I shot off the ground, swiveling around in search of the growl’s source, only to come face to face with one of the pony-sized chameleon monsters I saw Jaren’s B squad take on. Without a single thought, I slammed my fist into the side of the chameleon’s face. With the momentum from the blow, I followed with a roundhouse kick with the back of my foot. After the blow, I forced my foot to stop midair, using my tail to keep my balance. I raised it high above the reptile’s head and dropped my heel right on the top of its skull. Its cranium cracked under the sheer weight of the blow.

A new type of pleasure bloomed in my heart. I’d never given Apis a good chance to fight, thinking it wouldn’t hold a candle to the others. But the feeling of physically striking a monster and seeing the damage done was wondrous. And more importantly…fun. And Apis loved fun.

Once its head hit the dirt, I hopped backwards (with a flip of course) to gain some distance, in case that battering I just gave it wasn’t enough. I’d made the mistake to underestimate these creatures before and wasn’t going to make it again.

My whole chest heaved in and out as I watched for even the slightest bit of movement, especially around its mouth as I recalled its bullet-like tongue; a big smile plastered on my face the whole time.

I waited and waited, but my escapade underground wore heavy, until finally my exhausted body and brain got the better of me and my gaze wandered from my opponent. I looked across its whole body, noticing some hefty and fresh scarring along its body. Blood trickled down its sides.

Then I noticed its back, or rather I noticed the blood-soaked spear, both its point and shaft, jutting out of its back.

“Schshch.” Snickering. Not from one, but two different people snickered behind me. I turned and saw the twins, Tawny and Hait standing by the edge of the hole that I’d just climbed out of. It was definitely more Tawny giggling that Hait, but I didn’t miss the grin on his face.

Mortified, I turned back and looked at the freshly beaten chameleon corpse. That badass combo of blows, wasted on a dead monster. God, I’m stupid. I thought to myself, rubbing my forehead, thankful only the twins caught sight of that. At least until a lightly armored man with a dog snout poked out from the other side of the monster corpse. He poked the bloodied spear, and sighed before speaking. “I mean, I thought I killed it. But thanks for checking, I guess. And you know, for the extra hour of cleaning this thing needs now. Looking forward to that.”

His words sent the twins into a full on burst of laughter. Embarrassment sent waves of blood to my hairy face, now praying that these three were the only ones to see my fierce battle with the already dead monster, buried my face in my palms.

I slowly uncovered my eyes, only to find a whole squad of legionnaires standing around, gawping and giggling at the mangled monster carcass.

My face felt as hot as the sky above as I tried to hide it again. What the hell are they doing? Isn’t there a damn raid going on? Or, you know, a boss!

But as I tried to recompose myself, another growl entered my ear; from behind, just like a moment ago. I released my face and, calmly this time, searched for its source. But all around me were soldiers, and dead monster bodies. Bunch of those.

There wasn’t a single live monster in the vicinity, just corpses.

I closed my eyes, straining my eyes to see if I could hear it again. I jolted when somebody patted me on the back.

“Dang Cap, didn’t know your monkey form had it in you. Now if you could only use those moves on an actual monster we’d be getting somewhere. Or maybe even use them on kidnappers. Seriously, what grown Kniyan man gets kidnapped?” Tawny said, voice filled with teasing.

But when she mentioned kidnapped, I reflexively looked over to the giant hole I climbed out of. Were the ferals about to jump out and bring the fight topside?

But only Daila and the elven wood mage stood, both brushing dirt off their clothes. I ran up to the hole and looked down to find nothing but a mess of loose dirt, stones and enough roots to grow a forest. The hole had collapsed on itself, no longer held back by the wood mage’s powers. There wasn’t any movement either.

“Don’t worry, Liam, ahem, Captain Foster. There is no chance they are chasing us up here. They are far outnumbered, and from what I gathered, they were elite fighters. Just a squad with a single objective.” Daila said.

“Yes, sweetie. The big, bad ferals are gone, tails tucked beneath their legs.” The elven woman said, whilst rubbing my shoulders. Which felt heavenly on my tired muscles, yet also kind of disturbing for some reason. Like the feeling you get when you're in danger, yet also okay with it.

“Ahem!” Daila cleared her throat, causing the woman to back off, a smirk on her face while she winked at Daila. “Sorry ma’am.”

I turned and looked at Daila. “Why are they after me?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But your capture did answer one question.”

“What?”

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She pointed towards the city, at the Command and Medic tents. Plumes of smoke billowed from them. Some of the tents had fallen over, others covered in rips and tears.

“Did monsters break through?! Do we need to head over there?” I readied myself to sprint, but Daila held a hand out in front of me.

“No, it has been handled already. Also, it wasn’t monsters.”

“Then who…oh.” I’d answered the question in my head. Only one other faction here besides us and the monsters.

“I received a report from Fennel shortly before you were captured, during your repugnantly foolish solo assault on the boss.” She gave me a ruthless glare that screamed we will be discussing that choice later. “Ferals began pouring out of the ground soon after the boss arrived. Many from the holes that lined the battlefield during the start of the Second Wave.”

I recalled the giant holes, the trouble of getting to them and getting Fennel’s squad out. And the mystery archers lined the rims. Then it clicked.

“Wait, were the archers not monsters but ferals?”

“That’s the prevailing theory. But that’s not as important. We don’t know why they attacked. A small force of morphed soldiers lead the charge on the tents, but behind them were small groups of unturned Ferals. These unmorphed teams scoured through the tents.”

“Is everyone out there okay?”

“Yes, only a small amount of casualties. They never stood a chance. But we didn’t know why they attacked in the first place. They weren’t heading for the city, not a single medical stash was hit, nor other supplies or weapons. So their motivations were a complete mystery to us. Until now.”

She stared into my eyes. “They were searching for you.”

Daila was right, the ferals underground confirmed it. I mean, they literally told me I was the target.

“Yep.” I nodded. “They said as much when they had me down there. Had my name and everything, even an understanding of my forms and abilities.”

Her mouse-like nose twisted as her lips pursed in confusion. “But why you?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t really explain anything to me down there. They just kept saying their leader, their chief I think it was, could explain everything.”

She tilted her head. “You spoke with them?”

“A little bit.”

“Why didn’t you fight them off? Did they have you bound somehow? Or maybe a paralysis ability of some sort?”

I was about to go with them willingly. It was that or kill a man. And I don’t think I could live with that. Can’t tell her that, though. “Yeah, it was something like that. The stone guy and the furried leader kept me bound with their powers. I could only speak.” I lied.

She nodded, accepting the answer, which kind of made me feel bad. Lying was a big no-no with Gramps. Said only the weak relied on deceit. A real man, a truly strong man, faces the world with the truth and nothing else. Problem was, I didn’t feel particularly strong at the moment. Also; a hell of a thing for a man with two families to claim now that I think about it.

“What a bastard.” I said under my breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I said, clearing the thought from my head. I looked back to the fighting going on in the distance. “So what’s the plan? Do we need to help Jaren with the Bodyguards? How is the boss fight going…” My jaw dropped the second I found the boss fight.

A tower sat off in the distance. A hollow spire made from silver spikes twisting and twirling amongst themselves. I had no clue how high up it went. We were hundreds of feet away from it, but even from here, the sight alone was daunting.

The tower shifted as I watched, some of the silver chords spun around near the top. They whipped around, only to be halted by an explosion of green energy. Green vines crawled up the side of the tower, entangling themselves with the silver spire.

My eyes moved over to the side of the tower, where a bright white glowing ball hung in the air, growing brighter and brighter. Green explosions dotted the top of the tower, the side opposite to the growing light. After it grew to half the size of the tower itself, it rammed into the side.

I closed my eyes at the shine. A few seconds later, air pressure smacked my face, pushing my whole body a little. I looked back up and saw that half of the tower had been blown off. Yet it hadn’t fallen.

A cry pealed throughout the entire battlefield, causing a few of the soldiers to hold their ears shut. Apis didn’t have trouble, Ignorant Ears, my ability to ignore sound based attacks stopped it from affecting me. Then, like a reverse waterfall of mercury, silver liquid traveled upwards, repairing the damage and creating almost a web in the air.

I sat in awe, or maybe dread. I tried to fight that. A creature that could make something so insanely awesome. I tried to fight it with nothing but some sharp claws and a shadow aura. What the hell?

Yet even in my awestruck trance, something inside me still drew me to it. I wanted to mimic it. I desirely, craved that power. I wished to be like Jaren, Lirae, and that Light guy. Fighting on such a ridiculous scale. Toe to toe with a beast ripped straight from mythology.

But that would be impossible. Right?

I took a step towards it. Daila put a hand on my chest. “You aren’t going even remotely near that.”

“But—”

“No,” her words firm, “especially now that we know you are a target. We need to get you off this battlefield a soon as possible. Before that squad reports your location back to their superiors.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but said nothing. She was right. I turned from the epic battle, but as I did, every hair on my body stood straight up. I twisted back, staring at the top of the tower, I could just make out the vague shape of the boss. And for a second, I could have sworn I felt the gaze from its beady red eye.

Then the growl returned, tickling my ear again. But I wasn’t scared of it now. No, for some reason, it rang in my ear not as a threat, but a challenge.

Daila pulled my arm. “This is a direct order from your Lieutenant, Captain Foster. Retreat.”

Before I turned away from the tower, gritting my teeth I muttered, “Yes, ma’am.”

We walked away from the fight, every inch of my body yelling at me. But while my body urged me, my brain knew the only outcome if I were to join in that fight: Death.

Daila called for a squad of soldiers to surround us, for extra protection if more ferals tried to attack. She ordered Elea, the elven wood mage, to fill the ground under us with her roots, to give us a heads-up if they tried to pull me under again.

I moved forward, head pointed to the ground. Each step felt like a betrayal. A betrayal to myself.

We didn’t get too far before someone at the front called for a halt.

I looked up. A giant purple haze filled the air in front of us. Then a voice spoke.

“Stop. Give us the mimic.”