The Rebirth Of The Beast Tamer

"Now!" she screamed. Kelvin felt the urgency and pushed deeper into the bond with Xerion. The fire that was inside the beast that surged into him was burning his veins with shared mana.

His vision was blurred, while the edges were glowing with searing light and together, they channeled everything into one strike.

The weapon with a sharp pole flared as Kelvin leapt, Xerion's flame roared around him. When he came down he landed on the Alpha's exposed ribs, cleaving deep into its necrotic chest. For the first time, the beast howled in genuine pain and its core flickered.

But it didn't fall, it thrashed wildly, snapping its jaws around Rhoam and pinning the armored panther to the ground. Rhoam roared with its claws gouging at its neck, but the Alpha's weight pressed inexorably down.

Darius's heart was seized, as he screamed. "No.... Rhoam!" He threw every sealing gem he had left and streams of blue light slammed into the Alpha's chest, halting the necrotic fire from flaring fully. His body felt a shook from the strain while blood was dripping from his nose.

The Alpha bore down. Rhoam's armor cracked further. One more second and he would be split in two.

Then Xerion dove, The End-Tyrant leapt with impossible speed, fire vortex was ignited as he clamped his jaws around the Alpha's throat. Black flame erupted, searing through necrotic flesh, the cavern was shaking with the force of it.

Salaris was battered but unbroken, she screeched from above, its wings was unleashing a cascade of shadowflashes. Each burst blinded the Alpha further, its roars was breaking into ragged screams.

Kelvin, his chest on fire from the overload, pushed forward with one last strike. His glaive drove deep into the beast's spine, meeting Darius's panther crashed it upward with a bone breaking out.

The Alpha convulsed. Its ribs was cracked with necrotic flames spilling into the cavern in a wave of dying embers. With a final and a loud roar, it collapsed with its body disintegrating into black ash.

The Crest stood among the ruin, panting, battered and nearly broken and from the corpse, a single relic remained with a necrotic fang, that was glowing faintly with cursed light.

For a long moment, there was only silence. The cavern was still filled with the flames, its walls cracked and trembling from the collapse of shadow and fire.

The Alpha's corpse had burned away into ash, only a jagged fang was left behind, which was blackened, yet glowing faintly with necrotic green fire.

The skeletal totems that had once rattled with its awakening now sagged limply, their cracked Veilstones was dimming as though the cavern itself exhaled one final breath.

Kelvin staggered first. He dropped to his knees, his spear clattered beside him. Every vein in his body still burned from the overload he had shared with Xerion.

His chest rose and fell like a bellows with sweat flowing down his face. Through the bond, he felt Xerion's agony with torn scales, cracked talons and flame core that was guttering low.

"Easy," Kelvin whispered loudly, his hand was pressing against the End-Tyrant's jaw. "Easy, brother. We are still breathing. That is enough."

Xerion growled low, with a sound that sounded both determined and pained. Black fire flickered along his scales, but it released a spit weakly, as though the beast could barely contain it.

Across the cavern, Lyra leaned heavily against Salaris. Her raven's feathers were burned and singed, several quills broken, but his eyes were still burned sharp and protective. Her own arms trembled from overuse with the fingers raw from carving shadow runes into the air.

The last spell, which was the one that had bound the Alpha's limbs was still haunting her fingertips, the sigil's strokes was echoing with memory. Elara's hand was guiding hers and her sister's laughter was fleeting as shadow.

Lyra bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She forced her mind away from the memory, but it clung to her like tar. That was her magic. I used what I swore I had never touch again.

Darius sat hunched against Rhoam's side. The panther panted heavily with thick armored plates that was split along his flank and ichor was seeping from the cracks.

Darius pressed on while sealing gems against them one by one, his teeth was tight as he channeled a stabilizing energy. Every surge left him weaker, with blood dripping freely from his nose. His own body was close to breaking.

Kelvin finally pushed himself up, every muscle was screaming. He looked at his companions, at the battered beasts, the exhausted faces and for the first time in days, doubt gnawed at him.

"We should have died here," he muttered. "No." Lyra's said , though he voice was cracked, but her eyes were fierce. "We lived and that is all that matters."

Her gaze shifted to the fang that was lying among the ash. It pulsed faintly, like a heart that was still beating after death. None of them moved toward it.

"It is cursed," Darius said. His hand was still rested on Rhoam's side, steadying the beast's breath. "Look at it, it is drinking in the light."

He was not wrong. The cavern flames was bent subtly toward the relic and their warmth was drawn into its black surface. The necrotic fire that was within its core that refused to die.

Kelvin crouched slowly, picking up his spear. The blade was filled with spiderweb fractures running down its edge from the overload. He tested its weight, still usable, but its balance was gone. He swallowed the frustration and turned toward the relic.

"Even cursed things can be forged into weapons," he said. "If this can help us against the Hollow…" Lyra shook her head sharply. "And what if it corrupts you before then? Haven't you felt enough rot in your veins already?"

Kelvin's hand drifted unconsciously to his chest, where the fire bond with Xerion had seared him. He had felt the necrotic roar that threaten to snap it, he felt his own body burning as he forced their powers together. He could still taste ash at the back of his throat.

But when he looked at the fang, he didn't see corruption. What he saw was survival. "We nearly died here," he said quietly. "Next time, it won't be enough to fight harder. We will need every edge we can take."

There was silence in between them. Finally, Darius exhaled through his teeth. "Then at least let me bind it. If you keep it raw, it will break you in days."

He reached into his park and pulled out an unmarked soulstone gem that was dull and unlit. He pressed the fang against it, muttering a sealing incantation.

Threads of necrotic light moved into the stone, the fang was glowing until it settled, although it was pulsing, but quiet, as though muffled.

Darius swayed when it was done while Rhoam growled, nudging him upright. "Better," the panther's presence rumbled faintly through the bond.

Kelvin nodded in thanks, though he knew how much energy that had cost Darius. "We will keep it until Master Mealin can study it. If it is a poison, we will throw it into the Hollow ourselves."

"Or," Lyra said softly, with her gaze lingering on the shadows the fang that cast against the walls, "it will lead us there."

The cavern stretched deeper beyond the Alpha's lair, the walls were narrowing into a tunnel slick with black moss. Reluctantly, they pressed forward, their steps were uneven but wary.

It wasn't long before they found it. The shrine, which was carved from bones that were stacked high into spiraling pillars, the structure sat at the heart of a wide chamber.

Every skull in its design was faced outward, with empty sockets watching with silent hunger. Veil runes were carved into their crowns, which was pulsing faintly. At the base, a pit smoldered with necrotic fire that was feeding from veins of corrupted stone beneath the floor.

Kelvin felt his stomach twist. "This is not the beast's den. This was made." Lyra's hands clenched at her sides. She could read the runes more clearly than either of them. Her shadows whispered their meaning even before her lips spoke it.

"Servant of the Hollow," she murmured. "The Alpha was not wild. It was… bound." Her voice was broken though it was softer now. "The same sigils Elara saw on the cultists the day they…"

She didn't finish. Darius's eyes was hardened, the firelight glinting against his sealing gems. "The cultists bred it, trained it and all was to keep the road hidden. If this is their strength now…" He trailed off with his jaw clenching.

Xerion hissed with a low tone and flame was curling around his teeth. Salaris shifted uneasily, with its feathers bristling as if even his shadow-form wanted to flee. Rhoam pressed his bulk against Darius's side, he was silent but was grounding.

Kelvin forced himself closer to the shrine. The runes crawled against his skin and it was itching like a wound that is reopening. His spear pulsed in response, as though the weapon itself sensed the Power that was embedded here.