“Lamont,” I replied. “Now let me ask you this.” I paused, staring up at him. “How do you suggest we get them back?”

  Malworth shot me a look while rubbing the spot where the electrical device had been lodged. “I’m not good with all that planning stuff,” he said. “But when it comes to breaking and smashing things, well, that’s what I was made for.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “I need you to go out there and create a distraction while I sneak upstairs and free the rest of the hostages. Once they’re out, I’ll meet you outside the door, and then we’ll get back at them for everything they have done to you and the people of Penders.”

  “That I can do, but those magic beams they shoot are painful, Lamont,” he said. “Do you have any ideas on how to counter them, or am I in trouble?”

  I scanned the room and spotted a large metallic door buried under a pile of junk. Way too heavy for me to lift. For him? Not a problem.

  I walked to the heap and pointed. “Use this to deflect the blasts and try to stay out of the way as long as you can. Once I get the hostages out, I’ll come back, and together we'll raise some hell.”

  He bent down, his fingers scraping the floor, and picked up the door as if it weighed nothing.

  “I’ll try,” he said, positioning it like a knight might hold a shield. “I pray this works because I definitely don’t want to die at their hands, Lamont.”

  “Malworth,” I tapped him on his massive leg, “the only ones dying today are those damn leprechauns.”

  He slowly marched through a massive exit at the rear of the room, leaving me to handle the hostages. Just before he went through the archway, he looked back and gave me a nervous smile.

  “You’ll be fine… I promise.”

  Now, to free the hostages.

  I slipped out the way I came, peeked around the corner, then bolted down the long corridor. The dim lights swung overhead, casting long shadows that clawed at the walls, filling me with apprehension.

  Not a big deal, I told myself. But as I ran, my teeth still sank into my lower lip.

  Breathing hard, I reached the stairs and spotted two veilwolves guarding the way up, their mangy fur bristling and their slobbering mouths hanging low.

  The nearer wolf lunged, fangs bared, but I sidestepped and raked it with my werecat claws.

  White-hot sparks burst from the tips, arching into the second wolf and frying them both.

  Sparks cheered from my pocket, then flew out and launched a couple of her bite-sized missiles.

  [-999][-466]

  I finished them with Viper, stabbing quickly and cleanly, then watched them collapse. Rewards bloomed in my chest as I looked up the stairwell.

  Taking the steps two at a time, I hurried upward, clawing at any veilwolves I encountered along the way.

  When I reached the floor where the hostages were kept, I caught sight of a leprechaun raising his arms, summoning a rainbow beam. I hurled Fang at his wrist.

  It missed but grazed him just enough to slow him down.

  I closed the distance in a flash. The +9 Speed boost from the claws let me move like Kyrie Irving.

  I slashed down with one hand, then across with the other, the claws crackling with electricity as the air filled with the stench of burnt hair.

  The leprechaun dropped to his knees, panting for breath.

  Gripping Fang, I carved into him, leaving him leaking from more places than I cared to count.

  More XP and gold funneled into me as I stormed into the prison chamber where the captives were held. Before moving on, I decided to check the leprechaun’s corpse for potions. What I found was even better.

  Prison Cell Key.

  I raised the binoculars and peered past the heavy doors, just to make sure it was safe before opening them. Believe it or not, I spotted Sam—the miner I’d freed from the mind-control music earlier.

  Sliding the key into the slot, I gave it a turn. Her face erupted with joy. “Oh my God,” she screamed. “You found us!”

  “There’s not much time,” I said. “Take this and free the others. After that, get out of here.”

  She hugged me, then took the keys. “It’s not that easy,” she sighed. “The leprechauns caught us again after you freed my crew and me. I fear it may happen again.”

  “Trust me, the path is clear.”

  Her eyes widened. “You took care of the Bogart? But… how?”

  “It’s a long story. For now, just trust me. Go!”

  She went to free the other prisoners, and I fled back to the place where I’d last seen Malworth.

  On my way, I had to step past the bodies I had slain. Slashed and stabbed. Bloody hats and stained loafers. Looking at them, at all the blood sprayed across the walls, made my stomach twist.

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  I knew I had changed since coming to this world, but not like this. Not into a stone-cold killer without an ounce of regret. Unleashing death upon anyone who dared to stand in my way.

  As I passed more bodies, I searched myself for remorse and found nothing but a burning wrath. An anger that threatened to take control of me.

  These wolves and leprechauns were hurting people and keeping them against their will. If I did nothing about it, I was just as evil as they were.

  Still, the things I had done were savage. Yet I wanted to spill even more of their blood, and the blood of anyone else who thought they could get away with treating people like filth.

  Thinking about it from that perspective made the sickness fade as if it had never been there at all.

  I now stood on the floor where I met Malworth. Sparks spoke through her emotions, breaking me from my reflections.

  The hall was empty, which I expected. What I didn’t expect was how much louder it became with every step.

  By the time I reached the room, the walls shook, and the floor rumbled beneath me.

  With one hand braced against the wall for balance, I stumbled through a doorway, just in time to see bursts of color and hear screams as Malworth battled the leprechauns.

  “Made me your bloody captive and kept me locked down for months!” he roared. “For that, none of you will leave alive.”

  The big ogre reached down, snatched up a leprechaun, and with a sickening pop, squeezed its eyes from their sockets, blood oozing down his fist.

  He dropped the body, then stomped it flat, smearing it across the ground.

  [Savage Kill]

  The other leprechauns yelled in that strange Irish accent of theirs and fired multicolored bolts at him, but he braced behind his shield and took the impact head-on.

  He laughed and charged forward. “That’s all you got?”

  I dove into the fray, ripping through a few with the Mystscraper Claws before summoning Havoc Maker to my hand and cleaving straight through their bodies.

  My battle fairy automatically used my potions to heal me when I needed them, and between bursts, she tossed magic missiles.

  The screams of the leprechauns echoed off the walls.

  Up top, I blasted a pair of veilwolves with the Gorton Staff, then unleashed Prism Dropstrike

  Then it hit. Loud and mind-warping, driving me to my knees.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  That brain-melting techno bass was louder than I’d ever heard it before. Even with the sound-dampening bandana, there was no fighting against it.

  Sparks and I were almost dead.

  Somehow, I found the strength to glance at Malworth. He was still tearing through the leprechauns, unaffected. His rage made him impervious to the assault that had broken me down.

  He caught my glance and gasped. “I’ll help, Lamont,” he roared, grabbing a pillar and shaking the speakers from their mounts. “You’re not mind-warping my friend!”

  The pillars collapsed from the ceiling as stone and plaster fell all around. I struggled to my knees, blinking the last of the music away, only to see the remaining leprechauns rallying behind their leader.

  Gritting my teeth, I gripped my sword, taking my time to steady myself before cutting down a charging wolf.

  The leprechauns stood in a wedge formation, the gold-suited one at the center barking orders through his megaphone.

  “Focus your attacks on the big one!” the elite one shouted over the screams. “We cut him down, and the small one dies.”

  Malworth glanced at me with his enormous eyes and chuckled. “Watch this, friend.”

  With hands the size of a microwave, he hefted a massive chunk of concrete over his head and threw it into the crowd of leprechauns.

  The slab sailed through the air and crashed into the center of their formation. All I could hear were screams and the building groaning as more of it came down.

  When the dust cleared, only four leprechauns were left alive.

  They dragged themselves up from the wreckage, battered by the giant’s destruction. Two of their hats were gone entirely, and the gold-suited leprechaun’s jacket hung in tatters around his lanky frame.

  I glanced at my display and toggled Werecat

  The timer ran.

  [30:00]

  The leprechaun’s face turned toward me as my limbs elongated, joints twisting into unnatural angles that ripped a scream from my throat. My spine stretched with a sickening pull, and my feet burst against the confines of my shoes—yet the magical properties of the Ice Thompson’s held them together.

  A tail sprouted from the base of my spine—long, a part of me yet somehow not.

  I looked down at my forearms as bones snapped and reshaped, tiny gray hairs pushing through my skin. My coarse mane straightened, slick and sharp like a cat’s fur.

  Then my mouth opened, and a ragged howl tore free from my chest.

  The leprechauns backed up, readying their beams, but I dropped to all fours and sprinted like a cheetah, ripping the arms from the chest of the first one I swiped.

  [-899]

  Then [-89]

  He collapsed, clutching his wound, as I slashed my claw across the jugular of the next six-foot freak in green. He gargled before crumpling, while his friend bled out, fumbling to reattach his severed arm.

  [Fatal Kill]

  The elite leprechaun sneered, raising his megaphone, but before he could bring it to his mouth, Malworth stomped down, reducing him to a bloody mess.

  I felt angry at Malworth for killing the leprechaun before I could tear into him, but I was also relieved that my new friend saved me the trouble.

  The rewards of battle surged into me, leaving me sharper, more alive. I leapt a full level, climbing from twenty-six to twenty-seven.

  Sparks leveled up, too, which caught me off guard.

  I focused on her, and her description read: Battle Fairy — Level 26.

  Zooming in with my new catlike vision, I noticed the change. She looked sturdier now, her glow brighter, her eyes leaving faint trails of light as she hovered.

  I loosed another howl, feeling every bit the beast I had become. Hunched forward, I crept toward the carnage the giant had left behind and sniffed at it. Breathing it in. Letting it take over my senses.

  Then I pounced on the first leprechaun’s severed arm, snatched it with my hind legs, and kicked it high into the air. Just like a cat would do with a plaything.

  Quest Complete

  Beneath it, two boxes popped up with check marks next to them.

  Free The Hostages and Kill All Enemies.

  The XP gain pushed me even closer to level twenty-eight.

  I decided to save my points for when I got back to the cabin. Right now, I just wanted to get out of this place and breathe some fresh air.

  Sparks hovered nearby, staring at me quizzically before buzzing around my head, sending a rush of joyous emotion into my chest.

  “Friend, are you alright?” Malworth asked.

  I smiled. “Of course,” I hissed, licking my palm and slicking back my hair. “I’m just feeling finicky… and playful.”

  The three of us left the underground tree fortress through a narrow walkway Malworth used to reach the surface. I glanced at the timer and saw I had a full twenty minutes left in this creature’s skin, wondering what to do with the furry vengeance I had become.

  When we made it outside, the two moons hung in the air, welcoming us back to the surface. Their light shimmered across the grass, and the wind’s gentle touch brought a deep peace over me.

  I inhaled the deepest breath I had taken in a long time and cracked my knuckles.

  Completing this side quest had been harder than I expected, but it was something I needed to do on my own. Something without Cashius barking over my shoulder. A way for me to prove to myself that I could, you know.

  As for the remainder of my time as a werecat, I bounced around on all fours, chasing things neither Sparks nor the giant could see—just like the house cats back home.