“I’m not leaving you two assholes to get yourselves killed,” I snapped back.
Ryker appeared on my left in his enormous wolf form. I wasn’t all that surprised that he preferred to fight in this form. When Velesians fought in a group, it was standard practice for some to remain human while others shifted. There were advantages and disadvantages to both. Bastian was right that he and Ryker were more familiar working together, but that didn’t mean I’d leave them to face this alone. No matter how much pain and frustration they’d caused me.
“You’re so fucking stubborn.” He slid me a cutting glance. “Don’t think I won’t punish you for this later.”
A small, feral smile flashed across my face. “Love your optimism that there’s going to be a later.”
The ground started to slope upward, and we raced to the top before sliding to a halt at the ledge.
“Oh fuck,” I breathed out.
Ten feet below us was an enormous beast, unlike anything I’d ever seen or read about, battering the corpse of a Velesian on a frozen river. I knew the Velesian was dead because their head had been crushed and most of their entrails decorated the ground around them.
Bored of mauling the broken body, the beast swatted it aside with one giant paw. I cringed at the splat the body made as it collided with a tree and slid down. A large, blocky head rose as the monster straightened to its full height. It was at least ten feet at the shoulder with legs thicker than most tree trunks. Its body was leaner like that of a feline, but the blunt jaws and square head were more like a bear.
The size was definitely a problem, but not as much as the wide, triangular-shaped, dark brown scales that covered its entire body like armor.
“You’ve really outdone yourself, Lunaria,” Bastian muttered before flipping one of his daggers and extending the handle to me.
“Thanks.” I bared my teeth in a fast grin. “But I got my own.” Half a thought, and my new magic axes were in my hands. Staying alive and killing this thing were more important than keeping them a secret.
Bastian eyed them as I twirled them around, getting used to the weight. “Seems you left out some details about your time with the Moroi.”
“This is less of a Moroi thing and more of a my friend is a mad scholar who likes to experiment with new spells thing.” I shrugged. “Don’t be jealous that my besties are better than yours.”
The creature below us let out a deep, rumbling growl and started sniffing around the ice. I scanned the rest of the area, noting another dead body before spotting two others closer to the bank.
“I think they’re still breathing.” My gaze narrowed on what appeared to be two young women. It was hard to tell because of all the blood.
One of the survivors whimpered, and the beast’s head snapped towards them.
Shit.
I took two steps back. “Get them out of here, Bastian.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.” Bastian lunged for me, but he was too slow.
I leapt off the ledge onto the beast’s back, rolling across it before landing on my feet on the other side, between it and the two Velesians.
“Aren’t you just the thing of nightmares?” My fingers tightened around the axe handles while I leaned forward on the balls of my feet.
Instead of immediately attacking me, the monster studied me with intelligent brown eyes as torn flesh fell from its mouth.
Great. It was smart, heavily protected, and enjoyed mauling things.
Bastian was right. Lunaria really had outdone itself.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Bastian flanking it on the right and Ryker on the left. Bastian kept going behind me, presumably to drag the Velesians farther away. It was the best we could do for them for now.
“It’s got to have a weak point somewhere,” I said in a calm, even tone. “Can you draw its attention, Ryker?”
In his wolf form, he would be faster than me and hopefully faster than whatever this thing was. Based on its size and stocky build, I guessed it was powerful but slow, which was good . . . until you got hit with one of those paws.
Ryker prowled forward on the frozen river. The beast looked away from me to take in the potential threat, moving slightly so it could watch us both, giving me a view of its side.
The triangular plate-like scales became smaller towards its belly. It reminded me of a novemi, a medium-sized rodent that was also armor-plated. When novemi were attacked, they’d curl up in a ball. Their backs and sides could withstand a lot of abuse, but there was a vulnerable seam on their underbellies where the scales met. Maybe this beast was the same?
If it wasn’t, we were well and truly fucked because the other potential weakness I saw were it’s eyes, and not only were they small, but when it blinked, a thick scale covered them.
