Dashing through the forest with hurried, panicked steps, Idalia blinked hard as Kelix's words hit her.

  General Raurgo gone. The reality pushed into her chest like a heavy stone. Her throat tightened but the battlefield did not permit grief. Not here. Not with Hirohowl slipping deeper into a feral storm.

  He was losing what little control he had left. She had no time to mourn. She had no space to falter. She needed her feet under her and her portals ready.

  Kelix's breathing shook as he held out a vial. His hands were cut and scraping with dried blood, yet he forced strength into his posture. Idalia saw that strength and felt heat coil through her ribs.

  The two finally skidded to a halt, reaching a destination with dense foliage. Kelix leaned back against a tree, chest heaving, his hand motioning to the healing vials, marked by Yae-Fae emblems.

  Before she could drink, the forest snapped apart behind them. The sound was sharp and hungry, like jaws crushing a tree trunk. Hirohowl launched from the shadows with fangs bared and murder in his eyes.

  Idalia seized Kelix by the shirt. Her claws tore into the fabric. She ripped a portal open beneath them, a hard circle of spun light that cracked against reality. She dragged both herself and Kelix through it at the same time the tips of Hirohowl's claws cut the air where Kelix's throat had been.

  The world twisted sideways. Idalia shaped the exit while they tumbled. The pull of Hirohowl's presence still pressed against her skull, heavy and instinctual, even through space. His spatial resistance scraped against her portals like metal on bone.

  The portal snapped shut before his entry. She and Kelix hit ground in a dim grove. The shadows here were thick, clinging to the roots and vines like cold tar. Idalia rolled into a crouch and shook the dizziness off with a growl.

  Kelix steadied himself. His face was pale and his skin was slick with sweat. His chest heaved with adrenaline.

  "Are you hurt," she asked.

  He shook his head. "Not yet." His hands shook. She saw electricity crawling across his forearms as his instincts pulled at him from all sides. "Ida. We cannot just run. He will track us. He has your scent. Mine too."

  Idalia bared her teeth. "He is not hunting us. He is hunting you." She heard the truth as she spoke it. It rattled inside her like loose stones.

  Kelix tensed. "Why me? What did I do?"

  Idalia knew why. She did not want it to be true, but she felt the pattern in Hirohowl's attacks. She felt the restraint in the strikes aimed at her. The rage in the attacks aimed at Kelix. A primal instinct had gripped Hirohowl. He was acting like a beast who thought he was protecting something. Protecting her. In the most violent and foolish way possible.

  "I know he is mad." Idalia bared her teeth. Her tail lashed with a violent snap. "We need to find a way to break through to him. Something is wrong. He would never attack like this. Not like an executioner."

  Kelix scanned the trees. "He's almost as strong as your grandfather. I do not know if he will listen."

  Indeed, that was almost true, but false. Grandpa was far more powerful. But right now Hirohowl's presence weighed down, heavy and dangerous, like a mountain pressing on her shoulders.

  "Drink," she said. "I will drink too. He is close."

  Kelix pressed a vial to her lips. She took it with a snarl of gratitude and swallowed. Warmth crashed through her veins. It rode through her muscles like fire.

  {Mana: 18% → 56%}

  {Health: 22% → 85%}

  Her Mana rose. Her Health rose. Her senses sharpened until she could hear her own heartbeat and Kelix's heartbeat synchronized, and the creeping footfalls of something large behind the trees.

  She swallowed the empty vial. "We make a plan. I will take his attention. You strike when I bend him."

  Kelix nodded. "Right. We find a weak point. His stance. His breath. Something."

  A branch snapped behind them. Then another. The weight of the forest shifted as if bowing to an alpha predator. Idalia and Kelix turned.

  Hirohowl stepped into the grove. Smoke curled from his nostrils. A nightmare of muscle and instinct. His eyes locked on Kelix with a hunger that was cold and sharp. He ignored Idalia almost completely. That made her fur rise in anger.

  "Running will not save you," he snarled. His lips curled back to reveal teeth stained with Jawclang's blood.

  "We are not running, Hirohowl. We are trying to help you!" Idalia stepped forward with her claws out. She forced herself to hold his gaze even as her instincts shrieked at her to flee.

  For a moment something bright flickered behind his eyes. Recognition. Old loyalty. His ears tilted. His weight shifted back as if his mind wavered.

  Then his pupils shrank and the fury swallowed the hesitation. He charged. The ground shook. His roar cracked through the grove and leaves rained from the trees.

  Kelix blurred into motion. A streak of yellow lightning. He darted at Hirohowl and drove a crackling kick into Hirohowl's chest. The strike lit the grove with a flash of white.

  Hirohowl barely flinched. But he focused on Kelix with a sudden sharpness that made Idalia's stomach drop. His eyes narrowed. His teeth snapped with intent aimed only at Kelix. Idalia saw it. The targeting. The aggression. The decision. Hirohowl was hunting the Wanderan. Not her.

  Kelix darted forward like lightning. His fist cracked across Hirohowl's cheek. Another strike hit his ribs. A dozen more followed by the second and in all directions. Electricity sparked across his knees and knuckles.

  Hirohowl's reaction was instant and vicious. He swung toward Kelix with full killing intent. Idalia felt the hatred in the movement. Not the hatred of an enemy. The hatred of a threat to something cherished. Something he thought he owned.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  He slashed at Kelix. Idalia lunged and carved another {Portal} under Hirohowl's front paw. His strike sank into empty air as she warped space. His paw landed in the wrong place and his balance faltered.

  Kelix slid under him and struck again. A bolt of lightning speared into Hirohowl's abdomen.

  Hirohowl roared. The sound cracked the air. He swung blindly. His anger aimed only at the Wanderan boy.

  Idalia felt her stomach twist. Hirohowl had never swung at her with that same savagery. His blows toward her were controlled. His jaws always missing her by a margin too precise to be coincidence.

  He was protecting her. In the most grotesque way possible. Killing anyone who approached her. Especially Wanderans like Kelix.

  He had to stop! Idalia sliced a {Portal} above Hirohowl's head. She dropped a large stone through it. It cracked against his skull. He staggered.

  Kelix blinked. "Nice one."

  "Stay behind me! He's after you!"

  "I can see that!"

  When Kelix bounded forward, Idalia opened three {Portals} at once. The air distorted. The gravity tug twisted the vines around them. Hirohowl resisted with raw muscle and instinct. His feet dug trenches as he fought the pull and his roar vibrated the portals like strained glass.

  He still charged at Kelix.

  Idalia snarled. She threw herself into the fray. Her {Portals} flared and she shifted between them to appear at Hirohowl's flank. She slammed her shoulder into him. The impact rang through her bones. He staggered but did not fall. His tail lashed and shattered a stone.

  Kelix struck again with a bolt of lightning to Hirohowl's neck. Hirohowl turned his wrath on him without hesitation. Idalia saw it again. The pattern. Hirohowl did not strike her with full force. Every attack he sent her way skimmed. Grazed. Threatened but never committed.

  It made no sense. Unless the sense was terrible.

  Hirohowl lunged for Kelix's throat. Idalia snapped a {Portal} open beneath him. His momentum dropped him halfway through a spatial fold. The distortion dragged at him like a whirlpool.

  He fought it with snarls that rattled the leaves. His claws tore at the ground. His body flexed against the warping pull. He resisted more than any creature should have. Of course, it was his Spatial resistance. Something deep in his bloodline. Something primal to all Liorex.

  Idalia flickered behind him through another {Portal} and drove a {Headbutt} into the back of his head. The blow cracked against bone and Hirohowl jerked forward. Kelix streaked past her and drove a lightning fist into Hirohowl's jaw. Sparks scattered through the grove.

  Hirohowl's head snapped to the side. He roared with fury and locked onto Kelix again. His posture shifted low and predatory. His tail stiffened. His shoulders hunched. It was the body language of a hunter that had chosen a target.

  Idalia's heart twisted. He was holding back on her. He was hunting Kelix. Why not her? Why spare her in a fight like this?

  Hirohowl slammed his front claws into the ground. The earth cracked under the force. He inhaled. The air shimmered. The portal beneath him shattered.

  "Kelix move!" Idalia's voice cracked.

  Hirohowl fired an {Atomic Burst}. Kelix dived but the explosion lit the grove in a furious wave. Idalia leapt through two portals in rapid succession and reappeared behind Kelix to shield him. The blast ripped apart trees and sent smoke rolling like a storm tide.

  Steam swirled. Leaves fell like ash.

  Hirohowl emerged with a snarl. His eyes locked again on Kelix. Not Idalia. Never Idalia.

  Idalia's gut churned. Hirohowl was fighting on instinct. His mind clouded. But something inside him was still reacting to her. Protecting her. Twisted. Brutal. Wrong. But real.

  She stepped between him and Kelix. Her portals spun around her like orbiting fangs. Her tail flicked with a warning slice.

  "Hiro. Look at me. Not him. Me! Tell me what you want. Tell me why you keep holding back."

  Hirohowl snarled and shook his head. His breath came in ragged huffs.

  "Mother wants you gone." His voice trembled with fury. "Jawclang was meant to finish it. You would have died if I did not intervene. Do you understand? You would have died. They would have ended you."

  Idalia felt her blood run cold.

  He stepped forward. His claws dug into the earth. His gaze fixed on Kelix with savage hatred.

  "But the Wanderan. He leads you. He tempts you. He pulls you from safety. He must fall. He is the threat."

  "No, Hirohowl! Kelix is my friend. He is not hurting me. You are hurting me. You are hurting all of us!"

  His posture faltered for a breath. His pupils widened. Confusion and instinct clashed inside him like two storms. Again it was gone. His body tensed like a wound spring and he lunged. His claws tore the earth. His teeth snapped inches from Kelix's face.

  Idalia struck first. She ripped two portals open. One at Hirohowl's shoulder. One at his path. She forced them to collide, bending his direction. The pull grabbed him, but his [Spatial Resistance] roared through her technique like a tidal wave. The portal dragged him only a fraction of a step before he ripped free.

  It was enough.

  Hirohowl shook his head. His mane flared like embers. His breath thickened. His claws carved scars into the soil. His {Rage} activated.

  "You bring danger to her," Hirohowl said. His voice was a guttural growl. "You are a Wanderan. You do not belong near her!"

  "You fool," Idalia shouted. "He is trying to save me! You are hurting the wrong people!"

  Hirohowl shook like an animal fighting itself. His tail lashed. His pupils shrank to points. "Mother says the Wanderan boy will corrupt you! Mother says he is a threat! Mother… is never wrong?"

  Idalia growled low in her throat. "Bloombark lied. About me. About my father! About all of it!"

  Hirohowl blinked. His face twitched. Confusion cracked his snarl for a blink. That was when Kelix struck again. A devastating bolt to Hirohowl's jaw.

  Hirohowl turned all at once. His teeth full of murder. His body aimed at Kelix like a spear.

  He charged, and Idalia reacted with primal instinct. Three {Portals} erupted around Hirohowl. One sucked at his shoulder. One at his tail. One at his feet. The gravitational pull dragged him in three different directions. He resisted with brute will. His body strained. His muscles bulged. His claws ripped trenches into the ground.

  He took two steps toward Kelix anyway.

  Idalia roared so loud the trees trembled. Her {Herald's Roar} reverberated through the forest.

  She tore the ground open with a fourth {Portal} and crashed it into the others. Space rippled like a wounded beast. The combined force yanked Hirohowl sideways and slammed him against the trunk of a colossal tree. Bark exploded. The trunk quaked. Hirohowl's fury focused into a single line. Kelix was still the prey.

  Idalia's heart sank. Hirohowl was too far gone.

  Then a voice cracked the sky.

  "Stay back."

  A sonic blast hit Hirohowl's head. The sound rippled through the grove and made the leaves vibrate. Hirohowl staggered. His claws went to his ears.

  Idalia's {Sight} saw her—

  Rhaya perched on a branch above them. Her uniform was shredded. Her hummingbird-like wings vibrated with power. Her smile was fierce. Her eyes glowed with warning as she took in the scene.

  "You kids alive," she called.

  Idalia felt relief like cold water. "Rhaya! Thank the stars!"

  Rhaya jumped down. Her feet landed without a sound. "That Tigranorex is a real problem. Hide behind me."

  "No," Idalia said. "I need to reach him! There is something still inside him. I can feel it."

  Rhaya squinted her eyes.

  Hirohowl rose again. He stared at Rhaya with a look that was sharp and hungry. Wanderan scent must've filled his senses. His instincts twisted. His hatred for Kelix shifted to Rhaya with equal force.

  "You are a Wanderan," he growled. "You are a threat."

  Idalia froze. Her suspicion confirmed itself. Hirohowl was attacking Wanderans because he believed they endangered her.

  Rhaya lifted her hands. "Ida. Kelix. Cover your ears. Move!"

  Hirohowl inhaled. His throat glowed, and a boisterous {Atomic Burst} blasted from his maw.

  Idalia screamed and opened a portal. Kelix yanked her through. Smoke and sound clashed behind them.

  Rhaya's sonic blast collided with the {Atomic Burst}. Sound swallowed fire, followed by an explosion that fizzled and tore apart into floating dust.

  Idalia's expelled her and Kelix to their new destination; Kelix rolled Idalia onto safe ground. His voice was tight with fear. "We need to act! If Rhaya falls like Raurgo we lose everything!"

  "I have an idea." Idalia's eyes hardened. "We combine our power. We force him to stop. If we cannot reach him with words then we fight to protect everyone."

  Kelix stared at her. "Do you think it will work."

  "I know one thing. I will not lose him. And I will not lose either of you."

  Her portals glowed like fresh wounds in the air. Her claws curled. She stepped toward the battlefield with a feral snarl.

  "We end this before he destroys everything."