“Golems? You mean like from The Lord of the Rings?” I asked, my <b>voice </b>sharp with disbelief
and confusion.
“No,” Elias said firmly, grabbing my hand and yanking me off the main path and straight into the thick of the forest. “These are real golems. And trust me–they’re way worse than anything from a movie.”
He darted through the trees, yanking me along. His grip was so fierce my sweaty, panicked hand nearly slipped free.
I nced back. My heart nearly stopped. The creatures gave chase–not just animated earth, but fast, darting between trees like shadows. Breathless<b>, </b>I kept running.
They closed in fast. My lungs zed, legs trembling, dread telling me I was nearly out of
time.
Without warning, I yanked my hand free and stopped cold.
“What are you doing?” he called, rmed.
“I’m not running from tiny–ass gnomes,” I snapped. I scanned the area<b>, </b>grabbed a branch, and
raised it like a bat.
The creatures were on us in seconds. I swung the branch with all my strength. The impact shattered the first golem instantly, but the others quickly encircled us, moving in like wolves
preparing to attack.
Elias grabbed a branch and joined the fight. One creature climbed a tree, leapt down on my
shoulder, its grotesque <b>face </b>and jagged teeth <b>lunging </b>for my <b>neck</b>. I grabbed its skull, but not
before its teeth sank into my hand. Agony shot up my arm, but I didn’t stop. I tore it off and
ripped it apart with brute force<b>, </b><b>scattering </b>y and dirt.
Panting, I grabbed my <b>branch </b>and stepped back, scanning for more, until I felt Elias’s back
against mine.
“Where <b>the </b>f**k did they go?” I asked, teeth clenched, scanning every shadow.
“I don’t know<i>,</i>” Elias replied, voice low and tense. “They’re small, fast, slippery. Could be hiding anywhere–rocks, logs, trees…”
“This has to be the f*****g witch’s <b>doing</b>,” I muttered angrily.
“She’s working with your dad,” Elias said grimly.
I nodded. “Yeah. That much was obvious. That prick wants me dead.”
More Rewards.
“You’re bleeding,” he said. He hadn’t looked at me–he could smell it. “How bad is it?”
“The little bastard bit me,” I replied without taking my eyes off the <b>space </b>in front of me. “But
I’ll live. It’s nothing.”
I heard rustling above. I looked up as several creatures dropped from the trees like living rain.
I swung, smashing a few mid–air, but couldn’t stop all of them.
I
They rained down on us,tching on with ws and teeth. Their jagged bites tore at my skin. Tiny fingers dug in like roots. Desperate, I hurled myself against a tree, crushing several to dust. I ripped the rest off, hurling them to the ground, and ground them beneath my heel.
Finally, Elias and I stood back to back, breathing hard, blood and dirt covering us, turning in
slow circles, eyes sweeping every direction.
But there was nothing.
No movement. No sound. The golems had melted away, no longer crashing through
branches or dropping from above. Maybe they were gone for good, or maybe they lurked just
out of sight. For now, the forest held its breath.
Elias had to pry the branch from my white–knuckled grip before dragging me away, urgency in
every step. His actions made it clear: linger here, and we wouldn’t survive.
We ran, feet pounding the forest floor<b>, </b>until Elias suddenly paused, listened, then led me in al
new direction. He’d picked up the sound of flowing water nearby.
He brought me to a narrow stream. As we stepped closer, I immediately noticed how different it was from yesterday’s stream.
Yesterday’s stream had roared with wild energy. This one whispered, its surface ssy and still, the silence so deep it made my skin crawl.
Elias stepped into the stream first and pulled me in behind him, not waiting for me to decide
if it was smart.
After monsters had crawled <b>from </b>earth and bark, the idea of stepping into mysterious water sent a chill through me. Who knew what waited beneath the surface?
But Elias gave me no choice, pulling me in until icy waterpped at my waist. The shock stole
CHARTER 25
my breath.
More Bewarchi i
Elias cupped his hands, dipped them in the stream, and began pouring water over my arms. and shoulders, silent.
I winced <b>as </b>the water touched broken skin, then realized he was washing away the blood and
bites.
I did the same for him, rinsing away dirt and blood. His arms were as wounded <b>as </b>mine, but
he stayed focused on me.
Once we were as clean as we could get under the circumstances, we stepped out of the water and kept moving. We had no idea if those things woulde back. Or if more were
waiting.
We pushed through dense trees until we came across a narrower, more overgrown path and started down it, eyes constantly scanning for anything unusual.
By now, fear had soaked into my bones. I could never have imagined my father capable of
<b>such </b>cruelty, orchestrating nightmares like these..
I kept wondering what he could’ve promised the witch to make her go along with it. What
could possibly be worth all this?
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’te up with an answer. Whatever deal they had, I just
prayed it didn’t involve me–my powers, my blood, or my life.
If they wanted me dead, taking my powers couldn’t be part of their n. You can’t im
power from a corpse.
The rest of the walk was silent. We didn’t speak; we had to stay alert.
But one thing I did notice: Elias didn’t leave my side. Not even for a second.
While his eyes scanned every inch of the forest around us, he held onto my hand the entire
time, fingers firm around mine like he was anchoring me, or maybe protecting me from
something I couldn’t see.
That’s when it struck me: Elias would walk through fire to keep me safe. Something fierce
and dazzling bloomed in my chest, a wild mix of hope and raw gratitude.
No one had ever done that for me before.
Sure, my mother had tried–she gave everything she had, and even though she failed, I never
13/0
med her for that.
But beyond her, every single person I’d ever known had either used me, hurt me, or tried to
destroy me.
No one else had stood between me and danger. Until now. <fna0af> Latest content published on find·novel</fna0af>
It was a strange feeling. Even with these powers–this unpredictable strength that awakened
at sixteen–it still felt unfamiliar. Having someone on my side was new.
alk away the
A part of me had always expected Elias to reject me, to moment things got
hard. But here he was, still standing by me, still fighting my battles as if they were his own.
I could hardly believe it. More than that, I kept stealing nces at him whenever his gaze was
elsewhere<b>, </b>unable to help myself.
Strange feelings welled up inside me, impossible to name or voice. Maybe they would always
stay unspoken.
We had made it a decent way through the woods when Elias suddenly stopped dead in his
tracks.
I felt the tension ripple through his body as he froze, his muscles going rigid.
When I looked up at him, I saw his eyes had gone ssy. It was like he was seeing
something I couldn’t.
I stared at him, my heart starting to race again, wondering what had happened–what he was
sensing now.
But then, without saying a word, Elias turned his head and smiled at me.
“We’re almost there. I can mind link with my warriors.” His voice was filled with relief.
“Are you serious?” I asked, unable to stop the smile that stretched across my face in
response to the hope in his eyes.
“Yeah,” he replied, moving faster. His need to get back–home, to safety–was clear. He was
eager, almost restless.
We picked up the pace. Suddenly, something huge wrapped around my waist, I screamed as it yanked me off the ground, lifting me high into the air.
Elias was still on the forest floor as I was hoisted upward–at least thirty feet above the ground–until I was staring directly into the horrifying face of an enormous<b>, </b>ugly green ogre
? CHAPTER 25
that had snatched me like I weighed nothing.
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From my elevated position, I could hear the sound of Elias’s clothes ripping as he shifted. I didn’t even need to see him to know what was happening. The next moment, I heard his feral
howl echo through the woods–and then his massive ck wolf form lunged and sank its
powerful jaws into the ogre’s leg.
The ogre gave a startled, high–pitched whimper. Its grip on me faltered for a second.
nearly
slipped from its hold, but it managed to mp down on me again, even as pain twisted its grotesque features.
It tried to kick Elias away, swinging its huge foot with deadly force, then attempted to crush him beneath its massive body. I screamed at it to stop–to leave Elias alone–but it didn’t
even acknowledge my voice. It wasn’t listening. It didn’t care.
Something inside me broke loose. A wild, primal anger surged through me, burning hotter than anything I’d ever felt. Suddenly, a strange pressure built in my gums.
Confused, I realized my canines were lengthening–extracting themselves unnaturally as if some dormant part of me was waking up.
I didn’t even know I had a wolf side, not really–but in that moment, my body knew. My
instincts knew. My new fangs were fully <b>out</b>, and without hesitating, I bit down hard on the
ogre’s thick, disgusting hand.
It let out another pained whimper and finally dropped me. I fell fast,nding hard on my back with a painful thud. My entire spine screamed in protest<b>, </b>but I was still able to get back on
my feet, staggering upright.
Elias turned his head to check on me, even as the ogre, now fully enraged, bellowed at us. Its
breath was vile–rotten and heavy. The stench hit our noses, making us both recoil in disgust.
Then, as if on cue, we heard multiple howls rising up from every direction around us. We both
nced around, instantly alert, and that’s when we saw them.
The Vanguards Pack had finally arrived, charging into the clearing in full wolf form, ready to
fight.
They quickly took up formation, growling and
Surrounding the one with practiced
precision. I moved to stand beside Es, but I realized with a jolt that I was still in human form. Something inside me told me I wasn’t done transforming yet.
The ogre lunged again,ing straight for Elias and me–clearly still focused on the two of
4 CHAPTER 25
us as its targets.
:
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Elias stood his ground, refusing to back down even as the creature charged. Iunched
myself into the air, not even thinking, and mid–leap, I felt it–my entire body shifting, bones
realigning, muscles changing.
I didn’t fully understand it <b>at </b>first, but Inded with my teeth mped around the ogre’s leg,
holding on with a strength I had never felt before. I had shifted. For the very first time.
As my paws hit the earth, instincts kicked in. I heard Elias’s howl–this time summoning the
rest of the pack to fight.
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