Jack was certain that the Herald could not break out of containment. It had shown itself able to respond to direct attacks but it seemed unable to respond as well to being trapped. What he didn’t know was that while the Herald was better at adapting to direct combat, it could also change itself to respond to other situations. It just needed a bit more time.

  And now that time was up.

  The grotesque amalgamation of sinew and bone, which moments ago seemed on the verge of colpse, had stopped thrashing. A pulse of energy rippled through its body, and the stone encasing it began to crack, not from its physical struggle but from an eerie, internal force. Jack’s heart sank as the Herald’s eye glowed brighter, suffused with a malevolent intelligence that hadn’t been there before.

  “Get back!” he roared, his voice cutting through the din of battle.

  The Herald erupted from its stone prison, but it was no longer the lumbering, malformed beast they had been contending with. Its new form was sleek, agile, and unnervingly deliberate. Its elongated limbs shimmered with a chitinous sheen, each ending in barbed cws that glinted like obsidian. The once-erratic appendages had consolidated into four limbs built for precision and speed. A tail, segmented and tipped with a serrated bde, shed the air behind it, and its single eye had multiplied into a cluster of glowing, crimson orbs that swiveled independently on long stalks, surveying the battlefield with unnerving focus.

  The creature’s movements were different now—no longer chaotic but calcuted. The ground beneath it didn’t seem to impede its progress as it had before. Its feet had become webbed and it seemed to bance easily on any terrain. It easily leapt free of the quicksand mire, nding with a grace that belied its size. Its segmented exoskeleton absorbed the impact effortlessly, and its posture radiated an unsettling confidence.

  The Sovereign wasted no time. Its skeletal hands glowed as it summoned a wave of jagged stone spikes to intercept the Herald’s advance. The Herald responded in a fsh, its throat bulging as it let out a subsonic pulse that caused the spikes to crumble away while still in mid-air. Its tail easily battered away whatever fragments made it through.

  “New tactics!” Jack shouted, gripping his spear tightly. “Containment won’t work like before.”

  Cael darted to Jack’s side, his daggers gleaming in the dim light. “Then what’s the pn? That thing’s already ahead of us.”

  The Herald lunged, its movements almost serpentine as it twisted past the Sovereign’s defenses. One of its barbed cws sshed toward Ly, who barely managed to throw up a barrier of vines in time. The impact sent her sprawling, the barrier cut to shreds by the creatures cws.

  Before Jack could move to aid her, Monsoon, the Wavewolf, surged forward, its lithe form weaving between the chaos. Water coalesced around its paws, hardening into icy cws as it leapt at the Herald. The impact was ferocious, Monsoon’s cws raking across the Herald’s exoskeleton, leaving faint but visible gashes. The creature screeched, twisting to retaliate, but Monsoon had already retreated, its movements a blur as it circled for another strike.

  “Monsoon, keep it moving!” Jack called out, recognizing the advantage. The Wavewolf’s relentless agility forced the Herald to divide its attention, its strikes growing less focused as it tried to nd a hit on the elusive predator. When it had created it’s new form it still had not encountered the wolves yet. That might yet prove to be its undoing.

  Jacks spear thrust toward the creature’s cluster of eyes, but the Herald twisted impossibly fast, its bded tail whipping toward him in retaliation. He just managed to pivot , the tail’s bde missing him by inches as he countered with a sweeping strike that gnced harmlessly off the Herald’s hardened exoskeleton.

  The Sovereign shifted its strategy, summoning not spikes or walls but an upheaval of the earth itself. The ground beneath the Herald buckled and rolled like waves on a stormy sea, but the creature adapted instantly. Its segmented limbs drove into the unstable ground, anchoring it as it lunged upward to evade the Sovereign’s assault. It nded directly atop the skeletal titan, its cws raking across bone with devastating force.

  The Sovereign reeled, a crack forming along its ribcage. But it retaliated with a burst of violet fmes, forcing the Herald to leap away. The fmes clung to the creature’s exoskeleton, but instead of burning, they fizzled as the Herald’s armor began to emit a faint, shimmering aura.

  “It’s countering magic now, too,” Ly said through gritted teeth as she rose to her feet. Her staff glowed with light, vines erupting from the ground to entangle the Herald’s legs. For a brief moment, the creature was immobilized. Jack didn’t waste the opportunity, hurling his spear with all his strength. The weapon struck true, embedding itself in the Herald’s thorax where its chitinous ptes were thinner.

  The Herald screeched, its voice a cacophony of rage and pain. It ripped free of the vines with a surge of strength, its tail shing out to sever them entirely. Jack’s spear remained lodged in its body, but the creature seemed to barely notice as it turned its focus to him.

  “Jack, move!” Cael shouted, his daggers fshing as he leapt into the fray. He struck at the Herald’s exposed joints, his attacks finding purchase where others had failed. The creature hissed, swiping at him with a cw that missed by a hair’s breadth.

  Monsoon darted in once more, this time summoning a torrent of water that smmed into the Herald with enough force to knock it off bance. The Wavewolf’s howl echoed through the battlefield, a rallying cry that spurred the others into action.

  “It may be vulnerable at the joints and under the armor,” Jack said to his comrades. “We need to hit it where it’s weakest.”

  The Sovereign seemed to understand, its next attack targeting the Herald’s legs. Pilrs of stone erupted with pinpoint precision, aiming for the thinner sections of its exoskeleton. One struck true, shattering a segment of the creature’s armor and eliciting another ear-splitting screech.

  But the Herald adapted yet again. Its movements grew erratic, its segmented body twisting in ways that made predicting its attacks nearly impossible. It unched itself into the air, its tail spinning like a scythe as it descended toward Lyra. She braced herself, summoning a tidal wave that absorbed the impact but left her visibly drained.

  Jack lunged, his spear aimed for the Herald’s exposed thorax. This time, the creature anticipated the strike. Its tail shed out, catching the spear mid-thrust and snapping it in two. The force of the blow sent Jack sprawling, the breath knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground.

  The Sovereign interposed itself between Jack and the Herald, its massive frame radiating defiance despite its deteriorating condition. It raised its staff, the violet fmes fring to life once more as it unleashed a wave of seismic force that the Herald simply leapt over as it hurled itself at the skeleton.

  Jack gripped the broken remains of his spear, determination hardening his features. “Lyra, focus on keeping it off-bance. Cael, aim for the joints. Monsoon and Goldeyes, let’s show this thing why it shouldn’t mess with a pack.”

  Monsoon let out a low growl, its sleek, water-coated form shimmering as it circled the Herald. With a sharp bark, it leapt forward, summoning a spiraling torrent of water that encased the Herald’s legs. The liquid solidified into ice, temporarily locking the creature in pce. Monsoon moved with calcuted precision, snapping at the Herald’s exposed joints to widen its vulnerabilities.

  Goldeyes, rger and more imposing than Monsoon, prowled into position. His eyes gleamed with aggression as he raised his head to let loose a resonant howl. The Howl of Ages Past filled the battlefield, its haunting melody imbuing Jack and the others with strength and crity. The sound echoed deep into the ether, summoning ethereal forms of wolves long past. The Spectral Pack manifested around the battlefield, their translucent forms darting and snapping at the Herald. Their ghostly fangs passed through its armor and sank into the vulnerable ether beneath, making the Herald reel and thrash in disoriented rage.

  “Spectral attacks bypass its armor!” Jack shouted, his mind racing with newfound crity. “We can pin it down!”

  Goldeyes gave a sharp bark of agreement, his spectral pack harrying the Herald from all sides. As the creature attempted to retaliate, Monsoon darted in, his water-enhanced cws raking along its exposed underbelly. The Herald’s chitinous exoskeleton groaned under the relentless pressure, fractures forming along its segmented ptes.

  “Goldeyes, keep it under pressure!” Jack commanded, lunging forward with his makeshift weapon. Cael joined him, his daggers striking in rapid succession, each thrust targeting the creature’s weakening joints.

  Goldeyes phased into an Ethereal Step, his form flickering as he disappeared into the spirit realm. Moments ter, he reappeared behind the Herald, his teeth and cws crackling with ethereal energy. His attacks struck true, bypassing the creature’s defenses entirely and leaving glowing scars across its form.

  The Herald screeched, swinging its bded tail wildly in a desperate bid to free itself. Its attacks carved deep gouges into the earth but failed to find purchase against its nimble attackers. Monsoon, ever the elusive predator, wove between the strikes with fluid grace, his water-infused movements forcing the Herald to overextend.

  The Sovereign, emboldened by the group’s efforts, raised its staff high. Violet fmes surged around it as it summoned all its power for one final strike. The energy coalesced into a blinding inferno, and with a defiant cry, the Sovereign unleashed it directly at the Herald. For a moment, it seemed as though the attack would overwhelm the monstrous foe.

  But the Herald roared, its form radiating a dark, unholy energy that absorbed the fmes. It surged forward, its bded tail sweeping through the air in a deadly arc. The Sovereign had no time to react. The bde struck true, cleaving through its body with terrifying force. The Sovereign colpsed, its staff cttering to the ground as it fell to the ground in two separate halves. It did not reform.

  “No!” Jack shouted, his voice raw with despair. The Herald turned its gaze toward him, its glowing eyes burning with malice. It raised its tail again, preparing to strike.

  Before it could deliver the final blow, the rift behind it began to pulse erratically as the Avatar appeared in front of it. The Herald hesitated, a low growl rumbling from deep within its chest. The aged Ramkin lifted hands that glowed with a soft white light. The rift’s energy surged outward, luminous tendrils wrapping around the Herald’s massive frame. It thrashed and roared, resisting the pull with all its might, but the force was relentless.

  The group watched in stunned silence as the rift’s energy dragged the Herald into its swirling depths.