My Wild Beast-Chapter 86: Loner Beast (2)

Yoa crouched low behind a driftwood log, eyes narrowed with determination. Beside him, Atia bounced with barely-contained energy, his fingers twitching in anticipation. Aiyana stood with her hands on her hips, already regretting the decision to let the boys talk her into this.

"It’s called tactical herding," Atia whispered.

Yoa nodded solemnly, as if crab herding were a sacred duty. Dozens of palm-sized crustaceans clicked and scuttled along the beach, zig-zagging unpredictably.

"Why do they need herding?" Aiyana yelped, lifting her foot up, and watched the crabs many legs with a look of disgust.

"Because they’re taking up too much space on this beach," Yoa narrowed his eyes on them like they were a problem.

Aiyana hopped over a few others until she stood on a stone the crabs weaved around.

"Wait... Are you scared of one of these little shellfish?" Atia snickered as he held one of the crabs up by his claw. "Ah!" It pinched his hand, and he accidentally flicked it back into the sea.

"I’m not scared!" Aiyana snapped, and to prove she wasn’t making disgusted faces at the little critters, she initiated the start of this herding game.

With a sharp whistle, Aiyana waved her arms wide as she tried to guide the swarm toward the designated coral pen Atia and Yoa had already laid out in the sand. However, the crabs didn’t agree with where Aiyana was trying to lead them. With a unified jolt, the horde veered hard left—right into the jungle path that curved directly to the caves.

"Why are they going that way?" Aiyana yelled, sprinting after them.

"Maybe we should have left them to it?" Atia suggested unhelpfully, paling as he watched Aiyana trying to herd them back but they just clicked past her, and gave warning jabs of their claws. She yelped and tried to get ahead again.

Yoa growled in frustration, already sprinting past the others. Trees blurred as they gave chase, trying to head off the crab wave before it reached forbidden territory. But it was too late. The crabs, spooked and clicking wildly, scurried into the shadowy crevice of the vampiras’ nesting ground.

A hush fell over the trio as they reached the cave mouth. The air was thick and cold.

Yoa crouched low, instincts prickling at his skin.

"Don’t move," he warned. "We spook them, we die."

Atia’s teeth chattered. "I think I just saw one blink... backwards."

Shadows shifted deep inside. One crab clattered against a rock. freewebnøvel_com

And then—nothing.

Until everything exploded. From the depths, pale shapes lunged with otherworldly speed. The vampiras—emaciated, gray-skinned with black, lidless eyes—screeched like tearing parchment. The trio screamed and bolted, crashing through brush and sand and startled birds. Yoa grabbed Aiyana’s wrist as she stumbled, hauling her up.

Atia ran like his tail was on fire. "This is NOT what I signed up for!" he yelled between ragged breaths.

They didn’t stop until they reached the sea, diving behind a rock shelf, chests heaving. The caves were far behind, and no fanged horrors gave chase. For a while, they just lay there, panting.

Then Atia let out a shaky laugh. "I think I wet myself a little."

Aiyana shoved him. "You’re disgusting. We could’ve died!"

Yoa didn’t say anything, still listening for anything behind them.

After the panic faded, boredom returned. As it always did with them. Aiyana spotted something drifting in the shallows—glowing, pulsing domes with trailing filaments.

"Jellyfish!" she grinned. "See? I told you it was the season."

Atia, recovered, rolled onto his back. "No more chasing animals. Let’s just... poke things safely."

They found a fallen palm trunk bobbing in the shallows and used it as a makeshift raft. Sitting cross-legged on top, they drifted lazily, booping jellyfish with sticks and their fingers. The jellyfish floated serenely, undisturbed by the attention, their bodies illuminating softly beneath the water like lanterns.

"What do you think they dream about?" Aiyana asked, trailing her hand just above one.

"Electric eels and seaweed burritos," Atia answered confidently.

Yoa snorted. "Dreams of zapping annoying kids who don’t keep their hands to themselves."

He’d barely finished speaking when Aiyana gasped. She jerked her hand out of the water, wincing. "Something got me!"

A pink welt bloomed along her wrist. Yoa leaned in. "Sting. You touched the filaments."

She hissed as the pain set in. Atia looked horrified. "We need the healer. Like, now."

Aiyana nodded through gritted teeth. "But we can’t go like this. We’ll get lectured for leaving the village. Again."

Yoa frowned in thought. "We sneak in. Back window. Like last time."

Aiyana raised an eyebrow. "You mean the time you knocked over the herbal jars and set the hut on fire?"

He shrugged. "We didn’t die. That’s a win."

Atia groaned. "I’ll distract the bird in the courtyard. That thing hates me anyway."

The plan, as always, was chaos. Atia did his part—running shrieking around the healer’s coop as a furious parrot dive-bombed him. Yoa hoisted Aiyana through the back flap and climbed in after her. The healer, thankfully, was out gathering herbs.

Yoa dug through bundles, whispering the names of each plant under his breath.

"Moonfern... no. Clawgrass... no. Aha! Seabalm."

He pressed the cool paste onto Aiyana’s wrist.

She exhaled, visibly relieved. "I swear, you’re good in a crisis."

Yoa met her eyes briefly, then looked away, pretending to fuss with the pots. "Someone’s gotta be."

From outside came a loud crash. Atia yelled, "The bird bit my butt!" followed by a squawk of outrage.

Yoa and Aiyana shared a look before bursting into laughter. "Thanks for getting my grumpy ass up."

Aiyana bumped his shoulder with a fist playfully. "Anytime. You’ve been too stuck in your head. Don’t worry. We’ll always be here to have some fun... herding crabs or getting stung by jellyfish."

Yoa smirked as he glanced at her wrist. "Less of the stinging."

For a brief moment, nothing else mattered. No trials. No gods. No fate. Just three kids, free to be wild and reckless.