Criticisms welcome. There WILL be blood, plenty of violence, and extensive potty mouths. If you dislike darkness, this may not be the story for you.

Screams and roars echoed, their sounds clashing yet coming together to form a new wave of hell.

Among that hell a young soldier ran across the battered excuse for a battlefield. Creatures and men fell around him. The dust and dirt stung his eyes and clung to his skin like a sticky veil, leather damp and soaked from sweat and blood.

His lungs burned as he ran, men falling to arrows treated with Ariados venom, their muscles clenching as the toxin coursed through their veins. His legs felt like they would fail him, but he kept running, intent on making it to safety. His unit had been ambushed and vastly outnumbered. The army scattered in different directions as scores of arrows rained down from the sky, while arcs of flame and lightning scorched skin and charred bones on the ground.

Madness. A frenzied state of affairs. No sense could be made of this. There was only this scene, a void of muffled noise contrasting against the anguish.

The blood never seemed to stop flowing, the once brown soil was now stained a dark red. On top of it lay soldier after soldier, along with all the fallen creatures under their command.

Few of them remained, no longer in formation to fight. And so, they ran for their lives, enemies in hot pursuit. Dodging flamethrowers, lightning bolts, and hyper beams, they managed to enter a small forest. The forest was a shadow of what it once was, devastated by fire and war. It once was home to thousands of creatures and trees, which bore fruit that could cure a vast array of ailments. Now, the life it boasted was dead and ash.

Arcanine hunted them down, gaining ground rapidly on the fleeting men. Glancing back, the soldier saw his comrades and friends being engulfed in flames and bitten with fire infused fangs. Their skin sliding off their bodies like wax on a candle as fire passed over their mortal flesh. It was a horrible sight. The smell of burning bodies was grotesque and repulsive, nearly compelling him to puke.

The acid in the soldier's muscles pierced his sides like a knife, burning with every breath of air. Still, he pushed his legs to the absolute limit, zigzagging through the forest in an attempt to evade the advancing flames. He could hear the sounds of fire roaring behind him, with the cackling and crashing of trees being set ablaze and felled by searing hot flamethrowers.

No backup, no chance, no time. Their only hope of survival was to hide and pray that their hunters could not find them.

Roughly ten of them remained, seven men and three Mightyena. They were beginning to tire. All of them were. Three men clenched their sides and stopped, unable to continue due to the acidic buildup in their muscles. That was their limit. They were in death's hands now.

Glancing back, the Arcanine caught up to them and stopped, charring their bodies until nothing was left but black ash. The smell of death clung to the air , heavy and thick as they continued their hunt, burning down anything in their path.

More fell victim to the effects of fatigue and stayed behind, panting and gasping for air as they clasped a hand to their chest, accepting the embrace of death and wishing the rest a good fortune.

Their salute was unbearable to watch, a spear of guilt, regret, and sorrow engulfed the soldier's entire being, briefly contemplating the thought of death. Rest. Forever. About to give into the temptation, a hand struck his back. His closest living friend, Nemos.

"Keep…running…Riven…" He huffed out, trying to speak despite his fatigue and heavy breathing. Riven looked at his face, and knew what he was about to do.

He stopped, along with the three mightyena who ran alongside them, and beckoned Riven to go. Drawing his blades, he turned around and assumed a battle stance, intending to face the three arcanine in an attempt to stall time. For him.

"Nemos, No! They will kill you! Do not do this! We can make it out, please!" Riven cried.

Nemos was a friend, one of the only ones left at this point. He'd been there with him since he first joined up with the army when they were just children, sick and dying from hunger in a rundown town. After all the loss they sustained over ten years of struggle, he was the first and now the last. The rest had fallen long ago to the viciousness of war. But now he would die too? By the same bastards who took everyone else ten years ago too, his family included. And yet again, he was powerless to stop it.

He would ask why, but he knew exactly why things were this way. Things had been this way for thousands of year. They would continue like this for another thousand. What did it matter if they were gone? Nothing would change.

Nemos smiled weakly and said, "Riven, go. You are more important than any of us. I cherished our times together and I hoped we would be able to share many more. But my time is over, this day would come sooner or later. Now go! Your bloodline must live! You cannot die here!"

"No..." Riven reached out, attempting to limp over to him, halting when he pulled out a blade and pointed the edge at him. Steel glinted in the afternoon sun.

"GO!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. Turning back, Riven kicked the dirt with his boot and began to run again.

Nemos turned his head and watched as Riven moved away, a black blur heading further into the forest. Turning back to face the arcanine, he brandished his two blades and leapt into the flames. Gazing into the colors of the fire, he remembered the moments he lived with his friend and smiled, a single tear running down his right cheek, landing on his right blade, turning into mist as the flames glided over his body.

His eyes danced as he faced death without an ounce of fear.

Riven's feet pounded the ground ferociously, no longer running, but sprinting, fresh adrenaline coursing through his blood as he shut out pain, resolving to honor Nemos last wish. He wanted him to live, to continue on, to never give up. And to rebuild the bloodline that was nearly destroyed ten years ago. He would fight to his last breath if he had to. He wanted to live.

Approaching a cave, and no longer seeing the arcanines after him, he took refuge inside, hoping the darkness of the cavern would conceal his presence and deter the beasts from entering. The young soldier sat on the cold rocky floor, catching his breath and panting for air. Smelling the dampness of the cave with every breath, he hoped they would not find him. But he would not pray for it. Not after everything that happened to him and his friends. God would not solve anything, only watch as the world went to hell.

Just like he always did. A long, bitter laugh of irony escaped him, echoing along the cave walls.

Suddenly, a massive roar pierced the skies above and broke him out of his laughter. His heart rate jumped and an electrifying shock traveled up his spine, making the hairs stand on end at the back of his neck. That was no Arcanine. No. The sound was so powerful the earth itself rattled, and the sky seemed to crack. He could only assume that whatever was behind this was short of divine, such a roar could only belong to a being of legendary power. Or perhaps that pitiful excuse for a god finally decided to stop being useless. The ground trembled and shook as if the earth underneath him was being split in two, dust and pebbles falling from the ceiling of the cave onto the shaking ground beneath.

A sonic wave from a second roar ripped through the air and as it made contact with him, a strange feeling overcame his body, slipping into darkness moments afterwards.

Blue lights and vortexes of light enveloped the youth, who was in a deep slumber, pushing him along the currents of time. The boy drifted along the fabric of time and space, finally reaching an entrance that brimmed and radiated light. As he passed through, the chaotic plane behind him faded, giving way to the material world once again.

When he awoke, his head felt like it had been hammered into dust and built back up again, with more than a few pieces loose. There had been a roar and then…? He couldn't quite recall.

Riven lifted himself off the ground, damp and soaked to the bone by the pool of shallow water in the center. He looked around the cave, trying to see where he awoke. It seemed the same as before, although the ceiling now had noticeable pointed stalactites hanging from the ceiling. And there was a pool of murky water in the center he was currently half submerged in. That was definitely not there before.

How did this water get here? There was not any before, when the arca….

The arcanine. I almost forgot about them. Are they still looking for me?

Dripping, he walked towards the mouth of the cave and peered outside, the rays of the early morning sun warming his skin and bothering his eyes from the sudden flush of light. There were no signs of any commotion or disturbance, only the sound of wildlife bustling about. Riven nearly stepped out of the cave absently when apprehension and caution slid back into his brain, reminding him that again, something was wrong.

There was no forest here. He would know, after all, he was running through the damn thing when it was being turned into charcoal. For all the young soldier knew, it could be a trick. How they managed to set up a realistic looking forest in such a short time was astounding. Assuming they did, anyway.

Maybe he was already dead and someone was just playing a sadistic joke on him. Like say, life. Seemed likely.

Riven stepped out of the cave, alert and ready to engage any threats that could come after him should they be foolish enough to do so. He walked thirty feet ahead, catching a glimpse of a suspicious road that simply screamed man-made. It was beyond bizarre, seeing no blood or bodies on the floor they were littered about minutes ago, but trees and grass growing in their place. Fruit hung from their tall branches, ripe and perfect for eating.

He might have dismissed a trap back inside of the cave, but this? This had to be. Looking at those berries, his mouth nearly watered.

After carefully scouting the area and finding nothing that wanted to rip him apart, he began climbing the trees to reach the delicious fruit. Better than the usual nuts and roots the army had been surviving on, anyway. There were entire trees full of the things here, no need to be conservative when starving.

Riven plucked them dry.

Picking about twenty or so berries, he stuffed them inside his bag and jumped down, landing on the floor with a crunch. Pulling a fruit from the pack, he smiled and took a bite, its well rounded flavor reminding him that his taste buds still somewhat worked. Finished with the fruit, he looked for materials to build a fire, and a stream to bathe and gather clean water for some food.

After thirty minutes of work and foraging, the young man gathered sufficient wood and materials to make a fire, and enough water to make a stew. He placed the water inside of a small iron pot and set it over the decently sized fire, then adding the fruits add flavor. Meanwhile the stew was cooking, he waded into the stream and cleaned himself, ridding the body of the grime, sweat and blood that accumulated on his uniform and skin. The stream not being poisoned or fouled by something also made for a pleasant surprise. Different from what he was used to, but good. Least he smelled better than before.

Now clean, he went over to check on the stew. It was bubbling nicely and fit to eat. Grabbing the pot with his gloves, he poured some of the stew into a crude bowl and began eating. The stew was not the most delicious thing he had ever tasted but it would do for the time being.

With luck, a Stantler or a Sawsbuck would eagerly prance into his sights and become dinner. Wishful thinking there, though. Riven tugged at his quiver, optimism plummeting as he did an inventory of his things. Disappointment arose fairly quickly when he noticed that there were only three usable arrows. The other one carried a nasty toxin that could stop a man's heart in two minutes. If he ate anything killed with that, he could potentially kill himself. And while the thought of suicide via dinner was fairly ironic and a little hilarious, it would work out poorly, to say the least. Of course the only downside being that he would be, uh… well, dead.

Scowling, Riven continued on, discarding some heavier supplies into the water as he did so.

Walking along the riverbank, he heard a commotion inside the forest. He dashed inside in search of dinner-to-be, finding nothing of the sort, much to his disappointment. As the disillusioned soldier turned back, he heard a sharp yelp and numerous growls. His body sprung into full alert, and drew his blades, slowly walking towards the clearing where the peculiar sounds were coming from. Cutting away the vegetation, he saw the source of the sounds from before; a pack of wild Mightyena slowly circling two strange looking creatures he had never seen before.

One of them appeared to be peculiar mix of a feline and canine, with snow white fur and a sharp horn attached to the side of its head. A sharp bladed tail swayed viciously behind it like a dark blue scythe, just like the horn. Its eyes were blood red and its fangs were bared, clearly trying to scare off the Mightyena.

Which seemed to be going rather swell, considering they were not backing off.

The second creature was a small humanoid like creature with what appeared to be green hair and a red spike protruding from the center of its head. It cowered behind the white furred animal, shaking in fear of being eaten by their hunters. Both strange creatures were seemingly small and he concluded that they were probably newly hatched, or at least fairly young. Inaccurate assumption maybe, but they were significantly smaller than all the other Mightyena.

Huh, interesting.

His common sense told him to walk away, that it was just nature running its course and had nothing to do with him. But nature was a gigantic ass, and he was not a fan. Riven looked at the two and saw the raw determination of the white creature as it snarled, ready to give up its own life to protect the smaller creature beneath its feet.

"Why not?"He muttered to himself, shrugging as his hands fell to his hips. "Might make me feel a little better."

Drawing his blades, Riven jumped out and steel sang.

I hope it interested you, dear reader, and I promise i will try to update consistently because I like being... well, consistent. It irks me when people last update around the cretaceous period and then suddenly come back. Seriously, at least give a warning.