20. Burning Vale

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-Chase-

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-Chase-


I kept my eyes locked on Dante while he made his way down to the bottom of the steep hillside. I was ready to protect him in case the trolls noticed him before he could change his form, but since they usually waited for the victim to wander deeper into their lands, Dante was relatively safe.

I wasn't a big fan of having him with us. His inability to heal normally was giving me anxiety, and trolls were strong enough to rip anyone in half – for which they were famous for – so I was definitely worried. I felt bad for letting him risk his life, especially since we... didn't really need him there. Zane, Aaliyah, Eru and I were more than capable of handling things, and having Dante with us made this mission unnecessarily complicated.

But who was I to tell him to stay home? I could've forced him to stay out of this, yes, but it wasn't my decision to make. If he wanted to help, I wasn't going to stop him. If he wanted to bash in some skulls, I was there to make sure no one did that same to him. Besides, I saw this as a great opportunity for him to get to know this new side of him. If things went well, maybe he wouldn't be so afraid of himself anymore.

And I was dying to see that beast in action. Now that he wasn't trying to – quite literally – eat my ass, I could finally take a better look at him. I couldn't wait to see the transformation, although I hated the fact that it caused him pain.

"Are you sure about this?" Aaliyah asked with a quiet voice when Dante stopped to open his bag.

"Do you think he can't win against some trolls?" I asked in return.

She smirked and turned her attention back to Dante. "I watched him rip through a steel door – five inches wide – when he escaped the lab."

"Hmph," Ben snorted in amusement, and we turned to look at him. "You'll need antamare, loads and loads of antamare, to even hope to contain him when he reaches his full power."

That should've made me worried, but for some reason, I was proud. Antamare, black steel from Njizrski, made human-made steel seem like paper.

"So he should be fine then," Zane said.

"But he can't heal, so we need to make sure he's unharmed," I reminded him.

"What?" Ben said, but I shushed him, taking a step closer to the edge of the gorge.

Dante was transforming.

"Man..." Zan breathed out when the beast emerged, letting out a blood-chilling growl that echoed in the rocky hills. The entire forest suddenly started moving as the trolls were waking up.

"Let's go – stay out of his way," I told Aaliyah, who nodded, and then I turned to look at Zane. "Don't let us get killed," I smirked.

"I'll do my best," he said, grabbing his sniper rifle.

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