“The Gigloam,” I said, pointing toward the lumbering creature. “Hurry!”
Kels darted through the trees and hovered above the beast’s head. Her tail feathers twitched from left to right as she tried to pinpoint an opening. Before she could strike, the Gigloam overpowered Calem, shoving him to the ground with his massive claws. Moonlight burst from its skull, and beams lanced the felines still tearing into its hind legs. They darted away, leaving the Gigloam to turn all its terrifying fury on Calem. Saliva dripped from its teeth as it pulled back its maw and roared.
“Now!” I shrieked. Kels dove, and her thin, needle-shaped beak drove into the one of the Gigloam’s hindquarters. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the beast let out a long, low groan, and it swayed over Calem.
“Okean! Dominus! Help him,” Gaige called. Both felines lunged. They dug their paws into the back of the Gigloam and clawed up its spine. A pained roar rattled from the back of its throat, and it shook violently in an attempt to throw them. Pressing flat to its hide, they held on as the beast released its hold on Calem and began ramming into trees.
“It should be sleeping by now.” I desperately looked between the Gigloam and Kels. “Her saliva should’ve put it under.”
Gaige tracked our yowling felines still clinging to its back. “Our beast’s powers aren’t as effective against Kitska monsters. But the Gigloam is slowing. It can’t hold out forever.” The creature stumbled, barely catching its footing before crashing face-first into the earth. Abruptly, Gaige straightened. “Calem, now while the Gigloam is weakened. Remove the helm!”
Calem hesitated just long enough to glance my way and judge my reaction. The Gigloam would immediately stop fighting once the helm was removed. It would take days for it to regrow, but there’d be no lasting damage.
I nodded, and Calem howled before charging the beast. He leapt over our felines and targeted the creature’s bone helm. The Gigloam roared and tossed its head, attempting to impale Calem with its antlers, but Kels’s serum had made it sluggish. Dodging the sharpened points, Calem dug his elongated claws into the soft flesh where the protective skull protruded from the beast’s head. A stomach-turning crack splintered through the air as Calem pried the helm free. It fell to the forest floor with a loud thud, and the creature went completely still. Okean and Dominus slumped to their haunches and began licking each other’s wounds, while Calem sauntered over to Jax and gave him a gentle nudge with his snout. Kels landed on a nearby branch and let out a soft chirp. Everyone was safe.
Relief sang through me, and my shoulders sagged. “Thank the goddess.”
Gaige nodded, then looked to the woods. “We should rejoin the others.”
I scoured the scene, halting for a moment as I studied the immobilized Gigloam. “What about the Gigloam?”
Gaige frowned. “What about it? It’s a top predator, so nothing will bother it. Any minute now and it will fall into a hibernation until its helm returns.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. Gaige wasn’t wrong, but something about leaving the beast unprotected didn’t sit right with me. Darrien’s men were lingering in these woods. What if they hurt it? What if they tried to capture it?
“I have an idea. It’ll only take a minute.” Turning on my heels, I signaled to Jax. “Form a barrier around him. When he wakes, he can destroy it and have free rein again.”
Jax swiveled his head in the direction of the beast, and the ground began to rumble. One by one, rock walls with veins of lava erupted from the earth and towered over the creature. They curved toward one another, forming a dome that would keep the Gigloam safe.
As the last wall was shifting into place, a far-off, heartrending cry filled the now quiet woods. The agonizing sound seemed to linger around us far longer than it should have, and a dreadful sinking sensation tugged at my stomach.
Calem’s ears shot toward the sky, and a worried whine trickled from the back of his throat.
“What’s happening?” Gaige’s eyes flashed between him and the woods.
Panic crested in my chest as I stared at Calem. “Noc? Oz? Kost? Who is it? What’s wrong?”
Before he could react, a gold streak lunged from behind a thicket of trees toward Gaige and me.
I didn’t have time to move. To think. Neither did Gaige. A gold and umber cloud engulfed us, blocking out our surroundings and muffling the worried cries of Calem and our beasts. Gaige whirled, realization donning quickly on his features. Mouth agape, he stared at me for one harrowing moment before tackling me to the ground. My head cracked against a trunk, and my vision blurred. Through the haze, I spied the reason for Gaige’s reaction: a Cumulo Leo. Yazmin’s legendary feline. I’d been too warped by Wynn’s charm to truly notice its power the day Cruor attacked Hireath, but there was no escaping its might now.
With a mane that resembled billowing clouds and four curling horns, it emerged from the haze and struck. Fangs sank into Gaige’s back, and he screamed. As quickly as it had attacked, the Cumulo Leo pulled back. Then let out a misty breath that glimmered with gold flecks. It settled over Gaige’s wound, and he went limp. A torturous cry broke through the cocoon the beast had created, followed by a burst of raging water that tore apart the clouds and rammed into the Cumulo Leo. It howled as it flew backward into the woods, and the last of the mist and clouds disappeared with it.
A haughty laugh seemed to erupt from the forest itself.
Gaige was entirely too heavy, and my fingers went cold. “Gaige,” I croaked, unwilling to look directly at his face. “Come on, Gaige. Get up.”
He didn’t move.
Okean made it to us first, and he fell beside me. Slowly, I moved out of Gaige’s grasp, and his beast immediately occupied the space. He let out a soft mewl, like a question, before nuzzling Gaige’s cheek. When Okean’s nose met his skin, the beast’s entire body stilled. He let out a deep, gut-wrenching yowl that would live in my memory for the rest of my days.
Calem and Dominus rushed to our sides, followed immediately by Jax and Kels. Okean dropped his head and curled tight against Gaige’s side. I kept waiting for him to console his beast. To run a hand down his finned mane. But nothing happened. He stayed limp. Unmoving.
Tears pricked at my eyes as my breathing turned shallow. Slowly, I forced myself to look at Gaige’s slackened face.
Dead.
My throat dried.Gaige.I reached for him, and then let my hand fall away. He’d protected me from the Cumulo Leo. He’dknown. He had to. I knew the beast was fast and hard to target, but I didn’t know about the breadth of its magic. Of the mist that could kill in an instant. But it hadn’t affected me. Why?
