21.

Maybe our target was writ in stone from the moment we set out to hunt. The book said the Lupine Alphas formed their tribe near cave formations so they could avoid the heavy rain that descended on the valley like a scourge during raining season. We scoured many caves. All of them empty. Eventually, we circled the valley, heading towards the opposite end of the first layer, where we had travelled on the first day. That’s where we discovered our target.

May and I surveyed the beast from the underbrush of a nearby treeline. Resting beside a small stream in front of a cave entrance was a lupine who looked like it had been through hell. Parts of its hide were literally missing, and black, pulsing lines ran over the visible flesh. Covering the top of its snout was a nasty gash with puss in it. But beyond anything, the alpha was alone, which had been one of our greatest concerns when targeting one of their kin.

Could this be…

‘It’s the one we fought,’ May whispered.

So, it had survived the snake attack, albeit barely.

‘Lucky,’ she added.

Truly. Laying on the floor with its head resting between its paws, its upper body heaved up and down laboriously. If I had to put a percentage to its fighting fit, I’d put it at around forty. Yet that didn’t mean it was senseless. The alpha’s tired eyelids shot open, and it scanned the treeline where we were hiding.

‘Our plan?’ I said, looking away.

‘Split its attention,’ May said, making herself smaller. ‘Try our ranged attacks in turn. We'll have to bleed it out if neither of us can get through. Chase it if we must.’

‘I’ll close the distance first,’ I said.

I had the advantage against it, after all.

May paused for a moment, then nodded.

‘On you,’ she said.

I stared up at the treetops. The air in my lungs fought the thumping of my heart that I could feel all the way in my ribs.

This beast had nearly killed us. The sole reason it hadn’t was because it was toying with us. Did we really stand a chance against it?

Soft skin touched my own. I looked down, and May’s fingers grazed over the top of my hand.

‘I’m right behind you,’ she said.

My drumming heart slowed as I watched her.

We’ve grown a lot stronger. The silent phrase passed between our eyes. Both of us.

I smiled. Then, I darted out of the shadows of the trees.

The lupine was on its feet immediately, looming over the other side of the stream. When its gaze roved over my face, its growl intensified threefold.

‘Good to see you again, too,’ I quipped to settle my nerves.

My comment wasn’t well received. Fire gathered in the beast’s mouth with a speed greater than a human initiate of the same rank ever could. The resulting fireball bore through the air like the foot of a giant, displacing part of the ocean.

Water shaped into a spear. Trying to cut through that thing was no use, so I dodged…but I didn’t move. What? I pulled harder, yet my legs stayed in place. And trembled. My legs were trembling, I realised, eyes going wide. Are you truly this scared, Djina? So afraid that you cannot move?

The encroaching heat scorched the sweat already forming on my forehead. I observed breathlessly as the fire expanded, swallowing my view the same way it’d done on that first day. Beneath their crackling, I could hear Kite’s harrowing screams.

…But it wasn’t the same. Something was different—something I noticed only because I was looking at the flames as closely as I was. It’s slow; the calm, cool thought shot through my head. Maura flexed inside me, and I jumped to the side with a smooth flex of my muscles—for real, this time. The fires cleared my view at once.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The lupine roared, angry that I’d evaded its “sure-to-kill” blow for the second time.

‘You had me worried there for a second!’ May yelled behind me.

‘My bad,’ I called back.

Weaponised flame soared above my head as a reply, striking the beast’s muzzle and drawing blood. It yelped and staggered back. But the spear had not bit deep.

Tch. That didn’t improve my chances of dealing damage, even with the elemental advantage.

‘Give me some time to try!’ May yelled.

Which is why I flew over the stream separating us as the alpha formed another fireball, its jaw pointed at May in a rage it wanted to let loose on the girl.

‘I’m your target!’

I landed, and my spear went low, threatening to cleave through its leg, but the beast danced away and whirled towards me, leaving its mouth hanging in front of my face. If I could read canine body language, I would think it was smirking. Like it had back then.

And that’s when the old dog called on its favourite trick, and the fireball in its mouth turned into a breath of flames.

The aggressive thumping in my skull fell silent. As did my heart. And for an instant, my limbs were glued to the ground again, the cries of a boy clawing up out of the earth, where rested nothing but his ash.

I can’t dodge this—

A frigid chill shot from my neck deeper into my body, freezing my insides. But my nerves fired as if they were ablaze.

I didn’t remember jumping—I must’ve done it on instinct—but I somersaulted in the air, and my enhanced leap carried me over the blast and beast alike, letting me land on its back.

My eyes went wide for a moment. But I reigned in my surprise and jammed my spear into the alpha’s neck. Cries howled over the tall trees, the sole audience of this battle. But the sound waves couldn’t get into my ears. Blood had poured, and the instantaneous jolt of heat shooting up the shaft of my weapon was like lightning, churning and ricocheting inside me.

The beast spun in a half-circle. I whipped to the side with the force, was thrown off its back, skidded and bounced over the rocks, a red trail following me as the skin scraped off my kneecaps and elbows. Swallowing a grunt of pain, I rolled to my hands and knees. My head whipped back towards the threat. Fur had turned aflame like May’s hair did when she turned furious, and the alpha was already halfway towards me.

Shoot, I thought.

My spear had fallen out of my grasp. I needed to—

Three spikes of fire tore through the air in quick succession. One went for the feet and bit into the lower part of the calf, grinding the beast to an immediate halt. The other tried to bore into its flank and bounced off harmlessly. But the last. That was a well-placed shot. The flames found the inside of the alpha’s mouth right as it turned to its attacker, and the beast’s jaw snapped shut as blood gushed from its tongue, swallowing its wail.

The opportunity didn’t pass me by. I clasped my hands together and slowly pulled them apart. Lightning reversed direction. Power coursed through my veins, pumping out of my hands instead of into them, and as the water twisted between my palms, I knew that something was different about the weapon forming between them. I firmly grasped the spear. The shaft was rugged, like leather. The water was darker and colder.

I took aim and threw.

Black water absorbed the infant sunlight of the sky as it took flight. This time, my spear didn’t break on contact. It finished the job May had started, gorging through the entire calf of the beast to dislodge its foot from the shin. Then, the weapon slammed into the rocks behind it, carving a deep hole in the ground, staying solid even as its butt stuck out of the earth.

The beast jumped with a screech of hurt, landed awkwardly, and an audible snap echoed as one of its back legs folded double due to the angle. I remained in place as the alpha squirmed on the ground, my arm still aimed at the floor from my throw, trying to understand what had happened. May didn’t share in the alpha’s pain or my confusion, it seemed, because her shadow soared over the stream, sword alight with fire. Her cut narrowly missed the neck. Instead, her blade entered the beast’s shoulder area up to the hilt.

Untroubled, May reversed her grip and cut upwards, crimson liquid following the motion as a cloak.

I thought that would’ve spelt the beast’s end. But the creature shoved itself off its sole intact front leg and slapped an unprepared May backwards over the river with an improvised headbutt before falling back on the ground. May yelped and crashed into a lump of dust and earth near the treeline we had hidden in, but she got up immediately with no sign of real damage.

I looked back—not at the wolf but past it. My spear was still there, lodged into the earth. Another lapse in my memory must have occurred because, in the next moment, I was standing next to my weapon without ever willing myself to move. My palm settled around the hilt, and two parts of a hole clicked together. I prepared to pull hard, but the spear slipped out like it was lubed, sliding down a river of butter. I raised the point to the light. The edge was glowing in a faint blue shimmer. Pulsing. Sharp. So sharp. How could I ever have thought water lacked offence?

There was movement behind me—

I flung my arm at my rear without looking. The weapon cut up in an arc, and a razor-sharp jet of water surged from the spear’s tip like a wall, glinting with a dangerous light. It struck the alpha with the force of a guillotine. Turning, I locked eyes with the beast. An incredulous look passed over its face for an instant, and then its head separated, rolling away from its body and into the stream, reddening the water.

A silence played out as the jet evaporated into a fine mist, leaving only the echo of its lethal passage. The system’s ding in my head filled it.

New Ability unlocked!

Cursed Ability, the Thirst Unending: A siren’s hunger for life is unmatched. The Siren’s Accursed satiates it. Absorb the essence of your enemies, turning maura into cursed energy that can feed your cursed tools and strengthen them.

A grinning May strode towards me, and I found myself mirroring the smile.