"Do the Monkey King's ultimate move next!" Amasha pleaded, tugging on Paley's sleeve. "Turn the whole world into your playground!"

  Paley sat on a mossy rock near the riverbank, his head throbbing with a rhythmic and dull ache. The night before, he'd been experimenting non-stop with runestones and it had drained him. He felt lightheaded, his mana scraping the bottom of the barrel, but looking at Amasha's wide, expectant eyes, he just couldn't say no.

  "Alright," Paley forced a smile. "Explain it to me. I'm gonna do it just for a minute. I'm tired."

  Down by the water, the rhythmic slosh-scrub of laundry provided a peaceful backdrop. Madella, Jurie, and Bacha were knee-deep in the shallows, conversating as they wrung out sheets. Further up the hill, the wooden *clack-clack* of Adimia and Reben's sparring practice echoed. It was a perfect, lazy afternoon.

  Paley raised a trembling hand. Obviously, he didn't have the mana to actually make the world his 'playground', so he relied on what has proven a very reliable part of his arsenal: Illusion Magic.

  "World Playground Magic..." He whispered, embarrassed slightly.

  He cast the spell over Amasha's eyes. Any older child would be able to immediately sense the mana and potentially even dispel it, but to Amasha, the pebbles on the ground seemed to float into the air, dancing in orbit around him. The grass turned an impossible blue, and the trees seemed to bow their branches in reverence.

  "Whoa!" Amasha spun in circles, reaching out to touch the floating rocks that weren't really there. "Why are they bowing to me?"

  "Because you're a King."

  Amasha's hearty laughter was more than enough to fulfill Paley. After a minute, he lowered his hand, his vision swimming with black spots. He needed to sleep. He slid forward to slump and rest against the stone. He just needed to close his eyes for a second-

  *CRACK.*

  Thunder. The air itself shattered.

  A blinding flash of white light exploded in front of him, erasing the peace instantly. Blinded, Paley threw his hands up to shield his eyes.

  "Amasha!" Madella screamed from the river.

  Paley blinked the spots away, his heart hammering against his ribs. The light faded, leaving a burnt smell and singed hair.

  Amasha was gone.

  In the distance, readjusting, stood a large creature out of a nightmare - a Fulguron. It stood on powerful short scaled legs but its body was covered in bristling, static-charged fur, and its tail like a flattened squirrel's tail twitched, sparking with arcs of blue electricity. In its jaws, it held a small, limp figure.

  "Amasha..." Paley breathed.

  The beasts eyes locked onto Paley's for a split second - yellow, intelligent, and cruel. Then, with a burst of speed that left scorch marks on the grass, it vanished into the tree line.

  Paley stood frozen. He had seen Amasha's face. He had seen the blood.

  The beast's teeth had sunk into the boy's shoulder and side.

  Something inside Paley snapped. It wasn't a conscious decision for him to give chase. It was a reaction that was entirely physical, like vomiting. A torrent of energy, boiling dark with fury flooded his exhausted veins.

  Strength.

  He didn't focus nor did he visualize. The magic just was. It flooded his muscles, overcharging them instantly.

  You don't have enough, a cold voice whispered in the back of his mind. You are borrowing against a debt you cannot pay... not in blood...

  Paley didn't care. He launched himself forward. The ground exploded beneath his feet, sending dirt and grass flying. He didn't run like a human; he ran low, his knuckles grazing the earth, his body moving with a predatory, four-legged gait that felt terrifyingly natural.

  He smashed through a thicket of thorns, not feeling them tear his skin. He vaulted over a fallen log, his momentum carrying him faster than he had ever moved before.

  Ahead, the blue flash of the Fulguron arc of lightning arced between the trees. It was a Tier II monster - fast, nimble, deadly, and deep in its element.

  Kill it, the voice urged. Rip it apart.

  Paley entered the Mana Zone. The air grew heavy, pressing down on him, but he used the pressure. He smelled the burn, the ozone. He smelled the pine. But most of all, he smelled the copper tang of Amasha's blood and even a faint trace of what could only be described as the fear of a little boy in the jaws of death.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  The scent drove him mad. His vision tinted red at the edges. A growl ripped from his throat - a sound that didn't belong to a twelve-year-old boy.

  The Fulguron sensed him. The beast skidded to a halt on a massive branch, fur standing on end as it felt the signature of something furious and hungry pursuing it. It spun around, unleashing a wave of lightning that sliced through the trunks of three colossal ancient oaks.

  The trees crashed down, creating a barricade of falling timber and foliage.

  Paley didn't slow down, neither did he try to go around. He leaped, catching a hanging vine, swinging through the falling debris with the grace of a primate. He bounced off a collapsing trunk his fingers digging into the bark like claws, and launched himself back onto the path.

  The Fulguron roared - not trying to intimidate but out of genuine fear - and abruptly changed direction, banking hard to the left.

  Paley skidded to a stop, his heels carving trenches in the loam. He sniffed the air. Why turn? Why give up the speed advantage?

  He looked to the right, where the monster should have gone. The scents of electricity and traces of hunger were strongest there. A nest.

  Paley's lips curled back from his teeth. His eyes, now glowing a luminous, violent crimson, fixed on the path to the right. He didn't chase the Fulguron. He ran for its home. The Fulguron shrieked, realizing its mistake, and doubled back. Now, the beast was chasing the boy.

  Paley burst into a rocky hollow. In the centre lay a nest made of charred branches and bones. Three cubs, small and crackling with static, looked up at him with an initial curiosity.

  Paley landed in the center of the nest. Without hesitation, he grabbed one of them by the throat and slammed it into the dirt. With his other hand, he summoned a jagged blade of earth, a shiv, and pressed it against the cub's soft and exposed neck.

  He turned to face the oncoming mother. He didn't speak. He just widened his eyes with rage, broadcasting a single, clear intent: Drop him, or I slaughter your children.

  The Fulguron skidded into the hollow, screeching. It saw the blade. It saw the madness in the boy's eyes. Reluctantly, it opened its jaws and dropped Amasha covered in its spit.

  Amasha hit the ground with a dull thud, groaning from agony.

  "Run..." Paley tried to say, but his voice was a garbled snarl. But Amasha couldn't move.

  He let go of the cub and lunged for his brother. He grabbed Amasha, pulling him close, ready to sprint-

  Time to collect what you owe...

  The voice was the slam of a gavel. Paley's body seized. Every muscle locked tight as the Mana Debt claimed its due. He collapsed, paralyzed, half-draped over Amasha, in excruciating pain.

  The Fulguron saw the opening. Its fear vanished, replaced by maternal rage. Its body began to glow with an intensity that could blind.

  A bolt of lightning, thick as a tree trunk, slammed into the two boys. Paley tried to scream, but his paralyzed jaw couldn't open. The pain was absolute. It felt like his blood was boiling, his bones turning to glass and cracking apart. Beside him, Amasha convulsed, his small body smoking.

  The lightning stopped. Paley lay twitching, smoke rising from his tunic. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He could only watch through slit eyes as the Fulguron stalked toward them.

  The beast lowered its head, sniffing Paley. It sneered, a rumble of disgust vibrating in its chest.

  It flipped Paley over with its snout, rolling him out of the nest and down the rocky slope. He tumbled, hitting stones and roots, coming to a stop in the dirt, helpless.

  The Fulguron turned back to Amasha. The boy was small. Tender. Lunch.

  "P-Paley..." Amasha's voice was a wet, gargle of a whisper. He tried to crawl, but his legs were useless. "I'm... scared..."

  The Fulguron cubs gathered around, chirping excitedly. The mother nudged one forward, teaching it to kill. The cub, the size of a human adult, opened its jaws and lunged for Amasha's face.

  A man dies when they go as far as you did, The voice said. You know what it means... A Mana Debt... You won't die... Not yet... Quimor.

  Amasha squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end.

  A blur of motion. A wet *thud*.

  The bite never came.

  Amasha opened his eyes.

  Paley was there. He was on one knee, his body trembling violently. HIs left forearm was shoved deep into the cub's mouth, the teeth buried in his flesh, grinding against the bone. Blood poured down Paley's arm, dripping onto Amasha's face.

  But Paley wasn't screaming. He was growling, his face twisted in a horrible, petrifying chaos of fury, desperation, and a bottomless hunger. Amasha thought he was having a terrible nightmare. Paley's teeth were sharper than this morning. HIs eyes were flaring and almost releasing the crimson into the air.

  Something roared. A monstrous sound that shook Amasha to his core. It was Paley? No, Amasha denied what he saw. But he had indeed seen Paley roar like that.

  Paley stood up, lifting the heavy cub into the air by its jaw. Amasha thought it was Strength Magic, what else could that red mist splashing out of Paley's arm be?

  He slammed the cub down onto its back with incredible strength. Then, with a sickening crunch, Paley planted a foot on the cub's chest, grabbed its lower jaw with both hands, and pulled.

  *RRRIIIPP.*

  Amasha's world went dark at that point.

  Consciousness returned slowly, accompanied by an overwhelming smell of copper.

  Immediately feeling the sting of liquid in his eyes, Amasha blinked them open. The forest was quiet. Even the crickets weren't singing.

  He was still in the nest. He tried to sit up, but his body screamed in protest. He looked around.

  The nest was painted entirely in red.

  The Fulguron mother lay dead at the edge of the hollow, her head twisted at a grotesque angle. The cubs were scattered with half or more of their bodies missing.

  In the center of the carnage lay his brother, Paley. He was on his back, his limbs sprawled out, his chest barely rising. He was covered in so much blood it was impossible to tell where his injuries were.

  Amasha stood, tears cutting tracks through the grime on his face. He'd been healed. Had Paley done it?

  "Paley?" he whispered. "Paley, wake up."

  He reached his brother. Paley's face was slack, peaceful in unconsciousness. But his mouth was slightly open.

  Amasha froze.

  Caught between Paley's teeth was a chunk of raw, dark meat.

  Amasha shook him, his small hands slipping on the slick blood. "Paley, please! Wake up! You have to wake up!"

  The forest answered only with silence, and the cold wind that rustled the black hair of the boy who had eaten monsters.