I scanned the terrain—wild, tangled, treacherous. Roots snaked across the earth, rocks jutted from the soil like broken teeth. It would take hours to hack our way through.
“I’m shifting—get on!”
Maddie nodded, already pale from the strain of her magic. She reached into her satchel and tossed two amulets over her shoulder.
My shift was clean. I hit the ground on four paws, muscles bunching beneath my skin.
She clambered on, clutching my mane.
“Get ready to sprint, brother,” she muttered.
Then she raised her hands and shouted—
“Terros!”
The amulets detonated behind us.
Light flared. Trees shuddered. Sentinel soldiers went flying.
But they kept coming.
There were no paths in the Wilds—only thorns, roots, and chaos. We ducked under branches, vaulted rocks, crashed through brush. And still—
They followed.
Firebolts streaked past. Arrows hissed through the air.
We broke into a clearing at the base of a mountain range.
And I knew.
We were screwed.
The ascent ahead was brutal—steep, sheer, exposed. If we climbed, we’d be sitting ducks.
And Vasquez knew it.
We’d run ourselves into a trap.
I skidded along the edge, scanning for any opening. Maddie jumped off my back, frantic, searching for some way through.
Then a voice—
Low. Mocking. Cruel.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is. The traitor... and the dirt witch.”
Vasquez stepped from the shadows like a spider from its web, every movement soaked in satisfaction. The glee on his face was nauseating. He had us. And he knew it.
A growl rumbled from my chest—low, guttural. I stayed in lion form, muscles coiled.
Beside me, Maddie didn’t flinch. Violet light flickered across her skin like wildfire. Her eyes burned.
Sentinels in violent, blood-red armour fanned out behind him—soulless shadows with steel in their hands and murder in their eyes. One word. That’s all it would take.
Vasquez stepped forward, smug and slow.
“Leo Knight. My, how far you’ve fallen.”
