‘Think of it this way, we at least learned we have more weapons at our disposal than we thought,’Chester says, smiling. Then again, I think his creature is always smiling, yet those teeth look mighty pointy to be a friendly smile.Hmm. That has to be a trick.
‘True. Let’s keep going, and if we see a fight, let’s tackle it as a practice and see what we are capable of,’Levi agrees.
We follow JP’s lead as he traces Delvin’s power signature around another landmass and alongside a massive coral reef, where we find a smaller group of animals that are down to a few stragglers trying to hang on. This time, Levi sneaks in first and makes quick work of devouring all of the guards. Once again, the students didn’t stick around, but with the way Levi snaked in with his electric hazel eyes glowing, he looked like the devil himself come to claim their lives. I wouldn’t have stayed either.
A few more run-ins, and I can confidently say we have these “practices” down. Or at least I think so. That is, until we run into another cave that opens into an underwater grotto with an air pocket that we rise to see, but this time, it’s not students we find.
‘Fuck!’Ryker curses.
‘A duck,’Rez adds.
‘In the butt,’Lynx says.
Inside the air pocket is a massive cave that an ogre could easily stand in and still have room above his head. The walls are covered in bioluminescent deep-sea mosses, sponges, and volcanic rock. I wish I could say the atmosphere takes my breath away, but it’s the decorations that do that. They’re ugly.
I float away from Chester’s tail, and my own tail drops at the sight in front of us, or it would, if I had one. At least two dozen guards are waiting, floating in the water, while the midnight twins are lazily sitting on the ledge behind them, flipping theirtailfins along with Serafin. Off to the side, I catch the tail end of pink hair—Emer—disappearing up the stairs back into safety.I don’t know if it’s the annoyance of being in their presence or something more serious, but I feel that tingling feeling underneath my skin, like ants are crawling all over me again.
‘Well, look what we’ve found,’ Serafin sneers.‘Instead of tracking you down, you came to us.’
Instead of delivering the evil monologue like most evil villains are known for, Serafin goes straight for the kill.
‘Kill them, unless they beg for mercy.’Her smile says that even begging wouldn’t save us.
‘Why is that bitch even here? She doesn’t need to be present to sic her dogs on us,’I seethe as I feel my anger build up within me.
‘That’s easy to answer. She’s here to take out Rez personally,’my brother answers before his form turns into water, making it hard to trace his outline.
‘Well, what are you waiting for?’Serafin hisses.
As the guards advance, I let loose a boom that throws half the guards out of the water and into the stone wall behind the twins. Rocks break loose and tumble down into the water along with the guards and the midnight twins as well.
Oops. I didn’t mean all that devastation.
‘Great job, Moni,’Knots shouts out, as he and Lynx wrap around a guard’s waist and slice through his middle.
‘Thanks.’I curl my tail to give him a thumbs up, but I’m caught off guard when a spear sails past me and almost hits Chester.
Turning, I find the soldier with the empty hand and feel myself expand as anger washes over me. It feels similar to when I ran out of coffee and turned into my monster.What did Lynx call me last time? The Demonized Incredible Hulk? Sure, I’ll take it.
At least that’s what I feel like, but this time, I’m not bulking up, or turning black as far as I know, but I feel as if I could blow up this entire grotto down to Hell.
‘Moni! You’re covered in long spikes!’Chester calls out in shock.
I flick my tail in the direction of the asshole who thought he had balls big enough to attack my mate, and surprisingly, a spike detaches and impales into the soldier’s equivalent of his thigh if he wasn’t an underwater creature.
‘Yes! Call me Fin Diesel, the porcupine spiny seahorse. Let’s drop some bones!’I yell, launching another spike into his torso as Chester aims for a quick kill while the soldier is occupied.
This might be fun.
Zeke
It’s fucking chaos as the other soldiers dive deeper into the water after Moni sends some of the soldiers into the wall. The cave rumbles and shakes, causing most of the people to dive underneath the water for cover, but I’m back further that I don’t have to worry. From my position, I easily watch Serafin graba soldier by the collar of his underwater shirt and yell at him, before pushing him toward the back tunnel.
What’s that way?Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not a good thing.
Her eyes move over the water, searching furiously for something as she grips the dagger in her hand tighter. A slow smile arises on her lips as she slips into the water, and I dive underneath as well, keeping my eyes on her.
When I first changed into this form, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I loved the idea of being a horse in a way; it made me appreciate Lisa and what she goes through, crazy as that seems. But when Rez, JP, or anyone, for that matter, accidentally touches me and they have to deal with the tar that covers me, I feel dirty.
