"Lucian, to the right!" Carrie's urgent warning broke through the cacophony of battle. Her heightened senses picked up the approach of multiple fast-moving figures cutting through the fog toward their position.
Without hesitation, she drew her bow, her fingers deftly nocking arrows while she glanced toward her mentor for confirmation.
Lucian, too, had detected the threat. However, rather than shifting to a defensive stance, he doubled down on his assault. His three venomous serpents surged toward the faltering fae warrior, Wu, with renewed ferocity.
Carrie, sensing the urgency, unleashed a barrage of Flaming Multi-Arrows, a technique she had mastered long ago. With her toxin reserves depleted, she resorted to sheer firepower to suppress the unseen enemy.
The advancing figures came into focus—a chaotic stampede of magical beasts. Yet, Carrie quickly noticed something unusual.
The herd was a jarring mix of species, many of which were natural predators or competitors of one another. Under normal circumstances, such beasts would never cooperate. Now, however, they charged in eerie unison, clearly driven by some external force.
"Controlled beasts," Lucian muttered, catching sight of them. His eyes narrowed. The beasts' suicidal charge confirmed his suspicions—they were disposable pawns, sent to wear down their defences.
In the centre of the herd, a scrawny, shirtless boy stood out. His wild eyes and emaciated frame made him a pitiful sight. Yet his feral aggression matched that of the beasts surrounding him.
Carrie hesitated only for a moment.
"Perhaps death is the kindest release for you," she whispered with fleeting pity, drawing her bowstring taut. Her arrow's tip pointed straight at the boy's heart.
Just as she released, a thunderous roar erupted.
Three of the magical beasts, previously blending into the fray, suddenly surged with power equivalent to Tier-2 apprentice wizards. The boy in the centre of the herd, too, began to change.
His muscles swelled grotesquely, stretching and tearing his skin as they expanded far beyond natural proportions. His wiry frame transformed into a hulking mass of sinew, his flesh pulsating unnaturally as if it might burst at any moment.
Carrie's arrows struck true, exploding on the boy's chest in a burst of flame. The blast charred his skin, leaving blackened wounds, but failed to stop his relentless advance.
The scorched flesh began to slough off, revealing fresh, writhing muscle beneath. His wounds healed at an alarming rate, and with every step, his presence grew more oppressive.
"Detonate!" Lucian barked, redirecting his focus to Wu.
One of the venomous snakes wrapped tightly around Wu's blackwood staff before exploding in a toxic blast. The sudden shock disrupted Wu's balance, leaving him momentarily vulnerable.
The remaining two snakes capitalized on the opening, slithering into his body and unleashing their venomous payload. Wu's skin turned an unnatural shade of blackish-purple as the toxins spread through his veins, his movements slowing to a crawl.
Yet, even as Lucian subdued Wu, the monstrous boy barreled closer to Carrie.
"Thorn Shield!" a nearby apprentice shouted, summoning a protective barrier of brambles between the boy and Carrie.
The shield barely lasted a moment. With a primal roar, the boy shattered it with a single punch, his massive hand grabbing the apprentice who had summoned it.
The apprentice looked tiny in the boy's enormous grasp, his struggles futile.
With a sickening crack, the boy snapped the apprentice's body as easily as one might break a twig.
Carrie gritted her teeth, firing arrow after arrow, but the beasts pressed closer, limiting her mobility. In close quarters, her bow became cumbersome, forcing her to focus on dodging and retreating.
"Carrie, watch out!" Lucian shouted, rushing toward her.
But the boy was faster. With a snarl, he raised his enormous fist and brought it down toward Carrie.
Lucian conjured two frost shields in rapid succession, positioning them in front of Carrie.
Crash! The first shield shattered instantly under the boy's overwhelming strength. The second cracked and buckled, sending shards of ice flying as his fist broke through.
Carrie had no time to evade. Her instincts took over as she activated her bloodline ability, Moon Veil.
A pale, silvery glow enveloped her body, and in the instant the boy's fist connected, her form shimmered like an illusion.
The attack passed through her, striking only a translucent afterimage.
The other apprentice near her wasn't as fortunate.
In desperation, he activated a one-time-use defensive talisman, summoning a thick stone shield in front of him. The shield absorbed the brunt of the blow but cracked under the impact. The apprentice staggered back, his face pale as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
"Key!"
The cry came from one of the half-fae in the distance.
"Key! They have the key!"
More half-fae joined the shout, their voices filled with urgency as they pointed toward Carrie.
Lucian's eyes sharpened. The Moon Veil, with its unique silver glow, had exposed Carrie's bloodline. In that moment, her identity as a half-fae became glaringly obvious.
Carrie, now the centre of attention, looked to Lucian with determination.
"Stay close!" Lucian commanded his tone firm but calm.
This was no longer just a battle for survival. They had inadvertently revealed a secret the half-fae desperately wanted—and now, they had to deal with the consequences.