CHAPTER 22

Ren chilled the moment he heard the familiar growl.

The foul smell permeated the air, irritating Ren's nostrils and lungs.

A Beast-bound.

He heard the sound of metal wheels rolling over the tarred grounds, and slowly, he lifted his head toward the direction of the sound.

A soldier was pushing a tall cart-like cage covered with a thick, black cloth.

Ren knew that the Beast-bound creature was right behind that dark cloth. The low growling was a quick giveaway.

As the soldier pushed the cage closer, Ren instinctively stepped out of the way only for him to freeze when he realised that he had moved right into the captain's front; he could feel his foot stepping on Axton's neatly polished shoe.

'Oh, God, could this get anymore worse?' He thought with dread.

Very slowly, he moved himself away from Axton's front and raised his head to look at his face, expecting the deadly, chilling look that would probably make him pee his pants, but, he saw none.

Axton wasn't even looking his way, as if he hadn't felt it when Ren stepped on his toe.

Ren was scared, confused; Axton was even scarier when he didn't speak. Ren didn't know what was going through Axton's mind; he hoped Axton really didn't feel his foot.

The Beast-bound's growl got louder, forcing Ren to look toward the cage.

The soldier had pushed the creature inside the tall, square gates, removing the back cloth to reveal a haggard-looking Beast-bound.

Ren gulped, 'Why did Axton ask them to bring out the creature? Why did they have a Beast-bound in a cage?' He wiped his sweaty palms on his hands, his eyes staring without blinking.

The Beast-bound looked feral, bumping its shoulders against its confinement, trying to break loose. Ren noticed with a disturbing frown that the torn clothing on the Beast-bound's body was a soldier's uniform, just like the rest of the men wore.

A chill ran down his spine as he slowly turned his face to Axton, realising that the captain was even more inhumane than he thought.

The picture was becoming clearer to Ren. Axton had banished the majority of the creatures, leaving behind a few that he would use, probably for experimenting and combat practices, just like this one.

"Sergeant Kael, you know the rules, yet you broke them. This is a fight to the death," Rhys's voice boomed with authority.

"Yes, sir!" Kael replied, bowing his head very slightly before he turned and walked toward the cage.

Ren suddenly heard the footsteps of the soldier marching around the square cage.

In a second, everyone surrounded the cage to watch what was about to go down.

"Oh no," Ren wanted to move forward, but his wrist got seized by no other than Axton.

Ren froze. He was sure that Axton could feel his racing pulse with his hand around his wrist. He gradually turned and faced Axton.

"Captain?" He called quietly, not meeting Axton's eyes.

"If he dies, you're next, Renault, do you understand?" Axton spoke very calmly, a habit that always made Ren feel like a grave was being dug behind him.

"I understand, Captain," Ren managed to speak even though he felt like his throat was blocked with a heavy lump.

Axton did something that surprised Ren.

Just when he thought that Axton would release his hand and walk off as always, he felt his hand being raised.

With fear and curiosity, Ren watched as Axton brought his hand up to his nose and inhaled very slightly; the scariest part of the situation was the way Axton's electrifying eyes locked on his.

Ren could hear his heartbeat in his ears, his stomach feeling like a cold, heavy stone was dropped inside it.

'What was Axton doing?!' Ren panicked while he tried to look calm in the face of danger.

"C-captain?" He summoned the courage to call when he felt like he couldn't stand the intensity of Axton's touch and look.

With a slow blink, Axton released Ren's hand, "Hope he wins, Renault, or you're next. Follow." He said and strode away from Ren, heading toward the cage.

Ren sighed heavily, scared for both his and Kael's lives. Kael might have a chance at survival, but him? He'd die out of fear before he even got to enter the cage.

He followed Axton behind, watching as everyone cleared the way for Axton as he passed along.

They reached the cage, and Ren moved over to stand beside Axton, his heart thumping as he saw Kale standing next to the Beast-bound's cage.

"Release the creature, Sergeant," Axton commanded.

Kael moved behind the Beast-bound's cage. He held his spear up and reached for the latched lock in front of the cage. Carefully, he uses the spear to unlatch the lock.

Everywhere stilled as the cage's door slowly swung open, the squeaking sound of the door sent a shudder of foreboding down Ren's spine.

He took a step back but halted in shock when he felt Axton's hand on his shoulder.

"Stay," Axton's command was brief but grounded.

Ren retraced his steps and returned to stand in front of the cage.

The moment they saw that the door was unlocked, it growled ferociously and dived out of the cage.

A sudden rise filled the air as the soldiers cheered their mate. They chanted some encouraging sounds that Ren couldn't really make any sense out of. At the moment, he was too engrossed in watching the next movement the creature would make.

Everyone knew what was next. The Beast-bound soldier was going to attack Kael. Though its shoulders were hunched, it moved without problem and slowly walked around the cage.

Kael cautiously moved backwards, his eyes directly on the creature and stance ready to defend or attack.

The Beast-bound suddenly charged, its infected fangs and claws protruding out of its hands and mouth, it was ready to kill.

In a swift motion, Kael kicked his spear and unlocked the dual sharp edges. He raised the spear above him to take down the feral approaching Beast-bound, but just when he thought that the Beast-bound was going to run right into his readied spear, it swiftly dodged him and made another turn.

Before anyone could actually understand what was happening, Ren's horrified scream pierced the air.

The Beast-bound creature had managed to push his hand out of the cage and slashed his claws over the side of Ren's cheek and neck.

***

Ren was pulled face-first into the cage by the Beast-bound creature as the creature tried to see if it would be able to drag in its prey through the cage to feast on it.

Ren's eyes widened in mortification, and he felt his life flash through his eyes. It's only been a few seconds.

Since everything had happened, Ren felt like it had been centuries. His mind was counting the seconds to his death.

In a flash, the Beast-bound screeched in pain and released Ren's neck in an urgency to retreat.

Falling to the ground, mortified and in pain, Ren watched the Beast-bound stagger back with the spear Axton had shot through its eye, its dark blood flowing like a river down its body.

Ren slowly turned to look at Axton. He looked livid and dangerous, but at that moment, Ren knew that it wasn't at him. It was at the Beast-bound.

If Ren didn't know any better, he'd think that Axton was genuinely protecting him, but he'd be a fool to think so.

Axton was just making sure that his human specimen didn't die. Even if Ren were to die, it should be by his own hands.

A growl caught everyone's attention in the cage once more as the Beast-bound lifted itself from the ground. The spear in his eyes only seemed to make him more rabid and angry.

He leapt into the air, diving at Kael at speed.

Kael smirked and immediately threw his spear so high in the air that he didn't need it for now.

He reached out his hand and willingly caught the diving Beast-bound, forcefully dragging it forward and smacking its body on the strong cage.

He let it fall to the ground and easily caught his spear in the air.

"Let's get this over with," Kael murmured.

The cheers increased, and the soldiers hit their chests with their fisted hands as they chanted their encouragement.

The Beast-bound was back on its feet, growling the loudest it had ever heard. It rushed toward Kael, the image was so disturbing as the spear was still embedded perfectly into its eyes, the blood flowing faster as it ran, and its sound got more animalistic as it got angrier.

"Pick someone your own size," Kael smirked and dodged the Beast-bound's reach, forcefully dragging out the spear from its eyes as he moved.

The Beast-bound roared, falling to the ground in pain, and in the next second, Kael pierced both spears into its eyes, pinning it to the ground.

With the Beast-bound's vision gone, Kael simply pressed a button by the sides of the spears and the Beast-bound's head exploded, the rotten flesh scattering all over the sands and its blood staining Kael's clothes.

The soldiers went crazy, hitting the cage in unison and cheering.

Kael easily retrieved the spears and faced the captain. He bowed, then faced Rhys and bowed. He walked out of the cage, leaving behind a nasty image.

"Make them clean, Stanley," he threw the spears at Stanley and walked over to Axton.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble, Captain," He bowed his head.

"You're due for another punishment, Kael," Axton paused and pointed to Ren, who was still sitting on the ground.

"What is he?" Axton asked, glancing at Ren.