They walked through the forest for hours, the eight hunters following the Monster Queen through shadows that seemed to move with purpose. Tusk led the way, his flame-mane casting flickering light across the path, his massive paws silent on the forest floor.
Lily didn't speak. Didn't look back. Just rode her tiger through the darkness, expecting them to follow.
They did.
The forest eventually gave way to a rocky shoreline, and the shoreline gave way to a vast lake—deep, dark, its surface barely disturbed by the night wind. It stretched toward the horizon, and somewhere beyond, it connected to the ocean.
Kael stepped forward, his onyx armor gleaming in the starlight. "There's a creature here. Maybe not the size you'd prefer, but it's big, and—"
The water exploded.
Something rose from the depths—something massive. Dark black-red hide broke the surface in waves, cascading water like waterfalls from jagged crimson spines that ran the length of its back. Its torso was thick and muscular, armored in plates of natural armor that gleamed wetly in the moonlight. Powerful limbs, thicker than ancient trees, pushed against the shore as it emerged. And its head—a wide, crocodilian nightmare packed with fangs that could crush buildings—turned toward them with terrible purpose.
One hundred feet tall at the shoulder. One hundred thirty feet from snout to tail. Thirty-three thousand metric tons of muscle, bone, and armored flesh.
It roared.
The sound was physical—a wall of force that shook the trees, sent birds fleeing from miles around, made the very ground tremble. Kael's team braced, weapons ready, instincts screaming.
Lily didn't move.
She sat on Tusk, her scarred face turned toward the monster, watching it with those empty eyes. The creature's gaze swept over the hunters, dismissing them, and fixed on her.
It roared again—challenge, dominance, hunger.
Lily raised one hand.
"Obey."
The word was quiet. Almost gentle. But it carried.
The creature's jaws snapped shut. Its massive head tilted, those glowing eyes studying her with something that might have been confusion. Or recognition. Or fear.
Behind Lily, Nyx leaned close to Kael, their iridescent skin flickering with unease. "Do you think you're making the right decision?"
Kael didn't answer. He was watching the monster—and the girl who commanded it—with something like awe.
His suspicions had been correct.
The Monster Queen could understand them. Could speak to them.
The massive creature lowered its head. Its body followed, bending, crouching, until its chin rested on the shore before Lily—a gesture of submission so complete it made the hunters' breath catch.
Lily looked at it for a long moment. Then, slowly, she smiled. It wasn't a warm smile. It was the smile of someone adding a new tool to an already impressive collection.
"I'll name you Red," she said softly. "Because you look red. Like blood."
Red's tail swept across the water, sending waves crashing against the distant shore. A sound rumbled from its chest—not a growl, but something almost like approval.
Lily turned to look at the hunters, her empty eyes moving from face to face before settling on Kael.
"Do any of you have information on Damber?" she asked quietly. "Where she is. What she's doing. Who she's hunting."
Kael met her gaze steadily. "We have leads. Locations she's been seen. Patterns in her movements." He paused. "Nothing concrete. She's... difficult to track."
Lily's expression didn't change. "Then we'll make her come to us."
She turned back to Red, placing a small hand on its massive snout.
"Find me more like you," she murmured. "I have a feeling we're going to need them."
Red's eyes glowed brighter. Then, with a surge of power that sent waves crashing against the shore, it slid back into the depths and disappeared.
Lily urged Tusk forward, toward the tree line, toward whatever came next.
The hunters followed.
They always did.