Ronan's exile came swiftly. As the dawn broke over Black Hollow, the villagers had already gathered, whispering in hushed tones, casting fearful glances at the wyvern that loomed behind him. Doomfang, ever silent and ever present, remained still, his eerie blue eyes locked on the village as if assessing every soul that dared to look upon him.
"You must leave," the elder had declared, his voice shaking with a mix of anger and fear. "You are a danger to us all."
Ronan stood at the edge of the village, the weight of the elder's words pressing down on him like a thousand tons. The cold mist of the early morning hung in the air, and the village's once-familiar sights now felt like the distant memories of someone else's life. Black Hollow was no longer home.
He had thought that the moment of his awakening would be one of triumph, but instead, it was nothing more than the beginning of an even deeper isolation. The villagers, once the ones who had shunned him with cold stares, were now terrified of him. He could hear their murmurs—some of fear, others of resentment. He had always been an outcast, but now he was something worse. Something unknown.
"Why did you let it come to this?" the village elder had asked, his face twisted in disgust. "You've brought ruin to us all. We were better off without you."
The words stung more than Ronan cared to admit. They were the same words that had followed him all his life—the words that had echoed in every corner of Black Hollow. But now they held a different meaning. They were no longer words of rejection but of a deeper, more terrifying truth.
Ronan, in the eyes of the village, had become the very thing they had feared—a creature of myth and legend, a beast in human form, carrying with him a force they couldn't hope to control. They had tried to kill him once with their words, their slights, but now they sought to cast him out of their lives completely.
And they succeeded. The elder had commanded that Ronan and his beast leave before the sun set, or they would be hunted down. But the fear was clear. The village didn't want him to leave; they wanted him to vanish.
As Ronan stood at the boundary of the village, Doomfang's massive wings unfurled. The wyvern's presence alone seemed to calm the trembling villagers, but it also drove them to more extreme measures. They feared what they couldn't understand, and the wyvern, now bound to Ronan, was a constant reminder of their doom.
"I'll leave," Ronan muttered to himself, more to Doomfang than to anyone else. His voice felt hollow in the cold air. "But I won't run."
With that, he turned, leaving the village behind. His path was uncertain, but he had no choice but to move forward. Doomfang followed silently behind him, the faint sound of his claws scraping the earth the only sign of his presence.
The forest beyond Black Hollow stretched before him—dark, twisted, and full of dangers both known and unknown. The path was fraught with uncertainty, and the wilds were no place for someone like Ronan. But it was all he had now.
As he walked deeper into the wilderness, the weight of his newfound powers settled around him. The bond between him and Doomfang was still new, unfamiliar, and he struggled to understand the full extent of what he could do. The wyvern was not like any creature he had ever encountered. It wasn't just a beast; it was a force of nature, a being of ancient power that Ronan could barely comprehend.
Ronan reached out mentally, attempting to communicate with the beast. Doomfang, can you hear me?
The wyvern's voice resonated in his mind, a deep, rumbling presence that felt both reassuring and terrifying.
I hear you, Forsaken. You have awakened the ancient bond. The path you walk will not be an easy one.
Ronan's brow furrowed as he tried to understand. "What path?" he asked. "I don't even understand what this power is. How can I control it?"
Control is an illusion, Doomfang's voice responded, a coldness in the words. You cannot control me, Forsaken. You must learn to coexist with me. And that will require more than just willpower.
The weight of the wyvern's words hung heavily in the air as Ronan continued his journey. He needed to find answers, to understand what this bond truly meant. And most importantly, he needed to survive.