Page 75 of Remnants: Disruption
The elevator beside me dings open and footsteps crash around me. I wiggle just enough to sit up against the wall. It’s hardly an improvement, though, because the dozen newcomers are standing between me and whatever else just entered the battle.
“Where is she?” An unearthly voice hisses the words. It sounds straight out of a cosmic horror flick.
“This does not concern you, beast,” Darkrend’s voice sounds more sure, but I saw the way he’d backed up.
“I saw that,” I cough out, and it seems like the room freezes. “I saw the fear. You’re no god. You’re just a psychopath with a loaded nuke.”
The crowd splits as if they just now realized I’m down here. It becomes suddenly clear that these aren’t just Guild members. Some of them are faces I recognize, but some are definitely outside hires, as it were.
“Focus,” Percy hisses.
“Right, yeah,” I whisper and I finally see them.
The beast.
It’s like a biped wolf with digitigrade legs, a narrowed waist and muscular torso. It–she, I guess, has two visible breasts covered in fur and massive tree trunks for arms. The hands end in dagger-like claws. She has two bat-like wings protruding from her spine.
Her face isn’t exactly dog-like but has aspects of canine features. Two bat-like ears stick through a mane of dark fur, the bangs covering orange, slitted irises. Her nose and mouth, though, are more human. Instead of a snout, she has a slightly protruding nose and lips–like that of a feline. Her facial movements are decidedly human, though. Especially since she’s talking.
She’s beautiful. There’s sincerity in the power that emanates from her. Feral yet regal. Deadly yet protective. Dichotomous identities surround its existence, and one thing is certain—she shouldn’t be here.
Because amongst all the things that the Disruptions brought, creatures like her weren’t amongst them.
“Arya?” The beast’s voice rumbles and has a feminine twang to it.
“Present,” I chirp, shooting the creature a lopsided grin. There’s blood pooling somewhere it shouldn’t. The light has definitely gotten brighter. The humming is back, and I think it’s in my head this time.
“Pay attention,” Percy hisses.
“Sorry,” I say, and blink a few times to ward off the sparks in my vision.
The creature, who I will now term wolf-bat, wastes no time in leaping at Darkrend. To his credit, he doesn’t show the same fear he had moments ago.
Except instead of the creature getting smeared into paste, she lands on the dark knight. Creature and monster go rolling across the shattered room where they land in a pile of fur and metal.
The group of Remnants start forward but seem hesitant.
And it finally clicks why.
Darkrend isn’t using his powers. He’s only using brute strength. Only his exceptional size and strength stop him from being eviscerated by her sharp claws and teeth.
There’s no sign of the power that he’d shown only moments before the creature’s arrival.
As they roll, the wolf-bat gets her feet against Darkrend’s chest. Powerful thighs contract and the armored being flies across the room and through one of the remaining windows.
The relief is momentary, though, as a rift opens again and he steps through. His armor looks whole and intact—like nothing had happened.
“I know who she is now,” Darkrend says. “She won’t be safe.”
“It isyouthat is no longer safe. She is more powerful than all of us.”
“How adorable,” Darkrend’s mocking tone is clear. “You’ve developed a crush.”
The beast snarls and leaps at Darkrend again. He simply snaps his fingers and disappears from reality.
With a mighty snap of its wings, the beast redirects course and lands amongst the group of Remnants.
The first one can’t even scream before the wolf-bat bites into their neck. Something white and sharp shatters and pulls free as the creature reels back, growling in triumph.
