She could think somewhat clearly, as she believed that the fall from the sky would have left most creatures broken; most wouldn't have survived the impact. Of course, the General shouldn't have the ability to stand. Once upon a time, Quantumoon had treated a patient who had endured a fearsome tumble from a mountain cliff, surviving only because she had repaired their spine.
"I win this fight! You're prey! You're defeated! Now stay down!" Idalia roared into the General's face.
"Stay down, you say?" the Orun General cooed, his voice heavy with mockery. "Sure." The Orun General's eyes burned with fire, a dark orange aura flaring around him. And in a sudden burst, his movements became fluid, flowing like water beneath Idalia's weight.
He twisted, flipped, and rolled in ways she had never expected from a wanderan, only realizing that these were techniques he had honed from decades of dueling dragons. But it wasn't supposed to be this way! He should have been defeated, lying limp and broken at her feet. Instead, he was like a fish slipping through her grasp, each motion defying the very laws of nature she had come to rely on and understand.
Before she could react, the General thrust his knee into her gut, sending her stumbling backward. The wind knocked out of her lungs, she gasped, clutching her abdomen. Despite {Rage} and {Abyssal Veins} fortifying her defenses, the pain radiated deeply through her, reigniting the embers of her anger. He was toying with her, and that thought fueled her resolve.
"You think you can best me, child?" he taunted, rising smoothly to his feet as if her tremendous weight had no effect on him. He adjusted his stance, the firelight of his aura casting flickering flames around his axe. "You are but a beast to be placed on a leash."
Leash? No! With a roar that echoed across the battlefield, Idalia charged again. This time she was determined to end it—this time, her {Rage} was a molten core burning within her, empowering her strength and agility. She leaped, aiming a powerful kick at his chest, but he sidestepped, and she spun around, landing in a defensive stance.
"You need to be taught a lesson," the man said, grinning as he circled her like a predator sizing up its prey. "But your spirit—it's admirable."
"I don't need your praise!" she shot back. "I require nothing from you but your defeat."
His laughter was a low rumble, tainted with arrogance. In an instant, he lunged forward, fingers like claws aimed at her face. Idalia ducked just in time, the rush of air from his swiping hand sending a chill down her spine. She countered with a {Tail Slash} to his ribs, but he absorbed the blow, shifting like the wind.
She could feel the ebb and flow of the battle, the rhythm of his movements impossibly fluid. She barely kept pace even with {Oblivion Sight} active. Each attack he dodged and countered made her more desperate, more fervent. But he had more than experience—he possessed the mastery of the Sinastral, magic woven into his very being. With an incantation whispered under his breath, flames flickered to life around his hands, igniting like the dawn. Idalia's eyes widened in horror as she recognized the impending danger.
Summoning all her strength, she charged. She landed, clinging to his chest and limiting his range of motion. But with a sudden pivot, the General launched himself upward, trying to fling Idalia off him with a whiplash motion. Then, he swung his axe in a broad arc to discard her, only to use his powerful arms to crush her beneath the startling weight of his palm.
It burned!
The smothering strike caused her to spit and gasp as the pain excruciatingly surged through her body. {Health: 83% → 62%}. Idalia writhed beneath the General's hand, a visceral panic clawing at the edges of her psyche. The heat radiating from his palm was oppressive, pushing down on her with an insurmountable weight. But beneath the haze of pain, the searing heat ignited a primal instinct: she was not merely a beast, not a mere beast to be crushed. She was Idalia!
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
{Emotional: 48% → 45%}
{Heart's BPM: 520 → 550 (40%)}
Through sheer determination, she twisted her body, gripping the General's wrist and digging her claws into his flesh. The General's fiery aura flickered unstable for a moment, a glimpse of surprise flashing across his sharp features.
"Foolish girl—" he growled, but before he could finish, Idalia used the leverage of his momentary hesitation to roll to the side, thrusting her legs upward. In one lightning-fast movement, she shot him off her and onto the ground, gaining a brief moment of reprieve. She staggered to her feet, her heart racing, the throbbing pain in her abdomen barely registering over the surge of adrenaline coursing through her.
"What's this?" the General sneered as he pushed himself back up. "A fight from the edge of defeat? You can't—"
Idalia growled, claws digging into the shattered earth, tail lashing violently. She felt the tip of her tail heat up and sharpen into a white-hot bladed edge, slicing through the wind with each swing. She countered with a flurry of claws, teeth, tail slashes, and roars, vibrations shuddering the ground beneath them, sparks flying as her attacks collided with his dark-orange aura.
"You are strong," the General hissed, sweat beading his brow despite his aura. "But I have tamed dragons more fearsome than you! A rare Liorex such as you… would make a prize worthy of my collection!"
Idalia's ears flattened. She snarled, feinting a forward claw strike, and then leapt back, coiling her energy into a calculated trick. The General, confident in his skill, overcommitted to a wide, fiery orange axe swing. Idalia barely roared a {Portal} into existence just in time—a shimmering, jagged opening in the air. The axe cut into it, and in an instant, the swing caught the General's own waist. He stumbled, a sharp scream escaping him as the strike tore deep into his side.
He tried to pivot again, axe swinging to crush her; but misjudged. The inner edge of his blade struck him again, the cut grazing his arm as he barely dodged fully. His eyes widened in shock. "What… what is this? This… cannot be…"
Idalia's tail lashed again, striking with a white-hot edge. The {Tail Slash} did not cut from where she stood; instead, it warped through the {Portal} carved in the air beside her, the tip of her tail nicking the General's shoulder. The man froze as realization struck: he must have deduced that the attacks he had launched were being used against him, countered before they could land. He blinked, confusion and awe battling in his expression. "Impossible… You… you must be a… Microrex?" he said, his guard raised. "A sub-species of Liorex… intelligent, cunning… not just strong!"
Idalia's jaw flexed, a low roar rumbling from her chest, but before she could respond, the mountain-side erupted. A massive Liorex, furred and striped across its scaled back, thundered toward them. Its tail whipped around with devastating force, catching the General mid-swing and sending him crashing skyward into a jagged mountainside.
Idalia's eyes widened as recognition sparked in her mind.
"Hirohowl?!" she shouted, stunned. Her ears flattened, tail lashing in disbelief. The massive Liorex landed beside her, a warrior from the tribe she had left long ago when she snuck away. Relief and alarm warred in her chest.
But then three ginormous portals tore open in the air around her, each shimmering like fractured glass. From them, three more enormous Liorexes stomped out, each radiating raw power and tribal authority. The way they were looking at him—Hirohowl must have been leading them. His muscles coiled, eyes blazing; his maw was ready to grab her.
"Tch! Let's go, Ida!"
"Stop! Leave me alone!" Idalia roared, backing away. "I'm still looking for my father! I don't—don't touch me!"
Her warning barely registered. Hirohowl lunged, teeth bared, aiming to snatch her up like a cub in his jaws.
The Orun General, still dazed from the mountain strike, saw an opening and hurled his axe with all his strength. The spinning blade struck Hirohowl square in the shoulder. The Liorex roared in fury, his pupils narrowing into slits as he turned his ire immediately toward the enemy.
He growled and lunged at the General.
Before Idalia could intervene, Kelix dived down from above, lightning coursing over him as he landed beside the group. The other Liorexes roared and charged straight toward him, their massive bodies shaking the earth with each step.
Idalia's heart slammed in her chest. "No! Stop! Stop! I said STOP!" she screamed, claws digging into the ground as she tried to form a barrier. Her tail lashed wildly, eyes glowing white-hot, but the Liorexes didn't falter. They barreled forward, teeth and claws aimed, and Kelix had no time to react before they were upon him.
The world around her became chaos: the sky still burned with battle, the mountain groaned from the General's impact, and her own Pride—her people—rushed forward, unyielding. Idalia's roar echoed across the battlefield, a desperate, feral sound full of panic, rage, and fear. Her claws flexed, her tail bladed and trembling, and yet, even as she tried to stop them, she knew: this was far from over.
11 chapters ahead [or 5 weeks of reading time ahead of RR]. Book 3 has begun and is also available on Patreon! Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating this week!