The Drum That Calls Beasts
Chapter 23
Dun. Dun-dun-dun.
Dun. Dun-dun-dun.
The sound of drums rolled through the coliseum from every direction at once-deep, ancient, and merciless. Each beat sank into Eidolon's chest like a second heartbeat that did not belong to him.
The air grew colder.
Not with wind-but with intent.
Eidolon's attention drifted wildly, his eyes searching the stone walls, the upper stands, the shadows between pillars.
Where...? From where are they coming from?
Then it hit him.
For the first time in eight years-since the night he was dragged away by a figure in black-fear took him completely.
Eidolon was fifteen now.
He had been seven when his childhood ended.
Back then, fear had been sharp. Panicked. Desperate.
This fear was different.
This one was final.
This time... I know it's over.
He looked forward.
The children were retreating.
Some stumbled backward, legs giving out beneath them, collapsing onto the stone floor. Others stood frozen, eyes wide and empty, their minds refusing to accept what their bodies already knew.
Then-
Eidolon saw it.
The cage.
No-
The monster inside it.
A head like a lion's, crowned with a mane matted and dark, eyes glowing with savage intelligence. The torso of a towering, muscle-bound man, arms thick and corded-bifurcated with unnatural strength, veins pulsing like living ropes. And below, the powerful hind limbs of a goat, hooves cracking the stone beneath its weight.
A chimera.
But wrong.
Too big.
Too much.
As if the world itself had miscalculated when it allowed this thing to exist.
The iron bars of the colossal cage bowed outward with every breath it took. Metal screamed in protest, fractures crawling across the structure like spiderwebs.
The cage... was about to fail.
What is that...? Eidolon whispered to himself.
What the hell is that?
His mind reeled.
Is this a joke?
What are we supposed to do with that monstrosity?
How can something like that even exist?
Eidolon stood petrified, unable to move. His body refused every command. His thoughts scattered, no longer forming plans-only fragments.
How I'll die.
How long it'll take.
Whether it'll hurt.
Nothing else came.
The drums grew louder.
The beast snarled.
A sound that was half roar, half laughter.
It's over...
Then-
"Wa... wait."
Eidolon's eyes narrowed.
What is that...?
Something moved.
Not the monster.
Something else.
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