Beastforged Bond

B4 Chapter 20

Aureus was massive. He was both taller and several times longer than the Ferronox Mantis was, yet the Earthheart was not regarded with as much fear as Nox was. If anything, he was eyed with awe and gratefulness.Even though he did not like anyone other than me riding on his back, Aureus knew that his preference was nowhere near as important as the safety of those in need of his protection. Hence, a small army of children rode on his back as he returned to the gathering spot.

Wardens protected the marketplace in the ninth sector, ensuring the civilians could rest a little before they would move to the bunkers in one enclosed group.

But as safe as the gathering spot seemed, it was riddled with dangers. Beasts diverted their attention to the concentrated mass of Worlds, their numbers greater than initially anticipated.

The civilians were frightened to death, their ashen faces gnawing at my consciousness, yet it didn’t appear like their lives were in any more danger. Not once they reached the gathering spot, where their safety was almost guaranteed. In the worst case, the Wardens would sacrifice their lives to protect the civilians. One would think that was enough reason to calm the civilians. Instead, seeing the fear in the eyes of others only seemed to amplify their own fear.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to console them or anything. I focused on the surroundings instead, my eyes drifting across the gathering spot, trying to find Unblemished beasts and worse. When I couldn’t find any Unblemished beast, the defenses were reinforced anyway. Densely compressed walls of concrete grew from the ground, blocking the narrow alleys connected to the marketplace and guarding the wider streets. Meanwhile, Aureus ventured back and forth, his wings carrying him swiftly through the air.

I’m under attack…again.

Aureus growled as he barged into yet another building to come to the rescue of a few more families. Earthen spikes burst from the ground after Paralyze struck the strongest enemies. Not that there were many left who could block his Earthen Aspect.

The beasts were no longer the biggest issue. Humans were. Precisely, the elite units of the active Wardens. They failed to scan Aureus properly and misinterpreted the situation, which led them to focus on him rather than the stronger beasts in the inner sector. And that happened more than once, which was mindboggling to me.

More than enough Masters and Grandmasters had been seen in the last few hours, their focus on the Outsiders and the beasts that seemed to travel alongside them. More lizard-like Outsiders emerged out of thin air and some brought with them Guardian beasts and worse.

One Overlord had been sighted in the third sector, but it was quickly dispatched–after several streets were razed to the ground. It was a terrifying sight from the ninth sector, and I had yet to take a good look at it. All I did was join Aureus on a trip through a large apartment complex after the first elite Warden unit attacked him by accident, but I saw the aftermath of the Overlord battle anyway.

It was hard to tell, but one thing was certain; no matter what the casualty report said, the number would be too high.

Buildings could be rebuilt but the lives lost in the attack would never return. They were gone forever.

I checked on my parents every ten minutes, bombarding them with messages, only to hear back that they were long since in the Zerog’s safe house. I didn’t even know the Zerogs had something like that, but it was a good thing. Safe house sounded…well, safe. Certainly safer than the rest of the Bastion was. Except for the bunkers, maybe.

Putting my worries aside, anger flared up instead when Aureus yelped in pain. Some idiot attacked him and Aureus couldn’t even evade because he had just killed a group of Evolved beasts barging into an apartment with a family of five. Evading the attacks would result in the deaths of the very people they were supposed to help.

Ether pulsed through the weave, explosions erupted from underneath my feet, and gravity loosened as I barreled through the streets. Reaching the ninth sector’s outskirts was an easy feat. It drained unnecessarily much ether, but it only took me a few seconds.

A few more seconds and I found a group of Expert and Master Blessed releasing a series of ether-based projectiles at a building. Part of the building was already blown apart, revealing dozens of beast corpses as well as Aureus, his frame blocking an apartment.

“What do you dipshits think you are doing?!” I snapped, releasing gravity’s full might at the group.

The Experts crumbled in an instant. They didn’t expect the sudden attack and were utterly defenseless as gravity increased by almost ten times. The Masters groaned but prevailed. One even went as far as to gather a beam of black energy. Sensing the familiarity to Ruler Xandrak’s death bolt, I may have lost my reasoning…a little.

Paralyze was the first to hit the Blessed, then came the spike covered in Nullblade. It pierced the beam gathering in his hand and palm at the same time.

A scream tore through the air, but I couldn’t have cared less how he felt. He and his unit injured Aureus first.

“Are you guys fools or do none of you have a brain?!” I roared at the top of my lungs, the deadly glares thrown my way leaving me unfazed. “Not only that, but you’re also stupid enough to endanger civilians as well!”

Aureus used the momentary distraction to collect the family of five. They were hesitant at first but climbed onto the Earthheart’s back after the kids rushed up to him and he didn’t harm them. A few seconds later, Aureus left for the gathering spot.

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I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t get injured!

Aureus exclaimed worriedly.

“You attacked us!” One of the Experts, a woman who appeared to be in her 20s, exclaimed in disbelief as she scrambled back to her feet.

That was only possible because gravity reasserted itself at my command, but the details were not important.

“I protected my Soulkin. Which, for the record, you attacked without reason,” I retorted, ether billowing out of me. It ignited as more and more rage fueled my very being.

“We protected the civilians from a beast!” Another Expert snapped – a man who looked exactly like one would expect a humanoid leech to look.

The Master Blessed were silent at first. One cursed at his wounds, his glare promising death, while the other followed Aureus’ trail. The latter watched everything that unfolded, her expression ghastly pale.

“We forgot to scan it,” she muttered, her voice loud enough for all the Blessed’s enhanced senses to pick up.

“You dipshits call yourselves elite, and you cannot even use your Scanners?” I growled. “What in the Rulers’ Names is wrong with you? You do realize what that means – attacking a Blessed Soulkin without reason – right? Not only is the Council heavily against such atrocious behavior, we are all members of the Warden, which is part of the military. Attacking another soldier’s trusted Soulkin without reason is the equivalent of attempted murder. Especially in an emergency situation, in which the backlash of a Soulkin’s death can easily lead to numerous casualties – the soldier’s death being only one of them.”

My voice grew heavier with every word. It thundered across the sector outskirts.

“We–” The female Expert shook her head, clearly not understanding the seriousness of the situation. Instead of acknowledging her mistake, she pointed a finger at me. “That does not give you the right to attack us! Perus is bleeding because of you!”

Perus, the Master with the death beam, was still glaring daggers at me. But so what?

“You injured my Soulkin first,” I growled deeply. “He is part of me, not only through the soulshare but by right as well. Attacking him means you attacked me.”

For a brief moment, I considered killing her.

Nox would have liked that. His bloodlust oozed out of the bond, and I didn’t rein it in. Instead, it was amplified and poured out of me in waves.

“I could kill you. Maybe I’d be dragged to court, but the Council would have to side with me. After all, you not only attacked Aureus but endangered civilians in the process. Sounds like you guys fucked up pretty badly,” I explained in the calmest voice I could muster, which, at this moment, was not very calm. “Even if we part ways now, you will be dragged to court if this comes out. You will be punished by military law.”

The Expert’s lips parted, but no sound came out. Reality seemed to dawn as the color drained from her face.

“Will you report the incident?” the older woman, the Master, asked. Though pale, she retained her composure. “We are in an extraordinary situation, and it seems the stress got the better of us. We failed to follow proper procedure, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and the pain your Soulkin suffered as a result of our failure.”

That was a lot more than I had hoped for. To be truthful, I wasn’t even sure what I had expected to happen. The anger had just gotten the better of me.

The other Master, Perus, clearly didn’t agree with her, but he looked like he wasn’t used to feeling pain. His emotions were currently in control, just as they had been, and still were, in my own case. Fortunately, Aureus was far more composed. His voice rang in my head, soothing my anger and dispelling it before lecturing Nox for throwing his bloodlust at me.

“Aureus is fine now,” I said after a deep breath. “The death bolt hurt him a bit, but you missed his wings and vital spots. He doesn’t want to pursue punishment, considering you were only trying to help.”

I exhaled deeply and took an even deeper breath to burn through those hateful emotions.

“Using the Scanner isn’t all that hard. Just keep it active at all times in situations like this. Right now, thousands of Soulkins are spread throughout the Bastion, trying to locate and remove our actual threats. Attacking each other, even if only by accident, is something we should avoid at all costs.”

Even as I said that, I turned to leave. My eyes lingered, meeting Perus’ deadly glare evenly.

“Attack Aureus again, and I will kill you.”

With my stance clear, gravity loosened once more, and I dashed back to the gathering spot, leaving the Blessed to tend to themselves.

***

“Why in the Rulers’ Names did you let him leave?” Perus snapped at Maja. “That asshole attacked me and acted like he was in the right! He deserves a good beating!”

Maja, the older Master Blessed, sighed as the tension of the last minutes finally left her body.

“He did not hit your head, did he?” she asked incredulously. “As far as I remember, he only pierced your palm, yet you’re acting like a three-year-old throwing a tantrum.”

Perus couldn’t understand her. Why did she apologize to that kid? The boy didn’t look like he was much older than twenty. Even that didn’t seem quite right. He looked younger, like he had yet to finish growing.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Maja said, her eyes narrowing at him.

Perus met her gaze, anger burning deep inside.

“You really don’t,” she continued, shaking her head as she gestured toward the elite Experts they led. They were shaking like leaves. “Even they understand it.”

“What?!” Perus snapped.

“That we were lucky to survive, you dipshit,” Maja snarled, using the young man’s own words. “Are you blind? Or something? Did you not see how fast he was moving? And what in the Rulers’ Names is wrong with your senses? You have a Death Aspect, yet you couldn’t sense death looming over us? That kid wasn’t scared of us: he was angry. A kid who looked like he could be my grandchild wasn’t scared by us. Not even in the slightest. Two Masters and five Experts. He stared at us like we were already dead to him.”

Then there was the most obvious point: his Soulkin was powerful. It may be a powerful Unblemished beast, but it certainly felt as strong as a Guardian beast

What exactly did that mean for the kid?

He was a Master. A Master who couldn’t be a day older than twenty.

And that bloodlust…

Maja shuddered. She had never really understood why Scions were so special. Sure, they reached the Master rank at a very young age and received a Ruler’s tutelage, but she had thought that was all there was to it.

Clearly, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Scions were much more than talented children.

They were monstrosities.

And so was the kid whose Soulkin they had just attacked.

“We are lucky to be alive, you fucking moron,” she snapped. “How in the Rulers’ Names did you become a Master if you cannot even tell that much?!”