In all her years, Hayden had never felt so helpless. She watched Sebastian curled on the floor in pain with the spirits all touching him. She couldn't understand what they were saying – or doing – but they definitely weren't the ones hurting Seb.

It felt like eternity and a second all at once – then Sebastian's body started to change. Technically, she supposed it was his soul changing shape, not his physical being, but it reminded Hayden of seeing Onyx shift from human to dragon.

Sebastian wasn't turning into a dragon however. He was turning into a wolf. A huge wolf.

Hayden had to scramble out of the way so as not to be crushed. One of the spirits helped her as they also moved to the side.

Sebastian – now at least half the size of a dragon – stood and opened his eyes. They were a startling bright blue – not just the iris but the entire eye. They glowed too, like the butt of a firefly. It was an ethereal glow that spoke of an old power Hayden couldn't recognize. But the growl that rumbled from deep inside Sebastian echoed the same raw energy.

Hayden reluctantly turned her gaze away from Seb, following where his eyes were glaring to the river where the leviathan was now standing. She’d seen leviathans before, but this one was a real monster of a creature. The dark aura that surrounded it was like a thick mist. Just looking at the thing made Hayden’s own magic crackle with anxiety.

It was glaring back at Sebastian as if his presence personally offended it. The snarl that it made was like nails scraping against a chalkboard. Hayden and the spirits winced back from it. But Sebastian stood his ground. More than that – he growled louder then rushed forward.

The creature moved to strike at Sebastian as he charged, but even as it gave him a good cut, the wolf still was able to bite down into its shoulder. The leviathan's scream of pain sounded like a thousand tortured souls echoing in against the walls of hell. It trashed and slashed so that Sebastian had to let go.

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Hayden was utterly petrified as she watched the ensuing fight. It was long and bloody and terrified her to her core. Even if she could have looked away, she was sure she couldn’t block out the horrifying sounds of pain and injury that both parties caused and created.

Despite being half its size, the wolf held up well against the leviathan. His size gave him an advantage, it seemed, since he was able to bound back and forth, from the creature’s one side to the other, avoiding as many strikes as he could. The leviathan’s anger in this showed in its aura – annoyance pulsing through the mist with a flash of bright red.

Finally it reared its head back. There was a sound of gushing water, and Hayden knew that the leviathan’s attack – at such close range – was going to hit Sebastian far too hard. But as the creature stood still for that brief second the wolf launched for its neck and bit down hard. The leviathan’s scream came out in a bubbling gurgle, but Hayden wasn’t sure if that was from the water or the blood.

Its aura faded away and then the creature burst into a black gooey substance. The goo splattered into the river, against the riverbanks, and onto the wolf’s fur. He looked down at the carnage for a moment, panting from exertion. He nodded in satisfaction and then the glow of light faded from his eyes.

Hayden barely had time to blink before Sebastain transformed back into his human form. He was standing in the middle of the river, still breathing hard and looking down at the goo.

He looked up at Hayden and even from the far distance she was standing, she could make out the nervy shake of his hands. She rushed over to him, not caring about getting wet or not as she went to his side. She pulled him into a hug that he practically collapsed into.

For a few moments, all that Sebastian could do was sob, and Hayden held him as best she could. When he was finally able to pull away, he looked exhausted. Even more than he had when he’d been sleep deprived from constant nightmares.

The first thing he said to Hayden was, “She’s dead.”

“She?” Hayden blinked in confusion. “You mean the leviathan?”

Sebastian nodded. “We killed her – permanently.”

That statement pulled several questions to the tip of her tongue.

‘How do you know?’

‘Who is we?’

‘How is that even possible?’

‘What the fuck do you mean by we?’

The one that she ended up asking however was, “Are you okay?”

“…I don’t know.”