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A layer of muscle, then fat, then quills. The arrows didn’t penetrate. They should have penetrated, but they hadn’t.
The werehogs sighted the gate. If they opened it, things would get complicated.
The female bouda unsheathed two daggers. “Stay on the wall.” She leaped down into the courtyard and landed between the wereboars and the gate.
The wereboars snorted.
My babysitter pointed at the intruders with her daggers. “Hey, piggies! I’m here to carve some bacon off your fat asses.”
“Stupid bouda bitch,” one of them grunted. “Snuck up behind you. Now we stomp you. Crush your bones. Fuck you. Eat you. Shit you out.”
Paul’s family shot another two bolts at the boars.
The wereboars snorted some more, ripped the bolts out, and started toward the bouda.
Ms. Jynx flicked her daggers and shifted. A werehyena spilled out, her eyes glowing with ruby fire.
The wereboars charged.
She spun around them like a whirlwind, slicing so fast. Cut, cut, cut, cut…
The wereboars squealed and roared, swiping at her, but she was too quick. Blood flew. The wereboar swung its massive fists at her but couldn’t touch her as she darted in and out of its reach.
So, that was how renders fought. Yeah, I want to do that.
Ms. Jynx’s opponent tried to pull her into a clench, but she ducked and stabbed up into its snout. The wereboar screamed in rage.
She was carving into them, but their wounds closed almost as fast as she cut them. Faster than I healed. Faster than Dad.
The smaller wereboar lunged at her, forcing his way through the barrage of her strikes, trying to lock her into a bear hug, while the other wereboar closed in on her from behind. She had nowhere to go. They smashed into each other, trying to pin her between them. At the last moment, she dropped down into a crouch, and the two boars collided, while she drove her daggers up, into their groins. Stab, stab, stab, so fast.
The wereboars squealed, scrambling. The larger one managed to grab her left arm and yanked her up. She stabbed his thick neck with the other dagger.
He headbutted her.
Oh no.
Ms. Jynx hung off his arm, dazed. He hurled her away. She flew and hit the wall of the keep. Her body made a sound.
The injured wereboar jerked the dagger out of his neck.
Ms. Jynx lay on the ground, by the wall, in a small heap. She wasn’t moving.
“Conlan,” Mr. Paul said. “It’s time to ask for help.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Dad and the biggest minotaur were ripping into each other. If I called him, he wouldn’t get here in time, and the minotaur would kill someone.
I looked back at the courtyard. The two werehogs started toward Ms. Jynx, their sharp, heavy hooves stomping. They were ready to gore her.
No.
These people came here to hurt us. They took Jason’s brother. They tried to hurt Mom. They attacked our home, they fought my dad, and now they were about to kill my friend. I wasn’t going to run, and I wasn’t going to hide behind my father. And I wouldn’t allow them to hurt anyone.
“Stop,” I ordered.
Two shaggy monster heads swiveled toward me.
“What are you going to do, little man?” the smaller wereboar demanded. The other snorted.
I jumped.
I weighed about 60 pounds in my human body. But I weighed 4 times as much in the warrior form.
The wereboar saw me change in mid-air and threw himself to the side. I’d wanted to land on top of him. Instead, I only caught him with my hind foot. My claws ripped through his thick hide, and he squealed in surprise.
I bounced clear, putting myself between them and Ms. Jynx.
The boars stared at me.
I snarled at them. It wasn’t a call for help. It was a challenge. I wasn’t as big as my dad, but I was six feet tall, my claws and teeth were sharp, and I was also a lion. Lions ate boars.
Ms. Jynx jumped up. “You dummy!”
Oh. She’d been pretending.
The bouda cackled next to me. I stood up straight.
The wereboars scoured the ground, digging at it with their hooves.
We moved at the same time. The two wereboars attacked. Ms. Jynx shot forward, and I shot backward, bounced up off the wall, picking up height, and launched myself at them. The larger wereboar screamed as we collided and went down, both of us biting and clawing. We rolled around on the ground of the courtyard, tearing into each other.
He was so strong. I wasn’t going to outmuscle him. But he was big and slow. I remembered my training and decided to switch tactics. I bit his ear. Hot, angry magic sliced my tongue. Ow. I bit down harder. The wereboar squealed, flailed, and I broke free of him.
I rolled to my feet, spat the nasty ear out, and gestured for him to come at me.
