Page 57 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

Our weapons had no effect on the bear except to anger it more. I had to do something.

Once the electrical orb was large enough, I shot a blast at its rear. With a yelp, it slammed into the bear’s ass. The beast stumbled, shaking the earth with each step. I planted my feet to keep my balance as I swayed from the tremors.

Chrome took the opening to leap at its exposed chest with his sword raised high, aimed for the heart. Putting all his strength into the attack, the sword’s tip slammed into the bear’s chest. I gasped as it bounced off. Chrome dropped back to the ground, landing in a crouch.

Our weapons were useless.

The bear snapped its gaping jaws at Chrome. Roughly three sets of razor-sharp teeth lined its maw.

I watched Chrome go on the defensive as I absorbed more energy. Sounds, motion, and light all fueled my magic.

I ran to the other side of the bear, launching smaller electrical orbs at its ribs. I didn’t stop moving as I ducked and dodged, sending large shocks pummeling into its body. Each one landing in a different spot. Eventually, it began to stumble to and fro, unable to keep up with the blasts I launched in a continuous rhythm.

It stood on its hind legs, black horns gleaming from the sun’s rays that streamed through the trees’ canopy. Long, piercing claws threatened to impale me when another deafening roar shook my core. I absorbed it.

My blasts grew bigger and bigger with each attack sent into the bear’s chest and stomach until I formed the largest one yet. Stepping from the beast’s line of fire, I allowed the magic to climb.

“Gray, don’t! It’s too much!” Chrome shouted from behind the beast as we swapped positions. He stood rigid and taut, but his body trembled. Strands of silver framed his face instead of black inky hair.

I ignored him, continuing to build the incoming blast. Another roar and swipe. And this one landed. The world rushed at me, violently spinning, as my body soared through the air.

A loud crack echoed, followed by a blinding pain in my skull from where it struck a tree trunk. Plummeting to the hard earth on my shoulder, the air was knocked from my lungs as I lay in frozen agony.

Upon impact, my vision blackened, leaving me blind. My magic was coiled too tight, threatening an uncontrolled release. I stifled it, but doing so had my magic compressing on the pain that held my body captive.

I couldn’t move.

“Gray!” Chrome shouted in the distance.

I had to get up, or we would both die.

Hot liquid gushed from my side. The deep gouge in my torso from the bear’s claws had me in excruciating agony.

All I could do was wait while I healed, listening to the sounds in order to sense what was happening around me. The darkness I’d been thrust into suddenly lit up with differing energy waves. Normally, I could see them with my eyes closed if I chose. The shorter waves revealed soft thuds, whereas the longer waves meant louder noises. I could also see the temperature waves and the movements of people and objects.

It was a complex ability I’d mastered after years of training. The various waves served as a code that I could piece together to form a picture of events in my near vicinity, almost like a second sight.

I could read the differences between the horned bear and Chrome. Chrome seemed to move with a dexterity and speed that kept his waves in short swirling bursts. The bear had the longer and bigger waves, indicating his size and strength.

The pain in my skull began to ease, and the feeling in my limbs slowly returned. I tested my fingers for movement, relieved when I could twitch them a fraction.

If Chrome could occupy the bear long enough to give me time to heal…

I listened to the violence and could bet he was trying to find all the weak points on the bear’s body, anywhere his blades or power would allow him to subdue it.

A shout sounded nearby, matching the spike in my second vision. “Shit! Gray…” he said, his breaths labored. “You gotta move!”

I couldn’t. My body was healing, but not fast enough. My hands were the only limbs I could do anything with, so I tried to utilize them.

My vision started to come back into focus, but I could only make out the bear’s blurred body. He loomed over something, or someone.

Chrome.

I twisted my wrist to aim at the body, planning to launch a massive blast. But before I could unleash it, a harrowing, pained groan reverberated around us. It was deep and mournful, and it struck me in my soul. Through my blurred vision, I spotted the bear-beast hunched on its front legs with its head twisted to the side on the ground. Snorts and grunts vibrated the earth floor, shaking my bones. It was suffering, and despite the carnage it caused, a sting of regret ached in my chest.

I tried and failed to get up to stop Chrome from killing it. My arms were like cinder blocks as I clawed the dirt and leaves to drag my body. The bear groaned, and I met its devastated ruby gaze.

The creature was terrified. Understanding slammed into me that it wasn’t from this world, and had only been in survival mode. Similar to myself. And who knew how long it’d been here? But surely, the train spooked it. And when the Kinetics attacked, they put it further on the defensive.

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