I know, not the best time to address this, but... 'Who was Esu, seriously? Some kind of bogeyman? Esu, Esu, Esu...no, doesn’t ring any bells.' Whoever this Esu was, no one so far had seemed to see any reason to tell me about them.

  "Esu is the name of the Lord of the Forest." Deckard answered, barely sparing me a glance as he fended off a shadow-thieving male that lunged at him from the darkness.

  'Oh, the Lord of the Forest. OH, shit, that makes so much sense. Esu, Esulmor.'

  "So, is he named after the forest?"

  My question, foolish as it was, threw Deckard off for just a heartbeat, enough to put him in a tight spot. All three members of the Shadowbreaker pack, along with the mossbear and that wretched bitch, pounced on the chance without hesitation.

  "Girl, you’d best get your priorities in line," he snapped once he'd wrestled back a sliver of breathing room.

  "S-Sorry," I whimpered through the Union Ring connection, genuinely ashamed. I was every bit as irritated with myself. "I think... I think it's my mental defense skill. It calms me down - a little too much, I guess."

  "If that's the only drawback - keep using it. That bitch is relentless - and for a Cognizant, she’s damn good. Great job keeping her out of your head this long."

  Well, to be honest, it was more her fear of the beast inside me that kept her out of my head, but… 'Did he just call her a bitch? Like I did? And… was that praise?' Pride flared in my chest, and my tail gave a wag. Of course, perched on the back of her mossbear as she was, the bitch didn’t miss it.

  "What are you so happy about, mutt?!"

  ?None of your business!?

  "Tsk. Go on, yap while you can. Once we’re done here, you’re getting a muzzle!"

  Showing her any weakness was the last thing I wanted, yet the thought sent a chill down my spine. Me, locked in a beast's body for good, silenced with a muzzle, collared, leashed like some dog.

  "Don't let her get under your skin." Deckard's voice rang in my head, dispelling the chill of my future that the bitch imagined for me. "That's what they do. They talk big; they gnaw at your confidence, looking for a crack to get in. Just brush it off - that's the best you can do."

  'Is that where his laid-back attitude comes from?' Marcus, the alpha health caregiver over at the human training ground, had a similar way of looking at things now that I thought about it. Even Blaine and Captain Rayden didn't seem overly bothered by the mind mages - well, except for the obvious spite at them.

  Unfortunately, the trio of the Shadowbreaker pack, the mossbear, and the mind mage seemed too much for the potential mate to keep acting unfazed. The longer the fight went on, the more they adjusted to his style, adapting with every move.

  "Listen up, girl," he said, sidestepping the sword-wielding woman’s strike, only to twist away from the young mossbear’s leap. "I've been told that your healing’s up there with the best double array healers. True?”

  Watching him brush off the shadow magic that surged around him with a single step, I narrowed my eyes. "Could be. I wouldn’t know. I mean, I never compared the two."

  "Good. So you’d be able to regrow, say… a leg?"

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Going by the [Never-Dying]'s description, I should be able to, but…”

  "Good," he said, "looks like those gals are struggling a bit, so… sorry in advance." Before I could do a thing, he parried the shadow-thieving male’s strike and, in two strides that defied reason, he closed the gap between us.

  "NO! Don’t let him…!" the mind-twisting female screeched, sure he was after her. Couldn’t be more wrong. His boot swung straight for the young mossbear she was perched on. With only a second to brace, I squeezed my eyes shut, clenched my teeth, and then - PAIN!

  ?ROAR!!!?

  To be fair, what escaped my throat was closer to a miserable whine than a roar. Didn’t matter, though. He kicked the mossbear’s snout hard enough to bring it crashing to the ground and clamped down on my leg. The bite was brutal - my bones snapped under the force. And just like that, the damn beast bit my leg off.

  "Brains! Get up you stupid… NO! Stop him!" the bitch screamed.

  'Stop him from what? My leg's already gone! What more…?' Before I could even finish cursing, his arms wrapped around me. And gods, did it feel good. For the first time in ages, I felt safe - truly safe - held by him. He lifted me without a hint of struggle, my weight nothing to him. It was like being swept up by the prince from all those daydreams I had when I was younger.

  I blamed my beast urges and [Indomitable Will] for the thinking. More and more, I was certain I was riding high on it. After all, in those fantasies, I wasn't a one-legged princess wagging her tail, ready to jump the prince.

  "Hold on to me, girl." He didn’t need to say it twice. Without a second thought, I threw my arms around his neck, my wings wrapping tight around his waist. The moment I did so, he took a step. And what a step it was. Instead of speed pressing my body against his as I had expected, the whole world seemed to move around us. It was a strange feeling, surreal - much like when the Fae took me from my world. Worse, just like then, when we stopped, my stomach turned upside down. But unlike that time, I managed not to barf.

  "Take care of her," he ordered, easing me down next to the fire wielder, then stepped away to deal with the mossbear Elira was struggling with. The poor female fought like mad to keep the beast occupied, trying to keep it away from her packmates and not die in the process.

  "Well done, Guardswoman Hakhe," Deckard praised Elira, stepping in beside her. In a few quick moves, he brought the beast down, the one she’d been fighting for her life. "Don't kill it. That would unnecessarily complicate things."

  "Korra! Hey, can you hear me?! Eyes here!" Vara’s voice reached me, cutting through the haze. Slowly, I focused on her.

  ?Y-Yes??

  "Fuck! I forgot you can't talk," Vara cursed under her breath at the sound of my growl, thinking fast. "Nods and shakes, then. Got it?"

  I gave a nod.

  "Good. Your leg. You think you need a potion?"

  'I mean, it couldn't hurt, right?'

  "Say no, girl. With regeneration like yours, a potion might mess things up," Deckard’s voice echoed in my head. Where he had gone to, I had no idea.

  Shake.

  "Alright, look, I’m not great at this... but don’t worry about your leg. Even if your regeneration... well, Marcus can make it grow back, like I said. You understand?"

  I nodded.

  "Good. Then lie down and don’t stick your head out. If you're outclassed in a fight, it’s better to stay out of the way and trust your fellow fighters." Vara said, almost as if reminding herself. "At least that's something Rayden said once or twice. Tits! Should’ve paid more attention. Anyway, with Deckard here, we’ve still got a chance."

  'Should I nod or shake my head? I mean, I believed that, so...'

  Elira’s arrival broke my thoughts. She didn’t fall in with the rest of us. Instead, she stood guard, firm, keeping watch. Brave, considering most of those out there had nearly double the sigils she did.

  "You good?"

  Another quick nod.

  "I swear, losing a leg would seriously freak me out." Vara said, grimacing. "Tits, seeing Korra lose hers gave me the chills. I mean, picturing that beast eating her leg now..."

  "Vara! I wasn't asking you." Elira snapped, but too late - her words had already sunk in. The thought, one I hadn't even considered before, was enough to turn my insides.

  "Ignore that idiot, K-Korra. Stay focused on what matters: getting out of here."

  "Hey, I'm not an idiot. The ones who killed the mossbears are," Vara shot back, eyes narrowing as she caught the question in the tilt of my ears. "Those shitheads from Shadowbreakers killed one. And the idiot lying next to you did too. You know the saying, right?"

  I nodded.

  │Kill one mossbear, and you can call it a success.

  │After killing two, you should be distressed.

  │Killing three might as well be the end for you,

  │as the next beast you will face will be Esu.