The sun does not rise. No, it is as though the sanguine night has claimed the heavens for itself, and the red ringed moon shares it with no no one. The stars refuse to shine, as if repelled or perhaps repulsed by the red night. For the sanguine eye glares skyward, and it’s gaze is just venomous as it does the earth below.

As it cast it’s unblinking eye over the land it searches. Searches for the many, many things that hide from it’s glare. It searches for the things locked behind doors and within cavernous caves and even below the darkest chasms of the sea. It searches where it’s vengeful gaze will not reach.

The twins hide from the angry eye. The deepest, darkest groves shield them from moon’s gaze, deny access to even the most courageous rays of moonlight.

They see well in darkness, almost as well as they do in the daylight hours. They see every fallen twig, every growing shrub, and uncivilized tree. They see the prints.

The prints are like those of a wolf, but at the same time they are wrong and misshapen. Something that is both a wolf and not a wolf has been here.

“Think this was left by Beast of the Western Forest?” Aeon asks as she and her brother look at the prints, watching them turn into the forest.

“Probably.” He mutters. “Think we should deal with it?”

“If it comes for us then yeah.” Aeon grunts. “Sad to say that’s most likely gonna happen. These woods are it’s territory after all. And I doubt it wants visitors.”

“Just great, as if wandering skeletons aren’t enough to worry about.” Astray admits as his sister just pats his shoulder.

“Anyway let’s get a look at this, see what we’ll be dealing with.” Astray doesn’t respond, just looking at the print as he runs a hoof over it.

“The spacing of the paw prints put this thing at maybe 10ft wide.”

“Take a look at the indent pressed into the ground.” Aeon mutters. “That’s almost a solid 6 inches.”

“It’s heavy.” Astay states. “Too heavy for a regular beast.”

“Look at the spacing.” Aeon notes as she steps between them. “There’s a 12-foot distance between it’s front and back legs.”

“It’s big.” Her brother admits. It’s heavy… and it’s big… They put that into an image image in their mind. Astray floats something off the floorA dead and discarded tooth.

“Teeth are serrated, good at tearing flesh…” He examines the old tooth, and compares the size of the fang to a bit coin. “About the same size…”

”It’s hollow.” Aeon mutters as she’s passed the tooth. “But sturdy… long too.” She turns the dead fang over. “This fangs meant to dig deep into the flesh, hold prey in place and lacerate.” “It’s definitely some kind of wolf-breed.” She burns the fang out of reality. “No, not a wolf…”

“Warg.” Her brother finishes. As if to answer they hear it, that same blood-wrenching howl bellows, roaring out from the deeper woods and unmade roads. They listen and turn to face the beast that hides further down their path and though they but imagine it, they see the eyes glowing in the distant. Wargs; they were beasts of wolf-like stature, strong and swelling with beastial muscle and savage strength. Their strength was only matched by their reserves of stamina and speed, allowing them to close vast distances in an instant. Their intelligence, though fair, did not bless them with the luxury of the common tongue or civility, but they could be tamed by few like the Therianthropes or the Lords of Nosferatu. “We’re dealing with a Warg, a big one too.”

“Wonderful… just what we need to fuck up our day.” Aeon muttered. “And we haven’t even gotten to the nearest town yet. That’s gotta be a new record.”

“Nothing we can do about that.” Astray grumbles. “Less you want to turn tail and head home.” He jests. Aeon smiles.

“I wish we could.” She mutters before getting back to her hooves. “I wish we could.” She starts to walk as her brother follows. “Well, let’s go, we’re bound to run into the lord of the Woods sooner or later,”

“Hopefully sooner rather than later.” Astray mutters.

They meet the beast later.

In the meantime they face the walking dead. Their strategy stays the same. Break the bodies, force them together and fill the night with ghastly wails. Any close would whisper that on the seventh night of the Blood Moon the Western Woods were screaming.

Beyond the dead they find lesser predators, who they cut and bite and maim. Those they kill only when needed, and re-kill when they rise again like vengeful dead. Those that run they leave to travel the woods and lick their wounds. Spared, they’ll remember the bite of their blades.

The Warg, the Beast though, the beast does not fear them. When it comes it charges from the dark of the woods, and all the twins hear is the unrelenting sound of trampled stone and twig. It comes as they turn, a massive claw of black muscle and fur already coming down on the two.

The twins reach more from instinct than reflexes.Their magic wrapping around them, encasing them in a dual-layered dome of esoteric ember. I hits with the strength of a cannon at point-blank and despite their united defense they’re thrown back, their protective sphere of ember smashing into trees and through them. They drop the shield and get ready.

Again it’s already on them.

It’s fast.

Nothing that big should be so damn fast.

This time they dodge, break apart from one another and go their separate ways; One takes the left, and one takes the right. The beast turns, but doesn’t press it’s attack nott this time. They gaze upon it as it roars, and for the third time the western woods is silenced by an angry howl.

That one act though, tells the twins something. Something important.

“Fuck.”

It moves and they break, again going for it’s sidesas they use their blades each drawing a single line on the beast’s form. It goes for Aeon first, swinging it’s claws as she dodges. With a back kick it attacks Astray, forcing him to block. Aeon strikes at it’s claw leaves a shallow cut. It retaliates by raising the limb high and bringing it down to crush her. It turns to Astray and tries to bite him, rows upon rows of fangs trying to wrap around him. He dodges, steps to the side and stabs forward. It bites down on his blade and pulls, discarding the weapon and impaling it into a tree. Again it attacks and Astray dodges. He steps in, rises and two hooves slammed into the beasts chest. With more force than what should be impossible - is impossible - the beast is thrown back, smashing into rows upon rows of trees.

“Ok that was a bad move.” Astray whispers as he drops, two hooves touching the earth then he lies spread out. Unmoving and cursing he looks to his sister as she runs forward, not to him but the beast. It rises, it attacks and he yells. “Don’t let it touch you! It’s developed nematocysts!”

Nematocysts; oval-shaped stinging cells that coat the outer cells of the epidermis. They fire microscopic “darts” that penetrate deep into the living tissue of whatever they come into contact with. They dig deep into the skin, release a toxin into the bloodstream to takes immediate effect. It was a mutation the Beast had developed over its centuries of being alive; perhaps through selective breeding, arcane enchantment, or pure freak accident. It was one of two that the twins had discovered the beast had. The second was its jaw. There were too many teeth - six rows to be exact. Two on the top and four on the bottom.When it roars - truly roars it unhinges its jaw like a giant snake, and can swallow prey whole.

Aeon curses as the beast attempts to ram into her. She dodges like her brother had, though as it passes she swings her blade, several arcs of crimson leaving the beast as it rushes by.

It turns and it’s claws swing, wildly, hungrily as she moves, flowing through it attacks as though she were stepping through air. Each dodge is followed by a swing of her blade, and every blade is rewarded with a trail of blood. Her cuts are shallow and light but swift. There is no decisive blow but her attacks add up.

Her attacks are like the retaliation of a bees nest, a thousand bees bursting from their hive each, and while one does not kill the full unrelenting might of the swarm can.

Eventually the Beast grows tired of her stings though, it raises an arm and slams it down on her blade. It is lost to her as the second comes, she dodges, leaves her blade behind and backflips as she gains distance. Her blade lost the beast charges, and untouched the sting of her blade it attacks a claw raised as she adopts a stance.

With the grace of a dancer, the power of a dragon and the skill of a martial artist, she throws the Beast over her form and slams it back first into the soil before gaining distance. To protect herself from its stinging coat she wrapped herself in a barrier. Not a protective dome of light but an aura that clings to her like a second skin. She splits her focus and brings her sword to her. With tiny ethereal fingers she holds it steady as the beast climbs to its feet.

“Ok that’s better.” Astray whispers as he returns to his feet, a pool of foggy purple liquid pooling around him. He’s removed the neurotoxin coursing through his blood, and again he can move. Control of the blood, isolate the poison, and through the pores, expel it from the body, a simple technique of their bloodline. Astray brings his twinblade back to him and mimics his sister’s shield and stance, and rejoins her in the fighting.

His first strike is not like his sisters; he makes the beast hurt. Drives one of his blades so deep into the hide of the Warg that the blade comes out the other end. The beast roars, pain coursing through it and in an instant three new - deep wounds burst from it’s chest as Aeon sheaths her sword. She draws her blade again and stabs it upward, impaling the beasts neck. Ste taps something on her blade, a switch that births a current of lightning into the beast as it screams. From its throat glows a blue light, it’s insides fried from within.

It burns.

It cooks, but it does not die.

It thrashes about in pain and in anger at the two blades piercing it. Then however. The Twin blade is pulled back, a slick smooth trail of red coating it as Astray retrieves it. His weapon in hoof he breaks it, splits it into two matching, but separate sized blades and stabs them downward, deep into the throat beside his sisters.

Then he twists.

Two arcs or red fly as the grass is coated in a line of sanguine. The beast goes silent , it’s head severed and falling to the dirt with a heavy smoking thump.

The fight ends with the beheading, and the lightning that caresses the Aeon’s katana ceases as she sheathes it. “That takes care of that.” She states and wipes her brow.

“I’ll say, you ok?” Astray asks as Aeon dismisses her shield as her brother jumps off the body.

“I’m fine, you?” Aeon asks.

“A little poison never killed anyone.”

“I can think of a few ponies that would disagree.” She mutters as she looks to the body of the Beast. “Still, a coat covered in neurotoxin. That’s rare for a warg to get that strain.”

“Yeah I guess.” Astray makes a noise.”What you think, wanna take it with us?” He asks. “We get it to the Outfitter they might be able to make something from it.”

“Against the right forces Poison’s helpful in a fight.” Aeon admits as she looks at the body and raises a hoof and focuses. “Besides, we leave this and the miasma will take. Meaning another undead will rise.” Like the fang she burns it out of existence, sealing it away in a place where only she and her brother can reach. “Alright let’s go. We still got a lot of ground to cover.”

“I hate it that your right.” Astray admits as the pair move on. They walk and they run, galloping across the woods. They go for three days, until finally they leave the Western Forest.

Finally.

Finally they see Equestria, and their timing could not be better. For the moon sets and the sun again rises to show it’s radiance.

All they see is dying light.

Author's Note

Aeon
Weapon: Katana

A weapon of elegance from offlands. Enchanted steel lets it easily channel mana through it. In addition it houses a small generator in the blade, allowing it to discharge an "mild" electric current into whatever it touches.

Astray
Weapon: Twinblade

A simple twinblade born of enchanted steel, allowing mana to easily course through it. It's handle spits into two, allowing it to be used as matching blades