Orendi Einmana

She was born in a small village to a nearly picture perfect family. The people were friendly,
most days you couldn’t walk down the street without running into a friend. It was an incredibly close
knit community and as the youngest child born into it she was adored. As an outsider looking in you’d
be forgiven for thinking there couldn’t be a happier and more loved child than this.
A loud bang echoed through the house, pulling her from her dreams as she was startled awake.
Sleepily rubbing her eyes as she stumbled out of bed and peaked around the corner, she saw it. A large
black dog, red soaking it’s maw, saliva dripping from its fangs onto the two corpses resting below, her
parents. It turned to her, pitch-black eyes staring into her own as it spoke. “You have been blessed for
far too long child… and all debts must be paid in full.” Before she could even try to comprehend it’s
words it lunged at her. She screamed. It was gone… Nothing but a thick black smoke left as she fell to
her knees hovering over her parents mangled corpses, eyes overflowing with tears as she failed to
recognize what was left as the two people that had loved her so much.
Neighbors rushed into the house not long after, following the trail of screams and sobbing only
to find the girl they had all cared for in a state they would struggle to wish on even their worst enemies.
They looked down to the floor, to the thick black fog pouring from her body as she wailed in sorrow,
and stumbled back in fear. One mustered the courage to step forward and he was gone, life stolen from
him the moment he came into contact with the fog. As if that was some kind of trigger, the fog began to
spread rapidly, quickly consuming the entirety of the village, leaving not a single soul alive. She was all
that was left and she cried until she fell asleep that night.
She woke the next morning, with much effort, stepping out of her house into the streets. The
bodies of her friends and neighbors lined the streets, some piled haphazardly atop one another, a
gruesome display put together by some horrid being. She walked through the streets aimlessly, numb.
Arriving at the edge of town, she looked out into the vast wilderness and just.. kept going. Occasionally
people would notice the small girl walking down the road on her own and stop to help… and the fog
would return. Soon she was avoided, seen as an omen, a curse, a promise of death to travelers in the
area. They no longer stopped to help, in fact more often than not they would turn away and flee in fear
more quickly than they had approached her.
She gave up. She prayed for death. She hadn’t eaten since that last dinner she had with her
parents and yet she never felt hungry. Anything that got close enough to cause her harm would
succumb to the fog. It wasn’t going to let her die until it was paid the debt it came to collect in full…
but she knew.. The life she had was more blessed than most would see in several lifetimes. It was a lie.
She would never be free. She collapsed in the middle of dense forest and wallowed in her sadness,
resigning her self to spend an eternity there alone where she could no longer hurt people.
The dog from that fateful night appeared in front of her and she didn’t utter a single word.
Everything was so numb at this point and she had already resigned herself to her fate. There was
nothing left for her to feel. She had lost her freedom. She had lost her confidence. She had lost her
courage. He was all that was left. “I am your only friend. I hold the power. I will be your strength. Use
it until the day it bleeds you dry.” He inched closer to her, his mouth slowly opening, teeth puncturing
her throat as he bit down and a single tear fell from her eye. She was about to meet the same fate that
her parents had and she was happy for the release.
Release from this life was the last thing she would get. Immense pain flooded through her entire
body as wolf turned to smoke and crashed into the ground, flowing into her body and becoming one
with her. Energy burst out, draining the life from her surroundings, killing both flora and fauna, and
ensuring that no life would ever prosper in this small patch of land again. Sharp claws pushed her nails
out of the way as they sprouted from her fingertips. Her legs slimmed, bones cracking and shifting as
her legs and feet became that of an animals. Fangs replaced some of her teeth, filling her mouth with
 Orendi Einmana
the taste of iron as they punctured her tongue. Canine ears sprouted from her head as the human ones
seemed to disappear. She collapsed and passed out soon after it was over.
She awoke days later to a man at her side attempting to wake her. She tried to run away as
quickly as she could but she lacked the strength yet. “woah woah woah hun. I was jus out here huntin
and I found ya. You’re awful far from the beastmen and you’re sleepin out here in a place like this…”
She collected herself enough to examine the area around her and saw death in all directions. Looking
back to him she couldn’t help but cry, desperate to get away before her presence killed another kind
person. He looked at her with pity and picked her up, carrying her in his arms as he began to speak
“Listen hun, Imma get you back back home. You deserve to be around people that care about ya… and
you wont be findin none of that round here.” and so he set out down the road with her in hand as she
softly wept into his shirt. She was terrified and wanted nothing more than to leave so she wouldnt hurt
this kind man but she was too weak to do anything.
They journeyed together for a few weeks and she had slowly come to realize that she could be
around people again. The dark fog that clung to her every step was no longer there. She had come to
really enjoy her travels with him and for the first time in a very long time felt as if everything was okay.
It wasn’t much longer before they arrived at the lands that the beastmen inhabited but they were
met with fear, resentment, anger. They were attacked on sight, nearly the instant they had come into
view on the outskirts of a village. Upon hearing their words she knew. It wasn’t because he was human.
It was because of her. They knew what she was, that her existence was unnatural and brought death,
and they would die before they allowed her into the village so they attacked.
She watched as the man she had grown to care for over the past few weeks defended her, doing
everything he could to hold them off and give her time to escape but she was frozen in place. She was
gripped by fear and unable to do anything but watch as they began to overwhelm him. It was when she
saw the mans head roll that something snapped. A weapon manifested in her hand, blade coated in the
darkness of the black dog, emanating a feeling of wrongness that she was already so familiar with as
she rushed forward. Catching them off-guard, she ran one of them through, viciously attacking the rest
like a cornered animal until they got the upper hand and pinned her down. Due to her inexperience she
wasn’t the cause of many casualties, but few left the encounter unscathed.
They slammed her to the ground and through the crowd of feet she saw his face again, the pool
of blood pouring from his neck, the lifelessness of a kind man as he looked back at her. She felt
hopeless and cried out, letting her emotions run wild as she quietly pleaded. “please… help… me…..
please…. Help….” In the next instant her mind was flooded with vivid memories of her past and she
was forced to relive it all. When she finally regained her senses she saw the last remnants of the fog and
a pile of dead beastmen surrounding her… another village snuffed out by her hand. She was not alone
though, the words echoed around her. “As always, I am your only friend. When all else is lost I am all
you have and I shall always be at your side.”
The numbness she had felt before had returned. She took the mans body and buried him on a
hill overlooking a nearby town. She lived alone from then on, just on the edge of civilization so she
could be near to him. She stayed out of sight, spending most of her time at the mans grave, watching
over the town with him. She’d imagine the life she could have had as she looked down at the people
filling the streets only for the dog to remind her who she is. She was not allowed even such a simple
joy because of him.
(To clarify, the fog is now something that only occurs in times of extremely intense emotional stress.
She will likely keep her emotions somewhat numbed for fear of it happening and it will be a large
hurdle should she get particularly close to anyone. If she comes to terms with everything and finds
happiness despite her fate then it will disappear altogether or be controlled.. at least thats the idea)