The Evolution Chronicles

Mian retracted his claws when the head of the dead human Pillar dropped to the ground. The man's body lay crumpled at his feet, oozing blood that the ground could not soak up, as it was already saturated from the earlier bloodbath.

Slowly, he turned to take a look at the ruined battlefield. All he saw was overturned earth, and bodies of humans and demi-humans alike. A waste.

Yes, a waste. A waste of precious lives. All caused by the greed of humans.

[Your body will now shut down in order to repair the damages caused by overexertion and multiple sub-optimal Evolutions.] Hana's voice cleared up the fog that had clouded Mian's mind after the battled ended.

'Oh. That's right. The backlash...'

Mian's line of thought trailed off as his vision grew fuzzy and tilted over. The last thing he saw was Daven running over to him before his mind went blank.

...

Daven rushed over to Mian's unconscious form while clutching at his damaged shoulder. He knew that such an injury would never truly heal completely, and that he would no longer be as powerful as he used to be, but that was nothing compared to coming out of this battle with his life intact.

When he reached the fallen boy, the first thing he noticed was that the lines of golden fur all over Mian's body was returning to the pale blue color that they once were. Even Mian's form that had grown significantly more bulky during his fight with the human Pillar had returned to its barely two meter stature.

Daven picked him up as though he was carrying glass, ignoring the spike of pain that travelled down his spine from moving his injured shoulder.

By chance, Mian's palm just happened to rest over the wound when Daven settled him, startling the gray furred Werewolf. Daven flinched, but the pain he was expecting never came.

Ever so slightly, he pushed aside Mian's hand, only to see raised, reddened skin where a deep gash once was.

"Impossible..." Daven whispered in astonishment. "Just what is going on...?"

While Daven was standing in place, pondering about what had happened in the past minutes, a sudden flash of light reached his eyes. He turned slightly to the side, gazing upon the rising sun.

Dawn had come.

...

"MIAN! Mian, can you hear me?!" Dion called out as he searched the ruined battlefield. He had been blown away during that final bout between the powerhouses of both armies, and currently had no idea where his friend was, or whether he was even still alive.

Daven passed both demi-humans and humans who were going about, looking for their comrades. No one had the mind to fight at the moment, and both sides were waiting to see which of their leaders made it out alive. The winner of the war would be decided at that point.

Dion stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps beyond a cloud of smoke. He hurriedly rushed through the cover of smoke to see who was at the other side, but was let down as he did not find Mian.

Instead, he saw the lizardman and owlman who had assisted him in convincing the escaped demi-humans to join the fights.

"Kid. You're alive. What about that little friend of yours?" The lizardman asked as he swung the arm of his companions around his shoulders. Blood dripped down the side of the lizardman's face, but he ignored it as though it was not even there.

Dion's ears flipped to the side of his head as the lizardman asked about Mian.

"... I don't know." He replied sadly.

"What? But I thought you two were together? How did you lose sight of him?"

"It was during the final phase of the battle. We were blown apart and I lost sight of him. I don't even know if he's alive."

"Dammit. He must be alive. I doubt that kid with that fire in his eyes would die so easily." The owlman scowled and kicked a chunk of rock.

Just then, the sound of firm, but careful footsteps reached their ears.

"Dion? Is that you? I can smell you." The deep and familiar voice of Daven reached Dion's ears, causing him to spin around. He smiled when he saw his patriarch, but that smile turned into a grin when he saw Mian's unconscious frame in the grasp of the patriarch.

He would have been worried if he did not see the steady rise and fall of Mian's chest, and hear the faint sounds of breath coming from him.

"Dion, you're alike. I was worried sick." Daven sighed deeply when he saw his successor. He had truly been worried about Dion, and he had no way to tell if Dion was still alive, since Mian was not conscious, and could not answer his questions.

"Patriarch... I-" Before Dion could finish his sentence, he found his face buried in the rough fur of Daven's side as the patriarch pulled him into a hug.

"A lizardman and an owlman. I do not recall ever seeing you two in my territory before." Daven studied the two demi-humans who were locked in conversation with Dion before his arrival.

"It is an honor to meet the Patriarch of the pack that has raised two wonderful and brave young demi-humans." The lizardman bowed his head slightly. "I am Sekk'rah, and these two brave souls saved me and hundreds of other demi-humans from our cells of captivity in the Henshaw Dynasty."

The lizardman, Sekk'rah, was truly grateful to Mian and Dion. If not for the risk they took, he would still be sleeping in a dirty cell, with no hope of ever being free again.

"Oh?" Daven was taken aback as he looked from the unconscious boy in his arms, to the strong dominant that stood beside him.

"I see. Very well, then. Would you and your companion be interested in staying with us to rest and recuperate? Every other demi-human who has assisted us is also welcome." Daven raised his voice at the last part of his sentence, making sure that everyone heard him.

Upon knowing that the winner of the battle was the demi-humans, every non-human being still awake roared to the sky and cheered.