Exhaustion gripped Kairan’s every breath; he hunched over barely able to stand. Then he noticed the boss propping himself up on an elbow with the neck of a vial pressed to his lips. Almost all the liquid had been drained.

Kairan let out a yell, psyching himself up, and sprinted for the boss. In range, Kairan kicked the boss’s hand into his face, smashing the vial and sending him into a shrieking fit as he clawed at the glass now embedded into his face. Kairan executed him with another stomp.

An arrow struck Kairan just below the shoulder, without any reaction, he pulled it out.

“Last piece of scum!” he snarled.

The archer panicked and began firing off arrows as quickly as possible without pulling to full-draw or aiming as Kairan approached him. Unfortunately, almost none hit and those that did weren’t deep – the archer was quickly running out of arrows.

Just as Kairan was ten metres away, the archer had a stroke of sudden genius and tossed his bow aside choosing to flee. This only angered Kairan more and he sprinted after the archer, snatching the bow from the ground as he passed it.

It only took a few seconds for Kairan to catch up and tackle the archer to the ground, where he then sat on top with his knees digging in the man’s back.

He started begging, but Kairan ignored it and hooked the bow-frame around his throat and began pulling it upwards.

It didn’t take long for the archer’s squirming to come to an end and when it did, Kairan took his head and slammed it into the ground. He did so repeatedly, it echoed a chorus of bloody rage. Then silence. Mush and viscera splattered across the grass.

The rage dwindled, and his breathing turned heavy. The air scraped and clawed at his throat.

He sat back, unable to say anything, to think anything, only able to look over the carnage he’d wrought. He had slaughtered them, butchered them.

What have I done…The thoughts echoed. Not even beasts did this to their prey.

He felt his heartbeat in his ears; the rapid cacophony of noise threatening to drive him insane.

Monster.

He took a long, deep breath and curled his shaking hands. It took a moment before they obeyed his command.

Warm. Wet. The sensation rippled through him.

He looked down at his hands and recoiled. Blood that lay so thick across his hands that it strung between his fingers.

“They deserved it,” he said quietly to himself. His heartbeat did not ease. “They were flesh traders. It was the right thing to do.” He felt cold now, all that heat from before had dissipated in an instant. His skin was left feeling clammy; warm sweat clung to it in excess, it made him shiver.

The lies he spouted to ward himself did little in the way of convincing him. He made to wipe his hands but there was far too much of it. They were stained red and green with blood.

He was unsatisfied with the effort, but it did him no good to dwell on it. He needed to see to the family, make certain that they were safe.

As he made his way back, pain began to throb throughout his body, each step making it worse. Subconsciously, he started to limp slightly.

He retrieved a knife and hobbled over towards the family. He shuffled past the driver, who still sat slumped in his seat. Kairan hadn’t noticed until now, but the man was long dead. An arrow sat pierced through his neck. They must have targeted him first to force the carriage to a halt.

Kairan cut the father’s binds with ease, but the girls were problematic. As soon as he laid hands on the older sister she screamed and attempted to pull away from him. Scrambling to the safety of her mother’s lap. There she cowered, head buried in her mother’s dress as if it would ward off all evil.

“Easy, easy,” Kairan said, trying to soothe the frightened girl.

The mother twisted against her restraints and shielded both girls from Kairan with her body.

He felt his eye twitch. “Hey, I’m only trying to help. I won’t hurt you. I swear it.”

The mother would not meet his gaze, he felt a void swell within his stomach. The younger child peered up at him from behind their mother, her wet eyes were drawn wide, cheeks stark white. As soon as their eyes met, the girl flinched and retreated behind her mother.

He understood. It hurt, but he couldn’t deny the truth. No words or promises would stave off that fear.

“Here,” he said and offered the knife to the father. “Help your family, cut their binds.”

Without interference, he freed the rest of his family. Immediately, they embraced each other. The children were unable to keep the tears at bay, wailing about the fear they’d felt.

Kairan stood at a distance, choosing not to disturb their peace. Seeing their reactions, the love they shared for each other in their embrace, Kairan began to feel his actions justified. Even if their fear extended to him as well.

“Why did you help us?” the father asked hesitantly.

There isn’t much to it, any man would step in and help…that wasn’t true. I saw a family in distress…that’s not it either. I saw a group of men, flesh traders, attempting to kidnap and traffic children…not the full reason. I saw bandits… Despite putting his life in danger for them, he suddenly struggled to give a reason for his actions. Last time I was powerless.

“I wanted to. Can’t stand scum like them.” He thought to spit at a nearby corpse to further illustrate his words but decided against it.

“I see,” the father began to fidget, “If I many enquire, what are you? I’ve never heard of a monster that helps people.”

Kairan pondered for a moment. “What am I indeed? A simple adventurer, I suppose.”