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The forest shook.
The Veil Beast dragged more of its body into the world, each movement cracking the earth. Its claws were like spears, its roar a quake that rattled Ethan's bones. Torches snapped and fell, but the cultists only screamed louder, voices rising in feverish triumph.
"Run!" Kael shoved Ethan forward. "Don't look back!"
But Ethan couldn't stop hearing it. Every rasp of its breath, every scrape of claw on stone, every unnatural pulse of the Veil. His sharpened senses flooded with it until he could barely tell where the beast ended and he began.
Lyra grabbed his wrist, sparks flickering between her fingers. "Focus, Ethan! Don't let it drown you."
He stumbled after her, Kael guarding their flank. Behind them, the beast's roar shredded the night again. A tree toppled, crashing into the clearing. Splinters sliced the air.
"Why summon that thing?" Ethan gasped as they ran. "They'll be killed too!"
Lyra's eyes burned. "They don't care. To the Court, sacrifice is power. They'll gladly be devoured if it weakens the Veil further."
Kael snarled. "Madmen."
A thunderous impact split the ground, the beast's claw slammed down where they'd been seconds before, gouging a crater into the earth. The shockwave sent Ethan sprawling. His senses rang like shattered glass.
For a heartbeat, he lay frozen, staring at the claw mere feet away. The stench of it, ash, blood, and something older than death, choked him.
The beast leaned lower, its molten eyes burning through the trees. Ethan felt the world tilt as those eyes locked on him again. The recognition wasn't chance. It was intent.
Kael yanked him to his feet. "Move, damn you!"
They stumbled deeper into the forest, branches whipping their faces. Lyra muttered words under her breath, weaving sparks into a shimmering line behind them. The trail of fire flared, forming a wall that twisted unnaturally, bending light like warped glass.
"What is that?" Ethan gasped.
"Veil ward," Lyra panted. "Won't stop it… but it might slow it."
The beast's roar split the ward in seconds. Shadows burst outward like shattered glass, the air rippling as if reality itself had been punched through.
Ethan's heart nearly stopped. "That slowed it?!"
"Keep running!" Lyra snapped.
The forest thinned, opening to a jagged ravine. The only crossing was a fallen tree, slick with moss, spanning the drop. The chasm below yawned like an open mouth.
Kael cursed. "Damn it all, GO!!"
Lyra didn't hesitate. She sprinted across, sparks flaring under her boots for balance.
Ethan's pulse hammered. The beast's shadow loomed, closing fast.
"Your turn!" Kael barked.
Ethan's legs trembled. His senses screamed, every vibration of the beast's steps, every stone tumbling into the ravine below, every breath of wind across the mossy bark. His world was too sharp, too loud.
He forced himself forward. The log shook under his weight. His heart pounded with every step.
Halfway across, the beast roared again. The shockwave rattled the log, sending cracks spidering through the wood. Ethan slipped, flailing, then Kael's iron grip seized his arm.
"Don't freeze on me!" Kael hauled him forward, shoving him across.
They collapsed on the far side, gasping. Behind them, the beast slammed against the ravine's edge. Rocks shattered and tumbled, but the chasm held.
For now.
The cultists' chanting faltered, then broke into screams as the monster turned on them. The night filled with the sound of tearing flesh and splintered bone.
Ethan lay on his back, chest heaving, senses ringing with the horror behind them. He didn't need to look. He felt it, every scream, every heartbeat extinguished.
Kael wiped his blade, face grim. "That… was no ordinary summon."
Lyra's gaze lingered on Ethan. Fire still flickered faintly around her hands. "No. And it saw him."
Ethan sat up, trembling. "Saw me? What do you mean?"
Her silence was answer enough.
The beast's roar echoed again, distant but furious, as if promising it wasn't finished.
And Ethan knew, it wasn't.
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