Chapter 29 #2
—Let me out then, lad. Ye’ll be needing me—
Not yet. The beast was ruled by blind instinct and Mag needed to keep his wits.
He paced along the chasm’s edge as the twin moons dropped lower to make way for Solyrian in the clear sky, Thad right at his heels.
It hadn’t even been a whole day, but Mag was crawling out of his skin with the waiting and wondering.
Yesterday, early evening, the ground had shaken beneath his feet for over an hour, massive quakes shuddering across the land.
He’d felt his brother’s power trickling up through the earth, familiar as always, but Mag’s already fraying nerves had disintegrated a little more when he’d failed to appear with the witchling in tow.
Then, nothing. Magnus hadn’t slept a wink for the worries plaguing him. Were they safe? Were they well? Why the fuck was it so stars-damned silent?
Not that it was silent anymore. Nightmarish shrieks had started filtering up from the abyss to break the monotony and his mask of calm, growing louder and closer with each passing minute.
Whatever was making that cursed sound was enormous. He could feel it as much as hear it. The only question was whether Brand and Lunara were in front of it, or had been left in its wake.
Weeping shite.
“What in the realms is going on down there, Mag?”
“Wish I fucking knew,” Magnus sighed. “Nothing good, since my mangy mongrel is clamoring to come out.”
—Maggie, my lad, we’ve talked about this. Name calling isn’t nice—
Magnus clicked his tongue. How he’d got paired with a wolf more suited to being a nursemaid than a mighty, ferocious warrior was beyond him. Still…
Sorry, Pet.
—Ach, no worries. Now, let me out—
“Sorcha is acting up too,” Thad said, turning worried eyes to the chasm. “Do you think they’re alright?”
He couldn’t even answer that. The possibilities were endless, and he sure as shite was not going to entertain the worst of them. Brand had to be okay, or Magnus didn’t know what he would do. That behorned, uptight arse wasn’t just his little brother—he was Mag’s best friend in the world.
Pet internally howled his agreement.
Magnus kept up his trudging, moving back and forth along the edge and searching the fog for any sign or signal while he and Thad waited.
And waited.
Fuck, he hated waiting.
—Come now, Maggie. Patience is a virtue—
Hush, you. You’ve been fighting to get out since the first screech.
—It’s my purpose to fight monsters. What’s your excuse?—
Do I really need to answer that? My brother is down in a Dread Chasm, and I’m stuck up here with you.
—Our brother—
Pedantic, Pet.
Mag had tried to follow, instantly regretting his agreement to stay behind, but it was no use without the witchling’s shield. The shadows had snapped up, vicious, and only his speed had saved him from the foul fucking grot.
The moons slipped further towards the horizon, drawing steep shadows on the landscape until the chasm seemed to fade away.
Everything stilled in that odd time between, when the night and day creatures switched places.
The entire realm inhaled, ready to release its sleep with a sigh when the sunstar finally rose, wholly unaware of whatever was coming for it. Until—
There. A shimmering light within the gloom.
—The witchling’s magic is that color—
Magnus reared back as a bird shot up from the chasm a hair’s breadth away from him, straight into the sky. Massive wings flung out and slowed its momentum—the biggest owl he’d ever laid eyes on. It swooped around and down to land in the grass, and he raced to meet it.
If she was casting her spells, then they were still alive a few moments ago.
Ghostly, starlight tendrils lifted from its head and feathers, and it turned round, silvery eyes his way. Absolutely stunning.
Then the braw, bloody thing talked.
“Get away from the edge and be ready,” it said with Lunara’s wheezing voice. “Dreadbeast, a breath behind us. My shield is useless against it. Make of that what you will.”
Another savage scream pierced the air and visions bombarded him—images of Thad staring lifelessly into the sky, his blood spattered across the earth, limbs tangled with the villagers of Glynmor in their mass grave. Lost, like his mother.
Magnus shoved down his blooming panic. “Thaddeus!” His cousin’s head popped up, instantly alert. “To me!”
Thad was there in an instant, his eyes bulging when he noticed the bird. “What is that?”
“A message from the witchling. They’ll be here any moment, with a friend in tow.”
He snarled the last, the flames of his fury stoking higher. There was no doubt in his mind it had been responsible for the razing of his village, the precious lives lost, and vengeance was a seething song in his blood.
“Should we shift?” Thad asked, hands reaching for the ties of his robe.
The enthusiasm in his tone scraped over Magnus like knives on porcelain dishes, and he had to smother the urge to throttle his cousin.
Thad was bouncing, too excited for what was coming. He was so young—so fucking untried—and it showed. He had no idea how foolish it was to be delighted by the prospect of battle, but getting upset with his innocence wouldn’t teach him a damned thing.
“Nay, lad. Calm yourself.” He laid a hand on Thad’s shoulder to still him. “We’ve no idea what we’re up against yet. The shift takes no time at all, and having the patience to wait and use your brain before your beast can sometimes make all the difference.”
Magnus gave him a reassuring squeeze and stepped away.
“Place yourself behind me—” He threw his hand up to halt Thad’s protest. “It’s not an insult.
It makes us a smaller target and will allow us to move together if needed.
You’ll be able to do as I do and see my commands without needing to hear them. ”
Thad took a deep breath and nodded, backing a few yards away and trying to look serious.
Mag loosed his own sigh. He wasn’t cut out for this teaching shite. Not when bestowing his knowledge meant throwing those he loved in harm’s way.
A clacking sound started up, faint at first but growing until it was echoing through the field. The harsh accompaniment of layered screams joined the staccato sound—closer, and closer, and closer.
Any second now, Pet.
Magnus dropped into a ready stance, slowing his breaths and freeing Pet just enough to sense the things he normally wouldn’t, to feel the shifts and scents on the air.
Pounding footsteps. Harsh breaths. The smell of—
Brand flew from the chasm, heading for them at a dead sprint with Lunara in his arms.
—Brother!—
“Thaddeus! Protect her with your life!”
Magnus gaped in disbelief when Brand threw the wee Sorcerit for all he was worth, right at their cousin. Lunara soared through the air over him on a high-pitched squeal, but Mag paid her no heed. Thad would catch her.
He was focused on Brand. His demeanor was off, jerky movements slightly too wild. That’s when Mag saw the tiniest glint of fear in his eyes—a look he’d never beheld while his brother was raging—and it told him all he needed to know.
It was going to be bad.
Without thought, he kicked off his boots, tore the robe from his body, and let Pet take over.
Go on, then. Time to rip nasties apart.
—Aye, that’s it, Maggie. My turn—
The world morphed around him as he changed.
Magnus loved the savage instinct pumping in his veins.
The dagger-like fangs filling his muzzle.
His claws digging into the grass and dirt.
Smells multiplied, and his pointed ears twitched atop his head to pick up every sound.
Pet might be the fussy sort inside, but outside? He was beyond deadly.
Magnus completed his transformation and snarled, joining Brand just as he whipped around towards the chasm and brandished his greatsword.
“Four arms, four legs, all but one tipped with talons like wicked blades. No eyes or nose, but a mouth filled with rows of teeth, and massive enough to eat us in a single bite. Watch for the tongue—it’s like a whip. Think colossal spider dragon, and you’re halfway there.”
Mag growled his response, hackles rising.
—Two legs or twenty, we’ll feast upon it—
The head appeared first, if it could be called such a thing, followed by the arms. Dirt sprayed as it planted those talons into the ground and hauled its body up over the edge—one half-missing, a stump where the point should be.
Brand hadn’t exaggerated about the tongue. It snapped out like an infuriated snake when the monster screeched, spraying rotten matter through the air.
—Ah, what a beauty. Let’s kill it—
Killing is fine, Pet, but no eating. That scabby thing looks fucking revolting, and I don’t want to be the one left with the belly ache.
With a sneer, Brand thrust out a clawed hand and the earth rumbled.
A rocky ramp rose from the ruined field and shot up between them and the dreadbeast, nullifying its much greater height.
Sword raised above his head, his brother sprinted up the incline and jumped from the towering drop-off on the far end with a war-cry, landing atop its back.
Mag maneuvered himself behind the beast as Brand hacked into its spine, even that mighty weapon like a splinter when compared to the sheer size of it.
Stone and dirt sprang up like crashing waves at Brand’s command, snatching at the dreadbeast’s talons to trap it in place—to no avail. It freed itself easily, no purchase to be had on the sleek appendages as it jerked to-and-fro in an effort to dislodge his brother.
Mag gauged its movements and lunged, snapping at its hind legs.
His fangs cracked through a talon, ripping it sideways and breaking the spike.
The beast stumbled, shrieking with rage.
Foul blood filled his mouth and he snarled his satisfaction—until fire licked down his throat and seared his insides.
Magnus wavered, shaking his head to clear the toxic haze descending upon him.
—Wretched, bloody poison—
A frenzied growl left Magnus.
Aye. Let’s avoid biting for now, Pet.
—Ach, you don’t have to tell me twice, Maggie—
Gathering his strength, he leapt upon the beast’s flank and raked his claws through its tough hide, savaging its hind quarter. Tendons snapped and gore coated him, forcing Mag to turn his muzzle away to avoid swallowing more of its blood.
The back leg fell away with a squelch, Magnus with it. Brand held on while it thrashed, trying to right itself, his sword wedge deep into its back.
He rolled to all fours and dove in again, aiming for the opposite front leg. Not as ideal as taking two legs from the same side but needs must. He set in to shredding, hacking, clawing—
Blistering pain sliced through his body, and he was lifted away, impaled on one of its arms. It brought Mag forward, another talon skewering him from the other side as he was dangled up over the gaping hole of the monster’s mouth.
The rows of needle-like teeth began to vibrate within, a sickening buzzing sound filling the dusk around them.
“No!” Brand wrenched his sword from the beast’s torso, swinging forward.
Magnus sagged to the side, half free. He panted as his blood poured to the mud and grass below, and thanked the Sisters for his brother’s intervention.
No way he was getting devoured by this fucking thing.
Better to die tainted with poison and lying within the sweet embrace of his beloved earth than being cut to ribbons and swallowed in pieces.
—You owe me for this one, lad—
With that, he snarled and sank his fangs into the dreadbeast, clamping down on the bony spike still holding him and squeezing for all he was worth until it, too, broke away.
Impact with the ground. A whimper left him when a talon drove deeper and mutilated his insides further. Ribs cracked and bone shattered, one of his forelegs twisting in the wrong direction.
The dreadbeast’s toxin stole his mind as it seared its putrid way through muscle and sinew, and Magnus fought to stay conscious. How was he to pray for his return to the fields if he couldn’t fucking think?
—It’s not looking good, Maggie—
No shite, Pet.
Panting, he helplessly watched his brother through the haze of his failing sight, standing above him with the dreadbeast’s jaw in his grasp. Brand’s fangs flashed as he roared, pouring his formidable strength into holding the creature at bay.
Something locked onto his hind leg, the familiar presence of Thad’s wolf, Sorcha, dragging his broken body away before moving to stand guard between them and the fight.
Lunara fell to her knees and yanked both talons away without the slightest ceremony.
Threading gentle fingers into his fur, she took a single breath before the light of her magic pushed back the dark tunnel creeping in on his vision.
Coolness spread to tame the scorching heat of the poison, his flesh knitting together.
Strength returned like a hammering fist. Hearing restored, Magnus finally registered Brand shouting, but couldn’t decipher any of the words—not over Lunara’s agonized screams.
Pet, animal that he was, howled with bloody glee anyway.
—Oh yes, we like the witchling—
Except it sounded like she was fucking killing herself to save him, radge wee lass.
She slumped over, breathing hard, her power still battering—but the shift in her body revealed only horror.
Brand had angled his horns and caught the monster’s last arm in their curling lengths, but the dreadbeast’s tongue had him snared around the neck like a noose, choking him. His brother’s hands clawed at it to free himself as he was dragged, closer and closer to its yawning, oscillating maw.
Brand planted his feet and leaned away, locking them in a standstill, but Mag knew he wouldn’t last long like that. His face was already turning a deadly shade of purple.
Magnus whimpered and pawed at the ground, willing Lunara to move and afraid of hurting her if he tore out from beneath her too quickly.
—Forget the lass! We must get to our brother!—
With a gasp, her head whipped up to follow his look. Eyes silver as the twin moons themselves, a vicious look twisted her features and she swiped something from the ground before flashing away.
One second, she was perched above him, and the next she was misting in beside Brand. Lunara brought her hands together above her head, one of the dreadbeast’s talons in her grasp. Loosing her own wee battle-cry, she thrust the spike down with all her might, severing its tongue.
Brand slipped back, his horns losing their hold on the front talon as the beast twisted and shrieked. Its newly-freed arm came sweeping out and into Lunara, her body crashing into the side of Brand’s ramp and crumpling to the ground.
“Luna!” Brand bellowed, tearing the beast’s tongue from himself and running to her.
Time to take a rest, Pet. It’s my turn again.
Magnus shifted and grinned. The cheeky Sorcerit had given him a fucking brilliant idea.
“Thaddeus!” he shouted. “With me!”
—You’re positively devious, Maggie. I love it—