We moved further to the edges of the city, the tall walls serving as a shield to the remaining firestorm that bulldozed through the ruins.

“Why keep the place untouched if you planned to rig an explosion to it? I don’t get it,” I said.

Alice set the box down and flipped the lid, revealing its contents; a book with a gold cover and scroll of paper bound by green thread. She pulled the book out and tried to flip to a page but it remained stuck. Her bones cracked as she shifted her hands but even with the increased strength, it didn’t budge so she tossed it over.

It didn’t open after my attempts at prying the pages apart so I conjured the barrier and let the portal graze across the corner of the spine. A sharp jab of crackling cold shot through my arm, snapping the incantation apart.

I growled and rubbed my temple. “That hurt.”

“When you flinched, the book was surrounded by runes. Enough to fill a page. It’s similar to defensive enchantments.”

“How so?”

“They rely on numerous runes to form a chain.” She pointed to the book’s lower spine. “Chances are the lock is from a specific set of runes activating in a sequence.”

“How come you never explain these things when we’re studying? We had weeks on the road.”

“You never asked.”

I sighed and flipped the book around. It was unblemished, and the gilded cover shined in the light.

“Another thing for Astra to look at. What about the scroll?”

I stuffed the book in my satchel, and watched Alice unfurl the roll of vellum and pause before she handed it to me. It was unexpected.

It displayed a fine drawing of Nameless, sitting on his throne with a small human on his lap. I thought given the size, she was perhaps a woman, but the features were too child-like and the cheeks displayed a healthy amount of baby fat and blush.

Still, the child even while small was drawn with enough detail to clearly make out the emerald green eyes, and golden hair. She wore a small dress made of the same material as Nameless’ robe, the picture showing the full majesty of the cloth that the statue could not.

They looked happy–a genuine look of joy on the Keeper’s face that was at odds with the mad ramblings he displayed inside the cave.

“It’s a good look on him, kinda sad to see how he is now,” I said.

Alice stood up and probed the box. “Maybe he’ll react more positively if we show him.”

I snorted. “Or he flies into a bloody rampage and decides to throw an army against us.”

“Got any better options?”

“No,” I sighed. “Better than nothing. Are we leaving the box?”

“I have no room. You?”

“None. Not with the book and scroll.”

She pushed the box through a small crevice, lodging it in place. “I’m ready.”

We mounted Freki and dashed through the city.

“Odds of the monster hearing us?” I shouted.

Alice secured her hood and leaned closer to whisper. “High. Unless we’re too far away.”

“Let’s hope that isn’t the case. We don’t have a lot of rations to survive out here.”

Freki slowed and I turned. "Crazy idea. How about we find it? I'm a little tired of being the hunted."

"New incantation?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Maybe it'll work. Say we give it a shot?"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She nodded and I closed my eyes.

The runes formed and the shadows sprang into action, answering the call. They corrupted and settled into place, clinging to the runes as I imagined the monster.

The incantation completed and the pulse of energy left my skin and shot into the sky, drawing my attention.

"I think it's-"

“Craaaaigh! Craaaaaaagh!”

Speaking of the devil… I looked up and saw a blot of shadows swimming circles in the air. I couldn’t make out the details, but I recognized the two sets of wings.

“It’s back,” I whispered.

“There’s a tunnel ahead.”

I pointed to the monster. “What about we fight here? We’re in an enclosed space, if we keep it grounded it’ll struggle to use its wings.”

She hopped off Freki and transformed her limbs. Clothes peeled back and revealed fur-covered corded muscle tipped with intimidating claws. I did the same, stopping at having my limbs shifted but not my spine or my head.

It felt like I could if I truly pushed myself and dug deep into an emotion. I shifted before, fully, but it was only after releasing control. Now? If I tried to allow the inner wolf come into play I knew I’d find myself exhausted and lose the transformation soon.

Going to have to lock this down after we’re out of here.

Then again, Devon had said it was instinctual. If my instincts were telling me it wasn’t right, I’d have to shut up and listen.

For now…

Alice’s left arm slowly grew frosted tips with patches of ice snaking its way up her shoulder. “How do we get it down here?”

“Should be easy enough. Ready?”

She nodded and I conjured the flames, condensing them into a tight sphere ready to be launched. It continued to circle overhead, but it showed no intentions of coming inside the city, so it was time to make some noise.

The rumble built inside my chest, moving into my throat and my canines sharpened and extended. The muscles in my neck underwent the shift–minute changes but enough to lend me aid for the task.

Alice tightly gripped her axe and raised her head to the sky. At the same time, we released a howl that filled the city. It felt good. It felt right. My blood sang as my chest beat with an inferno that funneled itself into the flames along my arm.

The monster’s head snapped onto our location and released its own battlecry before it dived.

Attention grabbed. Now to time the attack.

It cut a straight line to our area, rushing past the last of the standing buildings as it screeched.

Now.

I released the fireball and watched it rocket forward. The monster managed to turn just in time, the attack grazing its shoulder and tearing away a chunk before it flapped its wings and crashed into a wall in an an attempt to overcorrect.

Alice jumped forward, into the scattering of dust and ash before she switched her grip and used her non ice-coated arm to fire a forceball at the ground. The cloud of debris dispersed and the monster swiped a stretchy arm. She jumped and slammed her axe through its wrist, cutting off its hand before it could retract its limb.

She growled, it roared. Axe blade met claws and she pushed it back.

As it tried to swing its other intact arm, she released a wave of frost and I joined the fray. Freki secured the limb and I charged.

“Craigggggh!”

My body froze and I stumbled forward, but managed to catch myself. The shrill cry was cut short, and I glared upwards.

The monster had taken a beating, beyond what we managed to inflict. Its stomach was a bulging mass that bounced with every movement, and its arms bubbled with boils that split and splattered before reforming into crystalized scabs.

Its paralysis effect only stopped because half its face had decided to melt into a puddle of goop as it clawed its own tongue and yanked it through serrated teeth.

Not… so big and bad are you…

I raised my arm and released a torrent of flames across its lower half. It stopped its clawing and rolled away, succeeding in bouncing its wings into another wall that crumbled atop it. Stone and crushed wood impaled the leather in-between the feathers, and it slumped forward while pounding at the stone with its feet.

Freki rushed closer. It tried to knock him aside but his horns speared its shoulder and forced it to the ground.

“Alice?”

She was struggling to move, and her fingers spasmed as she pulled her axe into position.

If she couldn’t help, then I’d finish the job.

As Freki used his weight to secure the leader in place I dragged myself forward and raised my axe. It sliced through its stomach, releasing a formless blob of crystallized parts and half-monsterized blood.

“Craigh! Craiigh!” it screamed.

“Ruuugh!”

Freki’s jaw spat hot flames into its side, burning away its arm at the shoulder. When the limb tumbled free, he sank his fangs into its flesh and crushed the crystal underneath.

I held my axe and stared the leader in the eyes. It had three sets of them, each one belonging to a different beast. But they stared transfixed, watching my every move as I pushed my axe to its throat.

Corrupted! Foul abomination! Purge!

It reeked with a sickly stench, but there was an attraction, one that fought with the words that just sprang to mind.

The creature pushed against my axe, uncaring of the blade slicing through its throat and turned to Freki where it clamped down. The beak broke on his fur, but a sharp sting shot through the connection as a thimble’s worth of flaming shadows dripped into the monster’s mouth.

It swallowed, and its eyes rolled back. The monster raised its head to the sky, and my axe cut through, carving into the stone behind it.

The head tumbled onto my foot, the fleshy bits solidifying the moment the meat underneath frothed with a cascade of bubbles. I raised my foot to crush it, but stopped.

Alice stumbled closer and shook herself free as she undid the shift. “What’s wrong?”

I reached for the head and held it up. The body had already started to lost its form, the spilled guts becoming nothing more than a dark stain as the dust broke apart.

There was a connection, something there, that demanded my attention. It was almost like… a low buzz in my awareness.

Freki growled and tore the head out of my grasp.

“Freki don’t!”