“Forty one points, then the stalkers were worth ten each.”

“Dexter, are you sure you want to do this?”

I nodded. “I have to.”

The rain washed away the blood, but my shirt was stained dark red. I wanted nothing more than a warm shower, but it wasn’t an option right now. My body felt numb, almost detached. I wouldn’t use the dark hands again, but I wasn’t going to give up. I had to learn what happened to my parents.

“From now on, let’s stick to instant kill spells. I don’t think I can stomach something like that again.”

Val nodded. “Okay, but—”

A thick globule of dark liquid dropped in front of us. It splashed and burst apart like water, but it wasn’t rain. A low rumble, like the sound of purring, came from above us. I looked up in time to see a second blob fall, then another, and another.

My eyes widened at the sight of a green beast with whiskers as long as my arm and two tails, each twice the length of its body, standing on a branch above me. Another drop fell from the creature's hungry jaws, landing on my cheek with a hot sticky sensation.

As the beast jumped down, I rolled away. Val reverted then drifted into my hand, her pages already open to a spell.

I took several steps back, raising Valentina as the creature began circling me. It purred and hissed as it watched, carefully choosing the right moment to strike.

When I noticed a bit of flesh stuck between its teeth I realized the darkness of its saliva was due to blood still wet in the beast's mouth. I wasn’t its first prey.

It pounced and I raised Valentina, reading the words she presented. “Phantom King, strike from…the…the void and…”

I hesitated. I knew it was foolish, but images of the slaughtered stalkers returned to my mind. A lump formed in my throat and my vision blurred with tears.

Valentina yelled, “Dexter, you have to!”

The beast jumped again, this time clamping onto my left shoulder. My body dropped under its weight, the fangs sank deeper, cutting through flesh and muscle, reaching for my bones. I dropped Val as the creature forced me onto my back, and I cried out as my bones popped under its jaw.

My right hand groped for Valentina as I shouted, “Phantom King—”

The beast rolled over, flipping me onto my stomach. Its long whiskers felt like razors scraping over my skin.

I gritted my teeth before continuing. “—strike from the void with true aim.”

With a jerk of its neck, I felt my shoulder dislodge, then the creature began to shake me about violently.

At some point Val and I must have come in contact because a huge necrotic arm appeared behind the beast. In one fluid motion, the phantom grabbed and lifted the beast. I screamed as I was pulled up by my shoulder, then again when the beast roared in pain and released me to fall back on the ground.

The dark creature shrieked from beyond the void, its cry striking terror in my heart though I knew it couldn’t fully cross over.

The cat-like beast thrashed relentlessly as it twisted and writhed to escape the grasp of my phantom, but the arm only squeezed tighter, compressing the beast until a sickening crack filled the air and its head lulled lifelessly.

The phantom screamed with what could only be described as sick pleasure, then dropped the crushed corpse beside me. Its disturbing laughter filled the air as it pulled its arm back into the shadows.

My breath came in short, shallow gasps as I watched the spot, hesitant to turn away even after the torn space mended.

“You look like shit.” Jyanna said from somewhere nearby.

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I wanted to say something back, but all I could do was gasp. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I couldn't feel much of anything at all. I wasn’t even sure where she was, but I heard the crunch of leaves from the direction of my feet as she came closer.

There was a soft thump, then Jyanna retreated several steps.

Val, speaking low and calm, said, “Get any closer and I’ll kill you.”

My eyelids felt heavy, my heart rate slowing as my body finally caught its breath. Dark circles narrowed my vision to almost a straight line in front of me and my shoulder felt like there were a million knives stabbing into it.

My fingers fumbled, reaching for Val in vain as the world fell away from me.

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Alex’ POV

“If I wanted to take him out, wouldn’t I have done that by now?” Jyanna hissed for probably the third time. “Why do I have to keep repeating that? I want to beat him, but not by eliminating him early.”

I nodded along, growing tired of the back and forth. If I thought she would listen, I might’ve stepped in to convince Valentina, but she seemed completely unmovable. Instead I asked, “If you aren’t here to fight, then what do you want?”

She turned her sharp gaze toward me, raising her chin in the process. Speaking with a tone that sounded both offended and mocking, she said, “Well I want…” she shook her head. “…what I want is my business. Why are you even here? Anyone with good sense knows better than to hang around you.”

I winced at her suggestion. Then nodded my head towards Amhir, who was leaning against a tree a few feet away. “Are you saying my pal Amhir doesn't have good sense? Because I happen to find him very sensible.”

Jyanna scoffed. Turning her nose up at me, she said, “Whatever.” She shook her head then sighed as she continued, “I only want to ask Dexter a question. Once I have my answer I’ll be on my way.”

“Just one question?” I confirmed.

She nodded.

Turning to Valentina, I said, “One question doesn’t seem so bad. Why don’t we all just relax a bit and wait for the golden boy to wake up, hmm?”

With a roll of her eyes she huffed, crossing her arms as she leaned back against a tree trunk.

I glanced at Dexter beside her. He was still drenched in blood, Val wouldn’t let anyone close enough to start cleaning him up, or check on his wounds. He looked fine enough. It was just the blood that bothered me; it looked like someone had dumped a whole bucket of blood over him. Most of it was probably from the crushed feros panther, but at least some of it had to be his.

Dexter groaned softly and I froze, hopeful he would open his eyes, but he only twitched a bit, then his face relaxed as he slipped back to sleep.

A deep breath slipped between my lips and I asked, “Are you sure he’s okay Val? I mean, how’d he end up like that anyway?”

She gave no response, only continued to stare at me, then she looked up at Amhir who had pushed himself from the tree trunk, and was staring into the distance.

Jyanna turned, following her gaze and I stood to look past her.

Somewhere far past Amhir there was something moving through the wood. It seemed small from so far, but for us to see it at all from such a distance, I knew it must’ve been something sizable.

“What the hell is that?” Amhir asked.

A cold fear washed over me at the sight of the massive magi-beast as it raced through the wood. Even from this distance, the beast's icy blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through me.

Behind the beast, three additional sets of glacial eyes peered through the shadows of the jungle. I couldn’t help but shudder, realizing it was a whole pack.

With Thor in my grip. My jaw tensed with tension as my mouth formed the words, “Storm seer’s eye.”

My mind left my body, drawn into the clouds above. I had the view of a god looking down on the earth as my sight soared higher and higher still until I reached a spot above the stormy clouds.

I looked down on the beasts, now tiny specks in a lush sea of green, and focused my vision there. Brought close, I saw them clearly as if I stood in their midst.

Five great frost wolves, the smallest of which was still ten times my size. The beast’s forms could barely be defined in the white mist that hung around them, freezing everything in a small radius. Their most distinct features were two long thorny horns, emerging from above their eyes and curved into deadly sharp points.

The pack ran like a glacial wind through the jungle, leaving nothing but frost in their wake. As the largest beast ran, its icy gaze darted from tree to tree and every once in a while it paused. Each time it paused, one of the other four beasts split off. They were going to encircle us.

I cut the spell.

As soon as I returned to myself, I shouted, “frost wolves! Their going to—”

A roaring bark broke through the night, shaking the trees and silencing the wildlife. The barking was soon joined by several more, echoing through the jungle as the magi beasts grew near.

They howled one after the other as they burst through the trees.

Fangs longer than swords ripped and tore through thick trunks like paper.

I was too late.

As a wave of blue-white frost washed over the land, I breathed a shallow sigh. Closing my eyes, I whispered. “Thor, go ahead.”