I haven’t fought my brother at full strength in years, but Creator-Father used to pit us against each other regularly. I can only hope his time in captivity has weakened rather than sharpened his viciousness.
I charge straight toward him on powerful legs, opening my throat to release a thunderous lion’s roar that shakes the very stones.
Thing moves with lethal grace, and we collide in the hall’s center with explosive force, crashing together in a tangle of claws and snarls, our combined mass shaking the ancient floor.
Thing possesses multiple arms and a devastating array of claws that tear at me, but I have wings and superior mobility. I rise above him into the air. He rears upright but can’t maintain a bipedal stance long before dropping back to his knuckles. Still, he has two pairs of arms reaching for me with deadly intent.
But I have a different target in mind.
I streak straight at Remus, whose own wings have extended in preparation. His jaw clenches, neck veins bulging as he strains. He extends his arms, and his hands begin glowing blue as he gathers divine energy.
Hell no.I can’t let him accumulate that much power. I accelerate.
The Great Hall spans the castle’s full width, but I reach him before he can complete his runic attack.
What he has managed to gather still packs enough force that when he thrusts his hands forward and the energy bolts strike my chest, I’m hurled backward, clear to the wall.
Where Thing waits to pounce. All six hands, bristling with claws, tear into my chest and rake across my face.
I roar and snap back with my fangs, using my momentum to flip us so we roll across the floor—a blur of muscle, wings, claws, and teeth.
He gains the advantage.
Then I regain it.
He rolls us again, fangs aiming for my throat, but I have superior dental weaponry. I snap back viciously, then use mywings to propel another roll. “Submit!” I roar as he lands beneath me.
I pin him down, using my forearms to restrain two pairs of his arms and my wings to control the third. Thing howls in rage below me, but I finally have him in a submission hold despite his crimson-blazing eyes.
Until another blue blast from Remus strikes me, launching me nearly back to the entrance.
My wings smoke with the acrid smell of burned feathers as I immediately flip upright to charge Remus again. I leap skyward, soaring over Thing’s head.
Remus is airborne too, and we collide near the vaulted ceiling, arms locking as each tries to force the other backward. His tail whips around my waist, adding leverage to drag me down. I regret keeping him so well-fed. For several moments, it’s a genuine contest.
Then he clenches his teeth and strains his neck again.
I grin fiercely. “Fighting on two fronts?” I hiss. “There’s a reason Creator-Father favored me.”
Remus howls in fury, hands gripping my biceps. He lacks claws, though. “You can’t even keep hold of your consort!” he seethes. “And we both know you weren’t the favorite. That was Layd?—”
I do possess claws, and I drive them deep into his shoulders where I’m restraining him.
He screams in agony even as his neck veins strain further. The red fire drains from his eyes the next instant as his neck begins contorting, head rotating.
Below us, Thing releases a mournful howl.
I laugh as Remus’s grip on my biceps loosens.
Moments later, I’m looking into Romulus’s calm, intelligent gaze. “Well, brother. What mess have you created for us now?”
The shift from Remus’s chaos to Romulus’s rationality is jarring. But the pain in my chest—not from the battle, but from her betrayal—remains constant.
“She discovered the dungeon,” I say simply, releasing him as we both descend to the floor. “She fled.”
“And you’re surprised by this?” Romulus asks, genuine curiosity in his voice as he examines the torn chains around his wrists. “You brought a mortal woman to a castle containing creatures from her nightmares and expected... what exactly?”
The question hits harder than any of Remus’s energy blasts.
