The exact circumstances were uncertain. Someone had controlled the Elemental Phoenix, momentarily disrupting our soulshare, just to speak to me. Whether that was Volca or not hardly mattered. It annoyed me. But annoyance was replaced by curiosity after I successfully purged the being controlling the Elemental Phoenix.

  How dare you treat the Great Spirit of Fire like that?!

  Volix thundered, clearly not too happy with my actions. The Soulkin read my mind and skimmed my memories in the blink of an eye before continuing to ramble.

  You received a Challenge. One of the Spirits challenged you, yet–

  I tuned out the Elemental Phoenix’s voice as the Chimera arrived. Its bones cracked and snapped as the four-legged panther twisted into a lumbering bipedal creature. The beast clawed at me as I shifted aside, narrowly avoiding its strike. Several traits impacted me a moment later–nausea, sluggish legs that felt like they were dragging through mud, and senses thrown into disarray.

  Later! I snapped when Volix continued to complain about my attitude.

  Volca’s mark continued supplying me with power. It felt as though the mark feasted on something to empower me, but I couldn’t tell what. Despite the unknown, I embraced it and launched a fireball at the Chimera.

  It slashed through the projectile, which exploded, and charged on. A beam of condensed light tore through the tree I’d stood near moments before. A blade appeared in my hands at command, emitting a faint grey hue as I severed one of its arms. The beast shrieked, its serpent heads lunging for me, but they too thudded to the ground, blood splattering everywhere as a set of mantis scythes flashed before me.

  With Soulfusion active, Nox’s scythes grew from my lower back. They extended farther than a Ferronox Mantis’s limbs, draining me as mass formed from stored nutrients, but I embraced the change.

  Nox’s power filled me, granting a slight edge as several abilities fizzled out. No longer slowed now that the serpent heads were gone, we leaped into action. Scythes carved deep into the Chimera’s chest even as I dove aside at the first sign of danger. The ground where I had been standing tore open, spewing a fountain of sickly green liquid.

  The Chimera convulsed. It expanded again. The wounds we’d inflicted knit themselves together, slowly, but the new heads and skulls emerging from all over its body unsettled me far more.

  No matter how confident I was in my strength, the pressure the Chimera emitted was simply too much.

  You may have to flee,

  Volix pointed out, only after finally calming down.

  “You don’t say,” I snapped, gritting my teeth as ether poured into the weave. Avoiding damaged spots while augmenting my body was anything but easy. Multitasking several simultaneous tasks didn’t help either. Still, it worked, and my blade and scythes carved through several skulls jutting from the Chimera’s chest before I leaped back.

  Backtracking, I released the Elemental Phoenix, sending a message through him.

  As frustrated as Volix was with how I handled Volca or whatever subordinate Great Fire Spirit it was clear even to him that the Chimera was a level too high for me. I could barely be considered an Expert at this point. Sure, I could fight Daniel and the others, but I had yet to fill and refine my first 4-Star Gate. I wasn’t anywhere near my peak.

  It was also interesting that, despite his irritation, Volix was impressed with me. He found it fascinating how easily I expelled the power that had taken control of the Elemental Phoenix.

  Anyway.

  I had to run.

  Chimera. Devourer’s Spawn. Whatever the name, it was dangerous. It could take the form of countless beasts, mix them, and wield their traits freely. To make matters worse, the Chimera possessed far more ether than its strength and speed suggested.

  It was technically an Unblemished beast, yet old enough to hoard more ether than Daniel and the others. In terms of ether, it was a Guardian beast.

  But not everything was bad. Destroying certain body parts removed the Chimera’s access to their traits. Whether it could regrow them with time was unclear, but I had no intention of finding out.

  Turning around, I flooded my legs and feet with ether. Too much poured into my lower body, nearly brushing a fragile weave branch hanging by a thread, as I released bursts of fire.

  Explosions propelled me forward, carrying me past even my top speed. Flames wreathed my body as I raced toward Volix’s ether signature. Roots shattered behind me, wood fragments lodging into my back, and something else struck me as well. A beam of light grazed my thigh, carving out a marble-sized chunk of flesh. My danger sense screamed as I shot past several trees, and I leaped aside. With a wet crack, the tree behind me split cleanly in two.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The massive trunk collapsed as I sprinted onward, running as if my life depended on it. Which, in a sense, it did.

  I should have been terrified, afraid that the Chimera would catch me and devour me, adding me to its collection. But I wasn’t. If anything, I felt more alive than I had in a long time. There were no distractions, no fear of being exposed and executed by a Ruler too greedy for his own good. No. At this moment, the only thing on my mind was survival. It was simple, primitive, and almost funny.

  But none of it was fun. Not in the slightest.

  I accelerated again, stretching the Ferronox Mantis Soulfusion to its limit. Warm blood streamed down my leg, and the snapping branches and rustling leaves behind me kept me moving.

  Do you like water?

  Volix asked, sharing the image of a wide river spanning dozens of meters, splitting the forest.

  I didn’t mind water, but I wasn’t the best swimmer. In all my time in the Bastions, I only visited a pool once for my tenth birthday. My parents taught me how to swim that day, spending a small fortune on such an extravagant luxury. All they had wanted was to distract me from my cursed physique. That didn’t work very well. I nearly drowned long before I finished half a lane.

  Reading my thoughts, the Elemental Phoenix seemed oddly satisfied.

  Great. I don’t like water either.

  That was not what I meant. I quite liked water, but I doubted I could swim fast enough to escape the Chimera. As far as I was concerned, the Chimera might as well shapeshift into a fish the moment we jumped into the water. Plus, I doubted I could go up against the currents. Not easily. Not when I didn’t even know how to swim properly.

  Climb one of the five massive trees in about…now!

  I moved to the nearest tree without a second thought, sword and aegis vanishing into the onyx ring. Kicking the ground, an explosion erupted underfoot at will, propelling me high into the air. My fingers coiled around an arm-thick branch. It bent and groaned under the sudden weight, but I heaved my body upward, ignoring the fear drumming in the back of my mind.

  Scythe arms lodged into the massive tree trunk a second later, pulling me to the higher branches. A deafening screech rang out from below, a beam of light shot past my cheek, almost burning my skin, and gelatinous blobs that reeked of death and rot followed shortly after.

  The Chimera shrank suddenly and transformed into one of the monkeys I’d seen the day I fell from the sky. It climbed the tree, a scorpion’s stinger extending from its tailbone. It lunged at me, its tail cracking like a whip, but missed as I stumbled to the side. My fingers lost their hold on the thick bark, but Nox’s scythes were still strong, pushing me higher up the tree. Alas, I was slower as the Chimera’s wings unfolded.

  You need to go higher. Ignore what’s happening above you. Do not attack them.

  Volix’s urgent voice echoed in my mind, his elemental form visible in the corner of my eye.

  The Elemental Phoenix was high in the air, a dozen fireballs coalescing around him.

  As odd as Volix was–and despite how much he disliked me for mistreating Volca or his Great Spirit companion–his presence reassured me. I redoubled my effort to climb the tree. The distance to the Chimera increased momentarily, my focus was on the tree and Volix’s shape. Fireballs hurtled through the air, but they didn’t head our way. Volix threw them at something else high above, something between the trees I was climbing.

  A wet slosh rang in my ears and a potent sweet scent struck my nose. Just from the sweetness alone, I felt like I’d eaten handfuls of candy. It was odd but so was the vigor seeping into my veins.

  The sweet scent…invigorated me? As strange as it was, I wasn’t the only one affected. The Chimera tore through branches, its mighty wings flapping wildly. The beast gained on me, and the Elemental Phoenix had yet to return.

  Where are you? It’s getting a little hot over here. I tried my hand at a joke, but even I could tell my voice was drenched in fear.

  Hot you say? It certainly is hot over here. Be careful, you have some incoming.

  The words rang in my head a fraction of a second before the Elemental Phoenix barreled through the thicket. He crash-landed on a tree branch that nearly impaled him and smashed into my chest with considerable strength. If I hadn’t opened the inner world in time, the impact would have pushed me straight to the ground. Alas, I was fine.

  The branch, however, was far from fine. It caught fire. The hand-sized leaves in the vicinity burned to cinder, and the Chimera was upon me, its scorpion tail rocketing toward my back.

  Nox’s scythes intercepted the stinger, barely blocking it, but it was already too late. The Chimera had caught up. But I…I could only stare at the destruction the Elemental Phoenix had caused.

  A hive hung in the air like a suspended titan, a colossal mass of wax and chitin lattices tethered between the surrounding trees. Thick, blackened strands stretched from tree to tree, holding the hive aloft. It seemed to tower above the rest of the forest, ruling over all. The structure pulsed with an overabundance of life, and I didn’t doubt for a second that it was alive. It was terrifying, more so than the Chimera behind me, sending shivers down my spine.

  And that mountain of a hive was set ablaze, its outer walls and connecting strands melting rapidly.

  The beast behind me snarled, the crackling of fire rang in my ears, but my attention shifted to the low, predatory hum that vibrated through the air like distant thunder. That was no hive. No. It was a fortress, something built not for tiny bees one could squash with a hand. It was a place for giants. Angry giants, their killing intent flooding my senses.

  Bees poured from the hive like a never-ending stream, their numbers reaching and crossing three digits within seconds, and I…I was their target.

  Glancing back at the Chimera, my hair standing on end, worry was replaced with intrigue.

  I was scared shitless. But whether that was good or not…only time would tell.