The Apex

"Fascinating," High Alpha Kaelen mused, standing up. "I expected him to kill you. But the parasite consumed the host. A true Apex outcome."

Ren stood frozen. The energy inside him was boiling. It wasn't just strength. It was a supernova.

He looked at his hands.

Claws erupted from his fingertips. Not bone, but silver.

Fur burst from his skin. Not the muddy brown of the lower castes, but a shimmering, metallic silver.

Ren threw his head back and screamed.

It shifted into a howl that cracked the stone pillars of the cavern.

He grew. He didn't stop at seven feet. He didn't stop at nine.

Ren became the Apex. A creature of pure, stolen potential.

He looked at the guards.

He didn't see threats. He saw meat.

He moved. He was faster than thought. He tore the first guard in half before the man could lift his spear. He backhanded the second, decapitating him.

The other two tried to run. Ren caught them. He didn't feel the kill. He felt nothing.

He turned to Kaelen.

The High Alpha drew his sword, his face pale. "I command you! I am your—"

Ren was on him.

He slammed Kaelen into the obsidian throne. The stone cracked.

"You made us do this," Ren’s voice was a distortion, a legion of voices speaking at once.

"It is the way!" Kaelen choked. "Only the strongest..."

Ren ripped Kaelen’s throat out.

He tossed the body into the magma pit below.

Silence fell over the Altar of Echoes. The only sound was the bubbling of the lava and the heavy, wet breathing of the monster on the throne.

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