The Terror Gaze: Book 2 of The Mortal Guard Series

Origin 2 - Nicholas Flynn

Origin 2 - Nicholas Flynn

The Contrary Virtue of Patience, Nicholas Flynn, was born at Michael's Medical Center in Austin, Texas on April 13, 1999 at 2:18 PM. He was born as Patience, though he wouldn't find this out until much later in life. The pup was birthed by Harmony Flynn, married to Roman Flynn.

Nick was and would forever be an only child, as he was not a planned child, though his parents were loving and appreciative of their son. They would never refer to him as an accident, even if it was the case.

He was an average child growing up, making friends with his neighbor Howie Thorton at the age of 12, who showed him a little bit about playing guitar. They were good buddies for a while before Nick moved away. His family wasn't exactly poor, but they moved around about eight times in his life, which he never understood.

In his middle school days, he was an above-average student, able to retain the information he was taught easily. He didn't possess a photographic memory, but he rarely needed to study for tests unless he didn't know the information. This carried on into high school, and even into the Mortal Guard.

Nick began dating girls early, at the age of twelve. His first girlfriend was a calico named Marta Grover. They broke up after two weeks because Marta felt nervous about dating so young. It was no secret that the male hyena had always been a romantic, even before Richard.

When he was fourteen, Nick met Frank Lovell, an African wild dog that never became more than his acquaintance. Something about Frank made Nick's heart skip a beat and tumble around in his ribcage. He was taller and skinnier than Nick, and clearly hit puberty earlier than other kids their age. Frank was part of the popular crowd, though, and even though people liked Nick, he stayed back.

It wasn't just Frank, either. Like a web being spun, Nick began noticing all of the males he was interested in that he had never spared a second glance before, on top of the girls he already found attractive. That's when he realized he wouldn't mind being with either gender, as long as they cared for him.

Even through this revelation, he never actively pursued anyone romantically. Though, he did something strange, since he didn't really have anyone to talk to. He went right home and talked to his parents about his feelings for both males and females.

Both of his parents were surprised that he decided to come out with it without any fanfare. That's how their boy was. He wasn't dramatic about these things. And of course, they were accepting of whoever he brought home, as long as he didn't get into any danger.

Before they moved away again, just after middle school, Nick got his first taste of someone in his life dying through Frank. The wild dog was found dead in a river near their school after having gone missing for four days. When Harmony sat her son down to tell him the news, Nick wasn't sure how to process it.

For one, it didn't feel real. How could someone as pretty and as popular as Frank just be gone all of a sudden? For two, it slapped the hyena in the face that he could die at any time, which chilled him to the bone. It was hard to attend school the next few weeks . . . Things were so different and a cloud hung over every student.

No one wanted to talk about Frank. But there were rumors that he was the reason for his own death because he was very sad. Nick didn't want to think about that happening to someone, even someone he didn't know that well. It was totally unfair.

Through all of this, Nick attended guitar class and continued playing as a hobby. Eventually, his family moved yet again and the hyena's high school freshman year began. Nick was excited because Roman told him that the school had a respected guitar program for their students.