Day three brought complications.
I arrived to find Commander Vane arguing with someone I hadn't seen before—a tall man in ornate robes decorated with symbols that glowed faintly purple. A mage, I realized. And from the way the soldiers around him kept their distance, not a friendly one.
"The beast is scheduled for execution," the mage was saying, his voice cold and precise. "Three days was the agreed timeline. Today is day three."
"The summoned hero is making progress," Vane argued, though his tone suggested he wasn't happy about defending me. "The cub is responding to his methods."
"Responding how? By not killing him yet?" The mage's eyes—an unnatural shade of violet—fixed on me as I approached. "You must be the hero. Marcus Chen, correct?"
"That's me." I shifted the bag with the puppies, suddenly very aware of how vulnerable they were. "And you are?"
"High Mage Cornelius, head of the Subjugation Division." He looked me up and down with obvious disdain. "I've heard about your... quaint methods. Feeding treats to monsters, playing with puppies. It's charming in its naivety."
"It's effective," I said evenly.
"Is it? Has the shadow panther submitted to your will? Can you command it? Have you bound it with magic?" Cornelius stepped closer. "Or have you simply taught it that humans are food dispensers? Because I assure you, the moment it gets hungry enough, it will tear you apart and think nothing of it."
I felt my jaw tighten. "That's not how animal behavior works."
"This isn't an animal. It's a monster. A beast spawned in demon territory, infused with dark magic from birth. It doesn't think like your pets." He gestured dismissively at my bag. "It can't be trained through kindness because it doesn't understand kindness. Only strength. Only dominance."
"Then why did it eat from my hand yesterday?" I asked. "Why did it choose to trust me?"
"It didn't trust you. It was hungry and you were convenient." Cornelius turned to Vane. "Commander, I'm invoking my authority as High Mage. The cub dies today. We've wasted enough time and resources on this experiment."
"No." The word came out before I could stop it.
Cornelius raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"I said no. Give me more time. I can prove this works."
"You have no authority here, hero. You're a curiosity, nothing more." The mage's voice dropped dangerously low. "And I grow tired of curiosities. The cub will be executed within the hour."
Sera, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. "The head priest authorized Marcus's work. Overriding that authorization requires approval from the temple council."
"Which I can obtain by this afternoon," Cornelius countered. "The temple may have authority over spiritual matters, but military assets fall under my jurisdiction."
"Then give me until this afternoon," I said quickly. "Let me have one more session. If I can't show significant progress—if I can't get that collar off and treat the wounds without anyone getting hurt—then I'll step aside."
It was a huge risk. Removing the collar meant getting even closer to the cub, reaching through the bars to work on a restraint it probably associated with pain. One wrong move and I could lose an arm. Or worse.
But if Cornelius executed the cub now, everything I'd worked for would be meaningless. And more than that—the cub deserved a chance. It deserved to be more than another casualty in this world's brutal approach to beast taming.
Cornelius studied me for a long moment. Then he smiled, and it was not a pleasant expression.
"Very well. You have until noon. But I'll be watching, hero. And when you fail—notice I said when, not if—I want you to remember that I gave you this chance. That your arrogance and naivety led directly to your own maiming or death." He turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Commander Vane? Have your men ready with spears. When the beast attacks, I want it dead quickly. No sense letting it suffer."
After he left, the courtyard was silent for a moment.
"He's a pleasant fellow," I said finally.
Vane snorted. "Cornelius is a bastard, but he's good at his job. He's personally subjugated over fifty beasts. Never lost a handler under his command."
"Because he kills anything that shows resistance," Sera said quietly.
"Like I said. Good at his job." Vane looked at me seriously. "You sure about this, hero? That collar is tight. The cub won't like you touching it, and if it lashes out..."
"I know the risks." I checked my bag—puppies, meat, and the medical supplies Vane had provided. Clean cloth, a salve that supposedly fought infection, and a strange crystalline solution that Sera promised would numb pain. "But I'm not letting that cub die because someone decided it wasn't worth the effort to try something different."
"Admirable. Stupid, but admirable." Vane gestured toward the isolation block. "Cell seven is ready. Chain's been lengthened like you asked. You'll be able to reach through the bars to work on the collar, but the cub will still have enough slack to bite you if it wants to."
"Comforting."
"I try." He fell into step beside me as we walked. "For what it's worth, I hope you succeed. Not because I believe in your methods—I don't. But because Cornelius is a smug bastard and I'd enjoy watching you prove him wrong."
I had to laugh at that. "I'll do my best."
Cell seven smelled different today. Muskier. The cub had marked its territory, probably stress-related. Through the door window, I could see it pacing again, agitated.
It knew something was wrong.
"Here we go," I muttered, and opened the door.
The cub stopped pacing immediately when it saw me. Its silver eyes were wider than usual, pupils dilated. Every muscle in its body was tense.
I sat down in my usual spot and pulled out the puppies. Luna yawned. Thor immediately started chewing on Maxwell's ear. Maxwell tolerated it with the patience of a saint.
Normal. Everything normal. Just another session.
"Hey there," I said softly. "I know you're scared. Something feels different today, doesn't it?"
The cub's ears were flat against its head. Not a good sign.
I pulled out meat and tossed a piece. The cub caught it but didn't eat, just held it in its mouth while watching me with those intense silver eyes.
Definitely stressed.
"Okay, listen," I said, keeping my voice low and calm. "That collar hurts, right? I can see the blood from here. I want to take it off. Clean the wounds. Make it better."
The cub dropped the meat and growled. Low and warning.
"I know, I know. Humans touching your neck is bad. Every time someone's grabbed you there, it's meant pain." I fed another piece of meat to Luna, making sure the cub could see. Normal interactions. Safe interactions. "But I'm not like them. You know that now, don't you? You ate from my hand. You let yourself trust me, just a little bit."
I pulled out a larger piece of meat and held it through the bars like yesterday. The cub hesitated, then approached. Its steps were stilted, uncertain, but it came.
It took the meat from my hand. Gentler than yesterday.
"Good," I breathed. "That's good. Now comes the hard part."
I pulled out the cloth and the salve, making sure my movements were slow and visible. The cub watched every motion, body coiled tight.
"I'm going to reach through the bars now," I explained, mostly to calm myself. "Just to touch the collar. Just to see how tight it is. That's all. I won't hurt you."
I extended my hand through the bars slowly. So slowly. The cub's eyes followed it, and I saw its muscles bunch, ready to strike or flee.
My fingers got within six inches of its neck.
The cub lunged backward with a hiss that raised every hair on my body. The chain went taut, and it crouched at the back of the cage, showing all its teeth.
Outside the cell, I heard movement. Guards getting ready.
"Stand down," I called, not taking my eyes off the cub. "We're okay. Just... give me a minute."
My hand was shaking slightly as I pulled it back. That had been close. Too close.
But we were running out of time. Cornelius would be back at noon, and it was already mid-morning.
I needed to try something different.
I pulled out Luna and held her up where the cub could see. "You like the puppies, right? They're small and harmless and soft. Nothing scary about them."
The cub's ears flicked forward slightly. Still tense, but listening.
"What if..." I had a crazy idea. Possibly suicidally crazy. "What if the puppy helped?"