ReBirth Of The Primordial

Io had to admit that she felt lousy about it, but, like many other experiences in her life, she just needed to treat it as a fundamental part of living here. Because it was. Her body was different, and so were her needs. Akin to when someone is out to kill you. You couldn't be squeamish about defending yourself because it was you or them, or worse, your family.

Survival was the priority and anything else, well, Io's moral compass would always point in the twins' favor. She rushed down to a narrow stream and washed the blood off. Then, dripping wet, she returned to where she had hidden Dagan and Sorcha.

'Effing bells!!!' Io cussed, as she snarled savagely. They were gone. That was right. If Io was disgusted with herself killing that animal, then it'd made sense that the twins were horrified. They'd probably fled the area before they could wrap their heads around the situation and, to be fair, they were still young.

Io, upset with herself for scaring the kids, put her head down inhaled, struggling to catch any hint of their scents. She sort through various smells such as vegetation, earth, and mold until the wind finally changed direction. Io's ears perked up as she caught hints of frost and wood smoke. Got it, Io smirked, pleased with herself, white fangs exposing themselves briefly before she darted after them.

Io reached the rock field at the edge of the forest when she heard them. At first, it sounded like the twins were bantering back and forth, but as they became more distinct, Io grew alarmed. As they reverberated through the lowlands of the mountains, Io felt her heart stutter and pump harder as she raced over the rocks. Shit! Io snarled as her sleekly muscled body moved agilely between the rocks.

Io arrived at the base of the mountains and started working her way up. Thankfully, the slope was not steep, but Io still needed to be mindful of where she stepped because of her size. Once she made it to a relatively flat area, Io broke in a mad run. The kids' voices had become desperate, and Io, not knowing what was happening, could only get there as fast as she could and pray that they were ok. Otherwise… Io shook her head.

She didn't want to think about that. She'd get there in time. Io scrambled to a stop, claws curving over the edge of the crag. Below two bloodied forms were cornered against a rock by a creature identical to the one Io killed. It paced back and forth, as it growled threateningly at the two.

Sorcha hugged an unconscious Dagan close as she shrieked at the creature. In her fury, Sorcha's appearance altered. The girl bȧrėd shark-like teeth at the creature, her grey cat-like eyes turned black with frost adorning her waist-length cyan hair.

A delicate layer of ice served as armor and curled on each side of her neck. Another thin layer of icy armor traveled downwards, wrapping around her ċhėst and back down to protect any vulnerable areas. It wasn't perfect. Parts of the armor had broken, and numerous cuts covered the girl while transparent liquid flowed from her wounds onto the frost-covered ground.

Upon a closer look, Dagan was no longer that rich charcoal but an almost ashen color, and his scales had dimmed to the color of a dying ember, and his raspy breaths were puffs of mist in the colder temperature that surrounded the duo. Even though Sorcha had scratches and her icy armor cracked in several places, the furrows were not deep enough to warrant emergency care. In comparison, Dagan's body was riddled with gashes and puncture marks. Each one steaming with an almost magma-like substance that poured from his wounds.

A deafening roar echoed through the mountain range, reminiscent of a tyrannical primeval beast. Birds flew away in droves, animals stampeded, and even the trees shivered momentarily before settling back into their usual stoicism. Io growled threateningly at her prey again when it did not get the hint to flee.

Io's ears laid flat. She had just three rules pertaining to the safety of the twins, but it was because of these three rules that she'd left oceans of blood in her wake during her time on Earth.

Rule #1: Don't get between her and the twins or you're dead.

Rule #2: Don't effing make them cry or you're deader than dead.

Rule #3: Don't friggin' hurt them or you're dead without a corpse.

Unfortunately for the beast, it had broken all three, persuading Io to change her plan from a simple rescue, leaving the creature alive out of respect for life, to now it was a dead thing walking and didn't know it yet. The creature snorted at Io, pawing the ground as it challenged her. Io's eyes narrowed, and she hurtled herself over the edge. The creature's large buŧŧon-like eyes turned red and it screamed in defiance.

The two beasts met in a violent crash. Jaws snapping and claw leaving gashes, leaving rivulets of blood. Unlike her earlier run-in with the same animal, this one was more experienced. It dodged backward, evading her sharp teeth, and swept its spike cover tails at her. The metal spurs on the end scraped across her side. With a growl, Io stepped into range, letting the spurs strike deeper, sunk her teeth into its shoulder as deep as she could manage. The beast tried biting at Io's neck to rip her off of it but ended up catching on to one of the horns that protected the sides of her head. With a jerk, Io's head twisted uncomfortably as her teeth dislodged from its meaty flesh.

That was a mistake. Freed of the awkward angle, Io put her claws to work, grabbing onto the beast's head, sinking them in deeply as she could, and pulled it off. Roaring in pain, the beast snapped at her face as it attempted to rear up. Io shoved it over onto the ground and, with her greater weight, her claws sank even deeper. The animal thrashed, hooves raising to do damage when Io leaned down ripped a chunk off its shoulder.

"Arruuoo!" It howled out as it twisted and turned, its legs pushing against her ċhėst, striving to free itself from her grasp. Io's eyes darkened and hints of fire between her normally cool-to-the-touch ink-colored scales. She wrapped her tail around the beast's legs, pinning them down, and lifted her right claw as she increased the pressure of the other on the head, slowly fracturing its skull. Io slashed down its sides with her other claw. Once, twice, again and again, her claws raked the beast, eventually, her claws ċȧrėssing the muscles buried deep between its ribs in vengeance for Dagan and Sorcha. Fueled by fury, her scales heated up, burning the beast wherever they made contact.

Cold in her bloodlust, Io bent over the struggling creature, digging her free claw into its exposed back leg to further pin the beast, and started shredding it apart ferociously, bite by bite. The taste of blood satisfied that driving urge in her for dominance. To prove that she could ultimately protect what was hers.

'Dare to harm my family? Hmph! Then your life shall be the offering that I lie at their feet.' Io thought as viscera sprayed across her body, sizzling upon contact with searing hot scales. The wails of the dying beast like that of a sweet melody to her ears only. Io brutally ripped the whimpering beast apart. An ear here. A leg there. One of its three tails fell on the other side of that rock. .

A cry broke through her bloodlust, pulling Io back to sanity. The Io's Draconian head jerked up from the insides of the beast, and Io shoved her dėsɨrė to continue mauling the creature away. It was time for her to stop and take care of the kids. Io simply grabbed hold of the weakened beast's neck between her jaws. The bones crunched and cracked until she had completely torn the head off and, with a thud, the head landed a few feet away from the corpse.

Io took a few moments to gather herself before she looked over at Sorcha and gently rumbled at her between her quickened inhalations.

"Io!" Sorcha cried, cooled as she had finally received the okay to speak.

"Io, I sorry. So sorry. We thought you bad. I know I wrong. Io is Io. Io protects always. Io never let us hurt. Our fault. Our fault. Never again! Please no leave. Need! Know you no harm me and Dagan. Sorry, I so sorry." Sorcha sobbed out clinging tightly to her brother as Io padded over. Io paused in front of her now back-to-normal ice cube and rested her forehead against the girl. Mist rose around the three of them as her scales cooled rapidly from the leftover cold that still clung to the girl. If it hadn't been for the beast trying to eat her siblings, Io would have marveled at the sight.

Sorcha let go of Dagan with one arm and hugged Io's enormous head to hers, her hand resting against one Io's horns as she sobbed out her anxiety, fear, and pain. Io huffed again and wrapped her tail around Sorcha, forcing her to let go of her brother before being placed on Io's back. Io then coiled her tail around Dagan and laid him down in front of Sorcha for the girl to hold on to.

She waited for Sorcha to signal that she was done making any adjustments needed to for her and Dagan to stay stable. When Sorcha tapped her foot against Io's side, Io began her trudged into the shadows cast by the setting sun. Just right before she faded into the darkened landscape, Io looked back at the mutilated creature and let out another growl.. Never again.