The door didn't just break, it exploded inward like it was made of cardboard instead of thick wood. I didn't even get a scream out before Kael shoved me sideways. The claws of the beast ripped through the air where my head had been a heartbeat ago. The sound alone slid cold down my spine.
I slammed onto the floor, and my elbows was the first. This made a heavy pain shoot through my arm so sharp it made my eyes sting, I wanted to cry. I barely sucked in half a breath before Kael yanked me up again.
The creature filled the entire doorway. It had to fold itself down just to fit through, fur bristling, bones shifting under its skin like it was still deciding what shape to be. And its eyes… they locked straight onto me. Not Kael, not the hallway behind us, but only me.
Kael stepped in front of me, and the thing I could hear was a rough voice. "Elara. Behind me, do not move."
"I'm not stupid," I muttered, even though my legs trembled so badly I felt like they weren't mine.
The creature dropped onto all fours, lowering its head. It didn't look threatening, that was the terrifying part. It looked… curious, studying me, measuring me or maybe….., deciding how fast it would kill me.
"Kael…" I whispered. "Why is it staring at me like that?"
"Because the ritual tied it to your scent." He didn't even look back at me. "It wants what the ritual promised."
"What did it promise?" My voice shook.
He didn't answer, and he didn't need to. Before we could have a second for ourselves, the creature launched at us.
Kael shoved me aside again, and this time, I felt it hard. I crashed into a table and sent an old metal lantern flying, it clattered across the hall like someone ringing a giant bell. Kael met the creature mid-jump, he removed his knife and that flashed through my eyes. The blade slid along its fur like the creature was made of stone. The impact slammed both of them into the wall, plaster bursting.
I scrambled backward on shaky hands, my lungs refusing to cooperate, I was shivering. My heartbeat was a frantic, painful mess. The creature whipped around and snapped its jaws at Kael.
" Kael watch out" I screamed ontop of my voice as he swerved the beast. Missing his face by inches as it spat on the floor.
"Okay," I breathed, I was terrified and horrified at the same time. "What kind of wolf melts the floor with its spit?"
"You're not helping, Elara," Kael grunted, ducking another swipe. I was just there, doing nothing to help nor was I running. At this point, I knew I'm stupid.
Kael slide under the wolf arms and drove the knife into its side, and thankfully, it actually cut through it this time.
" Oh oh…. I guess we just made him more angry" I whispered.
The creature roared so loud, shaking its body aggressively. The walls were shaking, I could feel vibrations under my feet and dust were also raining on us like dirty snow.
"Run!" Kael yelled.
"No." My voice cracked. "I'm not leaving you!"
"Elara, GO!"
"No!" I shouted back.
The creature slammed Kael again. He flew across the floor and hit the wall, the sound was… wrong. His face twisted with pain, and for a moment he couldn't get up.
Something hot and stupid overcame my fear.
I grabbed the lantern and hurled it at the creature's head. And from the look of things, what I just did wasn't smart nor helpful. But I couldn't just sit there and watch Kael die.
The lantern bounced off its skull with a metallic THUNK.
"Well," I whispered, "that was unbelievably stupid....., very stupid."
" No no no no" I screamed as the creature snapped towards me, I couldn't breath for a second. I froze.
The creature growled: a deep vibrating sound that made my ribs ache. It turned fully toward me, its claws were dragging long scars across the floor as it walked.
My whole body shook, my eyes burned as I couldn't process what was actually seeing. My brain screamed RUN, but my legs ignored me. I wished all this was just a dream. Honestly, I wish.
Kael rasped, "Elara… don't move."
The creature stepped closer, and that made ice fill every vein in my body.
"Please," I whispered. "Don't come closer." But it did anyway.
Its head dipped low, wanting to sniff the air around me like it wanted taste my fear. I was so scared it was getting closer so I took slow steps backwards. Unfortunately, I had reached the end as my back hit the wall.
I started sweating prefusely, my heart was beating so fast and hard that the creature could hear it.
Kael tried to stand up but he couldn't. "Get away from her!"
The creature growled without even glancing at him, like it was telling him to mind his business.
I couldn't breath and think at all as the beast came very close to me, close enough for me to feel its breath on my shoulders. It was hot and strange.
The air shifted, and the wall felt like they were humming again, just like how it happened before the ritual broke.
The creature inhaled slowly and deliberately.
"Kael," I whispered, "what is it doing?"
His face rested immediately I asked that question, like he didn't want to speak.
"It's smelling you."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it thinks… you're the one the ritual was supposed to mark."
My heart flipped, like it was punched. "I didn't agree to anything! I didn't even know there was a ritual!"
"I know," Kael said. "But guardians don't care, they only trust their senses."
"I don't want it sensing me," I whispered.
The creature suddenly pulled its head back and made a low sound. It felt like something almost… respectful.
Kael threw himself onto me, tackling us both to the floor. The beat has started again.
" Uhhhh…., when will this drama end, the beast isn't stable "…. I whispered
It's claws ripped through the air above where my head had been. We slid across the hall until we hit another door. Kael held me tight, shielding my body with his.
"Don't move," he whispered.
"I'm crushed under you. I physically can't move."
"Good."
The creature pivoted, ready to attack again, but then a piercing whistle cut through the air, and that made the creature freeze mid-step.
Kael lifted his head, confused. "What was that?"
Footsteps echoed from the stairs: slow, steady, too calm for everything going on.
Victor appeared first, tall and furious, his eyes looked sharp, enough to cut. Behind him came Riven, half-shifted into a wolf, his teeths were bared, chest heaving like he had sprinted through half the manor.
Victor held a carved staff. He pointed it out once.
"Stand down."
The creature let out a warning growl but lowered its head, shaking.
Victor turned to me. "Elara. You were not meant to enter the ritual chamber, your presence disrupted the binding."
My voice came out small. "I didn't know."
"You do now."
Kael moved off me slowly, still ready to throw himself between us if he had to. "Victor, she's hurt, this can wait."
"No," Victor said. "Mistakes are corrected immediately."
He stepped closer, eyes running over me like he was deciding my worth.
"Bring her," he said.
Riven started moving toward me.
Kael tensed. "Touch her, and I swear…."
"Kael," Victor warned, "do not make this worse."
But then Victor lifted the staff again, and the guardian didn't charge, but it rather turned toward me and bowed.
Victor's expression flickered; shock, anger, something else under it.
Riven stopped breathing, are Kael froze completely.
And that's when I understood the horrible truth: The creature wasn't trying to kill me.
It was choosing me.