huffhuff
Dox ran.
Behind her, the slave traders clashed with the monster, steel screaming against flesh. She didn't look back. She couldn't.
Trees blurred past her vision as she fled, branches whipping at her skin, snow spraying beneath her feet.
Then—
Light.
A sudden brilliance, as if she had burst straight into daylight.
"Ah—! Bright!"
Dox squeezed her eyes shut against the flash.
When she opened them again, moonlight spilled through the trees—and at its center stood a blade.
A crimson-orange katana was etched into the frozen earth, its surface faintly glowing, as though warmth itself had been sealed inside the steel. Steam rose where it pierced the ground, melting the snow in a perfect circle around it.
Dox froze.
She stared at the sword.
Something pressed against her chest.
A presence.
Not admiration.
Not awe.
Something deeper.
An urge.
An invisible pressure that pushed her forward, guiding her steps.
She walked toward the blade.
Then—
The forest growled.
Snow crunched.
A heavy breath echoed to her left.
Dox's head snapped up.
"Grrrwl!!"
"RAAWR!"
A tiger-like monster burst from between the trees, its striped hide warped and thickened by frost. Ice clung to its fangs, its eyes burning with hunger the moment they locked onto her.
Any normal child her age would have collapsed at the sight.
But Dox had seen worse.
Slavery had taught her how to endure terror.
She forced herself to breathe.
Her body moved before her mind could catch up.
She turned and ran.
Her legs screamed.
Her lungs burned.
Then—
The ground shook.
A familiar, dreadful weight pressed in from behind.
The bear.
The same grotesque monster from before crashed through the trees, bloodied and furious, its roar tearing through the forest. It had followed her.
The traders were gone.
Annihilated.
Now—
She was trapped.
Tiger in front.
Bear behind.
No escape.
Dox stumbled to a halt.
Her breath came out in ragged clouds.
For the first time since the carriage—
She felt it.
Fear.
Her knees trembled.
So this is it…?
The tiger lowered its body, muscles coiling.
The bear raised a massive claw, shadow swallowing her small frame.
Dox closed her eyes.
Then—
She remembered.
The sacrifice the slave trader had made to buy her time.
No.
Her teeth clenched.
She refused.
If I die… I won't be able to fulfill the promise.
Her body moved.
She didn't know why.
She didn't know how.
Her feet slid into position.
Her shoulders lowered.
Her hands rose—empty, shaking—yet placed as if they remembered something long forgotten.
A stance.
As if someone had once stood behind her, correcting her posture.
As if someone had whispered—
Stand straight.
The tiger lunged.
The bear swung.
Dox moved.
She ducked beneath the bear's claw by instinct alone. Snow exploded behind her as the impact carved into the ground, the force hurling her forward. Her small body skidded across the frozen earth.
Pain detonated through her.
She rolled.
Her vision blurred.
Her strength vanished.
Blood spilled from her lips as she coughed.
Her body screamed that this was the end.
She landed hard—
Right in front of the sword.
The world spun.
Darkness clawed at the edges of her sight.
No… not yet…
With everything she had left, Dox reached out.
Her fingers wrapped around the hilt.
Warm.
So warm.
Her grip tightened.
"I… refuse… to die," she whispered.
Her body gave out.
Her consciousness fell.
—
Laughter echoed.
Deep.
Ancient.
Satisfied.
"Muhahaha… finally," the voice rumbled. "A worthy child."
Dox's eyes snapped open.
She stood.
Slowly.
Her body moved without hesitation now.
Her black hair shifted—bleeding into brown, then streaked with burning red. Crimson light ignited in her eyes, replacing fear with something far older.
Her wounds were gone.
She lifted her gaze.
The monsters froze.
"This feeling of freedom…"Dox laughed—but the voice wasn't hers."It is all thanks to this child."
She grasped the katana.
The ground cracked.
The blade slid free effortlessly, as if it had been waiting only for her hand.
Light erupted.
"It would be a shame if this dawn did not repay you by erasing these foolish creatures."
The sword shone like sunrise forced into steel.
The monsters hesitated.
Their instincts screamed.
The girl before them was no longer prey.
Dox—no, Dawn within Dox's body—stood between two towering beasts.
They attacked.
The tiger burst forward, snow exploding beneath its paws as it zigzagged, adjusting mid-leap. Its claws shredded frozen bark as it closed in.
At the same time—
The bear charged.
Each step shattered ice, its massive body moving far faster than it should have been able to. Blood dripped from its wounds, freezing the moment it touched the snow.
Dawn did not retreat.
She stepped forward.
The tiger struck first.
Its jaws snapped shut where her neck had been a heartbeat earlier.
Dawn twisted sideways.
Her leg was a thin, almost lazy arc.
The air screamed.
A crescent of compressed force tore through the tiger's shoulder, ripping flesh apart and sending the beast crashing through several trees hard enough to split their trunks.
Dox landed.
Her leg twisted grotesquely under the strain.
Dawn clicked her tongue.
"As expected… this child's body cannot withstand that much power yet...my bad."
before injury healed instantly.
The bear's claw descended.
A mountain of muscle slammed down, carving a crater into the frozen earth.
Dawn leapt.
Not away.
She healed the leg mid-flight—
—and landed atop the bear's back.
The katana pierced its hide.
She twisted.
Green energy enveloped the blade as Dawn carved from shoulder to hip.
The bear howled, swinging wildly.
Too slow.
Dox flipped backward, landing lightly as the bear staggered, one arm nearly severed and hanging uselessly.
A swift slash.
Tendons snapped.
The bear collapsed.
Dawn walked calmly to its head.
She raised the blade.
The edge swept once.
Air followed steel.
The bear's head was diced cleanly.
She turned—
"Ah! Right, there was another one."
Dawn facepalmed.
The tiger rose from the wreckage, blood pouring from its shoulder as frost crept over exposed muscle. Madness burned in its eyes.
It lunged.
"Tough one, are you?"
Dawn exhaled. twisting Dox's lips into an excited smile.
She fell into a slashing stance, and the blade was slowly enveloped in green radiance.
"Trance Art — First Law: Monoplane Slice."
Dawn stepped forward.
The red eyes followed radience.
One step.
One slash.
The world paused.
A razor-thin line carved through the air—through the tiger's neck, through the forest beyond.
Silence.
Then—
The tiger split apart as crimson flames erupted from within, consuming it entirely.
Cracks spread like shattered glass.
Thunder detonated.
Lightning struck the snow, forming craters where the slash had passed.
The shockwave flattened trees.
The forest screamed.
When it ended—
Only silence remained.
Steam rose from scorched snow.
Blood hissed as it met the cold.
Dox—Dawn—stood at the center of it all, the blade humming softly with fading energy.
She lowered the sword.
The forest bent inward, trees creaking as if bowing.
"This Dawn," she said calmly, her voice layered and ancient, a hand resting over her chest,"has taken a liking to you, child."
The katana pulsed once.
Far away—
Heartbeats echoed.
Small.
Fragile.
Alive.
"It seems there are more of your friends."
Dawn tilted her head.
Then—
She vanished into the forest, crimson light trailing behind her like the first glow of morning cutting through endless night.
==========================
To be continued;)
===========^_^==============