CHAPTER 100: _UMBRA BEAST

Elian’s POV

*****

"Duck!" Axel yelled, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him alongside himself.

Elian subconsciously closed his eyes as he fell on the ground, Axel placing his body over him. But the Beta didn’t end there, getting on his feet and making a defensive stance for moon knows what.

[Daddy Axel to the rescue!]

Elian squinted, sitting up. When his eyes flicked to the window, however, a cold shiver ran down his spine when he saw the shadow growing larger by the second, the lights in the room flickering still.

That ain’t no "shadow". That—

"Umbra beast." Axel snapped, stretching his arms wide enough to shield Elian from the thing’s line of sight. "Creatures of darkness that can be created for a variety of reasons... Including hunting targets. Which I guess is you, Elian."

Suddenly, dark tentacles sprouted out of the shadow before shooting toward Axel.

Elian’s eyes widened, but before any of the shadows could get a chance of touching him, Axel drew out a plasma sabre shining with a bright golden light.

He sliced through the tentacles like butter at a speed almost too fast for Elian’s eyes to follow as the system analysed the umbra beast in question.

[That thing being an Umbra beast is a major survival hazard—especially if it’s after you. They can hide in shadows, use the night as a cover and change shape and form into almost anything.]

In other words... He’s toast.

Elian got on his feet, his gaze going to the door. He glanced at Axel with worry, his mind and heart racing between the thoughts of survival and helping him.

[Boo, he seems pretty capable of protecting himself... Run!]

Elian swallowed, the last thing he saw before running for the door was Axel bolting toward the beast with his plasma sabre blazing.

However, the moment his hand grabbed the doorknob, something strong and cold wrapped around his ankle, causing a gasp to escape his lips.

His heart dropped to his stomach when he brought his gaze down and spotted a dark tentacle clamped around his ankle. Chills shot through his body like electricity, his legs going numb with dread.

[Warning: Survival probability dropping rapidly. 42%... 35%... 31%...]

Before he could scream, Axel reacted quickly, slicing off the tentacle from his end with his plasma sabre.

"Elian, outside!" Axel shouted, giving him just one glance before facing the beast again.

He didn’t need to tell him twice...

When Elian got outside, he closed the door behind him, breathing heavily, his heart racing with dread.

Just then, Aurora’s room door opened and she stepped out with a deep frown. "Uh, what’s going on in there?" She pointed at his room, her eyes scanning him suspiciously.

Elian parted his lips to speak but a monstrous screech from the room broke the silence in the hallway.

Aurora’s eyes widened. "What was that?"

"Trust me, you don’t want to know." Elian shook his head, placing his hands in front of her to run with him.

But she shoved him aside gently, barging into his room. "Oh, my gosh..."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Elian standing in the corridor with an awkward expression.

[Hey, at least you don’t have to worry much about your safety with people like them following you around.]

’I feel like I’m being babysat.’ Elian thought, one hand on his chest as he looked at both sides of the corridor.

An elderly woman opened her door and peeked out of her room with a frown, staring directly at him like she was going to call security for whatever ruckus was going on.

[Poor granny probably thinks it’s a chaotic orgy.]

Elian managed a small wave at her but she looked at him with contempt before closing her door.

Old hag...

.

.

Eventually, Axel opened the door, signalling Elian to come in.

When he did, he scanned his gaze around the room, spotting Aurora standing close to the window, panting heavily with her right hand on her hair.

No signs of the Umbra beast.

"When I said change of scenery... I definitely didn’t mean that." She blurted, her eyes going to Elian. "Where’s Lucian? If that thing was really here for you then it—"

"What thing?" Lucian’s voice sounded from the entrance of the door just then, forcing all of them to swerve their heads to him.

The Alpha Prince walked in with a frown on his face, noticing the tense air instantly.

Elian sighed before speaking. "An Umbra beast. It was after me, probably sent by Estella and Magnus."

Lucian’s eyes widened when Aurora suddenly questioned. "How do we know it’s them anyway? I thought they wanted you alive, Elian?"

A cold shiver ran down Elian’s spine when he thought about it. The system did say he should survive his first night outside the palace and the cost of failing was death.

That definitely meant that the monster was here for the kill.

"I just got off a call with dad," Lucian said but then shook his head, closing the door behind him and stepping in. "But hold up. An Umbra beast after Elian. And no one called me?"

He stared directly at Elian, arching an eyebrow and causing the latter to lower his head.

[Aw, you look cute when he’s scolding you.]

"We handled it, Lucian." Axel stepped forward, placing his hand on Elian’s shoulder and keeping eye contact with Lucian. "There’s no need to worry. Luckily, you decided to make the three of us sleep in the same room."

"We barely handled it." Aurora chimed. "Those things are nigh impossible to kill except through an extremely bright source of light. How sure are we that this one didn’t just slip into a shadow and escape?"

Elian’s head spun with more dread. "How sure are we that there aren’t more?"

Silence stretched in the room as everyone glanced around the place like they half expected something to move weirdly in the shadows.

Elian locked eyes with Lucian who seemed conflicted, worry present in his eyes. After a few seconds of staring at each other, the Alpha Prince finally cleared his throat.

"Fortunately, I called for three more guards from Dad and got the two who followed us to be stationed in strategic positions. Just in case Estella and Magnus try anything funny." Lucian let out a breath. "From now on, when we leave our rooms we should move out in pairs."

Aurora rolled her eyes just then, raising her arms. "I was in the middle of getting some beauty sleep anyway. Wake me up when it’s time for night drinks."

She waltzed to the door and shut it behind her, leaving the room in an awkward silence.

"Don’t worry, Elian." Axel yanked him closer to his body just then, pressing his lips close to his neck. "I’ll be here to protect you till we head back to the palace."

"We’ll be here to protect him." Lucian corrected, stepping closer to them with his arms folded in front of his chest. "Let’s hope we don’t get any more ’gifts’ from your crazy sister before then, Beta."

As the two men glared at each other like they wanted to slit each other’s throats, Elian felt stuck in the middle, and not in a good way.

[Relax. With two of them by your side, your survival odds are much higher... Let’s just hope they don’t kill each other first before whatever threats are out there.]

As the system said that, Elian could’ve sworn he saw something shift in his shadow on the wall beside them. Maybe it was his paranoia... Or maybe that beast was still out there.

Waiting for an opportunity...