“Stay behind me,” he commanded as he summoned a shadow blade and sent it flying through the forest. It sailed toward the beast with deadly accuracy, but right as it was about to slice into the soft spot behind its helm, the Gigloam jerked his head and caught the blade with its antlers. It careened off course and thudded into the trunk of a tree before disappearing.
The beast let out an enraged roar, but Calem didn’t back down.
“Are you insane?” My gaze darted between him and the Kitska monster. Calem’s form wavered, scales creeping up his neck and over his temples, and he crouched low to the ground. The Gigloam pressed forward as a glimmer of something gold peeked through the dense wood behind it. Before I could get another glimpse, it disappeared, and the Gigloam shuddered. It tossed its head back and frantically scoured the woods at its back.
Gaige narrowed his eyes. “Something drove it this way. That’s why it’s attacking.”
“Darrien?” Calem growled.
Another flash of gold flickered in my peripheral vision, and unease stirred low in my gut. The Gigloam twitched in answer. Then, snapped his attention back to us. Something was out there. Something even this Kitska monster didn’t dare face.
My mouth dried as I took a step back. “I don’t think so.”
In the distance, an angry shout, followed by a pained cry, echoed through the night. A chill swept through me.Oz. Calem’s head jerked in the direction of the sound. Scales consumed the rest of his body as devastating claws erupted from his nail beds. Any minute now and he’d shift completely.
“We can’t help them until we deal with the Gigloam,” I said. The creature rammed into another one of Jax’s walls, clearing the last barrier between us and him. Lava rock scattered before our feet, and the monster roared. Wild eyes targeted us with ferocious certainty.
Our felines slunk through the woods, soft chatters slipping from their maws. With the Gigloam’s attention on us, they inched closer and flanked his rear. They moved like predators with gleaming, narrowed eyes transfixed on the creature’s bone helm. We just needed to pin the monster, and then we could help our family.
Another sickening scream sounded in the distance, and my body thrummed with fear. We needed to act. Fast.
Pin the Gigloam, sever the helm…If only I could call on my Graveltot. My small, spherical beast could manipulate gravity and hold the Gigloam down, but there was no way to solely target the creature. We’d all be unable to move. My mind whirred. What else? The Vrees? We’d only just formed a bond. He’d been so reluctant to fight while under Yazmin’s command, and he was still recovering from the emotional toll of attacking his own kind. He needed his time in the beast realm, free from worry or concern.
The Gigloam roared and spittle flew from its yellowed teeth. And then it charged.
Jax moved first, and the ground rumbled beneath us as a rock wall exploded from the earth, right beneath the Gigloam’s feet. It toppled backward, and Dominus lunged. His gleaming claws raked against the monster’s hide, and blood coated the dirt beneath them. Okean went for the jugular, and Reine teleported to the base of the creature’s neck. She sank her fangs at the juncture between the protruding bone helm and the Gigloam’s skull, and the creature howled so deeply, so violently, that the very air seemed to shake. He tossed his head in an attempt to shake her off, skewering her with his antlers and cutting a wound deep into her belly.
“Reine!” I cried, tearing toward them. Gaige raced after me, but neither of us were as fast as Calem. A hound-shaped blur barreled ahead, crashing into the thick hide of the monster. Dominus and Okean scattered to avoid the collision, and Reine teleported to me before collapsing at my feet.
“Shh, you’re okay,” I said, running my hands over her fur. My fingers came away sticky and bright-red. Panic clawed at my throat. Where Dominus’s wound had been shallow, Reine’s was much deeper. Tendons and muscle were ripped to shreds, and I pressed shaky fingers over the laceration.
“Let’s get you home.” I sent her back to the beast realm to recover as Calem and the Gigloam slammed into a tree, splinters erupting around them. Snarling, Calem leapt a few feet away. Kaori’s Ossilix, with her healing saliva, had saved his life, but also changed him forever. The dominating hound that was once my friend stood tall before us with thick, stone-like scales covering the entirety of his body. His mercury eyes were feral, and yet…
He turned his head a fraction, gaze softening for an instant. As if to assure us he was fine. In control. But when the Gigloam lumbered to its feet, Calem crouched and peeled back his maw, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
It was beast against monster, and after seeing just how deadly the Gigloam could be, I wasn’t sure if Calem’s newfound power would be enough.
Six
Leena
Calem and the Gigloam crashed into each other, neither one buckling, and they pushed onto their hind legs in a lethal wrestling match. Violent snarls barreled from their chests as their teeth gnashed together. Quaking beneath the weight of the Gigloam, Calem took a step back as his paws skidded in the dirt.
“Okean, help him,” Gaige urged.
“Keep the monster distracted,” I said to Dominus, and both legendary felines yowled in answer before lunging. Taking advantage of the monster’s stance, they attacked its heels from behind.
“How do we get to the helm?” I asked.
A low, citrine glow bloomed from the back of Gaige’s hand. “I don’t know. I don’t know what beast to summon, either.”
Again, gold flashed from the trees behind the beasts. I blinked, but it was gone in an instant. My heart hammered against my rib cage. Even if we managed to deal with the Gigloam, there was still another predator out there lying in wait. A pained whine brought my attention back to Calem. “Why won’t it go down?” Adrenaline raced through to my fingers as I watched him and our beasts struggle to keep their footing.
The citrine light around Gaige’s hand sharpened as his voice faltered. “I don’t know!”
Subdue the beast. Subdue…I let out a scream as the Gigloam pushed forward and scraped his claws along Calem’s belly. But Calem’s scales held, the soft flesh beneath unscathed, and he roared in the face of the Kitska monster. The only thing I’d seen pierce Calem’s hide had been my Naughtbird.
“Naughtbird!” I shouted. Thrusting my hand forward, I pulled open the beast realm door and Kels, my small, finch-like creature came flying out. She zipped through the air, her iridescent feathers shimmering even in the dimmed light of the woods, and cocked her head in the direction of the beast fight.
