Chapter 422: When the Ground Answered Him

The beast lifted his chained hand—

And never got the chance to strike.

Noctis moved immediately.

One heartbeat, the massive wolf was coiled in behind Sophia—muscle locked, teeth bared, body trembling with restrained violence.

The next, he was airborne.

His jaws slammed into the beast’s raised arm with a sound like splintering bone and tearing flesh.

Noctis’s teeth locked down, hard.

The force of it yanked the beast’s arm sideways, chains screeching violently against the stone floor as the runes flared in sudden, furious light.

Sophia gasped.

Noctis growled around the grip of his teeth, a deep, feral sound that vibrated through his entire frame as he shook his head once—trying to rip the limb free.

The beast gave Noctis a look like he was nothing more than an insect, then laughed.

The sound burst out of him in a sharp, breathless bark of amusement.

"That will not do anything to me, and you know that."

But Noctis didn’t release him. He didn’t give up. Instead, he dug in deeper.

His claws scraped violently against the stone as he braced himself and pulled—muscles standing out beneath his fur, shoulders locking as he dragged the beast’s arm back with brutal, relentless force.

Sophia’s breath caught painfully in her throat.

The chains screamed.

The runes along them flared brighter—angrier—burning red and gold in erratic pulses.

The beast’s laughter faltered just slightly as his eyes widened in pain and something dangerously close to shock.

Noctis growled louder, the sound ripping from his chest as he twisted his head again and pulled.

It was slow and agonizing, but the beast’s arm began to tear away.

The flesh stretched unnaturally.

Tendons snapped.

The sound made Sophia’s stomach roll.

The beast snarled now—no longer amused by what he perceived as Noctis’ weak attempt.

He yanked his other hand up violently, chains clanking as he swung it toward Noctis’s skull in a savage, desperate strike.

Sophia caught sight of the movement and reacted without thinking. She immediately took one of her daggers and threw it in a clean, brutal arc.

It buried itself straight into the beast’s eye.

The howl that tore out of the beast was inhuman.

It ripped through the cave as Sophia moved again.

Her short swords were in her hands before the echo of his scream finished rebounding off the walls.

She lunged forward and drove one blade straight into the beast’s remaining arm.

She wasn’t going to let the beast hit Noctis—not while she was here. Immediately, she drove a blade into the beast’s arm, and the runes on the chain exploded in blinding light.

The beast convulsed violently as the blade punched through flesh and buried itself deep.

As Sophia tried to take off the beast’s arm, Noctis didn’t let go of the arm his teeth were latched onto.

With a final, thunderous growl, he tore the arm free.

The sound of it coming loose was nauseating, wet, and horrible too.

Noctis stumbled back a step under the sudden shift of weight—and then spat the severed arm onto the stone floor.

It hit with a heavy, sickening thud.

His teeth were slick with blood, but Noctis raised his head and growled at the beast.

Blood poured down the beast’s face and shoulder.

One eye destroyed.

One arm gone.

One arm pinned uselessly by Sophia’s blade.

And yet—

The sound he released next made Sophia’s skin crawl.

It was a sound Sophia was sure she had never heard before. It was a vibrating, distorted cry that slid beneath the skin and pressed into bone.

It was a mix of a hiss and something like a growl from a Skylur. It was like a combination of sounds from different beasts, and the sound grated on Sophia’s ears.

Sophia cried out and dropped to one knee, both hands flying to cover her ears.

The sound was layered.

And threaded through with something that felt horribly deliberate.

Like a call.

And perhaps Sophia wasn’t the only one who noticed, because just then Noctis threw his head back and howled loudly.

The sound tore through the cavern—powerful, furious, and unmistakably a signal.

A call to the pack members there. A warning about what was to come.

The beast’s voice twisted around Noctis’s howl, weaving through it.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut.

Her heart hammered violently against her ribs.

And then—

It stopped.

Abruptly.

The beast’s cry cut off.

Noctis’s howl died with it.

Silence crashed down into the cave so suddenly it rang in her ears.

The ground beneath her palms trembled.

Just faintly.

Sophia lifted her head slowly and pulled her hands away from her ears.

Her breathing was shallow.

Uneven.

The beast was still where he was, the same way he was some minutes before.

Bleeding. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His lips parted.

And then he began to laugh.

The sound burst out of him in ragged waves as his shoulders shook and blood ran freely down his chest and across the glowing chains still embedded in the stone.

The laughter grew louder.

Wilder.

The floor vibrated as he laughed, like something was coming—and it wasn’t just one.

Sophia’s eyes widened slowly. She had no idea what was going on and was even more confused. Could it be that the beast had called others too? Other beasts?

The beast tilted his head back, laughter echoing violently around the cave as the trembling continued.

His remaining eye slid back to her, and Sophia noticed the feral glint in it.

"You truly believed..." he rasped through laughter, "...that you could stop me?"

Sophia froze.

Her chest felt hollow.

Her limbs felt distant.

"You should never have been born."

The cave shook again.

Stronger.

The runes beneath his chains flared violently, sending erratic pulses of light crawling along the floor.

"You never should have come into this world. But you did, and now it’s your fault. You are not leaving this place alive. I will make sure you rot and pay you back for even daring to hurt me. You will hate the day you came into this world. You will hate the day you stepped foot into this world. I will make sure of that."

The words struck her harder than the vibration.

He smiled.

Blood coated his teeth.

"You were never meant to survive this long. Others like you have died, and you would be no different. This place—this cave—will be your deathbed," he told her.

Sophia could not move.

Could not breathe.

Could not tear her gaze away from the single remaining eye locked onto her.

The laughter rose again while Sophia stood rooted in fear. This was worse than what she felt when she noticed the beast. This one was rooted in her bones, and she feared for everyone who was currently here.

And because she was so fixated on the beast, she didn’t even realize when Noctis shifted.

Didn’t see the blur of fur and shadow collapse inward.

Didn’t hear the rush of breath nor the cracking of bones—and neither did the beast.

Until a sword flew past her and struck the beast’s chest.

Sophia’s eyes widened in shock as the beast turned in shock too, both now looking at Orion, who looked bored—but Sophia knew he was annoyed.