Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

"Feri, please. Why are you speaking to me like that— you used to look up to me. Me and John. We took you in when you were brought from the mines to the city. When you were a child! And now John’s dead, and you won’t even talk to me."

"You know what you did. You betrayed us."

"Please, Feri. I did it for your own sake. If you had been caught, they would have killed you!"

Feri stared at the man. He couldn’t believe it. He still thought he was right! Feri stopped himself from shouting, and spoke calmly.

"We wouldn’t have been caught if it wasn’t for you."

"You don’t know that." Paul met the younger man’s eyes challengingly. "You have not seen what I’ve seen. Too many people have died doing foolish things. You would’ve been one of them."

Feri felt the anger boiling inside of him. He was just about to snap at his former parental figure, when there was a cry for help.

Someone at the edge of the camp screamed, and people began to run.

"Monster attack!" a shout came from the distance.

Feri was just about to turn and run away from the shouts, when Paul tried to pull the younger man.

"We’ve got to move! If the Monster gets to us—" The older man tugged at Feri.

Feri blinked, and stopped. "No," the former slave spoke defiantly. He was free now. He could choose for himself. Perhaps it was a little bit foolish. And perhaps it was in the heat of the moment. But the young man turned around, and ran to the screaming.

"Feri—"

The former slave ran through a crowd of people, screaming and fleeing from the scene. He quickly stopped to grab a knife next to a campfire, then continued his run. Feri turned around a tent and saw—

A large cat. About the same size as a tiger. But instead of black stripes on orange fur, it had gray-needle like fur all throughout. And it also had long protruding fangs from the mouth even when closed. But those were not its most distinctive features. It had a horn.

It was a Horned Panther.

Feri froze as the realization sank in. The young man locked eyes with the Monster. It was cornering an injured man and a little girl, but perked up at the new arrival.

The Horned Panther looked uncertainly at Feri, but when he did not move, it slowly limped forwards to the crying girl and her father. Was it injured? Feri broke out of the thought, and quickly took a step forward. It’ll kill them.

"Stop!" the young man ordered, as if the Monster could understand him.

Of course, it did not stop. It did not understand him. But it did understand loud noises, and the sudden movement together with the shout was perceived as a threat.

The Horned Panther snapped its head towards Feri’s direction. It bent down, then leapt forward to the young man. Feri saw it coming, and rolled out of the way from pounce.

The young man had just got back up, when a tail came swinging at him. The Monster’s tail struck him across the chest. He collapsed to the ground, and the Horned Panther was over him in a second.

The Horned Panther pressed its paw on the man’s chest, holding him down. It snarled at Feri, saliva drooling out of the Monster’s mouth. Feri raised his hand, and stabbed it in the eye.

The Monster recoiled, blood splattered on the ground, and the dagger went flying. It loosened its grip on Feri for a moment, and he slid out from under its paws. The young man scrambled for his only weapon, but the Horned Panther spun.

This time, Feri saw it coming, and he ducked under the tail. He picked up his dagger, and was backing up. But he was too close. The Horned Panther looked like it was about to pounce on him—

And a stick of fire came flying at it.

The Horned Panther flinched as the fire landed on its side. It never would have hurt the Monster. But it was hot. And it came from the side with the injured eye. So it only felt the heat and reacted.

The Monster spun around, scanning around with its one good eye, and it saw a man. An older man. And he was holding sticks of firewood, sticking it into a campfire, and hurling it at the Horned Panther.

It was Paul. And he was yelling at Feri.

"Run!"

The young man backed up, and readied himself for an attack. But it never came.

The Horned Panther kept getting pelted with sticks of fire. And it was getting annoyed. It pounced at the older man, closing 20 feet in a single jump.

Feri felt his heart drop as he watched it happen. "No—" the words left his mouth, but there was nothing he could do. He was not fast enough. Paul was going to die. The Horned Panther opened its mouth to bite at the struggling man—

And a figure dashed forward. Fast. Like a hidden tiger grabbing its prey.

The figure jumped on the back of the Horned Panther. It grabbed the Monster’s open mouth and held it open. The Horned Panther struggled and began pawing at its back but it was no use.

"Nn, get outta here!" Rin shouted at the downed man.

Paul turned and ran as the Cat Beastkin continued wrestling with the Monster.

"Bad kitty!"

The catgirl clawed at the Monster’s remaining good eye, and it shrieked. The Horned Panther fell on its back, trying to crush Rin, but the young woman just spun around its neck.

The two of them rolled on the ground, both trying to stay on top of the other. The Horned Panther was strong, but Rin was too nimble. Every time the Monster tried to pin the Cat Beastkin, she managed to wiggle her way out of