You know what's worse than being chased by a herd of tusked death-beasts?
Realizing you're the reason they're charging in the first place.
It all started with me trying to "bond" with Kaela's boar.
"Come on, big guy," I said, holding out a shiny apple like a peace offering. "You like apples, right? We're friends now, right?"
The giant boar snorted.
Then it headbutted a tree so hard the ground quaked, tossed its head, and bellowed loud enough to wake every wild animal in a five-mile radius.
And just like that, the hills moved.
From every direction, giant, snorting, dirt-covered beasts poured through the trees—horned elk, armored rhinos, razor-feathered chickens (yes, seriously), and more boars. The forest shook with thunderous hooves and primal fury.
Lina threw up a wall of flame.
Iris deployed a temporal shield.
Kaela facepalmed so hard I heard it.
"Why are you like this?" she muttered at me before whistling sharply.
I ran. Fast.
"This isn't bonding! This is natural selection!"
One of the rhino-things locked eyes with me. It pawed the earth.
"Guys! Guys?! GUYS!"
Too late. It charged.
The world went slow.
My legs stopped working. My brain froze. I could feel the hoofbeats in my spine. I was about to be flattened into a heroic pancake.
Then—
A flash of green.
A roar—not from the beast, but from something bigger.
Kaela blurred past me, her boar glowing. As I watched, stunned, the air around her shimmered with primal energy. She reached out, merged with her mount mid-sprint, and became something else entirely.
A fusion form—half-beast, half-girl, all power.
Fur wrapped around her limbs like armor. Glowing tusks jutted from her fists. Her eyes gleamed with golden light. She punched the charging rhino.
PUNCHED IT.
The rhino flew back. Into the horizon.
I lay in the grass, gasping. "Did... did you just go Super Boar?"
She turned toward me, still glowing, her expression unreadable.
"You almost died," she said.
"Yeah," I panted. "But you—you were amazing. Like, seriously badass."
The glow faded.
Kaela blinked, and I swear—blushed.
Like, actually blushed. Not a tiny twitch. Not a subtle pink. A full-faced, ears-to-tail-tip crimson flush.
"...Tch. Don't say things like that."
I sat up, grinning. "Why not? You're cool. Like, cool-cool. In a terrifying forest-goddess sort of way."
"Shut up," she muttered, looking away.
Iris and Lina ran over. Lina looked between us, then smirked. "Ohhh? What did I miss?"
Iris raised an eyebrow. "Affection spike detected."
Sure enough, a ding echoed in my mind:
Kaela's Affection: 30%New Passive: Beast Sense (shared tracking vision unlocked)
I choked. "Wait—what? I didn't even do anything!"
Kaela growled. "Say anything and I will let a manticore chase you."
I wisely shut up.
Later, around a campfire that Kaela swore was "for warmth, not friendship," we sat in awkward silence. Well, mostly awkward. Lina kept nudging me. Iris kept sipping tea without saying a word. Kaela carved meat off a skewer like it had insulted her personally.
"Thanks for saving me," I finally said, scratching my head.
Kaela didn't look up. "Next time, don't be stupid."
"But... you saved me."
Pause.
"...Yeah. I guess I did."
She glanced at me again, just briefly. The red hadn't left her cheeks.
And in that moment, I realized something terrifying.
Kaela was way scarier when she was flustered than when she was fighting monsters.
End of Chapter 21