“Great.” I climbed closer to my brother’s perch. “So we’re dealing with necromanced goats. The bonus is they can’t be that smart. I think the artificial one is the gatekeeper. I’m suggesting one of us makes a racket at one end to lure the goats away from this immediate area, and the other two tackle the gatekeeper. I’m volunteering for gatekeeper duty.”
“Fine,” Danny answered. “I knew handling the goats would be my job the moment we laid eyes on them. I’ll make my way over to the very right edge of their ledge.” He motioned to the far side of the rocky face we were on. “When the diversion comes, you’ll know it.” As he moved, all the goats eyed him. Every so often one of them would stomp a foot and give a scary bleat. It sounded like an old woman being murdered.
“We need to climb closer so we’re ready,” Tyler said as he started up the wall.
“Don’t get too close,” I said. “We don’t want them to take an interest in us if we can help it.”
“It’s too late for that, sis,” Tyler grunted as he hoisted himself higher. “Selene isn’t stupid. If a threat makes it this close to her lair, she’ll be ready for multiple attacks at one time. I just hope Danny can herd most of them to his side so we only have to deal with a few.”
Right as Tyler finished talking a giant goat shambled over to us, angling its head down to bellow a warning. This one sounded ten times as loud, its eyes blazing a wicked red. It was massive. I wondered for a moment if coming back from the dead meant you put on extra pounds. Surely goats weren’t this big in the wild.
“I wonder if it can shoot lasers out of its eyes,” I said half kidding, half not. “Selene can shoot red lines out of her fingers—if her spells manifest themselves here in a tangible state, why couldn’t she make it work in the goats?”
“Jesus,” Tyler sputtered. “Quit talking crazy shit. If she could make something like that happen, powerful witches all over the world would be holding up banks with dead animals.”
“Well,” I chuckled. “It was just a thought.” The goat bleated at us again and I cringed. “Not every witch is as powerful as Selene. I’m pretty sure a young witch can’t shoot physical spells out of her fingers. I’m certain Marcy can’t do it, but I don’t know about Tally. I’ve never laid eyes on her.”
“Witches are tricky,” Tyler answered. “I bet some of them can, but don’t want the supernatural community to know. It would make them seem like a bigger threat. Selene prances around like she doesn’t give a crap about anyone else in the world. But that’s about to change.” Tyler’s eyes shot amber. “I’ve had enough of this and I’m ready to go home.”
“Amen,” I replied. The angry goat stomped its hoof at us, like it knew what we were saying. This one wasn’t going anywhere, no matter how much noise Danny made on the other side.
There was more bleating to the right. “Come on, you bloody beasts! Come and get me.” A huge crash exploded against the mountainside. “Huh? You don’t like that, do you? But I don’t care. Here’s another.” There was loud thunk and one of the goats toppled over the edge, emitting a scary yowl on the way down.
“Is he trying to stone them to death?” I asked. My head was down because I was climbing quickly, but it sounded like rock on rock with an occasional rock on putrid flesh. “Come on,” I urged, catching up to Tyler. “Hurry.”
“Ow!” Danny yelled. “The bloody horns are sharper than a blade.” Another goat flew over the edge. His diversion was certainly a ruckus, but as we climbed closer, less than half had followed the noise. Another third were focused on us, and the rest stood by the artificial one, defending what I was sure was the entrance. There was a strangled howl and my head shot to Danny. “Their horns have some kind of spell on them,” Danny gurgled in pain. “Don’t touch them. My arm is losing feeling quickly.” He clutched his arm right above the elbow.
“Dammit,” Tyler muttered. “Stay away from their horns, Jess. I have to get Danny before they gore him to death.” Before I could voice my concern, Tyler vaulted onto the goat ledge, immediately shouldering two large beasts over the side. He stayed low, using his preternatural speed.
Tyler, in his wolf form, was faster than any other. It was his extra gift. He was also incredibly fast in human form. Three others went over the side. Remarkably, all the remaining goats started to follow him, snorting and bleating their rage. They were slow, so they were easy to dodge. Tyler made his way to Danny, who was still busy trying to stone them with rocks thrown with one arm.
Was this really Selene’s last defense? We had to be missing something. The goats were scary enough, but not crazy deadly. This would have been the right place for a winged devil attack. We would’ve been picked over like carrion.
We have to stay vigilant. This can’t be all she has. My wolf growled in agreement, her eyes darting around, taking in everything around us.
I pulled myself onto the ledge carefully. Not wasting any time, I beelined for the stationary goat. It still hadn’t moved an inch, but all its guardians had followed Tyler. As I moved closer I could see it wasn’t alive in any form.
It’d never been a real goat.
Now the question—was it a mirage or something I had to defeat to get inside? What do you think it is? My wolf barked and scratched at the ground. I sampled the air again. The smell of decay was stronger on the ledge, but there was also a hint of warning in the air. It made my stomach churn, like I’d ingested something nasty. What do we do with it? I asked my wolf. She was up at attention, ears back, teeth bared. She didn’t like it either. She flashed a picture of the goat morphing into something else when I put my hands on it. I need to touch it? She batted the empty wooden box into view. I understood. We would gather power to ourselves and try and break whatever magic was inside the goat. Selene’s last ward. Once it was gone, the opening to her lair should be clear. It wasn’t an excellent plan, but it was enough. Okay. Here it goes.
We both concentrated on channeling the power inside us, the same power we’d reabsorbed after the bubble broke. I finally understood that my power was never in the box; it lived somewhere inside me, situated deeply. In the future I had to learn to call it up quicker, but for now I closed my eyes and focused on grabbing it with everything I had, like sucking on a gigantic straw.
Power began to materialize in my psyche.
I could see it. It manifested like bright gold ribbons floating in my mind. I realized as I saw it that my power signature must be gold. The power swirled until all I could see was bright golden sunlight in my mind. Fur sprouted along my arms; my muscles shifted under my skin. My Lycan form was strong, as strong as it could be. I think we’re ready.
An angry bleat sounded from right behind me.
Shit! We’ve got company. Its breath hit the back of my neck like stinky swamp ass. I’d been too preoccupied to notice one had ambled over.
“Jess, look out!” Tyler yelled.
“I got it,” I called, my voice gravelly once again as my neck morphed. Power swirled around me, inside and out. I didn’t wait to see what the goat was going to do. I bent at the waist and locked one hand into the ground. I dug my claws into the rocky floor and pivoted on my arm, bringing my body and legs around in a blur. My feet connected with the side of the mangy freak of nature hard, sending it flying backward. Straight off the cliff. It bleated its anger and surprise, its red eyes sparking evilly right before it dipped over the side. It was a massive animal, but its weight didn’t even register in this form.
This is too easy, I said to my brother in my mind. Selene wants us here. She’s got the death goats on a level two danger attack, not a level ten. If they were level ten they could probably spit venom.
We still have to watch it, Jess, my brother replied. It looks like she wants us in there, but these goats could be masking something else lurking just behind. A stupid diversion.
Is Danny okay? I asked.
I think so, but I’m not sure. The spell seems to be moving slowly.
Right then I heard Danny swear and yell, “You aren’t going to keep me down, you bloody bastard!”
I turned my attention turned back to the inert goat. My brother was right. This gatekeeper could be a ticking time bomb. We have to move fast, I said to Tyler. Once I insert my power into this thing, all hell could break loose. Which was likely inevitable. The final showstopper. I just hoped the calamity would be contained to me and not destroy the entire mountainside.
I extended my arm slowly.
Get ready, I told my wolf and my brother at the same time. My wolf gave a bark ending on a snarl. She had no idea if this would work either, but it was the best we had. My fingers brushed the side of the goat and once they came in contact with it power rushed up my arm. There was nothing solid about it, only massive energy. The goat was a figment. A mirage. There’s nothing here but power, and it feels like it’s seriously contained, I told Tyler. Get ready to jump.
I took a step closer to the figment; nothing impeded me.
Instead Selene’s signature began to envelope me, covering me completely. It poked and prodded me, trying to burrow under my skin, but my golden strands of power held like a shield locked around me. I heard a faint yell behind me.
“Jess!” Tyler’s voice held more than stress. “Don’t go any farther. You’re fucking disappearing!”
Disappearing?
I gazed outward. Everything outside looked normal. Danny and Tyler started toward me, Danny’s arm clutched to his side, blood running down his sleeve. You can’t follow me in here, I called to my brother. Selene’s power is trying to insert itself into my flesh. You won’t get through. Her power will eat you alive. I have to destroy it. When it goes there’s going to be a massive explosion. My wolf gave a yip of agreement. Tyler kept coming. Tyler, I said back off! I inserted power into my voice.
He skidded to a stop, grabbing Danny by his shirtsleeve.
