The beast turned slowly. Sweat glands that shouldn't even exist soaked its hide from head to toe as it stared back at the boy. The same boy whose chest its claws had just impaled was now standing completely unscathed. For reasons it couldn't comprehend, this wasn't the same human it had crushed seconds ago.
Iyi was radiating an aura that made the ancient predator's blood run cold. It triggered memories of forgotten Wasteland folklore—tales of the seven continental gods of the past.
While the beast stood frozen in terror, Iyi's mouth parted, emitting a voice that didn't belong to him.
"Isn't that beautiful? Even after all this time, my stories still prevail," the entity murmured, its eyes burning pure white like the heavens, hollow and filled with a thousand swirling thunderstorms where lightning cracked like the depths of a hurricane from Olympus. "Well, don't worry, little cub. I'm just a copy of the original; the criminal hosting me seems to have stolen a fraction of my essence. Though I wonder... my original host shouldn't be this weak."
The beast was paralyzed by fear, staring eye-to-eye with a presence telling it that turning its back would mean instant, absolute death. Even more terrifyingly, the entity was effortlessly reading its mind and speaking its native, monstrous tongue—something humans should have been barred from doing due to the Curse of the Unknown.
"Little cub, I do not know of this curse; my era was long before such trifles," the entity continued smoothly, a chilling smile touching Iyi's lips. "However, for not devouring my current host, I shall let you live. Furthermore, your instincts were exquisite. You didn't turn your back, which would have warranted me exterminating you on a molecular level. Since you are merely a cub trying to prove your worth to the pack—and happened to unluckily encounter a god on your first hunt—I will spare you. But you did force me to waste energy healing this utterly useless human host of mine. So, as a tax... I'll take your front leg. Oh, I'm joking, of course. You have no choice."
As lightning violently crackled in Iyi's left hand, a blinding flash erupted. The beast felt a sudden, searing wave of agony. It looked down—its front leg was cleanly gone, vaporized by raw divine pressure. It wanted to scream or roar, but the overwhelming gulf in power choked the sound in its throat. It could only nod frantically for mercy before scrambling away into the brush, knowing nothing had ever held it back from total annihilation before.
When the beast finally vanished into the shadows, the entity controlling Iyi tilted its head up toward the chaotic sky. "Well, since that Michael boy isn't here, I might as well roam and have some fun. Last time I was so close, but he drained all my energy..."
With a massive seismic quake that shattered the earth beneath him, Iyi's body rocketed into the air, flying at incomprehensible, reality-bending speeds.
Far below, hidden in the brush, the mutilated cub trembled, staring up at the streak of lightning and murmuring to itself: "I must find this Michael boy... or that monster will slaughter every single one of my kind."
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Meanwhile, atop a jagged, wind-whipped cliff, a girl's heart hammered faster than she could blink.
Trapped.
Behind her yawned a sheer, five-thousand-foot drop into an abyss of razor-sharp stone and mist. In front of her stood four hostile Emox students, their hands glowing with volatile energy, ready to blast her to ash.
Elizabeth weighed her two grim options. She stared forward, unblinking, as hot blood began to trickle from her eyes, staining her cheeks. Her mind screamed under the crushing weight of her own power, but she refused to break.
"In secrets I keep, in life I confine..."
Her pupils dilated as reality itself began to bend to her will.
"...Ability: CONFINEMENT."