The Feral Pact

fore her. It was no longer just a shadow-this was something real, something ancient, its very presence distorting the world around it. The green fire in its eyes burned wi

posture ready for battle. "Stay behind me," he ord

ice, as if it could see every secret, every hidden fear buried deep within her soul. The weight of its stare was suffocating

ever been one to

gers, claws elongating from her fingertips with a painful sharpness. Her blood surged with

gaze flickering between the approaching creature and Solara. "You're not ready," he said quietly, his voice tight. "This is

ke a child, done being told what she couldn't do. "I

though it existed outside the laws of nature. Its claws scraped the cavern floor, sending sparks skittering across the stone as it clo

the creature's every movement. She could feel the weight of ancient power pressing in on her, the pull of t

don't have time to wait for some miracle, Kaelen," she snappe

behind his eyes flash of something older, something regretful. He opened h

cked in just in time, her body moving of its own accord. She dodged to the side, feeling the rush of air as the

. The Feral One's skin was like blackened armor, impervious to her strikes. It turned its head tow

nd cruel. "You are the last of your kind, and you will fall like al

used to let them break her. She was not the failur

the beast's throat, her claws sinking deep into its flesh. The creature roared in fu

t as the rage within her surged, and she leaped back into the fray. This time, her strikes were fast

ts were fluid, almost effortless, as though he had done this a thousand times before. His

through brute strength alone. It was a force of nature, a creature that existed to bring chaos and destru

his wasn't something they could win through sheer force. They were outmatched, outc

trembling with the force of her will. "I

ed toward Solara once more. This time, however, something was different. A pulse of power surged within her deep, primal force that sh

l One head-on. Time seemed to slow as their forms collided, the cavern shaking violently

verything w

Feral One surging through her, a clash of energies that threatened to tear her apart. But within that clash, someth

e a terrible, u

She was something more-something powerful, so

lared with a sudden, u

oice filled with both anger

, the creature vanished, fading into the s

ce of the battle, her heart still racing in her chest. The

awe and fear as he looked at her. "What

n her mind, its recognition of her power. She had always known there was something different a

en broken, and

e next, she woul