Page 3 of The Arcane God

“What is it?” Ty asked, moving towards him, his body unconsciously blocking Ena from the open plain. The sun had fully set now, and the sky was filled with clouds, so without a fire, all they could see around them were the vague outlines of the mountain peaks and the pitch-black darkness.

“I don’t know,” Turner said, staring intently. “I thought I heard something moving out there, but it’s hard to say.”

Ty looked, using his venator to see what Turner could not. “I don’t see anything,” he said. “What did you hear exactly?”

“I don’t know,” Turner said. “Like a shuffling, or a huffing, but the mountains make it so echoey, I’m not sure where it came from.”

Ty stopped to listen. “I hear it too,” he said, looking around cautiously as he unstrapped his ax from his back.

“What is it?” Ena asked in a whisper, fear creeping in at what she couldn’t see.

“I don’t know, but it’s—”

Just then, a huge, hulking shape burst out of the dark from the mountainside behind them, knocking Ena to the ground. The snow was cold and hard underneath her as she fell, the wind whooshing out of her lungs as she was smothered by dense white fur.

She heard the thunk of Ty’s ax, and the animal on top of her bellowed, rearing up and off her to turn towards the man who had struck it. As it raised up, she saw it in all its fury—a great white bear, two times the size of Ty, and it was pissed as fuck.

“Ena!” Ty said, locking eyes with her as he gripped his ax, his face barely visible in the dark. “Run.”

Then the bear launched itself at Ty, slashing out at him with its claws.

Ena scurried backwards, struggling to catch her breath as her blood pounded through her ears. She could hear the bear grunting, roaring at Ty. What the fuck was happening? She could barely see her hand in front of her face.

Then she heard Ty cry out in pain.

“Get off him!” Turner yelled, and she saw through the dark his hand began to glow red, like a hot coal, as he used his incendia to heat it, and in his grip…a dagger that began to glow red hot too.

Turner launched himself at the bear, stabbing it in the back with the scalding dagger. The bear reared back once more, its sound of pain and anger sending a chill through Ena’s bones.

It was feral now, absolutely insane with rage as it thrashed out blindly at both Ty and Turner. Ena could hardly make out where the three of them were as they struck and wrestled each other in the dark.

She couldn’t sit here and do nothing—she had to act, had to help them. Had to do something.

Reaching into her Knowing, she felt for the bear. Even without seeing it, she could sense it—hear the raggedness of its breaths, the tone of its growls and grunts—and she Knew how it felt. It was distressed, it was confused—disoriented. But worse than that, it was absolutely starving and desperate.

She stood up, feeling her Gift surge through her. Reaching for it was automatic—the control it gave her always called to her when she was most afraid. She let it flow through her, spreading like wildfire through her bones, as she felt for the channel that connected her to the bear’s frantic mind, and she spoke.

{Stop moving.}

The shuffle of the fight stopped immediately. She couldn’t see the bear, but she could hear it. Its breathing was still ragged, but it no longer grunted and growled.

“Ty!” she called, her voice normal once more as she forced her Gift to retreat. “Where are you?!”

“I’m here,” he gritted out, his voice tight with pain.

Blessedly, whatever clouds had covered the sky began to lift, and the moon emerged, reflecting off the snow to give her more light. First, she saw the bear—frozen in its movements as it had sought Turner, who lay underneath it, his chest inches from the bear’s gaping jaw. He scrambled out from under it, his dagger still in his hand as he stared at it in shock.

Then she saw Ty laying on the ground behind it, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

“Ty, you’re hurt!” she exclaimed, rushing towards him.

She lowered herself down next to him, blood covering her own hands as she put pressure on his wound. It drenched her fingers, seeping between them. She was about to tell Turner to get something to stop the bleeding, but then the smell of it hit her.

It was metallic yet sweet, and involuntarily, she took a deep breath, filling her nose with the scent of his life force. Her mouth flooded with saliva, and all other cares began to melt from her brain as she stared at it, feeling it congeal around her fingers—smooth and thick and—

“It’s not too bad,” Ty said, the sound of his pained voice snapping her out of whatever trance the sight of his blood had put her in. “We should stitch it, but first…” He looked towards the bear where it stood, still frozen in attack.

“W-what should we do with it?” she said, her voice shaking with adrenaline and confusion at what had just happened.