Chains Shattered, Beasts Unleashed

CHAPTER 23

Mike hung suspended in the chains. The veins in his body bulged, his breathing grew heavier. Something inside him was rising something unlike any form he had ever felt before. Wilder. More primal.

Suddenly, spiked bone-like protrusions tore out from his shoulders. The links of the chains strained, the iron fixtures anchored in the stone floor began to crack. Mike's eyes bled into a deep crimson hue, and black veins crawled beneath his skin.

And then

HAAAAA!!!

A roar erupted, so loud it split ears and shook the walls. Every stone in the room vibrated as the chains snapped one by one. When Mike stood, his body was half-transformed. Steam rose from his chest, carrying the stench of death; blue flames flickered around his hands. From his back burst tattered but massive wings. His nails elongated into claws, his teeth sharpened into fangs.

Everyone outside the room even Vlad's men covered their ears and stumbled back. A shrill, piercing hum spread through the entire safehouse. Mike breathed, but each breath seemed to make the stones tremble.

He was just about to spread his wings and take flight when

The door exploded open with a violent crash.

Dust filled the room. And through it stepped a figure familiar, yet far more terrifying. Gideon… but not the Gideon they knew.

Gideon crawled in on all fours, his claws ripping into the ground. He had fully unleashed the savagery of his hybrid form. Spiked bones jutted from his shoulders, his back rippling with muscles like a werewolf's, but fused with the deadly precision of a vampire's speed. His half-human, half-beast face stared at Mike. His eyes were pitch-black, his teeth gleamed wet and menacing.

— "So… you've learned to break the chains. So you can control it now…" he said with a deep, mocking laugh.

— "But you still… think this form is enough to beat me?"

Mike roared back. Blue flames shimmered around his wings as he lunged to take off. But Gideon vanished in an instant moving faster than sight. He caught Mike's wing mid-air.

— "Where are you going, carrier?!" he taunted. Then, with all his strength, he yanked and hurled Mike across the room.

Mike slammed into the wall and fell to the floor. As he tried to rise, Gideon pounced on him. First a brutal strike, then a slash of his claws… and finally, he sank his teeth into Mike's chest. He was trying to rip him apart like a feral beast.

Mike's eyes blazed with fury. He wrapped his arms around Gideon's, and in an instant, blue flames erupted. Gideon's flesh began to burn, and with a cry of pain, he leapt back.

But Gideon charged again immediately. Claws, fists attack after attack, a relentless storm of speed and power. Mike tried to guard, but Gideon's onslaught was too fast, too strong.

Just as Gideon pinned both of Mike's arms down, squeezing

Mike ignited his entire body in blue flames. Fire burst from his hands, his mouth, everywhere. The parts of Gideon's body holding him his arms, his jaws, his claws began to sear and burn. The heat was so intense Gideon staggered back.

Mike seized that brief moment. He spread his wings wide, launched himself upward, and shot out through a shattered window at the top of the room.

Gideon stood there, his body streaked with light burns. Slowly, he straightened… and then he laughed.

— "HAHAHAHA! Run while you can… this isn't over, carrier! This war is only just beginning!"

Gideon shifted back into his normal form. His scorched flesh slowly began to heal. But that dark smile still lingered on his face.