The dust settled like a curtain being drawn back, revealing the thunder-horse standing tall in the center of the clearing. Lightning still crackled across its hide, arcs of electricity dancing between its mane and the ground. Its eyes blazed with rage, fixed directly on Kael and his companions.
Their surprise attack hadn't been enough.
But as Kael watched, his analytical mind working despite the fear clawing at his chest, he noticed something. The horse was favoring one side, keeping its right hind leg slightly raised, not putting full weight on it. The leg trembled minutely, and scorch marks darkened the midnight-blue hide around it.
They'd hurt it. The horse had dodged at the last second, but not completely. The psychic fireball had clipped its hind leg, and now the creature was wounded.
Still dangerous—maybe more dangerous now that it was angry and in pain—but wounded nonetheless.
Through his bonds, Kael felt Vera's tactical assessment matching his own. The thunder-horse was fast, but that injured leg would slow it down, limit its mobility. They had an advantage if they could exploit it.
Flank it, Kael communicated through their bonds, not words but pure intent. Vera, go left. Ember and I will go right. Keep it turning, keep pressure on that leg.
Vera understood immediately. She began circling left with predatory grace, her crystalline patterns pulsing as she built psychic energy. The thunder-horse's head swiveled to track her, electricity crackling more intensely across its body.
Kael moved right, Ember streaking beside him, heading toward where Ren lay unconscious. The grass-moose had pulled itself fully upright now, positioning itself protectively over its fallen tamer. It looked exhausted and wounded, but its eyes held fierce determination.
The thunder-horse tried to keep both threats in view, but the flanking maneuver forced it to choose. Its head swung between Vera and Kael, uncertainty flickering across its intelligent features. The injured leg made pivoting difficult—each turn sent visible pain through its body.
Kael struck first. He grabbed a fist-sized rock with his telekinesis and hurled it at the horse's face, making the throw look like it came from Ember's direction. The horse reared back, dodging, but the movement put weight on its injured leg. It stumbled slightly, and Vera seized the opening.
Her psychic force slammed into the horse's side like an invisible battering ram. The creature staggered, electricity exploding outward in a defensive burst that scorched the grass around it. But Vera had already retreated, dancing back out of range.
Ember joined the assault, launching compressed fireballs with surgical precision. Not at the horse's body—its electrical field would deflect those—but at its eyes. The horse had to jerk its head aside to avoid being blinded, and each evasive movement threw off its balance, making the injured leg bear more weight.
The grass-moose, seeing its chance, lowered its antlers and charged. Vines wrapped around its horns glowed with concentrated nature energy. The attack was slow—the moose was clearly exhausted—but it added another threat the thunder-horse had to account for.
Kael coordinated the assault through his bonds with Vera and Ember, while using subtle telekinetic nudges to keep the thunder-horse off-balance. Every time it tried to plant its hooves for a solid stance, he'd push slightly at its injured leg, making it shift weight, keeping it defensive.
The horse tried to charge up another lightning bolt, electricity gathering between its horns, but Vera didn't give it time. She hit it with psychic force from the side, disrupting its concentration. The gathered lightning dispersed harmlessly into the air.
They were wearing it down. Slowly, methodically, they were winning.
The thunder-horse seemed to realize this. Its eyes, previously filled with predatory confidence, now showed something else—desperation. It was wounded, outnumbered, and being systematically dismantled by opponents who fought with disturbing coordination.
It made a decision. With a sound like thunder cracking directly overhead, the horse charged—not at Vera, who was the obvious threat, but at Kael. The youngest, the weakest-looking, the most vulnerable target.
Kael's eyes widened. The horse was fast, even injured, closing the distance in seconds. Lightning wreathed its entire body, making it a living projectile of elemental fury.
Now! , he sent through the bonds.
Vera's psychic force hit the horse's injured leg mid-stride, buckling it. Ember unleashed a white-hot fireball directly into its path, forcing it to jerk aside. And Kael, instead of running, grabbed every loose object in range with his telekinesis and hurled them all at once—rocks, branches, even chunks of earth torn from the ground.
The barrage was chaotic but effective. The horse, already off-balance from Vera's strike and Ember's flames, couldn't dodge everything. Rocks slammed into its face and chest. A branch caught in its legs. It stumbled, fell, rolled—
And Vera was there, moving with lethal intent. Her claws, enhanced by psychic energy, tore into the horse's exposed throat.
The thunder-horse made a sound—not quite a scream, not quite a roar—and electricity exploded outward in one final, desperate burst. Kael felt the shock even from twenty feet away, his hair standing on end. Vera took the full brunt of it, her body convulsing as lightning coursed through her.
Then it was over.
The thunder-horse lay still, blood pooling beneath it. The crackling electricity faded to nothing, its midnight-blue hide going dull and lifeless.
Kael's first kill.
He stood there, breathing hard, staring at the corpse. He'd killed things before—insects, maybe a mouse once with a badly thrown shoe—but never anything like this. Never something intelligent, powerful, majestic.
Through their bond, he felt Vera's exhaustion mixed with grim satisfaction. She'd taken significant damage from that final electrical burst. Burns marked her beautiful fur, and she limped as she walked back to him.
Ember hovered close, her flames dimmer than usual, energy clearly depleted from the sustained combat.
The grass-moose stood vigil over Ren, who remained unconscious but breathing steadily. The moose regarded Kael with something like respect, nodding its antlered head once in acknowledgment.
Kael went to Vera first, running his hands over her injuries. Not life-threatening, thank the gods, but painful. She pressed her head against his chest, and he felt her trust through their bond—the absolute certainty that he would take care of her.
"Rest," he said softly. "We'll heal soon. I promise."
He checked on Ren next, kneeling beside the unconscious tamer. The wounds looked bad—burns, lacerations, signs of electrical shock—but none seemed immediately fatal. Ren's breathing was steady, his pulse strong if a bit fast. He needed medical attention, but he would survive.
Kael sat down heavily, his back against a tree, letting exhaustion wash over him. Ember settled on his shoulder, and Vera lay beside him, her large head resting on his lap. Through their bonds, he felt their contentment despite the pain and fatigue. They'd fought together, won together, survived together.
A sound made him look up. Through the trees, he could see movement—the three tamers and their mythbeasts, running toward them as fast as their exhausted bodies would allow. Mira led the way, her face pale with worry. Garrett and Finn followed close behind, their own beasts struggling to keep pace.
They'd made it through the battle. Now came the harder part—deciding what to reveal, what to hide, and how to navigate this world where his very existence as a transmigrated human with impossible abilities could make him either a target or a prize.
Kael watched them approach and made his choice.
For now, he would remain just another young tamer with unusually strong beasts. Nothing more, nothing less.
The healing could wait.