Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
~ Knox ~
“How the fuck do we kill this thing?” my brother shouts as we fight a hulking golem.
The giant is made of white rock with veins of lava that run along the cracks of its body.
The moment we stepped through the portal into a different part of the Xalgrith realm, it was ready to attack us.
It’s almost like it had been sent to search for us, and we scramble to defeat it.
My shadows curl around the monster’s left leg and I pull on my power, but the beast only stumbles before lashing out with its massive arms and sending me flying.
Thane creates a downpour of acid rain, but it sizzles against the giant’s rocky exterior, doing nothing but creating clouds of steam.
Galen creates illusions of us, confusing the creature as we circle, and we try to discern a way out of this.
“Anyone else think this beast is a sign we’re gettin’ close?” Raith comments.
Skeletal trees dot the horizon, and there’s no sign of other life, but by the way this creature is targeting us, I have to agree.
“If we are close, we should travel on foot for a while,” Thane growls. “Who knows where the next portal will take us.”
This is the third time we’ve portaled in the Xalgrith realm, and we still haven’t been able to portal directly to our mate, but if we’re closer, then that’s progress.
“Agreed,” Raith says. “We just need to get rid of this fucker. Our blades are useless against this guy, so let’s try somethin’ else.”
My brother sends out his shadows, and they wind around the creature’s thick neck. The monster swipes wildly at the empty air, and for a moment, I think Raith has found our solution.
That is, until the monster grabs hold of my brother’s shadows.
It shouldn’t be able to do that. The creature’s rocky hands should have passed straight through his shadows, but it grips them tight taking Raith off guard, and it pulls, yanking my brother into the air and toward its gaping mouth.
“Fuck!” Raith shouts.
The rest of us send out our shadows to help, but the creature vomits lava and fire, spitting it out in all directions.
I dodge a fireball, rolling to the side, and I spring to my feet, still running.
Raith is almost at the creature’s mouth, and sweat drips from him, the heat radiating out at us.
“Let go, brother!” I yell.
“I fuckin’ can’t!” he shouts back. “I can’t control my shadows. It’s like it’s taken hold of them!”
It doesn’t make sense. The monster continues shooting out lava, and Galen, Thane, and I dodge the worst of it, trying to attack the creature and draw its attention.
It doesn’t take its focus from Raith, and it opens its mouth wider, revealing a tongue of flowing lava and rows of spiny teeth.
Raith struggles, taking on his monster form, but he’s dangling in the air. Kazer roars from a distance, but we refuse to let our animali get close to this.
The lava creature uses its free hand to reach out and grab my brother, and I act on instinct. I leap into the air, using my shadows to help propel me, and I knock Raith out of the way.
“No!” Thane cries as the creature’s hand wraps around me instead, and I’m trapped in its giant palm, its rocky fingers closing around me.
My shadows attack, trying to free me, but they can’t penetrate the rock. Fire burns my skin, and I hiss at the pain.
“Brother!” Raith shouts as the creature finally releases its grip on his shadows, and Raith falls to the ground.
The lava monster’s focus is solely on me now, and it lifts me toward its mouth.
Its swirling eyes of lava stare at me, and I stab my shadows into them, but they do nothing.
I stop struggling, assessing the creature.
Every beast has a weakness. That’s something Raith has told me in the past. The world quietens, and I notice that in every place where our shadows get close to the creature’s rocky exterior, the cracks of lava stop swirling.
I think of everything I know about fire, and an idea forms.
“We need to encase it in shadows,” I whisper to my friends, not wanting the creature to hear.
I’m only inches from the beast’s mouth now, and Bonfang is howling in my mind. He wants to save me, but I won’t let him get close. Not when this beast could kill him.
Galen is the first to understand. “Yes! It’s made of fire. We could suffocate it.”
“That’s the hope,” I reply.
Now that we finally have a plan, the four of us work together encasing the creature in shadows. It bucks and tries to flee, but we work quickly before it can stop us. In seconds, almost its whole body is covered.
It roars, dropping me, and I use my shadows to soften my landing before sealing the last of the shadow trap, completely cutting off the creature’s oxygen.
It thrashes, fighting against our shadows, and we strain to hold it captive.
“Fucking die!” Raith shouts as the beast pushes against our power.
Thane moves beside me, adding extra strength because the pain has left me weaker, and just when I think the creature is going to break free, it collapses with a thundering crash and falls still.
We hold our shadows in place for a while longer, before pulling them away.
Bonfang is at my side in an instant, and I lean on him before slumping to the ground.
The skin has peeled away from me in patches from where the lava monster touched me, and the side of my face is charred, but already I feel my magic working to heal me.
Raith crouches in front of me. “You’re a fuckin’ asshole, you know that? You should have let me burn instead of taking my place.”
I peer up at him. “And hear you complaining about it for the foreseeable future? I wouldn’t let the others endure that.”
Raith grins, but his smile fades as he scans my body, taking in the full extent of the damage. We might be immortal, but we can still burn, and this will fucking hurt until I’m healed. He runs a hand through his hair. “Thank you, brother,” he rumbles.
That’s the first time he’s called me ‘brother’ in years. He hasn’t said that word since we thought our mate had died. He had held me personally responsible for helping Queen Krosia with the curse, and it had strained our relationship. Something cold inside me begins to thaw at his words.
I nod. “Anytime, brother.”