A terrifying bellow, much closer than before, rattled the leaves above us.
Before we could formulate a plan, a creature came crashing through the wood, splintering trees with the force of its attack. My blood went cold. Of course it’d be a Gigloam. Or what once was a Gigloam. The A-Class bear beast was the size of an elephant bull with stag-like antlers protruding from its head. A thick skull, separate from the one beneath its hide, grew from the base of its neck and protruded down over its snout. A bone helm to protect its face. Glowing red eyes—eyes that should’ve been green or brown—peered through the sockets. His fur, which was likely once a lustrous, mossy green, was now matted and gray.
Does it still have its powers?I spied the half-moon etching on its skull and cursed. At least the full moon had already passed; otherwise we’d be better off running than fighting.
Felicks’s orb clouded again, and he let out a sharp yip. Kost’s eyes went wide. “Brace yourselves!”
The monster roared, and moonlight gathered between its antlers. Not a moment later, it exploded in a wide beam, targeting our troupe with deadly accuracy. The powerful light slammed into our domes with the force of a battering ram, and splintering cracks spiderwebbed across the near-invisible surfaces. By the time the moonlight had faded, Quilla had closed all but one of her eyes.
And then a volley of three arrows sang through the air—one piercing my beast’s dome and the other two sinking into Gaige’s. Our creatures sighed, their powers fading as they closed their last eye. Our protection was gone.
“What the hell is happening?” Calem shouted as we scattered to avoid the charging Gigloam. Yowls scraped from the backs of our legendary felines’ throats as they formed a circle around the aberrant monster. Howling in answer, the Gigloam stood tall on its hind legs. Okean and Dominus lunged in unison as Reine blipped out of existence. A moment later, she reappeared, teeth and claws deep in the thick hide of the Gigloam’s neck. A gargled cry escaped the creature’s maw, and he fell to all fours at the same time Okean and Dominus attacked.
More arrows pierced the air, pulling my focus away from the beasts. Noc dropped to the ground and rolled, narrowly avoiding one aimed at his head. Leaping before him, Oz extracted a bronze key from his trouser pocket. The beast realm door groaned open, and Jax, his young Laharock, appeared.
“Protect them,” Oz growled as he launched into the trees and hurled blades in the direction of Darrien’s attacks. His creature roared, and a deep rumbling shook the forest floor. Walls of near-impenetrable rock shot from the earth, their veins of lava a dangerous, glowing red, just as a volley of arrows whizzed through the trees. Most ricocheted off the newly erected barriers, but one slipped through and nicked my shoulder. Wincing, I slapped my hand over the shallow wound. A worried caterwaul rose above the volatile snarls of the Gigloam fight, and Reine released her hold on the monster to peer at me.
“Reine!” I shouted, but not quickly enough. The Gigloam capitalized on his relinquished neck and stood once again, tearing off the felines one by one with his massive paws. Each one went flying into the forest until they crashed into tree trunks.
“We have to stop it!” Gaige shouted. Flush against one of Jax’s rock walls, he’d been avoiding the continued onslaught of Darrien’s shadow arrows. Okean recovered first, and a torrent of water exploded from his maw and slammed into the creature’s belly. It stumbled backward, slashing at the relentless stream to no avail.
“And Darrien,” Kost hissed, his gaze darting from the beast fight to the endless, snarling expanse of woods before us. Above, Oz grunted his consent as he continued to sling blades into the dark. A sharp, distant curse answered in response, and a body wreathed in shadows darted from one tree to the next.
Mercury dominated Calem’s eyes. “That wasn’t Darrien.”
“He brought backup,” Kost seethed.
“Darrien!” Noc bellowed, crouching near me. “Show yourself!”
A dark laugh carried through the air, but he never appeared. Instead, he sent more arrows our way. We dodged them all, but Felicks leapt from Kost’s shoulder and let out a guttural bark as he flattened himself against the earth.
Kost’s frantic gaze swept the area, then he grabbed Gaige’s wrist and dragged him to the forest floor. “Get down!”
We didn’t hesitate, and a breath later, a rush of shadow blades soared through the trees from every direction. They sliced through leaves and cut into branches, showering us in debris. Dominus let out a gut-wrenching cry that rattled my bones. A blade had cut open his hide, and blood wept from the wound. Snarling, he faltered for only a moment before returning his focus to the Gigloam.
I pushed myself from the ground, desperate to get to my beast, but Noc wrapped his hand around my wrist. “Wait.” Ire filled his ice-blue eyes, and he fired the blood blades hovering about his body deep into the woods.
A pained scream rose above the treetops as one of them found its target.
“Kost, Ozias, on me. Calem, stay with Leena and Gaige.” Shadows flung to him, and he bolted around Jax’s protective barriers and into the forest. Oz paused only for a moment, his gaze bouncing to his beast. Jax let out a reassuring growl before hunkering down behind a rock wall. Safe, for the moment. It was enough to spur Oz into motion. He launched from the trees, the groaning of branches beneath his feet clashing with the endless roars of the legendary felines and the Gigloam.
Kost sprinted after them with Felicks at his side, only for an enemy assassin to dart in front of them. Felicks let out a startling bark, and then weaved between the attacker’s legs, sinking his pointed teeth into the man’s calf. He buckled forward, and Kost lunged. His rapier slid cleanly through the assailant’s chest, and they were gone before the body even hit the ground.
Darrien’s eerie laugh once again filtered through the dense woodland, and the arrows and shadow blades stopped.
With the air clear, I leapt from the ground toward my beasts, eyes locked on Dominus’s injury. He seemed undaunted, but the constant strain from fighting only made the bleeding worse.
Gaige rushed to my side. “Okean’s attack is about to fade. Stay back!”
The sound of rushing water died as Okean’s torrent gave out. Seizing the opportunity, the Gigloam let out a fierce battle cry and charged toward Okean. With its head angled down, the creature’s antlers were poised to spear Gaige’s beast. But Reine materialized before it could make contact, flanking the creature’s side and sinking her teeth deep into its shoulder. Blood spilled from the wound and the Gigloam howled, peeling off course and ramming into a tree.
Gaige winced. “The only way to subdue it is to sever its skull helm. It won’t fight without it.”
My mind raced as I watched Dominus and Okean rejoin the fray. None of them could come within striking distance of the helm, let alone get the needed leverage to physically sever it. Even with Reine’s teleporting powers, the monster somehow was able to deflect every time. Why was this happening? Was this monster really that much stronger than our felines? Yes, Gigloams were powerful, A-class beasts, but this one haddied, according to our legends. Then again… My gaze slanted to Calem and the shadows festering around his frame. The assassins became something else, something stronger, when they’d passed, too.
Moonlight once again gathered between the Gigloam’s antlers. Charging time and power were dictated by the phase of the moon etched into its bone helm. Half moon, half power—but half the amount of time it took to summon a deadly attack.
“Run!” I screamed at our beasts. The felines scattered in response, barely dodging the disastrous beam of light. The Gigloam’s face swiveled to me, and he let out a bone-chilling growl. Claws gouged the earth as the beast stalked our direction, crushing Jax’s erected rock walls with its skull. A warning rumbled from the back of Jax’s throat, and Calem shoved us back, putting himself between us and the approaching beast.
