[Writing] Horus Horror Hooves - Chapter 05 (01/08/10)

[ChaosMageX]

Welcome readers, to Horus Horror Hooves, a story of a fear and mischief that will span at least two generations of a cubi family.  I've got lots of ideas swimming around in my head, and this is where I'll be putting the ones I can fit into the story's current setting.
Maybe someday I'll come up with less lame names for the title and chapters, but until then I hope you don't mind.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

If you're going to add another chapter, put it in another post.

Significant edits like this will cause people to have to re-scan the first chapter, rather than using the browser to link them directly to the new section...

[Tapewolf]

Nice.  Though as llearch says, better to add a new chapter as a new post and keep an index at the top.  That aside, Horus seems to have screwed up in his reaction about the scholarship business.  I truly don't know what he was thinking there - he should have accepted it happily and then 'left it somewhere' or otherwise forgotten about it.  Bring frosty and evasive like that looks like a bad plan.

[ChaosMageX]

Happy Halloweek everyone!  I've decided to try my hand at writing.  In a perfect world, I'll be able to release one chapter of this story each night until Halloween.  Unfortunately, that probably won't happen, but we'll see how many I do manage to get done.
Just to be clear, most of this story will be taking place just 5 years after the current DMFA comic, with my main character being Horus Thlarn III of Thlu-Nahl clan, a clan of fear and mischief.  However, the first two or three chapters will be dedicated to the backstory of his twisted father, Horus Thlarn II.  I tried to make it about as long as one of Tapewolf's stories, so enjoy.

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Chapter 01: The Origin of the Fear

317 years before the present date of DMFA...

The sun was sinking slowly below the sea's horizon, painting the swirls of clouds around it a beautiful mixture of warm colors.  A gentle breeze wafted over the vantage point to this sight, a seaside precipice bordered by a forest, with a rainbow of wildflowers in between.

Leaning against the nearest tree was a mottled white and grey lapine woman with long flowing brunette hair.  She gazed out at the sight in rapture, sighing in rapture as sun slowly sunk.  The breeze ran over the field of flowers, rippling them and sending a shower of pollen over the bunny girl's face, the pleasant aroma entering her pink nose.

She reached down to her side to pluck one of the beauties from the ground and fill her nose with the aromas.  She shut her eyes as she lifted what was in her hand to her face, and inhaled deep...

Only to lurch back for the repulsive odor that entered her nostrils.  Her eyes snapped open to find that the flower she had picked was rotten and dead, it's browning petals curled inward to its released seed pods to make it all the more repugnant.

She shrugged and tossed it aside, having picked one of the few duds amongst the bunch, and decided to try for another one.  As she brought the pretty orange poppy to her face, it seemed to twist in the breeze, and twist some more, contorting.  As it twisted, its petals browned over and curled inward, the flower wilting in her hand.

This definitely widened the bunny girl's eyes a bit, dropping the flower to land gently between her spread legs.  Looking out, she noticed that several of the other flowers in the field had begun to wilt and die, their brown and black colors a stark contrast to the rest field.  The wilting was slowly spreading across the field, like a malignant cancer leeching up from the very earth itself.

The lapine looked back to what had once been a beautiful sunset, only to find a dark grey mass of clouds where the setting sun had once been.  A faint flash lit up the back of the clouds, and then another, as a low boom reverberated through the setting.  A storm was coming, but this wasn't an ordinary storm.

It was time to go, but as the bunny attempted to rise, she fell short and collapsed, and numbing sensation sweeping through thighs, across her prominent gluts, and up into her lower back.  She had been sitting there for far too long.  The wind, once a gentle breeze, grew stronger, sweeping past her head, and cutting into her face like a million cold blades.

Another rumble emanated from the clouds as the crept closer to her position, this one louder than the last and resounding through her long ears in a chorus of dull, subtle pain.  The forest behind her appeared to grow darker and more looming, the trees towering over her as their dark leaves swayed in the breeze, their twisted bony branches reaching down, as if trying to grab her, like the fingers of some beast, trying to drag her away into the forest, trying to pull her into its maw.

The wind's direction began to shift, rushing in between the trees and back out at her, sending her ears past her face, contorting the breeze like serpents.  The wind's direction shifted back into the forest, drawing her back into the pitch black abyss between the trees, pulling her into beast's gaping maw.

A cracking boom filled her trailing ears as the storm clouds looming over her head lit up with a spidering vein of light, reaching out over her, like the claws of monster, thirsty for her blood.  The fur on her back stood on end as the piercing cold breeze rushed out of the forest again, and then back into it, and then back out again, like the breath of the beast, the breath of the monster.

Poisons seemed to seep up from the earth itself as death spread across the field, the wilting flowers literally turning to ashes before her as the cancerous patches contorted into claws and sinister faces, mocking her as they stared back evilly.  The trees behind her began to ooze their sticky sap, their blackish red liquid, seeping onto her back and into her fur.

She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't work.
She wanted to scream, but her voice was gone.
She wanted to leave this, but something held her, trapped her, kept her where she was.

The wind's direction changed more rapidly, in and out of the forest, in and out again, and again, sending a spray of red tree sap over her body, coating her fur in the sticky substance, dripping down her arms, legs and face.  The lapine began looking frantically around for an exit, an escape.  Her eyes were wide and her pale blue irises vibrated with fear.

She tried to move her legs, but they wouldn't respond.  She couldn't even feel her lower body anymore, not even her short tail.  She couldn't summon any air to scream, as the wind seemed to suck her lungs dry.  She couldn't even stop looking at the storm towering over her head.  She just. Couldn't. Leave.

The flashes from the sky grew more frequent, streaking across the sky in brilliantly long bony outcroppings, the thunder booming in her long ears, the lightning practically blinding her, as  everything else grew darker and darker.  And at the center of it all, the clouds began to swirl and seethe as a massive water spout touched down in front the cliff before her.

The watery tornado moved closer and closer, its wind howling with triumphant rage as the earth itself began to quake beneath her.  The lapine choked as she tried to scream, her chest heaving, and her eyes so wide that they were bulging out of their sockets, focused on the aqueous beast before her.

The cliff began to crumble and give way, the ashes of field swept up into her face with the dirt and sap.  The spout began to suck in the cliff turning a muddy brown as the lightning flashes illuminated it from behind.  It grew darker and darker, turning pitch black as its blood curdling sound filled her ears.

Her heart pounded against her chest as adrenaline surged through her system, pumping through a statue, a corpse that would not respond.  The water spout tore into the cliff, the earth grinding apart as it was sucked into the torrent, the trees from the forest laying into her, reaching over her to grab her, to cage her, to hold her as a sacrifice for the beast the was rapidly approaching.

The trees were torn from the ground, making horrible creaking noises as they were sucked into the monster's swirling maw, swept up into the muddy torrent as its thirst for her blood intensified.  It seemed to narrow as it tore into the ground, running right between her spread legs, grinding into her flesh, tearing at her legs.

The torrent reached her torso, the all her senses on fire with horrendous smells, blood curdling sounds, and horrifying sights, as the pain racked through her, the wind surging in and out, in and out, faster and faster and faster.

There was nothing she could do about it, no way for her to fight it.  She could only sit there as all her fears tore into her, racking her mind with terror and loathing, pain and suffering...

***

In another location, far away, a Shih Tzu struggled to scream as a giant wasp landed before him, its wings flapping rapidly with a deafening buzz...
A lanky jaguar struggled to remove a giant mushroom cap that was devouring the side of his head...
A bull demon ran from a swarm of killer bees that attacked him from behind the service counter of a butcher shop he was buying steak from...
A female mongoose tripped and fell down an endless flight of spiraling stairs leading down into nothingness...

***

In a remote suburb in Aclarntaki City, a series of screams pierced the calm night as a dozen beings and creatures awoke at once from the night terrors that had been forced upon them.

In the living room of a farm house far from the city, a black flash manifested for a brief moment, leaving in its wake four individuals.  A sinister smile spread across the face of the first, a stallion with pitch black fur, skinny to the point of being considered emaciated by some.  Black, leathery bat wings protruding from the back of his skull flapped once with joy as he breathed deeply, his nostrils flaring in the process.  The second, an olive green mare with purple bat wings growing from her head and back, sighed with happiness.   The third, a black centipede with giant eyes and ten limbs, floated in the air with a faint purple glow, playfully chasing its own tail.  The final individual, a painted black and green foal with dark blue bat-like back-wings only, looked up excitedly at the two adult horse cubi before him.

"Mother!  Father!  That was so amazing.  I never thought you could eat the dreams of a dozen beings and lesser creatures at once like that.  How do you manage to it?"  He asked enthusiastically, his eyes bright with adoration.

"It will be easier to explain to you once your secondary wings have come in, son.  But I will say that the trick is to get all your victims to the peak of their fears before devouring their nightmares.  Those make the sweetest meals," the black mustang responded, rubbing the head of his son.

"But now it is time for you to go to bed, young one," his mother chimed in, a pleasant smile on her long face.

"Awww!  But I wanted to watch you feed some more," the foal whined, looking sympathetically up at his mother.

"No no, Horus, your mother is right.  We've kept you up late enough.  Besides, I'll be hitting the financial district next, and making those snooty rich people dream of going bankrupt would seem boring to you," Horus replied.

"Okay then," the cubi foal sighed and headed towards his bedroom, his mother in tow to make sure that he stayed there.

"Zicar, to the financial district," the stallion cubi said to the floating centipede, who stopped chasing his tail and snapped at attention.

'{'{YES SIR}'}', the warp-aci replied, and in another black flash, they were gone.

***

In the police department of the local city, the chief, a serious looking Californian Fox was busy filing out some paperwork, intensely focused on making sure he dotted every I and crossed every T.  Suddenly, one of the lieutenants came bursting through the door.

"Sir, sir, there's been another night terror attack, this time on Blognes Street.  One of my officers just contacted me.  One of the victims was comatose from the shock.  My men have analyzed her aura and found that her soul is still intact.  What do you want us to do sir?"

"Firstly, calm yourself down.  You know how I hate for you to get wound up, especially when it's been almost two months since the last attack."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant said as his stress seemed to unnaturally ebb away, taking a few deep breaths in process and then standing at attention.

"Next, I want you to analyze any residual energy you find on the victims.  Begin conducting magical forensics.  I won't individuals dying of shock in my town.  We lost two beings in the last attack."

The lieutenant nodded in agreement, as his thoughts wandered into wanting to these creatures to be caught and severely punished.  The joy of the people of the city at seeing them get hung made him feel so much better.

"Now get out of my office and begin your investigation.  Have the preliminary investigation reports on my desk by tomorrow morning.  Once we've caught these creatures, I'll see to it personally that justice is served," the chief replied seriously, looking deep into the officer's eyes.

"Yes, sir," the officer replied enthusiastically before turning around and beginning to head out the door.

"And Lt. Gret," the chief added.

"Yes, sir?" the canid asked, turning to look over shoulder.

"I always enjoy it when you come and give me these reports directly," the chief said with a smirk.

"I'm glad you don't mind being disturbed this late at night, sir," the canid said before closing the door behind him.

The chief breathed in and out and smiled, before getting back to his paperwork, now much faster than before.  The sense of justice from his men was better than coffee any day.

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Just to clarify, I haven't seen any instance yet of cubi revealing to their children from day one of their origin.  However, this family is nothing more than farmers in their guise, and the few beings that have contact with them barely know they even have a son.  Horus II is not allowed to have contact with any of these beings, since we all know how children tend to shoot off their mouths.

Also, I can up with the warp-aci on the fly, so the design may not be final.  It's something with many limbs, but it may not stay a centipede.  The summoner can change the shape of the warp-aci, I think, maybe.  Just in case, consider the description of "centipede" to be used very loosely.

The lesser nightmares in the middle of the story are based off nightmares that I had.  The carnivorous mushroom cap turned out to be my pillow. XD It's one of the few times I've actually felt it in my dreams.

[ChaosMageX]

Right, Ilearch.  Next time I won't be so afraid of double posting.  I've moved chapter two into this post for future convenience.

Also, to clarify why Horus reacted so bitterly to his son being offered a scholarship, just think of some of those stuck-in-the-past farming communities.  They have belief systems that would cause them to react in much the same way to an offer like that...I think.  Or maybe I'm just basing it off TV stereotypes.
Either way, the act of an uptight farmer with strict beliefs and a huge stick up their butt is just part of the rouse that allows them to blend into the society and hide their son away from the world.  IIRC those communities are all about keeping their kids in a very strict line.

And now, the rest of the post...

Okay, I admit it, the first half of the first chapter pretty much sucked, since I spent most of the time thinking up the dream sequence and not enough time fleshing out the characters.  Well, here's some flesh for you to dine on:
Also, it helps if you imagine the Chief with a similar voice to Fuhrer Bradley from Full Metal Alchemist.

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Chapter 2: The Rising Horror

It was very late at night in the police department of Aclarntaki City.  The room was eerily silent.  All the police officers were either at home or out on patrol.  There weren't even any criminals in holdings.  Only one person remained, and that was the chief himself, who was so dedicated to his duty of serving justice that he almost always burned the midnight oil.  Most of his subordinates were used to his workaholic attitude, but he still tended to creep out the new recruits and volunteer officers.

His office was eerily silent, and dark as molasses, save for the soft green light from his desk lamp.  Every moment the darkness seemed to encroach on this light, threatening to snuff it out, but the light always fought back.  The only thing that broke through the silence was the occasional ticking of his pendulum grandfather clock, handmade from glass and metal; custom crafted and passed down four generations in the chief's family.  It was his most prized possession.

Chief Nartyl sighed as he finished the paperwork of all the reports, his brown bat-like back wings flapping once in satisfaction.  Most would consider his job very tedious, as many who got into the job of law enforcement were former adventurers who'd hate to be tied to a desk and out of the field.  But the chief enjoyed his job, so much so that he began to whistle a tune.

Everyone who knew the chief new that what he was whistling was his favorite song.  He'd always request it at any party he'd go to, he'd always whistle it at any free moment, and he'd sometimes even goad some of the lieutenants into singing it with him.

As his whistling reached its crescendo, Barton Nartyl held out his hand.  On a high note, a bright flash temporarily frightened the darkness from his office, and then vanished once more, leaving behind a little white book with a golden spine, which proceeded to fall into the Chief's hand.  A satisfied smile crept across the fox's muzzle as he cracked open the book to a blank page and brought his pen to the surface.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, remembering his walk earlier that day and all the interesting people he had encountered.  He began to write in the little page of the book, thinking of their faces as he wrote down their names.

Aaron Transil; murderer; desires to stab his infidel wife and her lover to death with a knife.
Taylor Redga; arsonist; desires to burn down the Carlton Inn with lamp oil and torches.
Matilda Webres; witch; desires to disease hex her sewing companions with the right ingredients.
Alfred Frielst; gang leader; desires to start a territory war in an effort to recover stolen goods.

As the chief wrote down these individuals and the crimes they would commit, he never stopped whistling his tune, writing this list as nonchalantly as he would a grocery list.  His favorite song finally came to end, and he slammed the book shut and tossed it into the air.  The flash appeared again, just for an instant, and then the book was gone.  The vulpine sighed and smiled pleasantly with his eyes still closed, the kind of smile that can only come from a fox's face.

***

The next morning, a single feline police officer was walking through a field of wheat.  A breeze flowed over the tops of the tall grass, causing the stalks to wave back and forth above his head.  They seemed to wave more inwardly, over the officer's head, as he walked deeper into the wheat field.

The sounds of the forest bordering the farmlands seemed to fade into nothingness, as the silence permeated every nook and cranny of the field.  The wind grew stronger and the wheat stalks began to beat into the officer.  He brushed them off and stuck to the middle of the path, but the wheat seemed to obscure it.

A lone sound cut through the silence, the sound of something being cut down.  It seemed to repeat, periodically, back and forth, back and forth.  The feline wandered, apparently lost, as the wind continued to blow, blocking the light of the sun with the mature wheat grass.

The grass seemed to get taller, towering over him, trapping him in the field.  The sound grew louder, continuing its repeating movement, like the ticking clock in the chief's office.  A large gust blew through the wheat, enveloping the officer in its grasp, winding around him like a hungry snake.

He struggled to get loose, destroying some stalks in the process as he spun around to unwind himself, and around again, plunging him off the path and into a set of long, sharp claws, ready to maim any creature that got too close.  The cat's eyes widened as he ducked to avoid these sharp blades and jumped back, spinning around and reaching for his sword...

...Only to find that it was just the hand of a scarecrow.  The police-cat relaxed and breathed in and out.  He wiped his brow from the heat of the day and took his hand from his short-sword's hilt.  He looked the farm guardian statue up and down a few times before moving onward.

He found the path again and set back onto it.  The wind seemed to moan as it blew over the wheat stocks, blotting out the sun and sending the entire path into the darkness.  The shadows seemed to dance around him, taunting him as the cutting sound grew louder and louder, the metallic slashing cutting through his ears like the blade itself would.  He must have been getting close to the source, so he decided to speak up.

"Mister Thlarn, Mister Thlarn, are out here?  I've come to talk to you.  It's an urgent matter.  Mister Thla..."

The feline was cut short as a large blade rose rapidly above the heads of wheat to stand over him, glinting in the sun.  The officer once more jumped back, drawing his short sword as his claws came out, snarling in fear.

The scythe swung down fast, shining the sun's reflection and cutting a path of light through the air.  The officer stood ready, his adrenaline pumping as the sharp implement drew near.  At the last minute, the scythe redirected its path and severed the bases of several stalks of wheat.

The officer crossed his other arm over his face as the stalks fell on top of him and over him, tumbling to the ground.  Some of them got cut by his sword on the way to ground, splitting into smaller pieces.  The curtain of tall grass fell to reveal an imposing equine figure, who twirled the scythe before planting its end into the soil.

The equine was tall and very skinny with jet black fur and piercing red green eyes that seemed to cut through the onlooker's very soul.  He wore thick blue working trousers held with suspenders that crossed over his shoulders and a pale eggshell white buttoned shirt.  He took off his straw sun hat for a moment to wipe the sweat off his brow, revealing a head that was bare, save for a black main that was beginning to bald.

"Oh!  Hello Officer Neilsen.  Did I frighten you with my work?  I'm so sorry.  If you had called for me earlier, I could have come to you instead of stranding you out in my wheat field," the horse said with a smile as he dawned his hat once more, the shade furthering darkening his already black fur, but not seeming to diminish the brilliance of his eyes.

"Yes, Mister Thlarn, I will remember to do so next time.  I just always seem to forget my better judgment for a moment while patrolling your property.  Might I say that you have a very effective scarecrow.  I nearly cut it down in thinking that it was an assailant," the cat replied, brandishing his sword in a tight circle before sheathing it again.

"Well, they accomplish their job of scaring field invaders and scavengers very well," Horus replied with an almost sinister smile as he stared in the direction of the scarecrow, before turning back to the officer.

"But I digress, you have business to discuss with me.  Something of an urgent matter?"

"Yes, Mister Thlarn.  The night monsters have struck again, scaring at least 30 beings and demons last night into a frenzy, and in five different locations to boot.  At this point we're not sure even remote farmers like yourself are safe from their evils, which is why the chief has ordered all officers not on the investigation to warn people while on their patrols," the police-cat said on very serious note.

Horus leaned back slightly from this news, a look of shock on his face.

"Oh my!  Again they strike.  Their attacks are getting more frequent.  I need to go in and warn the missus.  I shudder to think what would happen if they were attacked by her or my little boy."

"Don't worry sir," the officer said reassuringly.  "We're currently doing all that's in our power to investigate these crimes and bring the culprits to justice.  We're currently having great difficulty ascertaining their method of travel.  The distances between the crime scenes are far too long and rapid for typical teleportation spells or even natural demon abilities."

"Wow, I wonder what it could be.  Maybe they found an ancient and much more powerful teleporting spell than what you're used to," the equine replied, pulling at the beard at the end of his muzzle quizzically.

"The chief and his detectives, based on their research, say that it has to some external magic with powerful teleporting abilities, such as an enchanted artifact or creature of some sort."

"Huh.  Well, it sounds like the police are starting to figure it out.  Keep up the good work.  I don't want to worry about my family getting harmed by these evils hobgoblins," Horus said with an admiring look as he patted the officer's head a few times, which was a rather easy feat considering their height difference.

Officer Neilsen seemed to take great pleasure in having his head patted, before backing off to subtly say that he'd had enough.
"Speaking of your family, I haven't seen your wife in a while, and I don't think I've ever seen your son."

"Well, the missus likes to keep to herself, and as for son, well, he's..."

"RIGHT HERE!" shouted a young voice as a cobalt-blue winged foal leapt out from the wheat and onto the path behind the officer.

The police-cat spun around and his arm moved down across his waist before stopping midway and relaxing.  He then laughed a sort of cat laugh as he knelt down to speak, but not very far, since the horse child was about the same height as a budding adolescent of his own species.  The farmer's eyes bulged for a moment and he frowned disappointedly, making his long face look even longer.

"Hahaha, so here he is at last.  The prodigal Horus Thlarn the Second!  Wow, you are a scary little creature, aren't you.  And your wings are cute too," the Officer Neilsen said with a smile.

"Yes, he gets them from his mother.  As you know the missus is a demoness, and her blood runs a lot stronger than my own through our boy's veins," Horus I cut in hurriedly.

"Yeah, I'm Horus number two, and you've just been spooked!" he said with a playful giggle, holding his hands up and baring his teeth at the officer in a silent hissing motion.

"Woah, ho, you are a scary one lad," the officer said with a friendly smile before holding his hand out to shake the child's.
"Since you've introduced yourself to me, allow me to do the same to you.  I'm Officer Chandley Neilsen, and I patrol your parents' farm along with many others, protecting them from highwaymen and other bad people out here."

"Nice to meet you, Officer Chandley," the foal said with a nasty smile across his face as he reached his own hand out.

As soon as Horus's hand made contact, with Neilsen's a few electrical arcs leapt between their wrists and the backs of their hands.  All of the officer's fur seemed to stand on end for a moment as he hissed in pain and released his grip, recoiling his arm and staring more seriously at the child.

"You know, lad, that wasn't very nice.  You could have hurt me with that stunning spell," the officer said more seriously, now standing at full height and looking down at the child, or at least as much as he could, since he was only a head higher than him.

"I know, but it's part of my home schooling.  My parents teach me all sorts of cool spells to do all sorts of cool things, such as..."

"Completing your chores faster, son," the older Horus cut in, giving his child a very stern look and gesturing towards the house with his head.  "Chores that you are falling behind on, I might add.  Now I suggest you get over to stables and finish tending to the ferals."

"Yes, father," the foal said disappointedly before running off towards the farm house.  Chandley was rubbing his wrist from the pain.

"Needless to say, that was an impressive stunning spell.  A few more years of training like that and you could consider enrolling him in the police force academy.  But still, someone of his age should know manners and how to act around others.  What is he, fourteen?  Fifteen?"

"He's only nine, but still a bit immature for his age," the farmer equine replied sourly.

"Wow, only nine.  I tend to forget how quickly you horses grow so tall.  It's funny, because I could have sworn that most demons don't get their back wings until their early twenties," the officer said, staring up the trail in the direction the boy had run.  It was lucky for both Horuses that he had missed the brief expression of shock on the farmer's face at hearing that the cat knew this fact.

"But then again, I think I read somewhere that the earlier a demon gets their wings and the larger they are, the more powerful they are, or something like that.  Judging by that stunning spell, your son is very powerful indeed.  We could definitely use someone like him on the force in a decade's time."

The cat turned to face Horus senior again with a serious expression, and he handed him a scroll he happened to be carrying.  The scroll contained information on an adventuring and law enforcement prep school for skilled children.

"I would suggest enrolling him in Aclarntaki Adventure Prep School.  With his talents, he could have a promising future career on our force or as an adventurer or soldier.  They could cultivate his powerful skills and help steer his moral compass in the right direction, which from my perspective appears to be a little off.  No wonder you're keeping him from the world.  But still, this school has turned many a bad seed into a mature, righteous plant."

The farmer was frowning at the officer now, and spoke back to him in a rather cold tone.
"My son merely played a prank on you.  It is certainly no reason to accuse him of being a delinquent.  He's at that point in life were anything can seem amusing, despite its more orientation."

"Still, your son could stand some more professional teachings.  He has a gift, and I'd hate to see him using that gift in the wrong ways."

"My wife is also a magical prodigy, and I'm no stranger to the arcane myself.  We are more than qualified to continue teaching the child.  Besides, we barely have the finances to keep paying for our farm, let alone send our child to a private school, or even a public school," Horus replied seriously.

"The police force offers scholarships.  I'm sure I could put in a good word for your son that would help get him considered.  The only condition of the scholarship is that he joins the police force after graduation, of course," the feline said smugly, waving the pamphlet back and forth in front of his face.  The back of the pamphlet was facing out, with information about the police scholarship on it.

Horus snatched the scholarship from the officer and brought is close to the end of his muzzle, his flaring nostrils curving it slightly.  He squinted at it before sticking it into the back pocket of his trousers and replying coldly.
"We'll take it into considerations.  But right now, Officer Neilsen, I feel that you've overstayed your welcome.  Also, I seem to recall that our farm is not the last one on your route.  Shouldn't you be warning the other farmers about these night monsters?"

"Quite right you are, Mister Thlarn.  I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again very soon.  I'm very much interested in seeing more of your son, and I'm sure there are others who share my opinion," the cat officer said with a final smirk before turning to leave on the trail he had come.  Strangely, it seemed a lot less intimidating going out than it did coming in, but the winds had died down and the sun was getting higher anyway.

Horus just stood there staring at him with a scowl on his equine face, watching as the cat grew smaller and smaller in his field of vision.  It was such as shame that there were no places out here for someone to have a convenient accident.  No fissures or precipices, only a river, and a capable law enforcer drowning in it would seem too suspicious.  What his son had done was done and now all he could do was clean up the mess that he had made.  Where the hell was his wife and why wasn't she watching their mischievous son?  He turned and headed back to where he had sent his son, the stables with the feral horses and cows that they tended to.

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Okay, just a few notes to readers:
I've decided the extend the chapters of the stories so that more of Horus II's is covered.  Mostly because I got carried away and ended up writing twelve pages worth of story in Microsoft Word, which makes a suitable buffer for the next couple of days.
Aclarntaki City is a very recently formed city, made from algamated villages and hamlets over the past century.  I'll get into more details in the next chapter.
The city is tolerant to beings and demons, since they worked together to bringing the city up from the dirt, but is highly intolerant to cubi, angels, and the more freaky mythos.  Again, more details in Chapter 5.

[Tapewolf]

"Finally, the ability to enter and manipulate people's dreams is necessary to carry this terrorism out, and few creatures have that ability, which is what narrows our list to those with powerful magic, certain types of mythos, and...cubi."

Demons too, I suspect.  In fact they'd probably be better at it than 'Cubi, whose ability seems to be a 1:1 thing.  Standing in the middle of a city and blowing everyone's mind at once is going to require someone a bit more powerful than a pair of 'Cubi.

Oh, the possibilities.  He had already gotten his revenge on the inn that had overcharged him.  Now who to burn next?

***

"And finally, the ability to execute the crimes..."

Just FYI, you might want to make that a little more explicit in who's speaking.  Even with prior warning I assumed it was flicking to some kind of gang leader planning a raid.  Only on about the fourth reading did I connect it with the Lieutenant.

"Now now, lieutenant, whether it is cubi or something else entirely, either way we will bring the culprits to justice, and they will pay the same way any criminal does," the Chief said, the last words spoken very seriously.

Am I right in guessing this town is the kind of backwater where they hang destitute children in public for stealing food?  Between this and the first chapter, that's the sort of vibe I'm getting.  Those places - where 'justice' is synonymous with 'punishment' - are quite fun to write about but they're not somewhere I'd usually place an undisguised demon - if their culture is unenlightened enough to do that kind of thing to each other, they're not going to be especially tolerant of Creatures.

It's also interesting to consider how that culture might fit into the typical Demon ethos of power as kudos.  Would it be considered a way of weeding out the unworthy?  Or a problem in that a creature who should live for thousands of years is liable to be hanged for some misdemeanour before they would be able to reach anything resembling maturity?

I guess the other point I'd like to make about this scenario is that your criminals seem to be a little one-dimensional.  With the exception of the guy finding the adulterers (*), most of these people seem to be doing what they do for shits and giggles.  The guy burning the inn, for example - most people would be all "OMG, what have I done?" unless they're either a hardened psychopath or insane.  It may be that the idea you're presenting is that the psychopaths have come out to play, of course.  But then that's a little harsh if they were normal before the dream plague.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that particularly in these sort of conditions, it's easy enough for a good man to become a criminal by accident or simply out of desperation and that, I think, is why I have a lot of sympathy for people who can be reformed.


(*) Perversely, the guy killing the adulterers is more liable to be given a fine or something lenient by the aforementioned societies than someone caught stealing bread.  They'd probably hang or burn his wife, though.

[ChaosMageX]

Well, to answer your comments, Tapewolf, I think you're definitely beginning to grasp the setting I'm making, or at least the city half.

Aclarntaki city didn't exist until a century ago.  Before that it was just a bunch scattered backwater hamlets and villages, constantly squabbling with each other.  The gangs existed long before the city too, usually groups of red-necks led by adventuring school drop-outs.

When it comes to creature intolerance, that was pretty much non-existent before the city formed.  The area was primarily inhabited by beings and lower class demons.  
Before the city formed, only about 1 in 100 of the population even knew what the terms "being" and "demon" meant...and could read.  This was because the demons there weren't that much more powerful than the beings, and a lot of the beings were even stupid enough to believe they'd develop demonic powers if they worked hard enough at it.  The longest record of demon life before the city formed was 211 years, so yeah, they live dirty and die young.

The fact that demons worship power means that they are quick to develop both superiority and inferiority complexes, which makes them all the easier to win over with a demonstration of power, and an offering of money, especially since they're red-necks.

When I say lower case demons, I mean that demons can be ranked in terms of their general level of power.  My ranking system is letter based, and I draw a lot of my inspiration for weaker demons from animes including Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha (what little I've seen of that one), which were notorious for creating weakling demons to act as cannon fodder for the main characters.

F, E, D, C, B, A, AA, AAA, S, SS, SSS

F is the weakest, only about double the strength, speed, and stamina of a being, and only able to make their skin about as hard as poorly tempered steel instead of the full diamond hardness.
SSS is the most powerful; having lived an aeon or more, their power basically rivals that of tri-wing cubi.

I can understand why a lot of people here wouldn't be familiar with weaker demons, since most of the demons we've seen so far in the comic have come from the very powerful and well-to-do Soulstealer family, which seems to have members in the C, B and A ranks, based on the members we've seen so far.
The highest rank of demon in these red-necked villages and hamlets was D rank.  Even Lorenda could probably take a half dozen of them at once.

I don't want to give that much more away outside the story, but I'm glad you're beginning to see why some people have nicknamed Aclarntaki City "Psychosis City".  Daryil would have loads of fun there.

[Tapewolf]

Before the city formed, only about 1 in 100 of the population even knew what the terms "being" and "demon" meant...and could read.  This was because the demons there weren't that much more powerful than the beings, and a lot of the beings were even stupid enough to believe they'd develop demonic powers if they worked hard enough at it.  The longest record of demon life before the city formed was 211 years, so yeah, they live dirty and die young.

The fact that demons worship power means that they are quick to develop both superiority and inferiority complexes, which makes them all the easier to win over with a demonstration of power, and an offering of money, especially since they're red-necks.

Cool.  Well, pretty nasty for the people living there, but you've obviously done quite a bit of homework in your city design here.  I'm impressed and I'm eager to see this story continue.  The only thing that is bugging me a little is that you're running it so quickly - don't burn yourself out!

F is the weakest, only about double the strength, speed, and stamina of a being, and only able to make their skin about as hard as tempered steel instead of the full diamond hardness.
SSS is the most powerful; having lived an aeon or more, their power basically rivals that of tri-wing cubi.

I'm not altogether sure Demons get that powerful.  I'm fairly certain they max out before then, from what Amber's saying.  Something like: "Normal demons can thrash normal 'Cubi, but the most powerful 'Cubi can thrash the most powerful demons" to put it simply.

I can understand why a lot of people here wouldn't be familiar with weaker demons, since most of the demons we've seen so far in the comic have come from the very powerful and well-to-do Soulstealer family, which seems to have members in the C, B and A ranks, based on the members we've seen so far.

IIRC the demon traits leach out of them the more they interbreed with Beings, so if these are n'th generation part-demons, then yes, you'd have a town of fairly wimpy Demons.  That works for me!

I don't want to give that much more away outside the story, but I'm glad you're beginning to see why some people have nicknamed Aclarntaki City "Psychosis City".  Daryil would have loads of fun there.

'Cubi aren't all that happy with people getting killed (for the most part) - dead people tend not to emote very much.
Personally I could easily see Daryil storming into the place with Niall and making like Jesus did to the moneylenders 

[ChaosMageX]

Okay, this chapter doesn't involve any of the Thlarn family.  I sliced it from my buffer and it was already going on 5 pages in Microsoft Word.  In this chapter, you get to see a bit more of the state of the magical art central police station.
In this chapter, you'll see a weird rapid alternation between two scenes.  This is because I imagined this part of the story as a comic page.  Hopefully it will make more sense now when you read it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: The Adrenalized Aftermath

In a private room in a hospital, a white and grey bunny woman stirred from her coma.  She shifted and groaned, her eyes snapped open, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.  Her cries of terror resounded through the hospital, sending at least three orderlies running into the room.

"Miss Defraya, Miss Defraya, please, calm down!" one of them shouted over her screaming.

"THE STORM, THE TWISTER, IT'S COMING TO GET ME!  KEEP IT AWAY!  KEEP IT AWAY!"

Two of the orderlies moved to either side of the bunny and grab her arms to hold her and stop her from doing something drastic to herself and others.

"NO!  NO!  NO!  LET ME GO, WE HAVE TO ESCAPE!  WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Miss Defraya, it's okay, you were only have a nightmare!"

The rabbit stopped struggling and fell limp, her head drooping down as she breathed hard, her chest heaving in and out.  Her irises were vibrating, her eyes still wide with fear.  The orderlies holding her up let her drop back onto the bed.  Suddenly, there was the sound of two sets of footfalls on the ground, one small, and the other adult sized.

"Mommy, mommy, you're awake!" came the sound of a little rabbit girl, who ran into the room and leapt onto the bed to hug her mother.

"Laura, you're awake!  Thank the gods!" an adult hare said as he walked into the room and rushed over to join his wife and daughter.

"Yes...I...I'm awake.  It...it was so...horrible.  I thought...I'd never wake up," the bunny stuttered as she finally began to calm down.

One of the orderlies shouted over to one that was still over by the door, free from having to watch over Miss Defray and her family.

"Go to the nearest crystal ball and alert the police.  Let them know that the primary victim has woken up."

The orderly rushed out of the room, while the three rabbits united in a group hug.

***

It was the middle of the day, and the central police station was in full swing.  Police officers moved in and out of the multiple entry doors to the main building, escorting criminals to be catalogued and put into holding until processed to the appropriate facilities.

In a back room with a domed ceiling, three women of varying species sat at three of the six desks encircling a large glowing sphere, which was displaying pictures of parts of the city within fuzzy-bordered circles on its surface.  The room was completely dark save for the light coming from these images and the numerous crystal balls on the desks, occasionally lighting up and going dark as communications were created and severed.

"Thank you, Miss Ricloon, the matter will be looked into," one of the women said as crystal ball in front of her went dark.  The relay worker then proceeded to lean forward and touch the globe at the center of the room while she spoke.
"Domestic Disturbance Report; four armed individuals sighted heading northeast on Tulling Street," she said as her hand glowed and an image of the street in question appeared on the globe.  An orange dot appeared above the image and grew brighter until it erupted into a beam that hit the ceiling, causing a number of green glowing lines to be etched across the dome, where six other orange dots appeared in the immediate vicinity.  Several orange circles drew out around the dots, and their common area glowed bright blue, then started flashing red.

"Significant evidence gathered to suspect mounting gang war within Blursnang district, confirmed?"
"Confirmed," said the second woman, "Authorizing dispatch of level three forces; light anti-magical armor, long swords, enfeebling spell artifacts, feral horse transport."

The third woman was speaking on one of her crystal balls, "The fire at the Carlton Inn has been completely extinguished?"

"Yes ma'am," the glass spoke back.

"Danger levels are at a minimum?"

"The building is structurally sound and ready for forensic investigation.  Four of my men have confirmed this."

"Good.  A detective will be dispatched to the location shortly to begin investigating the possibility of arson," the operator woman said before hanging up the call and touching the central globe with one of her fingers, which produced a yellow dot that beamed up to the ceiling, drawing out another map with a yellow square at the center, slowly flashing on and off.

She then leaned back and sighed, looking up at the display.
"I still can't believe how fancy this relay room is.  Aclarntaki isn't even a tenth the size of Zinvth and it has a much more advanced dispatch than anything I've seen there."

"This relay room is the design of the top magical research students at AALEP Academy.  They're hoping to fully test it here and then sell it to Zinvth and other much larger cities in need of such a system," another one of the relay workers replied, smiling proudly at the large globe.

"There is a report from the Aclarntaki Central Hospital.  The comatose victim of last night's terrorist attack has awakened.  They're requesting the head of the investigation visit for an interrogation and magical forensics," the third relay worker interrupted, tapping the globe and causing another yellow beam to draw out a location on the ceiling, flashing much more rapidly than the other one.

***

In another part of the building, a young polecat officer wandered through the police station, looking around.  His pink uniform, a gaudy contrast to his black and white markings, denoted his beginning rank in the force.  The skunk being was still getting used to the hustle of the central police station, and even in such a new city there was always a lot going on.  He rounded the corner, only come to a dead stop at what he saw.

The skunk practically skidded on the floor in braking, his eyes filled with stock for a moment, before he stood up straight with a salute, still as a statue.  Standing before him was the Chief himself, wearing his friendly foxen smile, his large brown bat-like back-wings fully outstretched to block the rest of the hall for a moment.

"Ch-chief.  It is surprising to see you outside your office.  Are you heading out, sir?" the officer asked nervously.

"At ease, cadet," the fox demon said, not opening his eyes and still wearing his vulpine smile, "Lt. Gret and I are heading off to interrogate victims of last night's terrorist attack.  Would you like to join us?"

As he said this, Lt. Gret, a wolf demon officer with orange bony wings, emerged from behind the Chief's wings as they folded back like a curtain.

"Y-yes sir," the young officer responded.

"If I may ask, sir, why are you going personally?" the cadet asked, still a little nervous in the presence of higher ranking officers.

"Well, it's no secret that Lt. Gret is the head of this terrorist investigation.  I happen to have a particular interest in these night terror cases, so I have decided to assist in this case personally," the Chief replied, his voice pleasant and the smile never leaving his face.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a slow crime day, with only one report of a possible gang outburst so far today.  Things will be fine until my return.  It also gives me a chance to get out of my office and away from my mountains of paperwork for a while," Barton said, ending with a chuckle.

"Right, sir," the officer said, and begin sheepishly following behind the two superior officers as they walked down the hall and towards the main exit.

"Heh, only one gang outburst, that is slow," the Spinone-Wolf replied, seeming pleased at the fact, "Maybe we're finally starting to clean up this criminal cess pool."

"We can only hope so," the Chief replied nonchalantly, "perhaps just another fifty years, a century at most."

After that comment, the group fell strangely silent for a few moments, until the newbie spoke up again.

"Umm, sir, if I may ask, why do terrorists do these sorts of things?  What could they possibly gain by just scaring people?"

"Why don't you explain it, Lt. Gret?" the Chief said pleasantly to his subordinate.

"Terrorists aren't that much different from criminals, cadet," the wolf demon began, "Like criminals, terrorists need three things in order to succeed.  Motivation to commit their crimes..." Lt. Gret started to explain.

***

A door burst open, and a canine stared down at the couple cuddling on the bed, a sword in his free hand.

"You two-timing bitch.  I knew you were cheating on me with this bastard, and now you're going to pay..."

***

"An opportunity to carry out those crimes...", Lt. Gret continued, solemnly spelling out a criminal's mindset.

***

A cackling weasel looked down at the abandoned lanterns, light tortures, and lighter fluid that had been left in by some idiots, carefully packed up in his carpet bag.  Oh, the possibilities.  He had already gotten his revenge on the inn that had overcharged him.  Now who to burn next?

***

"And finally, the ability to execute the crimes...", the wolf demon finished, his nose flaring a little in disgust at the misuse of talent.

***

A female pink elephant cackled as she carefully added the final ingredients to her concoction with both her hands at once, while stirring the tea pot with her trunk.

"Those trollops will pay.  I know they've been making fun of me behind my back, calling me ugly, but we'll see whose ugly once they've had this tea."

***

"In terms of terrorists, the motivation is usually the need to make some sort of political or religious point, but there could be other reasons.  In this particular case, the opportunity is a fairly common one, as a large number of people just need to be asleep at the same time, and that happens every night.  Finally, the ability to enter and manipulate people's dreams is necessary to carry this terrorism out, and few creatures have that ability, which is what narrows our list to those with powerful magic, certain types of mythos, and...cubi."
The lieutenant's eyes narrowed as he spoke the last word, his voice as cold as ice.

"Now now, lieutenant, whether it is cubi or something else entirely, either way we will bring the culprits to justice, and they will pay the same way any criminal does," the Chief said, the last words spoken very seriously.

The wolf demon's cravings for vengeance and bigotry began to slowly ebb away.  Chief Nartyl sighed with a slight bit of  satisfaction.  They opened the door, and were bathed in the light of afternoon sun.  

To the side of the police station a large group of officers were donning white gee-like robes and light grey plate armor over those robes, and then mounting feral horses with some similar armor before galloping off.

Waiting for the group was a feral horse drawn wagon, prepped and waiting for its departure to the city's central hospital.  The wagon was large enough to accommodate additional people, in case they needed to bring one of these witnesses back to the station for more advanced interrogation.  The Chief boarded first, followed by the Lieutenant, and then by the cadet officer, still a little intimidated by his superiors.

[ChaosMageX]

And here is chapter four.  Sorry for the lateness, but I had a lot of college stuff to deal with and depression caused by college stuff to get over.
This is where I introduce one of Aclarntaki City's founders and take my steps onto the shaky ground of a coming up with a believable cult.  Odds are I'll fail epicly, but if we'll see what happens.
Brace yourselves, because I got carried away in description at some points, so it's a long one.

Chapter 4: Punishment through Fear, Salvation through Death

Young Horus was cleaning out the stables of the feral horses.  He was humming a tune as he swept the fecal matter into the collector bin to be sold as manure.  He would occasionally stop and giggle wickedly for a moment, thinking about the dirty little secret he'd occasionally clean up as well.  Something passed before his field of view for a moment, its movement completely silent.

Horus stopped in his tracks and fell silent as the blade of the scythe rapidly came within inches of his head, and was held there by his father, who had a very serious, very disappointed frown on his long equine face.  Horus looked over to his father, and was filled with terror.  If there was one thing his parents knew how to do, it was scare him, and it was working.

"D-dad.  What did I do wrong?  I was scaring a being and making mischief, like you trained me too.  I...I saw the opportunity and I took it," the foal said nervously, staring at the blade hovering just inches from his jugular vein.

The adult equine slammed the stable door shut behind him and threw the scythe aside, letting it clatter on the ground.  He marched towards the boy, his sun hat falling off as his head-wings emerged, fanned out in anger while his ears folded back in just as much rage.  He grabbed Horus junior by the scruff of his shirt collar, hoisting him to his height in order to yell into his face

"You stupid, stupid child!  Even if you could read thoughts, you wouldn't even have half an idea of the kind of deep s*** you've gotten us in this time," the thestral cubi shouted as he shook his son with violently with the end of each phrase.  All the while he had been walking them to one of the stone supporting walls of stable, and he slammed his child against with all the force of anger, and then letting go of his shirt.

The young colt slide down the wall onto his knees, and tears started welling up in his eyes.  He was afraid to even look at his father when he was like this.  Unfortunately, Horus senior wasn't finished with him yet.  The larger horse grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him up onto his hooves, while stooping down enough to address the young one but still stand high enough to be intimidating.

"You are never to leave the house without my permission or you mother's.  Do you understand me?!"  Horus senior asked, rattling his son against the wall some more with each breathe, in order to add emphasis.

"But dad, I was just...I wanted to..." Horus tried to plead, looking away from his father, his face soaking in tears, his body vibrating in fear.

"Wanted to what?  Get us all killed by betraying our secret?!" Horus senior roared, slamming his son against the wall a few more times, the flesh-against-stone sound echoing through the stable and causing an uproar of the animals within.

"But it thought it was like the last time, when you scared that trespasser to death.  I thought I could help this time," Horus pleaded, tears streaming from his eyes as a result of the pain, fear, and guilt all rolled up into one.

"No, that was one of those pompous police officers that the damn city started sending down to snoop around our farms," the equine said, letting go of the boy's shoulders and letting him slump to the ground.  The horse cubi rose to his full height and backed off from the child, taking several deep breathes, trying to calm himself down to concentrate on the situation.

Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes, and called out to non-sensation with his mind.  A heartbeat later, a familiar glowing centipede appeared, twisting its body as it floated in the air.

'{'{CH-YA, WHY'D YOU CALL ME BACK?  IT WAS STARTING TO GET BLOODY!}'}' the warp-aci whined.

"Zicar, bring Tyrannia to me," the cubi mustang said seriously.

'{'{AW, CAN'T WE WATCH THE END OF TERF WAR?}'}'

"Zicar, you have three seconds...two..." the horse said, hold his hand out and folding down his limited number of fingers.  His serious frown made his face look even longer.  Zicar gasped and disappeared and reappeared a second later with a demon mare in tow.

Tyrannia looked around for moment, bewildered by the abrupt change in surroundings, before realizing where she had been teleported to.  The first thing she noticed was Horus junior, slumped against the wall, his hands over his soaked face.  She gasped and then looked to her husband in shock.

"Oh god, Horus, not again.  What did he do this time?  Whatever it was, it certainly didn't warrant this punishment," she asked, concern and note of pleading in her voice herself.

Horus senior stood there, staring at the ground, continuing to breathe deeply, his nostrils flaring loudly with each breathe.
"While you were out enjoying the emotions of a gang war, an event I advised you against going to during harvest season, when I work in the fields, a visitor came, and Horus got the clever idea to scare him," the thestral cubi said slowly and bitterly, annoyed at having to bring his wife up to speed.

Tyrannia's own equine face grew longer as she frowned in disappoint, not at Horus junior, but at Horus senior.
"Oh, come on, Horus!  That's it!  He didn't deserve that punishment for just doing that.  You know we can 'take care of' anyone who sees him," she said scoldingly, flicking her hand and waggling her finger at her husband.

"This visitor...was a police officer," the older horse said, his voice seeming to echo through the stables as he punctuated it with a sigh.

Tyrannia's hand stopped.  Her whole body froze up like a statue as she lurched backward slightly, as if rebounding from a blow to the stomach.  She looked at him in awkwardly, hoping they were playing a joke on her.  She started actively listening to both Horuses' minds but found no hint of mischievous thought.  This was serious, very serious.

She just stood there for a moment, looking at the ground in disbelief, staring down into the s*** she'd probably turned their lives into, just to get a snack.

Meanwhile, Zicar was playfully chasing his own tail again, forming many different shapes as he twisted in the air.

"Zicar, take Horus to the panic room.  12 hours with no light source."

The glowing centipede stopped and shuddered.  Horus junior looked up at his father in shock, and then looked back down to the ground, his whole face seeming to wilt with the disappointment in himself.  That long?  He had really done a bad thing this time.  Horus senior didn't even look at his son.

'{'{ARE...ARE YOU SURE, SIR?  THAT'S SO LONG.}'}' the warp-aci asked in shock.

"Yes, Zicar.  If Horus is lucky, I'll siphon off enough of his fear to keep him from getting traumatized," Horus said coldly, his breathe practically freezing his son to the core, his gaze focused on the floating insect and nothing else.

The warp-aci flew over and encircled Horus junior, and in a moment they had moved into a room located 5 meters underground, below their farmhouse's cellar.   The room had no doors or windows.  There were wooden tubes leading up into the cellar to let in air, but certainly no light.  The only way in or out was by teleportation.  The room had no floors or walls, save for a few wooden joists to keep it reinforced.  It was basically the equivalent of getting buried alive.

'{'{HORUS, I COULD SNEAK YOU A LANTERN.  IT'D JUST BE BETWEEN US.}'}' the centipede offered, his mystical voice full of worry.

"No, Zicar, I did a bad thing.  I deserve this.  I know better than to play with my food," Horus said emptily, not even looking at the glow-bug, only into the ground.

'{'{UMMM...OKAY THEN}'}' the warp-aci said before disappearing, the bright flash chasing away the darkness, but only for an instant.  The darkness rushed back as fast as it had left, engulfing the entire room, leaving no detail sparred.  The shear shock of all light leaving, of being completely consumed by darkness, came on immediately.  It rushed over his sight plunging him down beneath the depths of light and holding him there, stopping him from coming up again.  No matter what he did, there was nothing he could do to escape the darkness, to escape his guilt, to escape his disappointment in himself.

His body began to grow numb as he slowly drowned in the abyss of his own self-loathing, curling up with his parents' unseen monument to their own hate at the world.  No sound, no light, no sensation at all.  Horus couldn't feel anything, and as he lay there against the freezing earth, he didn't want to feel anything ever again.

***

"It felt so real," the female rabbit said, sitting upright on her bed, wearing nothing but the hospital gown, "it was like all my fears of storms and lightning were coming to get me at once, and there was nothing I could do to get away."

She leaned against her husband and put her arms around his arm and snuggled up to him.  The hare smiled gently down at her and then looked over to their daughter, who was playing quietly in the corner with a kendama toy.

"But I'm sure it's nothing you can't fix," she said sweetly, rubbing the scruff under his chin to bring his attention back to her, "after all, you are a psychiatrist."

"Yes," the jack-rabbit said, snuggling up against her, "and I won't stop until I've driven the demons from your head and put them to rest once and for all."

They sat there peacefully for few more moments, before the rabbit's head shifted over to stare into space for a moment. A few moments later, there were a few loud knocks at the door.  The orderlies merely scratched at the door, so it had to have been someone important, most likely a doctor coming to administer some tests to his wife.

"It's open, you can come in," said the rabbit, shouting to the door as his wife and daughter turned to see who it was.

What came through the door wasn't a doctor, but was certainly as white as one, clothing wise.  Actually, the white and blue combat robes symbolized the owner's high rank in the city's law enforcement agency.  The bright orange, emaciated wings clashed horridly with the ensemble, but the owner certainly couldn't put them away.  The lupine figure walked forward, extending his paw, his sharp claws glinting in the light of the curtained window.

"Dr. Marlow Defraya, Mrs. Laura Defraya, allow me to introduce myself.  I am Regulus Gret, lieutenant senior class officer of ACLED," he said cordially.

Marlow raised his hand to clasp the Lieutenant's, smiling through the pain of firm demon handshake.
"It's nice to meet you, Lt. Gret.  May I inquire as to what this visit is about?" the hare asked, just cordially.

"I am heading the investigation into these nightmare terrorist attacks, and I would like to ask your wife a few questions regarding her experiences, since reports say that hers were the most vivid," the wolf demon replied, his eyebrows raising slightly to emphasize the last word.

As he said this, Laura curled away from the officer and hid her face in Marlow's chest.  The smile faded from her husband's face and his eyes narrowed a little.

"I think my wife has been through enough already, Lieutenant.  I don't want her trying to re-live the ordeal so soon after departing from it," the rabbit said with a hint of malice.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Defraya, but she could have vital clues to finding the culprits and ensuring they don't strike again.  Time is an important factor here," the wolf said a more authoritarian tone.

"If I recall correctly, the last attack was several months ago.  I should know because it occurred out in the Freenlog District where I live, and I treated most of the victims myself.  The only reason my wife is here and not at my clinic is that she was visiting a friend in the heart of the city," the jack-rabbit replied a little more harshly, his eyes narrowing at the wolf.

All the while, Marlow's daughter was leaning forward on her stool, pouting at the intruding officer and putting her kendama toy in her line of sight.  She was playing with it much more furiously now, rapidly bouncing the corded ball off the ends of the hammer and jabbing it with the middle spike on the first try every time.

"Now, now, Lt. Gret.  Dr. Defraya has a point, and you don't have an interrogation warrant due to her recent coma.  If she doesn't want to answer questions, then we can wait until she is willing to," came deep voice from the threshold into the room, as its source crossed it.

The Californian fox demon entered the room, and his imposing presence alone was enough to get the attention of everyone in the room.  Laura peeked out from her husband's chest, the kindle spun on her stool as the corded ball of her toy missed its mark and fell, bouncing and swinging like a drunken pendulum.
The vulpine's all black robes with light armor symbolized his top rank in the police department and complimented his dark brown wings, and his face beamed with the kind of smile that can only come from a fox.

"Allow me to introduce Chief Nartyl, leader of ACLED.  He has also taken a special interest in this case and has come to assist in my investigation.  A great honor on my part, if I do say so myself," Lt. Gret said haughtily, gesturing at the fox.

The jack-rabbit's gaze was focused completely on the Chief, and his eyes were still narrow with suspicion and a bit of mistrust.  There was something not quite right about that individual, but he couldn't exactly place the bad taste in his mouth.  However, that person was the head of the city's law enforcement agency, so he had to be trustworthy, but still...

"Yes, the nightmare terrorist investigation is one of the reasons I'm here, but there's another.  It is quite an interesting coincidence that Laura Defraya, mother of Nadia Defraya, was one of the victims of this latest attack," the fox said, gesturing to kit on the stool, who was looking back up at him with a mix of curiosity and contempt.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Chief Nartyl," Marlow asked as calmly as he could, worry over his wife and daughter now filling his heart.

"It means that this is perfectly opportunity to give you the excellent news in person rather than through a letter.  You see, through city records and word of mouth, we've taken quite an interest in little Nadia's melee combat skills, and her quick wit.  We also know that her tenth birthday is coming up, so I am pleased to tell you both that your daughter has been chosen to attend AALEP Academy under a full scholarship, where she can be trained by some of the best former adventurers, soldiers, and police officers in the world to bring out the best of her abilities," the Chief said proudly, the smile on his muzzle almost seeming to glow.

Upon hearing this, Marlow's suspicious expression completely faded as his jaw seemed to hang open for a moment, his pearly lapine buck teeth catching the light of the window.  Laura sat up fully and faced the chief, a bright excited expression on her face.  Nadia bounced up and down in her seat, beaming twice as brightly as her mother.

None of them could believe that Nadia would get to attend to prestigious Aclarntaki Adventuring and Law Enforcement Preparatory Academy.  Only those who were rich enough to live at the city's center could afford to send their children there, unless someone on the outskirts was lucky enough to get a scholarship.  The prestige alone could bring in more income, and they could move to the city's center.

"She starts at the beginning of next year," the Chief finished, breaking the anxious silence of the room, "I can't wait to see her there.  In the mean time, here's a scroll to explain some of the finer points of the academy."
The fox pulled a scroll out of his robes, similar to the ones that other officers had been given, who happened to run patrol routes with other promising children.  He handed it off to the gowned bunny, who cradled it gently in her hands before opening it to read it.

"I think I'll leave you three to digest this news.  I need to go check on the investigations of the other three officers I brought with me.  Lt. Gret, you should join me," the Chief said firmly, before turning to head out the door.

"Yes sir," the wolf demon replied before turning to follow him out.

Nadia jumped up onto the bed to look at the scroll with her mother, still bouncing excitedly from the news, while her father leaned back in a chair by the bed, still reeling from the news.

***

Far away from the Defraya family's joy, in a much less sanguine part of the Aclarntaki Central Hospital, a figure of hope and faith was visiting a lost cause.  The room was dark, situated on a wing of the hospital that spent little time in the caring warmth of sunlight.  This was the last stop on the walk of life for many.  The terminally ill, the dead and dying, the lost causes and incurables, were all placed here to await the icy grip of death.

However, if they were truly fortunate, they'd receive a visit from Father Noolg, a blessing indeed, and one such individual was lucky enough to receive such a visit today.  It was quite a shame that this individual no longer had the mental capacity to appreciate, or even be aware of, such a grace.

In a bed behind blackened curtains, sat a wizened, balding afghan hound, in a dark grey, more covering set of gowns, who did nothing but stare, his lifeless paled eyes fixated on a vexing spot on the wall, as drool dribbled down from his slumped jowls.  He was another one of the many unfortunate victims of dementia, which seemed to claim more innocent lives every year.

A cluster of brown, black, and grey afghan hounds, being and demon alike, sat clustered around this unfortunate individual, as if waiting for him to do something, to say something, to give them some sign that he could even still be considered alive, but he gave none.  Instead, they shifted their attention to the individual that they had all hoped to see, the person they had given so much to in order to be lucky enough to give their loved one a proper send-off.

This individual, a snow white fennec fox demon, clad in all white religious robes, stood on the bed over the drooling hound, his head bowed down as he chanted a long hymn at the volume of whisper, his hands clasping a medallion in the shape of mystical symbol.

Father Noolg was a rather short individual, only standing 5 feet from the top of his head to his feet, but his churchy hat added neatly a foot to his height, and to many whom he graced with his presence, he seemed a giant.  Worker of miracles, bringing of paid work, and one of the cherished founders of Aclarntaki City, he was adored by many, respected by all.  The fox could do no wrong, and he seemed as the embodiment of all good in the world to those who inhabited the city.

As the fennec archbishop finished his hymn, chanted in an ancient tongue no one in the room, and perhaps the entire wing of the hospital, could ever hope to understand, he raised his head, and began to speak in a more comprehensible language.

"My children, the spiritual journey Eustace Richard Endaleem has been a long and arduous one, filled with much hardship, but the essence of that journey is strong and pure.  With this final audit to his life's energy, he will have atoned for all the sins he has committed.  All his energy, both positive...and negative, shall be redirected to the higher purpose of bettering us all."

No one spoke.  In truth Father Noolg didn't mind if someone interrupted him, as he was always forgiving.  However, many people, particularly people as lowly as the individuals gathered there, would not dare to interrupt one of his sermons, especially when he was aiding one of their loved ones in their passage to the next life.

The fennec stepped closer to brain-dead individual on the hospital bed, stepping over his torso.  The fox gingerly reached into his robes, and pulled out a flask.  He uncorked it with a pop, and began to pure its contents, a strange mixture of water and some kind of glittering sand, all over the afghan's head.  As he did this he seemed to glow, his white becoming more ethereal as he snow white wings seemed to radiate light.

"His mind may have grown dim, but his spirit has grown so much brighter, and it is finally time for us all to be bathed in the luminosity of his requiem.  May all the energy of his life find its rightful place among us all.  May the higher powers ensure that it goes towards the betterment of us all."

As he was saying this and pouring out the mystical fluid, the priest was leaning closer and closer to the individual, his muzzle now less than an inch from the demented hound's forehead.

"With this final touch, I set his energy free, for the betterment of us all," the fennec said in a lowered voice, planting a kiss between the afghan's eyes, causing those eyes to immediately fade to pale and close, as the hound collapsed onto the bed, the living corpse finally at rest.  The fennec's glowing faded away, and he gazed thoughtfully upward, not at the ceiling, but far above it.  He took a deep breath, and then began to sing, as he did at the end of every release ceremony

"May the gods have mercy..."

"Have mercy on us," the crowd chimed in, matching the melody.

"May the fae have mercy..."

"Have mercy on us," the crowd replied once again, picking up the rhythm.

***

Marlow was sitting back in the chair, still trying to take in this news that was both wonderful, and very worrisome to him.  He had kept a secret from his wife and his daughter, and secret that was still going strong, but would be far harder to keep with his Nadia away from him.

He looked at the collar necklace fitted around his daughter's necklace, the magically enhanced one size fits all necklace he had given her as a baby.  It wasn't just an expensive piece of jewelry; it was their most cherished possession.  What if she were to lose it at the academy?

Still, there was no ruining this mood, as he watched his wife and daughter read over the scroll for the fifth time.  Their hope for the future was such a wonderful feeling to him, a rare treat that he ever got the opportunity to enjoy from anyone, let alone his own family.  He savored the experience, and let it revitalize him, drinking it in and sighing with satisfaction.

And then, something dark and sinister interrupted this moment, something that made him physically sick.   He lurched out of his chair and swung his head around, staring into space with a unique combination of shock and malice.

"Is something the matter, dear?  You look more frightened than I was," she asked with concern.

"Oh!  Umm...No, it was just my irritable bowel syndrome again.  You know how I get sometimes," he said with a slight bit of unnerve, but still playing it off with a chuckle.

"Well, we're at the top hospital in the land.  Maybe they can get you something for that," she said pleasantly.

Marlow's tail suddenly lifted up, and the air was disturbed with the penetrating sound and smell of flatulence, his cotton tail fluttering in the breeze from between his knees.  Nadia dropped the scroll and rolled around the bed, laughing hysterically.  Laura covered her mouth and shut her eyes for a moment, her shaking from her spasms of laughter.  The jack-rabbit scoffed in shame.

"Yeah, I think it's passed for now.  But I will see about getting something for it, I most certainly will..." he trailed off, sparing out into space with a brief look of malice before turning back to his wife and daughter with a bright smile on his face.

"So, tell me a bit about this awesome academy our daughter will get to go to.  What does the scroll say?" he asked excitedly.

***

Okay, just a couple of notes:
--In regards to Chief Nartyl's species, I can't remember what the name of it was, so I'll keep calling it a "Californian fox" until I find the proper name for it.  All I know is that it's an endangered species of fox and it had cool looking markings similar to the main character Lorelei in the Black Tapestries comic.
Once I find the proper name, I'll go through a replacing frenzy in the chapters I've released so far and any buffer I have.

--For those who can read between the lines, don't spoil it for those who can't until the time is right, if you know what I mean.

--There's more to the character of Father Noolg and the other city founders that make them distinctly different from characters like Father Albina (for those who've read Future History).
It's going to get interesting as more is revealed (at least in my eyes), so just sit back and enjoy

--I think I've definitely made it obvious in this chapter that the citizens of Aclarntaki City look up to the founders as much as Americans in the Great Depression looked up to Franklin D Roosevelt.
Before they came along, the site was nothing more but a bunch of scattered back-water villages and hamlets of beings and weak demons, constantly fighting and killing each other over surface-scratched resources.
They raised it up from the dirt, gave tons of jobs and opportunities that paid good money in the form of public works projects, and then provided education, health care, law enforcement, more abundant resources from advanced mining techniques, even tourism and an influx of more well-to-do citizens, and all in under a century.

[Tapewolf]

Yes, I think I see what Father Noolg is doing there...

[ChaosMageX]

Wow, it's been a while.  Here's another chapter, which hopefully sheds light on a few things while spreading darkness on others, as at least one new major character is introduced.
Oh, and I finally found Chief Barton Nartyl's species.  He's a California Channel Islands Gray Fox.
Odds are I'll find a bunch of flaws in the story just a couple a minutes after uploading, but oh well.  The spark to write some more was there, and I took it.

***

Chapter 5: The Brighter Side of Darkness

Far from the central city hospital, within the Thlarn farm house, two equine cubi sat silently at a dining table in a dimly lit room, the lurid light from a single oil lamp flickering across their long faces, made even longer by their serious expression.  The thickness of the tension in the room congealed with every passing second, the tick from a far off pendulum clock pulsing through the colloid of emotions.

.oO(More police officers will begin coming.  They are beginning to figure out, despite our careful planning.  Perhaps we should move again.), Tyrannia thought towards her husband.

.oO(That would only raise their suspicions.  They expect people to be pleased with this sort of situation.  Developing a believable alibi will be nearly impossible.), Horus thought back to her.

.oO(Then perhaps we should fake our deaths.  You have been saving the materials, correct?)

.oO(That is our absolute last resort.), Horus paused as he physically sighed, before continuing the stream of thought, (We will need bodies to substitute for our own.  There's not enough time to locate matches and quietly disappear them from society.)

.oO(Then all hope is lost, because of my mistake.), Tyrannia thought as she lay her head on table they were sitting at, her cheeks growing moist.

.oO(In truth, it is all our faults, for being the way we are.  This was bound to happen eventually.  However, we do have one last trump card.  Why do you think I chose to have us live in this particular community?), Horus thought as a smirk began to spread across his muzzle.  He then began relaying the details through a series of mental images, as the throughput was much higher than simple sub-vocal thoughts.

Suddenly, the visual train of thought was derailed by an explosion of emotional energy from deep beneath the earth.  Both horse cubi gasped with a start, and momentarily directed their attention down past their hooves.  Horus let out another sigh, his nostrils flaring to punctuate it.

.oO(He's starting to develop an affinity for resentment and self-pity.  That's never a good sign.)

***

"...and that is why you're still a Lieutenant Junior Grade, Regulus," the black robed Insular Gray Fox demon said disappointingly to the white and blue robed Spinone-Wolf demon.  Lt. Gret simply stood at attention, his orange wings quivering and his expression blank as he took the lashing from his superior officer.

"In summation, you will never move beyond your rank until you learn how to properly deal with people.  In the case of the Defraya family, you needed to be able play both the carrot and the stick.  You were lucky I was here, or you would have set your own case back months by envenoming your prime witness and her..."

A pulse of energy seemed to ripple through the hallway, coursing through the ether, intangible and undetectable to all, save those who were privileged enough to be caressed by a fraction of its magnitude.  Like the draft from a full-speed bullet train, it swept over and past the Chief and Lieutenant in an instant, pulling them with a force that was completely unnoticed by the others in the hallway, as if it didn't even exist to them.

The Lieutenant swaggered slightly, but held his ground, while the Chief stood as firm as a statue against the oppressive energy winds, as if he were as oblivious to these happenings as the rest of the hospital's occupancy.

This mysterious wind spread outward, beyond the hospital that was its source, over buildings and houses, seeping into every crevice and niche of the city of Aclarnaki, felt only by those who were lucky to be privy to it.  As the breeze passed each one of these individuals, a sharp pinching sensation erupted from underneath a special ring on the middle finger of the left hand of each.  These rings, pure silver with a crystal clear gemstone at the center, seemed to gleam, no matter what level of light they were in, the crystal acting as a brilliant prism for whatever brilliance was cast upon it, but only for the briefest of instants.

To the recipients of these rings, this feeling spread out over their hands, up their arms, and into their torsos, transitioning from a needle sharp point of sensation to a vast wave of numbing bliss, spreading to saturate their entire bodies.  There was no objective description for the energy that gently caressed every fiber of the beings and creatures blessed enough to receive it.  It could only be concretely described as feelings, physical, emotional, spiritual, and all other derivatives, that made each individual their happiest for a single instant in their lives.

Lt. Gret swaggered slightly before regaining his posture and sighing in satisfaction, holding his ring up to his face to admire its crystalline beauty, sparkling in the light of the hospital's corridor.  Chief Nartyl stood as still as he had upon first sensing the energy, but his disdainful expression melted away into his usual smirk of pleasant satisfaction.

"Father Noolg does such magnificent work," Lt. Gret said blissfully, punctuated with a sigh.

"Yes, and judging by how much of his blessing we just received, he must be nearby," the Chief replied with an equally relaxed tone of voice.

"I think you are correct, Chief.  I need to return to the station and re-think my strategy for dealing with the victims," the spinone-wolf said, regaining his composure with a more meticulous demeanor.

"Yes, it is time we took our leave of this place.  I have a strong feeling there will be other matters to deal with elsewhere," the Chief said smoothly, before they both turned to walk down the hall.

***

"Stop right there!  Stop or I'll use lethal force!" A white-robbed canid with battle armor shouted in his pursuit of two children, suspected accessories of the gang war that had just been broken up.  They bobbed and weaved in between several buildings making up one of the city's central apartment district, the shadows of balconies sweeping over them.

As they darted between the towering walls, the young lion cub being taking point slipped and skidded, crashing into a disorganized pile of garbage receptacles and broken crates, making quite the clatter.  His follower, a rather unique looking young canine, black with small white spots, took the turn at an angle, clutching a drain pipe with the clawed fingers at the tip of his back wing to keep from making the same mistake as his feline accomplice.  The feline bounced out of the refuse pile, stride jumping to come within inches of the reverse Dalmatian's back.

The duo ran further into the alley with the officer in hot pursuit, the light from day snuffed out as they crossed into the threshold of the shadow of a much larger building.  Unfortunately, this looming building was as much of a blessing as a curse to the duo, as it meant that the alley they had run into came to a dead end.

"This is it Han, we're done for," the lion cub said, his voice quavering in panic to the point of cracking.

However, the young Dalmatian only grinned, but it was a sinister sort of grin.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're not," the canid child said cockily before spinning around to grab the wall.

Bouncing upward, he kicked the lion cub back half-way down the alley, where he collided with the officer that had been pursuing them with a resounding grunt from both parties.  Using the momentum to his advantage, the young canine mounted the wall, bee-lining for the darkest, pitch black shadow he could find.  Using all six limbs to find holds in the bricks and mortar, he made it to the top in seconds.

The officer, quickly flipped himself over the young lion cub, who was groaning, moaning, and roaring as the he struggled to get his footing and fight off the officer.  Unfortunately, he was outpowered by the adult canid officer, and was soon subdued.

"Freeze, you brat," the officer yelled at the feline, tying the child's hands together with tight-fitting rope.  Just as he finished the knot, he looked out into the darkness, scanning it furiously for the other child.

"Damn you, Hannibal!  You bastard betrayer, get back here," the cub roared into the darkness.

Lurking underneath the balcony, the mostly black canine smiled to himself, careful not to reveal his teeth or any other reflective surface.  His black clothes and hat, along with his fur, allowed him to almost completely blend into the darkness, as long as he was careful where he positioned his white spots.

The officer pushed his prisoner to the ground, stomping down onto his back, kneeling down and getting out his crossbow and aiming it into the alley, opening his eyes as wide as possible to try to find the elusive black canine.

Suddenly, there was a flash of movement against farthest wall of the alley, from one balcony to the other, reflecting the faintest sparkles of illumination in the molasses that poured out from the edifice above.  The officer smirked, aiming his crossbow at the receiving location, and pulling the trigger.

The air soared through the air, its nook fluttering in the breeze as it zeroed in on its target.  The snapping noise of the firing weapon echoed throughout the alley, resounding off each wall before converging back on the officer.  One second after the noise faded, the alley was filled with sound of a metal arrow head colliding with solid brick.  Just as that sound departed, another entered.

It was the sound of the officer's head colliding with the ground, from a roundhouse kick delivered by the reverse Dalmatian, followed by his yelping whine of pain.  The canine child landed just short of crushing the officer's skull under his foot, and turned, pulling out a dagger to cut the ropes restraining cub's hands.  The serrated blade at the end of the dagger made short work of the binding ropes.

Just as the lion's wrists were freed, he found them in a vice-hard death grip of his accomplice's hands, the canine claws digging deep enough into his forearms to draw a few drops of blood.  The clawed fingers at the pivots of the canine's wings were wrapped tightly around his throat, cutting off his air supply.  His legs were pinned down by one of Hannibal's, and he could only gasp for air while the pup leaned in close to his ear.

"You're new in this gang, like I once was, so I'll excuse your incompetence just this once," the whelp growled at his companion, the cold stare of his blood-red eyes seeming to burn into his soul.

"I'm not a traitor, but those stupid enough to say my entire name to the police are.  You're lucky that you didn't know my last name, or have the stupidity to call it out, or I would have killed you right here, along with the officer that heard you."

Upon finishing his death threat, the Dalmatian pup released his hold on all but one of the lion cub's wrists, and used it to the hoist him up, practically dragging him across the alley in doing.

"No get your ass up so I can get both of us safely away from the police," Hannibal said cockily with a grin, while cub just looked back at him, both nonplussed and scared at the same time, before catching his footing and complying with the Dalmatian's order.

Just as the two boys' footfalls faded with their distance, back-up officers arrived at the scene, one of which was a gazelle demon wearing a grey robe with yellow accents.  The downed officer groaned as he began to awake from the smelling salts another was wafting under his nose.

"Talsky, how in the hell did you get overpowered by two children?" the grey-robed officer asked with a disdain.

"Uhh...wa-one of them was Ha-Hannibal, sir, " the officer replied before coughing and struggling to get up.

The senior officer cursed under his breath before reaching into one of his robe's pockets and pulling out ring with gemstone charms on it.  One of the charms was glowing, and his eyes widened for a moment before he spat in anger on the ground.  He looked around, and there were two directions his target could have gone.

"Get a healer here to deal with this jack-ass," the gazelle said angrily as he pointed at the downed officer and then stotted right over the canine and bolted down the alley path he had the best feeling about.  He was not going to let him get away this time.  That kid was fast, but he was faster, and he had a going feeling about this particular path, mostly because the gemstone he had kept glowing.

[Tapewolf]

Hmm, I missed the bit about Hannibal having wings, first time.  Kind of wondered if he was a 'taur or something.  Out of interest, how old are those two?  Or at least, how old do they look?
I ask because you describe them as children...

[ChaosMageX]

Hmm, I missed the bit about Hannibal having wings, first time.  Kind of wondered if he was a 'taur or something.  Out of interest, how old are those two?  Or at least, how old do they look?
I ask because you describe them as children...

Hannibal - almost 10 years.

The lion cub - 9 years.

Because in a city like Aclarntaki City, there is no lower age limit to being in a gang.

I've seen all kinds of YouTube videos, and if a 4-year-old can perform martial arts, they can certainly fight in a gang, even if they don't understand why.

And in a city such as this, there are plenty of runaways and abandoned children to act as new recruits, mostly for police fodder.

I know what you were saying about children getting executed for stealing food, and that's how it used to be a century ago in these villages.

Now there's a program where children arrested off the streets end up in something like a military-style orphanage/juvenile detention center, where they're strictly and harshly raised under to try to avert their bad ways, unless a couple feels like putting up with one of them and chooses to adopt.

Because of the currently low budget of these facilities, except for the military drills and corporal punishment, it isn't that much different from living on the streets, so you can see why children who've been sucked into gangs actively avoid getting arrested.

Unfortunately, if a child's crime is severe enough, such as murder, they could still end up getting the death penalty.

But you see, here's a unique fact about Aclarntaki City punishment for severe crimes:

If the victims (or their immediate next of kin in the case of homocide) are only a few, they are given a choice of the kind of punishment for the criminal, which usually includes these choices:
--Execution
--Jail Time
--Shorter Jail Time with Excruciating Torture (take a wild guess how many choose this option )

[Tapewolf]

But you see, here's a unique fact about Aclarntaki City punishment for severe crimes:

If the victims (or their immediate next of kin in the case of homocide) are only a few, they are given a choice of the kind of punishment for the criminal, which usually includes these choices:
--Execution
--Jail Time
--Shorter Jail Time with Excruciating Torture (take a wild guess how many choose this option )

Do they accept a blood price?

[ChaosMageX]

But you see, here's a unique fact about Aclarntaki City punishment for severe crimes:

If the victims (or their immediate next of kin in the case of homocide) are only a few, they are given a choice of the kind of punishment for the criminal, which usually includes these choices:
--Execution
--Jail Time
--Shorter Jail Time with Excruciating Torture (take a wild guess how many choose this option )

Do they accept a blood price?

Perhaps, but you'll have to be more specific about the context.

Are you referring to a ritualistic torture bleeding, or something different?

[Tapewolf]

Are you referring to a ritualistic torture bleeding, or something different?

Money, paid to the victim (or next-of-kin) in exchange for the life of the condemned.

[ChaosMageX]

Are you referring to a ritualistic torture bleeding, or something different?

Money, paid to the victim (or next-of-kin) in exchange for the life of the condemned.

Monetary compensation for the crime could be considered similar to a criminal lawsuit, and offered in cases where such a court endeavor would prove successful (such as non-consensual intercourse; in this time peroid sexual harassment less severe than that wouldn't be considered a crime, I think).

It ultimately depends on the financial situation of the criminal.  Even if they're poor, if the ones being compensated are guaranteed to live a beyond-being life span, they could be promised compensation.

Usually, in the case of a poor individual, they would be put to work in one of the public works projects still going on in and around the city, but it would be forced labor/citizen serfdom, with what they'd normally earn as their salary instead going to their victims and next of kin as the compensation.