Dawn never came.
The clouds above the valley had turned black.
Not with rain.
With dust.
Smoke. The effects of countless discharged powers.
And the sheer number of creatures fleeing through the northern forest.
The Aster Clan had fought throughout the entire night.
The walls were damaged.
The fields were destroyed.
Several buildings had been damaged.
The outer roads were covered in tracks.
But the people were still alive.
That was what mattered.
More people were arriving in droves, their homes destroyed. They thought their life was over.
Seeing the walls of the Aster clan still standing gave them hope.
Leo stood on those walls, staring north.
Celine stood beside him.
Catherine was several feet away with Edran.
Marcus approached.
"How bad?"
Leo looked toward the battlefield.
"Bad."
Marcus nodded.
"We've lost three watchtowers."
"Casualties?"
"Some."
Leo's jaw tightened.
"How many?"
"Not as many as it could have been."
Leo nodded slowly.
"That's something."
Then the mountains moved.
Everyone froze.
At first, Leo thought it was another earthquake.
Then he realized it wasn't the ground moving.
It was something walking.
Something enormous.
Trees disappeared beneath its feet.
The forest bent around it.
Catherine's face became pale.
"That's it."
Edran whispered:
"Yes."
Leo stared.
"What is it?"
Catherine shook her head.
"I don't know."
The creature emerged from the forest.
And the entire valley went silent.
It was enormous.
Its body was covered in dark armor-like scales.
Four massive legs supported its weight.
Two enormous horns curved backward from its head.
Its eyes burned like twin suns.
The beast's breath rolled across the valley like smoke.
Leo had never seen anything like it.
Neither had Marcus.
Neither had Tomas.
Neither had any of the elders.
Except Catherine.
She had seen it in her visions.
And now it was real.
The catastrophe-class beast had arrived.
The beast stopped.
It looked toward the Aster Clan.
Then it roared.
The sound struck the walls like a physical force.
Windows shattered.
People fell.
Several guards covered their ears.
Celine staggered.
Leo caught her.
"Are you all right?"
She nodded.
"The baby."
"What?"
Celine placed a hand over her stomach.
"The baby is moving."
Catherine turned toward her.
"It's reacting."
"To the beast?"
Catherine nodded.
"I think so, even the baby wants to fight. Definitely Leo’s child."
The catastrophe beast lowered its head.
Then charged.
"Brace!"
Marcus shouted.
Every defensive barrier activated.
The beast slammed into the outer wall.
The entire compound shook.
The magical barrier flashed.
Cracks appeared.
Seraphine shouted:
"Reinforce it!"
Mages poured their power into the shield.
Leo raised both hands.
Lightning erupted.
Fire followed.
The two elements twisted together.
Then plasma formed.
He released it.
The blast struck the beast directly.
It barely moved.
Leo stared.
"That should have hurt."
Tomas stepped beside him.
"Apparently it disagrees."
The beast roared again.
Catherine closed her eyes.
"I know what it's going to do."
"What?"
"Move left."
Leo trusted her instantly.
"Everyone! Left side!"
The beast swung its massive head.
Its horns struck the wall.
The section Leo had just ordered them away from exploded.
Stone flew.
But the defenders had moved.
Catherine smiled.
"Again."
The beast attacked.
And again, Catherine predicted it.
Every movement.
Every strike.
Every charge.
The defenders began reacting before the beast moved.
For the first time, the creature hesitated.
Leo looked at Catherine.
"Can you predict everything?"
"No."
"What can you predict?"
"Possibilities."
She breathed deeply.
"And there are too many."
Leo nodded.
"Then tell us what matters."
Catherine listened to the flow of time.
"The next attack."
"What?"
"Ten seconds."
She raised her hand.
"Now."
The beast charged.
Leo moved.
Lightning exploded across the battlefield.
Celine folded space.
The distance between the beast and the wall suddenly collapsed.
The creature stumbled forward unexpectedly.
Marcus attacked.
Tomas attacked.
Seraphine unleashed a massive spell.
The beast finally staggered.
The defenders cheered.
Leo smiled.
"Together."
Celine nodded.
Catherine smiled.
"Together."
The battle became something unlike anything the valley had ever witnessed.
Leo unleashed lightning and fire simultaneously.
His plasma burned brighter than ever before.
Celine manipulated the battlefield itself.
She opened spatial rifts beneath the beast's feet.
She redirected attacks.
She compressed distance.
She protected injured warriors.
Catherine guided everyone.
"Left!"
"Duck!"
"Now!"
"Move!"
"Leo, three seconds!"
Leo reacted before she finished.
His plasma attack struck the beast's chest.
This time, the creature roared in pain.
Leo stared.
"We hurt it."
Catherine nodded.
"Yes."
The elders saw it.
The hunters saw it.
The entire clan saw it.
The catastrophe beast could be hurt.
And that changed everything.
But the beast wasn't alone.
The rest of the wave had reached the valley.
Creatures poured around the catastrophe beast.
The defenders suddenly found themselves fighting on two fronts.
Marcus shouted:
"Protect the civilians!"
Edmund took command of the town guards.
"Second line!"
The Vale warriors formed beside them.
Hunters moved into the streets.
The school became a shelter.
The healers worked without stopping.
The entire valley became a battlefield.
Leo saw a massive beast break through the outer wall.
He ran toward it.
Before he could reach it, Celine appeared.
She raised her hand.
Space folded.
The creature suddenly found itself trapped inside a compressed pocket of space.
Leo stared.
Celine smiled.
"Go."
Leo grinned.
"Gladly."
He unleashed plasma.
The creature fell.
Celine immediately staggered.
Leo caught her.
"Are you all right?"
She nodded.
"I'm fine."
"You overdid it."
"Maybe."
Leo placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to prove anything."
Celine smiled.
"I know."
She looked at the battlefield.
"I'm protecting our family."
Leo smiled.
"Then we're protecting it together."
Hours passed.
The beast wave slowly began to thin.
Not because the creatures were defeated.
Because fewer were arriving.
The catastrophe beast had stopped advancing.
It stood in the center of the valley, wounded but still alive.
Leo, Celine, Catherine, Marcus, Tomas, Seraphine, Edran, Ordan, and the strongest hunters gathered together.
Everyone was exhausted.
The catastrophe beast looked at them.
Then it did something unexpected.
It turned.
Catherine froze.
"Wait."
The creature began walking away.
Leo stared.
"Why?"
Catherine listened.
"It's leaving."
Marcus lowered his weapon.
"Just like that?"
"No."
Catherine shook her head.
"It's going somewhere."
"Where?"
She turned toward the mountains.
"Back north."
Leo frowned.
"Why?"
Catherine's face became pale.
"Because it wasn't attacking us."
Silence.
"It was running."
Leo looked at the creature disappearing into the distance.
"Running from what?"
Catherine didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Because suddenly, her temporal senses stretched far beyond the valley.
She saw something.
A place beyond the mountains.
Something moving in darkness.
Something even larger.
Something that made the catastrophe beast seem small.
Catherine's face went completely white.
Edran noticed.
"Catherine?"
She whispered:
"There is something else."
Leo turned.
"What?"
She looked toward him.
"The beast we fought..."
She swallowed.
"...wasn't the source."
The valley fell silent.
Celine tightened her grip on Leo's hand.
"What did you see?"
Catherine shook her head.
"I don't know."
She paused.
"But whatever it is..."
Her voice trembled.
"The catastrophe beast is afraid of it."
The remaining creatures began disappearing into the forests.
The beast wave was ending.
But nobody celebrated.
Not yet.
The Aster Clan had survived.
The town had survived.
The Vale refugees had survived.
But they had learned something terrifying.
The catastrophe-class beast wasn't necessarily the greatest threat in the mountains.
It might have been fleeing from something else.
Leo looked toward the northern horizon.
"We need to find out what it is."
Marcus nodded.
"But not today."
Leo looked around.
People were exhausted.
Buildings were damaged.
The wounded needed treatment.
The dead needed to be mourned.
The walls needed rebuilding.
The fields needed repairing.
The clan needed to recover.
Leo nodded.
"Not today."
Celine rested her head against his shoulder.
Catherine stood beside them.
For the first time since the battle began, the valley was quiet.
The sun finally broke through the clouds.
Its light fell across the damaged walls.
Across the fields.
Across the people.
Across the Aster Clan.
They had survived the beast wave.
They had faced a catastrophe-class beast.
And they had lived.
But Catherine continued staring toward the mountains.
Because she could still feel it.
Something waiting beyond the horizon.
Something ancient.
Something powerful.
Something that had frightened the beast that had once caused the greatest disaster the valley had ever known.
And deep within the Hollow, the strengthened seal remained silent.
For now.
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