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“You have nowhere to run, Joseph Gertis… Or should I call you The Mangler?”

A boy, barely reached his twenties, was standing in the clearing, alone by himself.

The guards had him surrounded, weapons readied. One figure stood prominently among them, facing the boy head-on—a cassowary adorned in ivory white armor.

“For months, you had evaded us. Pulling strings and getting someone else blamed for the atrocity you committed. For someone so young to be this cunning, I can give you that.” Said the cassowary.

“However, instead of using that cunning to support our community, you used it to harm others… To harm people that considered you friend and family…”

How did it come to this? Everything was according to his plan. He got that thug of a brother arrested, none had even a slight hint of his doing. He was going to enjoy more killing… The scent of fresh blood, the despair on his prey’s face, the gaging noise of their breath withering away… Is everything going to be over now?

“Joseph Gertis, you are a merchant’s son with a loving family, wealth, and education, but you chose the way of savagery, delight in the suffering of others. You are no different from those corrupted monsters that prowl in the forest outside… For that, you are the enemy of Marvellous, and tonight, we shall end you!”

“You… You can’t do that! By the laws, I must first stand trial!” The boy objected, desperate to buy some more times.

“Stand trial? The trial ended a long time ago… It has been concluded that The Mangler’s crime must end in the penalty of death. Your parents would have vouched for you for a lighter punishment. But alas, you killed them before they had a chance to do so…”

Sweat bled from the boy’s face… There was no way out of this now.

“There’s someone who personally requested to deal with you. Among those who were affected by your heinous act, he was hurt the most. Every day he was surrounded by those who lost their loved ones to you, groveling, crying, asking for justice. He had to watch his beloved people fall into fear and sorrow… For that, it will be his fury that you shall face.”

A pair of eerie blue lights emerged from the darkness. The cassowary retracted from his position and bowed. The pair of lights approached and as they came into the clearing lit by moonlight, revealed to be a pair of glowing eyes…

A great sickle bird, with scarlet plumes on the wings and the crown that swayed in the breeze of the night. Its jaws filled with sharp fangs that bared at the boy. Its feet bore sharp talons, shaped like that of a meat hook. The red neckerchief worn around its neck signified the identity of this imposing beast, a presence everyone in Marvellous knows, adores, respects, and in some cases, fears.

The boy toppled and fell to the ground in his desperation to create distance. His hand gripped tightly on his faithful dagger... His very last straw.

“No, don’t give up yet… I still have a weapon. Those foolish guards did not even try to disarm me. If I could plunge this dagger in the right area, it should down this beast easily. I have already killed an ostrich this way. How different can they be?” The boy thought to himself, trying to conjure the last of his wits.

Then in a flash, the great bird charged. A loud hiss shot from the creature as it darted toward the target. Powerful legs launched it into the air, its talons snapped open, and its wings spread, casting a shadow over the boy.

At that moment, the last of the wits he had conjured melted away, while terror overwhelmed. He cried and screamed as the beast landed on his body. The dagger in his hand slashed frantically at the bird. Alas, the dagger somehow could not penetrate… It lightly scrapped on the beast’s thigh like a dull knife on thick rubber and the dense feather caught the blade, putting it to a stop…

…Talons pierced into his chest, crutched, tore, and repeated…

…He could scream no more… His lungs were torn open, blood filled every cavity in his body.

…His vision faded but before darkness fully claimed him, he smelled something… Fresh blood… A scent he used to love so much… But why didn’t it delight him this time? A proud predator like him should be enticed by the aroma of death…

…Perhaps because this time he was not the predator but the prey…
---------------

Comparing to the normal animal counterpart, shapeshifters are much more durable and resilient. Weapons like hand-held blade don't tend to cut them so easily and require more force to make a significant damage. Arrows and crossbows are a much more preferred weapon to use on them, and even then it could take a large amount of arrows to down a shifter with medium or large forms. This resulted in shapeshifters dominating other races for quite a long time, until a new "invention" was create that helped turn the tide against the shapeshifters...

Description

“You have nowhere to run, Joseph Gertis… Or should I call you The Mangler?”

A boy, barely reached his twenties, was standing in the clearing, alone by himself.

The guards had him surrounded, weapons readied. One figure stood prominently among them, facing the boy head-on—a cassowary adorned in ivory white armor.

“For months, you had evaded us. Pulling strings and getting someone else blamed for the atrocity you committed. For someone so young to be this cunning, I can give you that.” Said the cassowary.

“However, instead of using that cunning to support our community, you used it to harm others… To harm people that considered you friend and family…”

How did it come to this? Everything was according to his plan. He got that thug of a brother arrested, none had even a slight hint of his doing. He was going to enjoy more killing… The scent of fresh blood, the despair on his prey’s face, the gaging noise of their breath withering away… Is everything going to be over now?

“Joseph Gertis, you are a merchant’s son with a loving family, wealth, and education, but you chose the way of savagery, delight in the suffering of others. You are no different from those corrupted monsters that prowl in the forest outside… For that, you are the enemy of Marvellous, and tonight, we shall end you!”

“You… You can’t do that! By the laws, I must first stand trial!” The boy objected, desperate to buy some more times.

“Stand trial? The trial ended a long time ago… It has been concluded that The Mangler’s crime must end in the penalty of death. Your parents would have vouched for you for a lighter punishment. But alas, you killed them before they had a chance to do so…”

Sweat bled from the boy’s face… There was no way out of this now.

“There’s someone who personally requested to deal with you. Among those who were affected by your heinous act, he was hurt the most. Every day he was surrounded by those who lost their loved ones to you, groveling, crying, asking for justice. He had to watch his beloved people fall into fear and sorrow… For that, it will be his fury that you shall face.”

A pair of eerie blue lights emerged from the darkness. The cassowary retracted from his position and bowed. The pair of lights approached and as they came into the clearing lit by moonlight, revealed to be a pair of glowing eyes…

A great sickle bird, with scarlet plumes on the wings and the crown that swayed in the breeze of the night. Its jaws filled with sharp fangs that bared at the boy. Its feet bore sharp talons, shaped like that of a meat hook. The red neckerchief worn around its neck signified the identity of this imposing beast, a presence everyone in Marvellous knows, adores, respects, and in some cases, fears.

The boy toppled and fell to the ground in his desperation to create distance. His hand gripped tightly on his faithful dagger... His very last straw.

“No, don’t give up yet… I still have a weapon. Those foolish guards did not even try to disarm me. If I could plunge this dagger in the right area, it should down this beast easily. I have already killed an ostrich this way. How different can they be?” The boy thought to himself, trying to conjure the last of his wits.

Then in a flash, the great bird charged. A loud hiss shot from the creature as it darted toward the target. Powerful legs launched it into the air, its talons snapped open, and its wings spread, casting a shadow over the boy.

At that moment, the last of the wits he had conjured melted away, while terror overwhelmed. He cried and screamed as the beast landed on his body. The dagger in his hand slashed frantically at the bird. Alas, the dagger somehow could not penetrate… It lightly scrapped on the beast’s thigh like a dull knife on thick rubber and the dense feather caught the blade, putting it to a stop…

…Talons pierced into his chest, crutched, tore, and repeated…

…He could scream no more… His lungs were torn open, blood filled every cavity in his body.

…His vision faded but before darkness fully claimed him, he smelled something… Fresh blood… A scent he used to love so much… But why didn’t it delight him this time? A proud predator like him should be enticed by the aroma of death…

…Perhaps because this time he was not the predator but the prey…
---------------

Comparing to the normal animal counterpart, shapeshifters are much more durable and resilient. Weapons like hand-held blade don't tend to cut them so easily and require more force to make a significant damage. Arrows and crossbows are a much more preferred weapon to use on them, and even then it could take a large amount of arrows to down a shifter with medium or large forms. This resulted in shapeshifters dominating other races for quite a long time, until a new "invention" was create that helped turn the tide against the shapeshifters...