Ruger could hear the sounds of the stallion moving through the wet terrain long before he seen him. The stench of Cullen was enough to make the man raise his lip in a disgusted sneer, the greeting expression he offered the Lagoon Boss. Though, it was the pale beast’s own greeting that was nearly enough to make Ruger laugh. “Here I stand, and it is you that comes crawling to my presence. Do you tire of being alone? he said, a wicked smile sliding across his own lips. If Cullen thought the fire of his anger had simmered, he would soon find out otherwise.
Just as Ruger took a threatening step forward, he was taken by surprise as the face of his nightmares blocked out that of Cullen’s. While he had been distracted, Felony had come upon the two. So it had been true, his father had returned. But if that was so, why was he not skulking the peak? Ruger reeled back,, his ears burying farther into his mane, and a gruntalled snort pushed from his nostrils harshly. “You” he spat out, the venom in his voice as degrading as if he had just drug Felony through the mud.
The wolf’s face was unchanging as the dark glare remained fixed, his golden eyes burning into his son like a starving predator. It did not matter that his appearance had changed, how his body was no longer built of muscle and youth. It still radiated in his gaze, that all consuming darkness that Felony had given himself to long ago that offered him strength even now. “You are pathetic.” he growled, sounding more lupine than equine. “My own flesh and blood, a traitor to your creation.”
Ruger did not give beneath the words as he once would have done as a young stallion. He has reached maturity long ago, a time Felony wasn’t even here to see. “I gladly call myself a traitor if it is to you.” The quietness of his voice more threatening than if he had yelled. It caused a smile to curve Felony’s ebony lips, but the expression was anything but pleasing. If Ruger did not carry his own strength and bravery, he might have shivered under such a look.
Eyes turning to Cullen then, they burned into him with the same intensity that Felony’s burned into his black and white hide. “It is time we finished this.” Ruger stated, and suddenly launched himself forward. It was with every intentions of attacking the Lagoon Boss, but instead his chest slammed into that of Felony’s. Despite his weaker appearance, he was shockingly still a solid force. The aging stallion rose, lashing out with his front legs. Ruger met him in the air, locking his front legs with his father’s as blunt teeth searched each other’s flesh. He could feel the burn of Felony locking onto the side of his neck, but his own was able to grab onto the older stallion’s ear. With a brutal jerk of his head, he did his best to tear the appendage off.
A scream of fury escaped Felony’s lips, ringing in Ruger’s ears as they dropped down to the ground. Though the ear was still attached to Felony’s head, it hung strangely to the side and the coppery taste of crimson was left upon Ruger’s tongue. The son did not stop his attack upon his father, the thirst for blood driving him on until his vision turned red. So many demons followed him since youth because of this man, and now he sought revenge.
The pair clashed several times and blood stained them both, but Felony no longer held the endurance and strength he once did. Under the onslaught of his son, the wolf finally went down. Legs buckling beneath him, he crashed onto the muddy ground beneath them. Head turning, he looked up to the bloodied black and white figure standing over him. One ear pinning while the other hung limp, he bared his teeth like the animal he had been called after just as Ruger reared, the final blow ending it all.
Just as Felony had once done to Ruger, Ruger now did to Felony. But instead of landing just beside Felony’s skull, Ruger had brought a end to his living nightmares.
For a moment that felt like an eternity, Ruger glared down at the broken pieces resting beneath his hoof. Finally, slowly, he raised his gaze to Cullen. Blood splattered his face not of his own, slowly sliding down to mark his black hide red. “Blood for blood.” Ruger finally said, a darkness to his voice he has never held before. He knew Cullen had worshipped the wolf in a strange sense, looking up to the man more than Ruger had ever done. It was the closest thing Ruger could ever take from the Lagoon Boss that could compare to Macabre. But he would never soil her name or memory to even think it the same. “Do not come for me again.”
With that, Ruger turned and walked away without a single glance back.