Kai had seen these creatures before. His uncle Haygan had the ability to transform into a shuk, but this was not his uncle. Kai was unsure what to do. Remembering his uncle’s words to be brave, he stood his ground and waited.
Angrily, the shuk leader growled and barked. Thunder reverberated in its voice. It snarled once more, mere inches from Kai’s face.
Kai stood firm and showed no fear. The creature tilted its head and seemed to study Kai’s posture, then it began to circle Kai and Rayna. Kai stood firm. The entire group fell silent, waiting to see what it would do. It made a slow circle and then came to stand next to Kai. “So, I have a friend among the Guardians?”
You do—Kai heard a familiar voice in his head. Ryker. To Kai’s great relief, the shuk that was Ryker stepped forward, crouched, and snarled at the other Guardians.
“Thank you for standing with me,” Kai whispered as he carefully watched the remaining Beastmasters consider the shift.
Then the eagles screeched from their perches on the nearby rocks as another eagle swooped in behind Kai. Its gold wingtips caught the sun’s rays trickling through the treetops—Sabastian.
Kai dared not breathe. Ryker and Sabastian joining his ranks evened the odds a bit, but they were still outnumbered, and he did not know what to expect. He pulled Rayna to her feet, and she drew the short sword from her hip.
Delicate fog rolled around them. “Weathervanes—of course, they are here,” Kai sighed.
Just as he processed the arrival of the fog, vines twisted and crept in their direction. Rayna lashed at the vines, cutting each as they reached out. “The Kodama are here too!”
The bear roared and charged. Beast against beast, the Beastmasters clashed together.
Creatures lunged. Kai slashed, kicked, and punched anything that came near. Rayna stood at his back. She slashed at vines that snaked across the ground. Several wrapped around the hind legs of the shuk on their side. Rayna hacked them away. A few pulled at her, dragging her from the group. She fought back and scurried back inside the circle of wolves.
Ryker fought in beast form and attacked another shuk. The wolf pack snapped and bit at the other animals if they came close. The alpha clamped his jaws around a leopard and shook its head violently left and right. Dazed, the leopard limped away. The other wolves grabbed at a shuk outside their circle and tore apart chunks of flesh. Rayna screamed in terror as the animal yelped in pain.
Ryker, the larger shuk, swatted his meaty paw at another shuk, sending his opponent to the ground. The black beast snapped its jaws around the neck of the bear. It pinned the raging bear to the ground, and the bear tried to scrabble for freedom with its massive claws.
An eagle flew and pecked in Kai’s direction, swinging its talons around to claw at Kai’s face. Kai ducked and swung his sword behind his head. The blade sliced through its wing. The poor bird slumped to the ground, screeching in pain. Right before his eyes, the eagle changed back into a man. Dumbfounded, the man clutched at his detached arm and fled into the fog.
The golden tips of Sabastian’s wings glided around them. With precision, he dropped his eagle form, landed on another guardian, punched him in the skull and flew away. Davi was right, Kai thought, the man has impressive control over his change. He was glad Sabastian was on his side.
Smoke charged a leopard. Smoke was clawed across the snout and yelped in pain, but then he attacked again, biting the side of the leopard. Kai watched this unfold and furiously ran his sword through the leopard’s hind leg and kicked him. It yelped and hobbled away.
More eagles darted at their heads. Kai pulled the silver throwing stars from his belt with his free hand and flung them one after the other. Each star struck a bird: one in the shoulder and one in the lower leg. They flew away haphazardly.
Anger welled in the pit of Kai’s stomach. The guardians had pushed and pushed. This was more than the usual Conhaspriga, more than the usual rite of passage. This was not fair. He yelled out, “STOP! ENOUGH.”
Kai bowed his head and dropped to his knees. The lead shuk growled at the others to step away. Smoke and the alpha closed in around Kai and Rayna. “You’ve done enough. Do you honestly mean to kill us?” Kai spat. “I never wanted to hurt any of you. This is not what our rite of passage was meant to be—a deathmatch. It was meant to test our spirit, our determination, and test our fears. You’ve gone too far.”
The remaining beasts growled in response. Furious, Kai dug deep and connected to the energy emanating within his spirit, but he needed more. A pressure built in his chest. He drew on the lifeforce around him, the magic blossomed. From the air, he pulled, and Kai felt the void created by the Lumens bend. Before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out to every living thing—plants and animals alike. The grass under his knees wilted. The animals in front of him shuddered and stepped back. He felt the power he collected amplify within his soul. It felt powerful.
Livid, Kai slammed both fists into the ground, and with it, he channeled all his fury. A blast of light-filled energy emanated outward, momentarily blinding everyone. The bear, shuks, leopards, and eagles fell to the ground—not as animals, but as men and women. Women fell from the trees wrapped in vines and covered in moss. The Lumen’s blackout magic dissipated. The injured clutched at their bloody wounds. Dumbstruck, they stared at him in awe.
“GO!” Kai roared, he felt exhilarated by the rush of magic. “Tell your chiefs and your unie that we are coming to Katori. We will not
