Taming the Queen of Beasts

We\'re getting close to the end! There will be THREE chapters tonight. Enjoy!

If you like music while you read, try "Game of Survival" by Ruelle. It\'s what I was listening to while writing this!

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GAR

With a roar of confusion, Gar was thrown off his feet, stumbling backward towards Rika as the earth trembled, then shifted and, to his disbelieving eyes, rippling in waves like water displaced and splashed on a lakeshore.

Screams of terror rose as the dirt under them rolled and rocked, throwing human and Anima alike off their feet. The Alpha of the humans bellowed a command, and more than one gun went off, but Gar felt nothing as he came to life, shifting, his beast snapping the bonds on his arms even as they cut into his flesh. He landed on all fours, his paws on the male\'s chest. Like a snake, he buried his fangs in the man\'s neck, then tore it free before the male had taken a single breath.

But the flavor of the man was foul—his blood reeked of decay and tasted of death. Gar\'s beast spat out the mouthful even as the body twitched and gurgled, then he turned, looking for Rika, four legs making him more stable on the rolling earth as the humans and the Anima who hadn\'t shifted, all fell.

The shaking stopped as suddenly as it had come, and as dust rose in the air alongside screams, Gar shifted back to put himself between Rika—on her backside in the dirt—and the rest of the gathering in the circle. But there was no time to ask if she was okay, or to untie her hands. Because the rumble that had shaken their world was suddenly replaced by a roar—bigger and stronger than the sound any Anima had ever made.

Wind buffeted his chest, cold and stinking of death. It tore across the land, carrying stones, dirt, and whipping his hair into his eyes. As he raised an arm to try to protect himself, the wind became voices, shrieking, drowning, groaning, seething.

"The agreement was made!"

"The punishment is final!"

"You are doomed!"

"We are doomed!"

"There is no mercy, no more succor!"

"YOU ARE OURS!"

Screams of pain and horror broke across the plains as the wind began to rip at some, while others stood, staring wildly.

The guard closest to Gar, who\'d just raised his gun when Gar shifted back to human, suddenly began to shake. He dropped the gun and clutched at his own throat, eyes so wide Gar could see the whites all the way around. His fingers dug into his own skin as he screamed, then gurgled as his fingers clawed, then his skin began to… decay.

Gar put his hands back to find Rika, who\'d struggled to her feet, pinning her to his back as all around them, humans—and two Anima—gave horrific screams, their eyes turned black, and their skins went first gray, then began to desiccate.

Shrieking pain and horror, some writhed on the ground in tormented pain, while others twisted, limbs bending the wrong way until their bones popped, as if their skins had suddenly become too small.

Gar watched in dread as all around them, one by one, the soldiers began to choke, drop weapons, scream, then die. The voices whipped through the crowds like wind, the air tearing at faces and throats, ripping hair out of scalps, even dragging one woman head-first into the side of the vehicle before dropping her to the dirt where she turned black and rotted before his eyes.

"No mercy!"

"You ushered our death!"

"No mercy!"

"YOU ARE OURS!"

Suddenly, the earth erupted, pillars of dirt and stone shoving for the sky, then slamming flat, as if a giant\'s hand had slapped them down.

The shrieks in the wind made his head ring and jangled in his bones until Gar could do nothing but clap his hands over his ears and pray.

Rika, pressing herself into his back, her head against his spine, screamed in fear as one of the dirt pillars rose to topple a truck sideways out of the circle, then sank back into the earth.

"OURS FOREVER!" The shriek hit them like a blow. Gar grunted and held Rika to his back, praying she\'d be safe. But suddenly, as if the wind had blown itself out, everything stopped.

Gar stood there, gaping. He could barely see through the dirt and dust in the air that made a cloud as tall as the trees. He coughed, but whirled to find Rika, standing behind him, wide-eyed, and trembling.

Grabbing her arms he held her in place. "Are you okay? Rika, Are you hurt?!"

She shook her head dumbly, staring at the destruction around them, at the sprawled and bloody body of the alpha male, and the dark piles of ash and decay scattered around the circle.

She couldn\'t seem to process at all, so Gar leaped into action, turning her around so he could bite through her bonds, then rubbing the skin of her wrists, squeezing her hands to get the blood pumping them again. Pulling her into his chest, Gar almost wept with relief.

"Are you certain you weren\'t hurt? Are you absolutely certain?"

She clung to him, arms circling his waist, and nodded against his chest. "Gar… Gar… are you okay?"

"I\'m fine, I\'m fine. Holy shit… I\'m fine, Rika."

They held each other, hearts pounding. Gar had one hand on her hair, fisting it, terrified to let her go. The other pulled her into him and he curled his body over her, dry sobs in his throat with the pounding relief that made even his skin thrum.

She was the first to push out of the embrace, but only far enough to peer past his arm at the carnage behind him.

"What the actual fuck," Gar breathed, turning them so they could both look around.

There were still moans and crying. Even outside the circle of vehicles Gar could see bodies and dark stains strewn across the thin grasses, more than one vehicle on its side, and terrified humans and Anima alike, standing, shaking, mouths open in shock and disbelief.

One by one he saw Protectors emerging from hiding places in the backs of equipment vehicles, and from under tarps.

All of them staring and looking at each other.

Gar\'s head buzzed. He couldn\'t think.

It was Rika who blew out a breath, then turned to him, fisting his shirt in her hands.

"Gar! The portals," she gasped. "They did it!"