Page 125 of Shifter King

Naatos stopped running.The wind had changed; the scent had become more interesting although still far less than what it should be. Someone was dead.

He turned to the left. A corpse stretched in front of him. Yes. That Abliato. The illusionist with the fake wings. Oh. He hated those fake wings. An insult to those who had given them. What he wouldn't do for even ten of the Wing Blessed Tiablos or any of the Honored Tiablo warriors in this place.

He tilted his head as he examined the rotting corpse.

He'd done that.

He'd done it well.

He'd need to do better though once he found the creatures that took her. He let the raiku form fall away as he filled his lungs with the cool air.

No trace of her. No trace at all.

He continued on, slower now, his thoughts moving back and forth as he sifted every fragment of evidence for a hint. Staircases led down into a sand pit with stone on either side. There was something he wanted to do here. Something he wanted to get. The sand shifted and slid around his feet. She was walking in sand too. Or she had been. But not this sand.

A tentacle snapped up around his leg.

Oh yes. The sand kraken.

This was not a good choice.

For it.

* * *

AaQar scanned the horizon.Where had his brother gotten to? What could possibly be drawing him?

"Crespa!" QueQoa shouted.

AaQar pulled up in the sky, jaw falling open.

An angry sand kraken sailed through the air into Darmoste, orange tentacles flailing. It landed near the cursed monument.

Chaos erupted as the angry creature flailed up the side of one of the tall metal and glass buildings.

Naatos's mood did not appear to be improving.

* * *

Still no sign of her.

The raiku form would help him find her. He'd been certain of that before. He brought it back. That energy burn stung more now.

The thudding in his head intensified. Straight ahead. That was where he needed to go. Something had brought him here before. Perhaps she'd been here?

He charged forward. Grass tore beneath his claws. Faster and faster.

A large yell0w-and-green striped mantis shot in front of him, lifting its massive forelegs. The light on its collar and belt lit up. It slashed at him, then lurched to the side as the lights exploded. The mantis collapsed, smoldering.

The burn in his chest intensified as more energy pooled within the cavity and arced out. Damn mantis.

He resumed running, a little slower.

There was a tower straight ahead. A tower made of steel.

It was as if it summoned him. It had to have something to do with Amelia. He surged forward, faster and faster. Another mantis charged him, forelegs lifted. It only got within three feet of him before its belt and collar exploded too, its eyes bulging out of their sockets. It crashed on its side, twitching and smoldering.

He intensified the burning within his chest, expanding the reach of the energy field. At his best, he'd gotten that energy field past a hundred feet. How much farther could he take it now?