“What was the sound like?” Orik asked, turning onto Interlaken Avenue. We were nearing Duran’s whereabouts.
“They sound…it’s like a growl deeper than any you’ve ever heard, and when they shriek—usually when they’re angry—it’s terrifying. I could hear it ripping branches off trees. I still didn’t know what it was. I thought perhaps it was some freak wacked out on meth or something, so I grabbed both my hatchet and my knife, and slipped out of the tent.”
“I’d be racing to my car,” I said.
“I was planning on it. But when I got out of my tent, I froze.”
“What happened?” Orik turned, following the GPS instructions.
“The moon was up,” Dante said, “and it was full. I could see some things in the dark, and over near the edge of the campground, loomed a huge figure. Whatever it was, it had to be over eight feet tall. Bipedal, it was swinging branches around, slamming them against the tree trunks. I knew then that I had to get out of there. Shifters are strong, but that thing? It could have torn me in half. I snuck over to my car and it saw me partway there. I made a run for it and it chased me. Damned thing was fast—so fast. I managed to get to my car and get in before it reached me. I drove that narrow campground road like a blur. It’s amazing I didn’t kill myself, but I got away. It did manage one big swing onto the trunk of my car, and left quite a dent, but at least I was in one piece. I left my tent and everything else there. I went back there with a group of friends a day later to retrieve everything, but Bigfoot, I assume, had torn everything to shreds.”
By the time Dante finished, Orik slowed and pulled off to the side of the road.
“Okay, we’re nearby. I don’t want to spook it. We need to make certain this thing isn’t targeting other park visitors, especially any children.”
We slipped out of the van, weapons ready. I texted Duran, not wanting the phone to alert whatever was after him. He texted back and, according to his position, he was lodged beneath a couple large bushes, near a stand of fir trees circling a bench. I could see the stand of trees from the edge of the road, and as I watched, my blood ran cold. A shadow of angry energy filled the air. I glanced at Dante, and could tell he was having trouble keeping himself from shifting.
“You feel that?” I whispered, keeping my voice as low as I could.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “And to be honest, I do not want to meet what it is.”
“We can’t just leave it here, though. There are kids in this park. We have to deal with it.” I wasn’t about to leave a monster in a park where there were a ton of kids. That didn’t even count the adults who were around.
Dante stared at me. “You’re serious.”
“She’s right,” Orik said. “We can’t leave this thing here. We can get Duran out safely, but that won’t insure that Bigfoot—I’m pretty sure that’s what it is—won’t go after anybody else.”
The breeze shifted and a sudden waft of foul stench filled the air. Skunk Ape was right. This creature smelled to high heaven. Worse than skunks, actually. An acrid, sulfuric scent enshrouded us and I tried my hardest not to swear. We were still hidden but the creature had to be close in order for us to smell it like that.
“Cripes,” I whispered. “Where is it?” I was trying to scan the area from where we were standing. Just as I shifted position, the creature appeared, not ten feet from us, from behind a massive fir. I shrieked as he—it was obviously a male, and naked as a jaybird—backhanded me off my feet. I flew back at least five feet, landing on my ass.
Ignoring the sudden ache in my tailbone, I crab-walked back, scrambling to my feet as Orik brought out his sword and charged at the creature.
He swung, managing a sideswipe, but Bigfoot either didn’t notice the bleeding, or didn’t care, because he leaned forward, letting out a growl that was deathly serious—his long fangs and wide mouth reminding me of an angry baboon. And angry baboons were terrifying.
I kept my distance, eyeing him.
Bigfoot was big, all right, well over eight feet tall, covered with dark brown shaggy fir that blended into the cover of foliage and tree trunks. He glared at us, his eyes glowing a jaundiced yellow, and he dwarfed Orik.
“Those fangs could rip you apart,” I said, realizing that the short sword I was carrying wouldn’t do a damned thing.
Dante backed up, the air around him rippling as he shifted into a massive white wolf. Bigfoot turned, swinging an incredibly large bough at him. Dante darted to the side, but he wasn’t quick enough and the bough caught his flank, sending him skidding to the side. Dante whimpered as blood began to drip from a gash and he limped away.
Orik charged again, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough. We were all going to get hurt if I didn’t step in and do what I had to do. Nobody hurt my friends and got away with it. And Dante was family—my brother. I inhaled deeply, calling on my powers.
With a powerful shift, I shed my leash, and welcomed my shadow self.
“Back, spawn!” My voice reverberated as I leapt forward, my nails growing into long talons, my teeth lengthening. I was stronger, faster, and I reached out to gather the breeze. Arosiens could work with the air element. Now, I stirred the breeze into a vortex, strengthening it as I searched for the core. In my work with Devon, I had learned how every storm had a core—a center that I could take control of. Hurricanes and massive tornadoes were exceptions…still…because they developed their own will. When I found out that storms could become sentient, it scared the hell out of me, but it also made sense.
But now, I saw the core—a shining diamond-like light. I grabbed hold of it, spinning it into a powerful vortex. As the gusts grew, Orik and Dante backed away.
“You hurt one of my clan, and you have to be punished,” I murmured, bringing the vortex down to ground it to the earth right in Bigfoot’s path.
It caught up branches as I drove it forward, one giant weapon of wind and branch and rocks and whatever else it could suck up into its center.
The whirlwind of dust and air slammed into the creature, the boughs slashing his flesh. I smiled, then I narrowed my eyes and drove the storm harder.
Bigfoot let out a howl as he tried to get out of the way, but I wasn’t about to let him go.
