CHAPTER 18: THE HUNT
POV: JAX
Ten minutes earlier...
The jungle was alive — a breathing, whispering beast of its own. Insects chirped in uneven rhythms (chirr-chirr-chirr), leaves rustled overhead (shhhh), and somewhere far off, water dripped in a slow, hollow cadence (plink... plink... plink).
Jax moved through it like a shadow carved from flame, his bare feet crushing damp leaves (crunch... crunch...). Hunger clawed at his gut, twisting tighter with every step.
"Gotta find something soon," he muttered, voice low, rough as gravel. "Or I'll start gnawin' on tree bark."
The wind shifted. A faint snap of a twig caught his attention. His head turned sharply. There — a deer, lean and alert, framed between the mossy trunks. Its chest rose and fell quickly, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.
Jax exhaled softly. Gotcha.
He took a slow step forward. Crack.
The deer's ears twitched. Its eyes flashed — and in an instant, it bolted.
"Damn it!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud! The pounding of hooves echoed through the underbrush. Jax surged after it, muscles coiling, heart hammering (BA-BUM! BA-BUM! BA-BUM!). Branches whipped across his arms (whsssh!), and leaves exploded beneath his strides.
The deer twisted left, then right — impossibly fast. Its body shimmered faintly, flickering like heat haze.
He gritted his teeth, pushing harder, his own veins glowing faintly beneath crimson skin. "Come on! You're mine!"
Then — whoosh!
It vanished.
Jax slowed to a halt, breath ragged. The jungle had gone still. No sound. No movement. Just the faint ringing in his ears.
"Great," he panted, hands on knees. "Lost the deer, wasted the energy—"
WHAM!
A wall of muscle slammed into his side, sending him flying through the air. THUD! He hit the ground hard, rolled, and crashed into a tree trunk with a bone-jarring CRACK!
"—the hell!?" He spat blood, pushing himself up.
The thing that stood before him was massive.
A stag, its antlers like twisted black stone, steam pouring from its nostrils (hsssss). Its golden eyes glowed like molten metal.
Jax wiped his mouth. "You hit me?" he growled, voice rising from his chest like distant thunder.
The stag snorted, pawed the ground (thud... thud...).
Jax's pulse roared in his ears (thrum-thrum-thrum).
"Big mistake."
Something snapped inside him — not a sound of bone, but of restraint.
BWOOM! His vision flared red. The air vibrated with power as energy exploded from his body. His skin hardened, cracking with molten veins of obsidian light. The jungle shook.
He roared.
RRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
The ground split. Trees splintered (CRASH! CRACK! BOOM!). Leaves burst into ash as his monstrous form tore through the clearing. Every motion echoed like an earthquake.
Then — silence.
The fury faded. The light dimmed. The world fell away.
Darkness.
Only one sound reached him through the void, distant and absurdly clear:
"Jax… you are… you are unclothed, sir!"
...
Jax blinked, standing amid the aftermath — shattered trees, scorched earth, stunned faces. His chest still heaved, smoke curling faintly from his skin. He looked down—
Nothing. Not even a shred of cloth.
"WHAAAAAAT?!"
His bellow thundered through the jungle, scattering birds from the treetops (KRAAA! KRAAA!) and leaving a ringing silence in its wake.
Then, faintly, Kael's laugh.
And under that laughter — the low, uneasy whisper of the forest watching.