Page 66 of Becoming Monsterous

Other than the weapons racks against one wall, the combat room is almost completely destroyed. It looks like a gang of giants came through here—accurate—and trashed the place. I can hear sounds of a battle raging in the hallway outside. Roars, crashed, cries of fury, screams of pain. It's just like the memories of the war Medusa and her gorgons fought in.

But there are no more gorgon warriors now. There's only me, my sword, and the spirit inside me.

You've got this, little warrior.

I raise my sword and meet my bright green eyes in the mirror. "We'vegot this."

Morpheus and Angus follow after us into the room, going through a portal that the summoner Prince opened for them. He's bringing with him a series of spells, potions, and powders the other summoners all gave him to use on the battlefield.

As he strides through and closes the portal, he looks around nervously, like he thinks the broken practice dummies and shattered mirrors are going to rise up and attack him.

"I got a missive from one of our generals on the front line. It sounds like the Magistrate is leading the fight here. He's looking for you."

"Then he's going to find me." I heft my sword and nod to my triumvirate. "Let's go."

We head out the heavy doors into the hallway, where we find chaos waiting for us.

Greymark House and Magna House have, for the most part, joined Occult House in fighting the Magistrate and his summoners. There are Colossus giants throwing pieces of pillars at magic shields, and shifters in their big cat and wolf forms prowling through the battlefield.

The courtyard in the middle of the house is wide open, its walls almost completely destroyed. Rooms that used to stretch out between here and there have been turned into little but rubble. The occasional broken bed post or smashed dress is the only sign that this used to be a place of refuge.

All the destruction should've brought down the ceilings above us or even the roof at the top floor, but somehow they all float intact. Fog swirls around broken pillars and props up smashed drywall.

"How is that happening?" I point to a part of the ceiling made of little but fog, using my sword tip.

"It's the magic of this in-between place," Morpheus says, casually tossing his wolf tattoo out into the world. "And it's a good thing, because we'd all be buried under rubble by now if it weren't for it."

There are giants between us and most of the summoners, who have gathered on the far side of the courtyard, building their psychic shields. It takes a long moment for the battle to touch us.

When it does, it comes in the form of an Osseus House machina lunging for Angus's throat.

Then we're off, as more and more of the summoners and their allies notice us. Despite the fact that I'm the one who freed them from the Shadow World, the Brute and Anima House monsters seem to have mostly picked Percy's side.

Some of them, however, fight against the summoners. That makes it a little difficult to figure out which side is which, until I notice an obvious difference.

The side that allies with the summoners has connections of loyalty running towards the summoners.

No—not loyalty.Obedience.It's a dark grey thread with very little red in it at all. The kind of obedience that is created by a contract, hastily made and never fully agreed to.

As I fight through a crowd of rotflayers with my sword, I narrow my eyes and make one more deduction.

The contracts all lead to the Magistrate.

He's in the middle of the group of summoners, well-hidden by their shields.

"This way!" I raise my sword and rally my triumvirate, who have scattered across the hallway to wrestle with monsters. "We have to get to Percy before he recruits any more monsters."

Nodding, Angus roars and charges through a crowd of banshees, his massive horns tearing through them. Their spirits reform once he's on the other side, too late to do much of anything to him.

He gets my front, Aleron gets my back, and Morpheus prowls between, a dozen of his tattoos flying, stalking, and fighting at his side. Prince falls in behind me, nervously grabbing his bag of potions and muttering something about breaking through the shields. I send up a little prayer that he'll prove to be more useful than he looks, or at least that he won't get in the way.

Like the phalanx Medusa's gorgon warriors used to fight in, we move through the crowd. Other monsters on our side notice our movement and begin to clear a path for us.

Soon we're in the courtyard, in the midst of all the psychic shields.

Which is where Lise is. Her new wings spread behind her, no longer hidden. Floating off the ground, her golden hair flies around her and her delicate hands move through the air, casting magic.

Castinglove.She's somehow found a way to use her new cupid abilities to bind our allies together and strengthen their bonds of loyalty. Under her influence, Greymark and Magna House monsters fight side-by-side and back-to-back, their bonds unbreakable.

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