Chapter 34
With remarkable speed, the beast pulled me further away from Filip and any chance of rescue. I was dragged carelessly over a carpet of gnarled roots, prickling foliage and coarse detritus. But I refused to play the part of a docile captive.
I kicked and screamed and clawed at the ragged ground like a wild animal, even though my hands were raw and throbbing with pain.
My efforts were useless—the beast would not let go of me. It sped onwards as if I was nothing more than a rabbit caught in its snare.
At last, we stopped.
Rolling onto my back, I faced my attacker. Standing above me was the mirror image of the creature we had just slain. But this creature was not dead, and it was very, very angry.
I could faintly make out the sound of Filip shouting my name in the distance, but my attention was on the monster in front of me. The monster whose eyes promised a slow and painful death.
If the first beast had been fueled by primal bloodlust, this one was fueled by cold calculation and vengeance. I could tell by its eyes, which were sharper and more astute than its companion’s had been.
It assessed.
It sized up its prey, searching for any vulnerabilities, anticipating every possible move. And, when it was ready to pounce, it would not miss.
Breath evaded me and fear surged through my body, seeping out of my skin in a clammy sheen.
I backed away, my eyes never leaving the beast. My back pressed into something hard and jagged—a tree. There was nowhere else for me to go. The creature had cornered me now, and we both knew it.
It moved slowly towards me until it was so close that I could feel its hot breath on my face, the smell like carrion.
I could see its dagger sharp teeth, poised to tear into my throat.
And all I could feel was the erratic pounding of my heart in my chest and the wet, cold earth beneath my fingertips.
Wet, cold earth.
An idea struck me. It was crazy. I only had seconds—if that. But I was staring straight into the face of death and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to best it.
A low, lethal growl was my only warning before it lunged.
I thrust my hands forward, unleashing a torrent of water onto the beast’s face.
It recoiled. It wasn’t enough to cause harm, but it was enough to stun and distract.
I took that distraction and ran.
Trees, bushes, shrubs, boulders—they all blurred together as I sprinted through the forest. I moved so quickly that all the features of the surrounding woods merged into indistinguishable forms and colors.
I could only focus on what lay directly ahead of me as I accelerated forwards, careful to avoid colliding with trees or stumbling on their treacherous roots.
The air whipped my face, its cold like lashes against my flesh. Still, my burning lungs gulped at it, knowing each breath could be my last.
The forest was shadow and silhouette, but my power was my map and compass. I knew exactly where I needed to go and what I needed to do. The question was, would I make it?
I was fast, but the creature was faster. I could hear the sound of its paws hitting the ground, its huffs of breath and its enraged snarls drawing closer as it furiously pursued me. It was gaining on me and I knew that, this time, it would deal its killing blow swiftly.
At last, I saw the stream. I raced towards the ravine, the beast inches away. Close—it was too close.
I barreled into the stream at the same time the beast stumbled over a branch-sized root I could have sworn hadn’t been there a second before. Its body tumbled into the water with a gargantuan splash.
Yelping, the beast rose. The water only reached its chest, but we were in my element now.
My feet touched the pebble-laden bed of the stream and my power reacted before I could even form a thought.
Water shot out of the stream like a geyser. The startled beast retreated. Its wild eyes looked bewildered, but it didn’t have time to react before I sent a blast of waves towards it. The sheer force knocked it off its feet.
Rising to my full height, I sent another blast towards it. Then another. And another.
By now it was frustrated and unable to get up—its hideous head bobbed above the surface. I had backed it into a mossy rock face. I sensed its weakness and embraced the opportunity.
With a single thought, the current obeyed my command. Hold the beast.
The creature fought and thrashed, but it was pinned against the rock with no hope of escaping the unwavering current. It was at the mercy of the force that would obey my every whim. I knew this intrinsically. Just as I knew what to do next.
I reached inside the arsenal within my veins and drew more power, directing it toward the midpoint between us.
At first, it manifested as a tiny dimple on the water’s surface but, before I’d taken my next breath, the dimple grew into a ripple moving in concentric circles as though I had skimmed a pebble across the stream.
The single ripple soon became a series of ripples, each larger and faster than the last. Collectively, the ripples gained momentum and rotated so rapidly that the water had formed a living funnel— a vortex.
I watched with a mixture of awe and horror as the vortex grew, pulling everything in its wake into its center. Almost everything.
I stood firm, unmovable as an island against the raging waters. The vortex would not engulf its master.
The same couldn’t be said for the creature. It continued to clash against my wrathful currents but, this time, it was no longer driven by its desire to slaughter me, but its desire to get to land. To survive.
But my power was relentless, the current was as strong as an iron wall pinning the beast against the rock.
A column of air and water emerged from the vortex, rising higher and higher, like a funnel of wind and fluid and fury.
My wet hair whipped around my face as the maelstrom raged. Magnificent power pulsated through my core, and, for the first time, I truly understood the weight my grandmother placed on our abilities. This magic could end lives, or, in my case, save mine.
I tore my eyes away from my creation of destruction to focus on the beast. I felt a flicker of pity as I watched its drenched form flailing helplessly against the surge of the stream that had changed the tides of our fates. In a few short moments, it had become the rabbit caught in my snare.
I released the current’s grip on the beast. It made towards the bank but it was no match for the all-consuming might of the vortex. With every step it took, the swirling mass of water pulled it closer.
After a few heart-stopping moments of struggle, the vortex ensnared the creature.
I winced at its whimpers, but it was my life or the monster’s. It couldn’t be both.
It was horrifying to watch, but I couldn’t look away.
My breath hitched as the mass of water twisted and whirled its struggling form around and around.
It dragged the beast into its center, then underneath the surface as if invisible weights had fastened themselves around its limbs.
It fought to get out, but it may as well have been a branch fighting against the torrent of a river.
Eventually, the beast stopped thrashing. My eyes traced its limp form as it swirled in the violent chaos of the vortex.
It was only when the first drops of rain startled me out of my trance that I remembered to breathe. I loosed a breath and withdrew my power, stumbling under the buckle of my knees.
The column of air and water dispersed, becoming indistinguishable from the droplets that were falling from the sky.
Almost as rapidly as it had formed, the vortex vanished, leaving nothing but small ripples in its wake. Ripples, and the lifeless body of a monster.