Hilcar, Dorn, and Prienna jumped in between the guard and the youths. The guardians put up their arms and said something Jared didn’t understand that created some kind of force field.
The guard bounced off it, landed on his feet, and then growled.
Jared thought the guard looked terrifyingly familiar to the man-beast that broke into his bedroom in California.
The guard began to transform again. His head and face became furry, and his nose elongated into a snout.
The top part of the guard turned into a huge, black, dog-like creature supported by muscular front limbs and large, clawed hands.
The creature’s torso became textured like an elephant, starting from where the fur ended just behind the forelimbs, and narrowed into a long, lizard-like tail (the Beast didn’t have any hind legs).
The entire metamorphosis took less than two seconds.
The dog-lizard whipped its tail around toward Prienna’s head, but she ducked just in time.
Continuing its attack, the creature reached out with one of its clawed hands and swiped at her. She dove out of the way and then got back on her feet.
Immediately, the three guardians surrounded the Beast.
Hilcar called to the youths without looking at them, “Get up to the portals on the second level!”