"CHAINS MAY BIND THE BODY, BUT NEVER THE BEAST." Silver-Maned Beast Being Proverb.
Peirce and Node tore through the ancient Forest of the Giants, their boots slapping against the damp ground, breath ragged in their throats. Behind them, a monstrous growl shattered the silence like thunder, the sound of snapping jaws echoing far too close.
"Remind me again why I'm the bait?!" Node wheezed, panic laced through every word, his arms flailing like an uncoordinated scarecrow.
"Because you're the faster runner!" Peirce shot back, leaping over a fallen log, his eyes locked ahead, jaw clenched with grim resolve.
"Faster! How?! And I don't regenerate like you two do!" Node shouted. "Why not toss only yourself into the woods and call it a distraction?!"
Peirce huffed. "Just because I heal fast doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when something bites my spleen!"
The forest blurred around them—gnarled trunks stretching into the mist like crooked sentinels, branches overhead clawing the sky like skeletal hands. The air was thick, heavy with the scent of moss, damp soil, and something sour—something wrong.
Then, without warning, the trees parted to reveal a yawning cliff. The two skidded to a halt for half a second—just long enough to see death behind them—and leapt into the void.
The monster lunged.
Its massive jaws clamped shut with a deafening CRACK, mere inches from their boots.
Peirce and Node hit the opposite ledge like sacks of rocks, tumbling across the rocky surface, limbs flailing. Peirce groaned. Node swore.
From above, a familiar voice cooed with wicked amusement.
"What a bummer," Sniffia's mother said, standing on the cliff edge, arms crossed, eyes twinkling along with the four bulky boys and two little girls silently watching the drama unfold. "There go my daughter's boyfriends. Should've brought flowers instead of feet."
The teenaged boys blinked up at her, bruised but alive. Both were shirtless, slick with sweat, their muscular chests heaving as they caught their breath. Peirce, with his wild bushy hair sticking out in every direction, stood a little taller than his companion. Node's bare torso gleamed with grit and effort, his impossibly long hair folded over one shoulder like a silken whip.
Peirce grinned.
"Chai," he whispered.
With a dramatic flourish, Peirce scooped Node into his arms and sprang from the pit like a stage hero, landing directly in front of Sniffia's mother with a bow.
She arched an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "I knew you wouldn't die that easily."
Node wriggled free of Peirce's arms, brushing dirt off his pants. "Next time, I carry you," he muttered, then straightened his long hair with a fold, his eyes glowing with odd fire.
"This time… I see them so clearly."
Peirce blinked. "Who are they?"
"My ancestors, of course," Node said, dead serious. "Every time I nearly die, I see them—reaching out from the beyond, calling me home. But I keep slapping their hands away." He cracked his knuckles. Everyone blinked in confusion. "Enough running. Enough being bait. What did they say? An angry man is a hungry man?"
He looked at them like a leader now, his gaze sharpened, voice rising. "We know what she will become when the eclipse hits tonight. So let's catch them monsters!"
He raised his fist in the air.
"As the one and only cook in the world, I will prepare them… just for her!"
All of the boys shouted in unison, fists raised high:
"For Sniffia!"
"For Big Sister!"
---
Elsewhere in the ruins…
Sniffia strained against chains that pulsed with ancient energy, silver links biting into her wrists and ankles. Her breathing was ragged, eyes burning with fury and fear. Her transformation loomed just beneath her skin—muscles twitching, veins glowing faintly with moonlight.
She recognized the chain. It was just like the one they used to capture Jared during their conflicts with the Expats of her kind at the Inhumane's territory.
Lazarus stood beside her, expression caught between pity and duty.
"Sorry, kiddo," he said quietly, adjusting the chains. "Your mother made the call. Tonight's the last full moon of the eclipse era. It's tradition. This is your first full change… and if we don't do it this way—"
"It could be bad," Sniffia finished, voice low. "For everyone."
Lazarus nodded grimly. "You don't want to see what you'd become if you fought the moon's pull. Neither do we. Trust me—none of us want our guts handed to us like a dinner platter."
Sniffia's snarl softened into a faint smile. "I get it. I do."
But even as she said it, the light in her eyes flickered—an unstable pulse of something ancient, something untamed. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"But I can feel it, old man. The change. It's already here."
And somewhere beyond the chamber's cracked stone walls… something groaned.
---
A shimmer of moonlight cut through the jagged cracks in the stone ceiling. Dust floated like soft fireflies. Then a low rumble—hoofbeats?—echoed through the ground beneath Sniffia's chamber.
Lazarus looked.
Dante stepped from the shadows, leaning casually against the doorway. His dark suit was torn at the sleeve, scuffed with travel and conflict, but his face was calm as ever.
His eyes flicked to Sniffia.
Her body was tense and trembling in the grip of the chains. Her squinting, venomous yellow eyes met his briefly—burning with a mixture of fear, rage, and something primal. So, this was the girl. The infamous Beast being who had pulled off nearly impossible missions alongside Jared. Dangerous. Clever. Caged like a myth waiting to explode.
And now, on the verge of her first full transformation, she looked less like a prisoner… and more like a storm being held back by a thread.
Dante felt something strange stir inside him—a respect rooted in awe. She wasn't just a warrior. She was a warning.
"She's slightly glowing. That normal for a Beast being?" he asked.
"Define normal," Lazarus muttered, tightening the last of the chain locks with a metallic click. "You weren't supposed to be in here. You should be with them."
"I was supposed to be fast enough," Dante said with a smirk. "And besides, the children are all safe. What is the door made up of? It was very strong. I believe it won't even purge if I gave it my all."
"That's Dinosaurium. Believed to be the strongest metal in this world."
"Ooh…" Dante looked out to the moonlight as shadows of black clouds almost covered it. "When will they come around? You know she needs something to kill. When she changes, her instincts will take over."
"We will wait," Lazarus said.
Dante looked at him.
"Hmmm. Given your character and how I was told about you, I thought you'd be fun to be with." Lazarus scoffed but said nothing.
Another presence stirred beyond the chamber—a low, thundering breath and the soft clatter of hooves on stone. The walls trembled as a horned silhouette appeared in the arched entrance: not the monsters of the forest, but a Kirin.
Daisy-colored flames licked its mane, and its eyes were bright with knowing.
Sniffia looked at it. Her pupils dilated.
Pamela dismounted, armor glinting with the blue of starlight, ready for what was to come. Her two different-colored irises fierce, her long hair braided with bone and thread. She stared at Sniffia like one sees a myth return to life.
"The stories about the first turn of the Silver-Maned Wolf. I've heard of it. It's like a rampage—like all hell loose," Pamela said softly. "I'm prepared. So is she."
Lazarus exhaled through his nose. "Right. That's comforting." He looked at Dante. "Why exactly did two of you come here all the way from the Humane Kingdom?"
Dante crossed his arms. "We came here because of the boys—actually, not all the boys. The Aurora clan boys. Like those children with huge bodies and red hair," he said, cutting to the chase. "Back at the Humane Kingdom, the Aurora clan had a fight. Their males invaded our kingdom all because of vengeance against the Female Aurorae clan. The princess knew something was wrong. The elders of the Female Aurora sensed it too—when the traditions began shifting… when the full-blooded male Aurorae were being traded for diamonds."
Lazarus groaned, his focus returning to Sniffia.
Dante nodded. "We weren't the only ones sent. Luna—the personal bodyguard of the princess—was supposed to arrive with two of her sisters from the Aurorae clan."
As if summoned, a shadow fell across the chamber entrance. Three towering women strode in behind the Kirin, their red hair blazing like wildfire, armor etched in glowing symbols.
Luna stepped forward. "Where are my brothers?" she said, her voice a whip crack. "The tradition of selling our men to bounty hunters is done. We've come to take them back."
"Oh, they've come. What took you guys so long?" Dante said.
Sniffia's chains pulsed again—brighter, louder, alive. Luna tilted her head slightly, staring at Sniffia.
Thinking, what exactly is going on here?
The full moon finally peeked behind the clouds.
Lazarus turned slowly, the tension winding tight in his spine. "Then you all better stand back. Because if she breaks these chains when she turns…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
The Kirin growled.
Everyone was on alert.
Lazarus muttered under his breath, "Thank goodness we are all warriors with some experience… I think this will end good…" He groaned in his thoughts. "What is taking Cutest this long?"
Sniffia's body arched—moonlight pouring from her veins.
And somewhere far above,
the sky howled with her.