“Gage, get ready,” I yelled.
His body jerked. He threw his head back as his muscles locked.
“Now!” I shouted to Harley, not sure how much longer Gage could hold on.
I’m not sure what Harley was doing. I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Gage, but his body started to convulse.
I heard his bones breaking as he started to shift.
It wasn’t working.
I flicked my gaze to Drea, who was standing off to the side like I’d asked, a needle filled with sedative in her hand. Dash and Jacob also held one, but stayed back, waiting to see what would happen next.
With one word I could call them forward and put Gage out of the misery that he was obviously enduring. And maybe I should. The sounds of his body breaking and reforming, and the howls coming from his mouth, indicated the level of pain he was in.
No. Gage could do this. I believed in him.
“Gage,” I screamed. “Fight it. You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this. I know you can.”
The next sixty seconds were agony for Gage—and me—and probably Harley too. The bones transforming his body into a hellhound began to snap back, turning him back into a man, then beast, then man again. Harley grunted beside me and I glanced at her to see sweat on her brow and all color drained from her cheeks.
“I can only help him a little by coaxing the beast back into submission when he takes over, but this is his fight,” she muttered.
Some of the fur receded from his face. I could finally see Gage’s features. They were pinched in pain and concentration, but those were his cheekbones, his chin, his lips.
With a roar, a phantom hellhound appeared over Gage’s features. It was like seeing a transparent mask that started to slowly peel away from him.
“It’s working! He’s doing it,” Harley yelled.
The phantom hellhound snarled, its yellow eyes filled with pure malice as it fought to stay connected with Gage, but as the seconds ticked by Gage was able to force more of the beast from his body.
My friends gasped as they stood at the ready and watched it all go down. It was another full minute until eventually a fully formed beast could be seen separated from Gage’s human body. Gage lay flat on his back; the beast stood above him, glaring at Gage’s neck as if he wanted to bite it.
Hopefully, that wasn’t possible for the phantom form, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
I lifted my sword, the blade glowing with Lumen energy, and waited. I couldn’t strike now because Gage was in the way, underneath the phantom monster, and if I tried to kill it I’d run Gage through with my blade. We needed to get the hellhound off of him, if even for a moment so I could get a clean swipe.
Gage shook from his position on the ground. Beads of sweat ran down his face and dampened his hair.
I didn’t know how long he could do this for. Probably not very much longer.
I took a step closer, and the hellhound snapped his jaws at me. That was it, I needed to provoke the beast into going after me.
I slashed at the phantom hellhound’s flank, creating a shallow cut that actually dripped black blood onto the dry grass below. The beast snarled and lunged for me, relinquishing its spot above Gage.
Without thinking, I slashed out. My light blade slid across the hellhound’s throat, slicing through its phantom muscle. Its head flopped back, revealing I’d cut through the beast’s trachea as well, and with another swipe of my sword I severed its head completely.
As soon as the hellhound’s head disconnected from its body, the entire creature disappeared, slowly floating away into micro pieces of ash, and Gage went limp and collapsed on the ground.
“Gage!” I cried, stumbling forward just as Dash shouted Harley’s name.
I spun in time to see her flop into his waiting arms.
Crap.
I was torn between who to go to first, when my sister straightened, looking surprised to be held by Dash.
She pushed him away. “I’m fine.”
