Soren stood dangerously close to Gravaldor. His two Beasts from the Woods flanked him, the Ischray and the Nitney, but there were others, too, that Barclay didn’t recognize. Soren was right to call himself a collector—Barclay counted at least a dozen Beasts. How could he control that much power?
At the light, Soren whipped around. He locked eyes with Barclay and glared. But before Soren could react, Gravaldor roared and stomped his feet, making the entire ground quake.
Tadg rushed at Soren first, but the Beasts around Soren blocked his path. They were ugly things, carrion birds and animals that looked half-rotted and others covered in grime and filth.
“You willnotdo this again!” Tadg screamed at Soren. “I won’t let you!”
Soren ignored him. He motioned to the two Beasts at his side.
Gravaldor roared again. Barclay realized for the first time that he wasn’t trying to frighten anyone—he was scared himself. Soren’s Beasts could make you see and feel and hear things that weren’t there—it was no wonder he’d takena liking to apprentices like Abel and Ethel, whose powers complemented his own.
“Surrender, Gravaldor!” Soren called. “Surrender to the Mark!”
Gravaldor swiped out his paw, and it collided with Soren. He flew through the air and landed on his back several yards away. Viola screamed, making Mitzi’s light flicker in and out.
Gravaldor advanced. The Beasts around Tadg raced out of Gravaldor’s path, but he stood frozen.
“Tadg!” Barclay shouted. “Tadg, you need to run!”
Tadg didn’t seem to have heard him. He was perfectly still.
Gravaldor opened his mouth.
Barclay ran forward, tackling Tadg to the ground. They both rolled through the dirt into a heap against a boulder.
Then Gravaldor stepped on the boulder, crushing it. He bent low and roared at full power, directly over them, with so much force that the ground beneath their backs caved inward. Barclay held his hands over his ears, certain his skull would shatter.
Mitzi’s beam of light shot directly at Gravaldor’s forehead. He groaned and backed away. Barclay and Tadg dizzily clambered to their feet.
On the other side of the cave, Soren’s Beasts had disappeared. Gravaldor’s claw had torn a large slash down his shirt, and it hung on him in bloody strips, exposing muchof his chest and back. His skin was covered in thrashing Marks, but unlike the golden color Barclay was used to, they were each gradually turning black.
Soren staggered up. His back arched in strange, unnatural directions, and he seemed to grow several feet taller. Tufts of patchy fur sprung out over his arms. Scales started to protrude from his face. He screamed as a horn sprouted out of his forehead, leaving an oozing trail of blood down his cheek.
Viola reached down and pulled Barclay out from the crumbled pit of stone.
“What’s happening to him?” Barclay asked in horror.
“Remember those stories in Dullshire about Lore Keepers being eaten by their own Beasts and their Beasts attacking a town?” Viola asked him. “If you can’t bear the weight of the power of all your Beasts, your bonds break, and the Lore consumes you. Those Beasts in the stories you heard didn’teattheir Lore Keepers. Those Beastswerethe Lore Keepers.”
Soren had lowered himself onto all fours. His eyes, once a pale blue, had gone yellow.
And he was watching them.
“This is not good,” Tadg said, crawling out of the pit.
Meanwhile, Gravaldor had stood up on his hind legs. The canopy of trees above them parted for him, as though bowing, and Gravaldor stood taller than the entire Woods when he roared.
“If he leaves,” Viola called, “he could attack Sycomore. Or Dullshire. Or anywhere.”
Barclay looked up and up at the Legendary Beast’s face. He had never felt so small.
Soren let out a birdlike shriek and began running toward them. Nothing about him looked human anymore—especially not the hunger on his face.
Barclay, Viola, and Tadg leapt out of his path. Viola attacked first, sending out another blast of light that struck Soren in the side. He faltered, for only a moment, but then he lunged at Tadg. Tadg fell to the ground, holding Soren back with his hands against his face. A spark burst out of Tadg’s palms, and Soren wailed and lurched off him.
Wind!Barclay summoned.
The vortex appeared, just as it had during his match with Klara in the Exhibition. Unlike in those matches, however, Soren wasn’t just a student. He wasn’t even human. He broke out of the vortex easily and stood face-to-face with Barclay.
