The creature, the Skal, shifted, its limbs bunching beneath it. A heavy, wet tail slapped the stone behind it.
Status: Active,the voice grated in my mind.Anomaly detected. Subjects should be terminated or dormant. Subjects are... awake.
"And practically naked," Flynn added, releasing me and stepping in front of my seated form, his body a shield of tense muscle and scars. "Don't forget naked. It adds to the intimidation factor."
The Skal didn't seem amused. Its central eye widened, the pupil contracting to a pinpoint.Masters must be informed. The bait has broken the trap.
"You aren't informing anyone," Kaelen said, stepping forward. He raised the sword, the steel looking pathetic against the creature’s armored hide, but the dragon fire wreathing the blade made the metal glow cherry-red.
The Skal hissed, a sound like steam venting.Subjects are defective. Return to the abyss for recycling.
It lunged.
It moved with terrifying speed for something so ungainly, a blur of wet black motion. A claw the size of a man’s torso snapped forward, aiming to cut Kaelen in half.
Kaelen didn't block; he couldn't. The sheer mass of the creature would have shattered his arm. He dropped into a slide, passing under the savage arc of the claw, and slashed upward. The heated sword sparked against the creature’s underbelly, drawing a line of sizzling blue blood.
The Skal shrieked, a psychic blast that made me clap my hands over my ears.
"Elias, the eyes!" Thane roared, charging from the flank. He slammed his shoulder into the creature’s side, the impact shaking the ground. It was like a boulder hitting a cliff face. The Skal staggered, its legs skittering on the damp stone, but it didn't fall. It backhanded Thane with a tentacled limb, sending the Bear Prince flying into the wall with a sickening crunch.
"Thane!" I scrambled to my feet, my legs wobbling beneath me.
"Stay back, Aria!" Flynn barked. He launched himself off a stalagmite, landing on the creature’s back. He didn't have a weapon, so he used what he had, he drove his fingers into the gaps between the chitinous plates, ripping at the exposed flesh beneath.
The Skal thrashed, trying to dislodge the wolf, but Flynn held on, snarling, tearing wet chunks of meat from its spine.
Parasites!the creature screamed in our minds.Filth!
It spun, plunging back toward the water.
"It's trying to flee!" Elias shouted from his perch. He turned into a streak of grey wool and phoenix light as he dropped from his perch, landing in front of the creature’s path. He threw out a hand, and a wall of turquoise fire erupted from the stone.
The Skal recoiled from the heat, screeching. It realized it was cornered. It realized the "livestock" had teeth.
Report,the thought broadcasted, frantic and sharp.Must report. High Seat. Poseidon. Breach.
It ignored Kaelen and Elias, tucking its limbs into a tight, armored ball, and rolled. It was aiming for the water, for the deep, subterranean channels that connected this tomb to the ocean. If it reached the water, it was gone. And if it reported that the Princes were alive, mobile, and plotting...
"Stop it!" I screamed, the fear of discovery overriding my exhaustion.
Kaelen brought his sword down on the creature’s armored shell, the blade shattering on impact. Flynn was thrown clear as the creature spun, hitting the ground hard and rolling.
The Skal hit the water's edge.
I felt it then.
Not a physical sensation, but a metaphysical tug. A leash.
It was faint, buried under layers of biological imperative and magical programming, but it was there. A thick, briny cord of magic connecting the creature to something vast and cold thousands of miles away. It stretched from the Skal’s core, disappearing into the ether.
It felt like the Gate.
It felt like a chain.
I didn't think about my empty reserves, didn't think about the warning Elias had given me about draining my life force. I acted on the instinct that had kept the Gate closed for five years.
I reached out with my mind, grabbing that invisible leash with spectral hands.
