“We just have to lure it out of its cave and keep it trapped or distracted,” Xavier reminds us as we start looking around for a good place to set our trap. “The heartstone is probably kept right at the back of its cave where the Unkillable Beast can protect it.”
Hudson catches my eye and mutters, “And this is your genius plan? To catch a beast when you have no idea what it looks like or what its powers are? And when you have no idea if your trap is the right size or strength of magical constraint? And you thought my idea was out there…”
I roll my eyes at him but turn to the group and ask, “Do we have any idea what this beast is? How big it is? How strong it is? If it’s magical? I mean, how could we possibly know what kind of trap will keep it, well, caught?”
“It’s obviously got to be magical,” Macy says. “There’s no other way to be prepared for whatever comes barreling out of those caves after us.”
Everyone nods. Makes sense, I guess.
“Yeah, but what are we talking about here?” Eden says. “A spell? And if so, which one?”
“I could fry it,” Flint suggests with a grin. “Pretty sure it wouldn’t come back for more after that.”
“Yeah, but what if it’s wearing the heartstone and you fry it, too? What are we going to do then?” Macy asks. “Whatever the trap is can’t be that violent.”
“So you want to give the Unkillable Beast a chance to get a second wind?” Flint asks incredulously.
“No. I think I should put it to sleep,” Macy suggests. “I have a spell for that, and I think it will work.”
“You think it will work?” Eden asks, both brows raised.
“Well, I can’t guarantee it, since I have no idea what the Unkillable Beast is, but yes. It should work. I looked it up on the way here, just to be sure.”
“And if the sleep spell doesn’t work?” I ask tentatively, not wanting to set Macy off, but not wanting to be caught without a backup plan, either.
“Then I say Flint freezes it. Xavier and I discussed it on the way here, and it seems like the best move,” Jaxon volunteers. “It won’t fry any stone the beast might have on it, but it will give us a couple of minutes to think things through once we know what the beast is and what it can do. Acting is always better than reacting, anyway.”
Hudson snort-laughs at this. “The day my brother thinks first, then leaps second, I’ll eat my shorts.”
You’re not wearing any shorts, I remind him.
He turns and winks at me. “Why, Miss Foster, have you been peeking?”
I know he’s trying to distract me; he must sense my nerves are about to snap like a piano wire, but I blush all the same. You’re obnoxious.
He simply bows at me before turning back to the half-baked plan we’re currently cooking.
“So where are we setting up?” Xavier asks, looking around. “The beast’ll be coming out along this path, right?” He points to the broken stone path that leads around the water’s edge and then straight across the lake, with large, flat boulders, to meet the waterfall. “So how far out from them do we want to bring it before we spring the trap?”
“Not too far,” Eden suggests. “We need cover, and there isn’t much except this forest once you get away from the clearing.”
“I agree,” I tell them, thinking back to playing paintball with my dad as a kid and all the lessons he taught me about ambushes. Now that I think about it, I can’t help but wonder if he knew I would need the information someday. Maybe not to fight an Unkillable Beast but because he came from this paranormal world and he knew just how dangerous it was.
“Flint should hide up there.” I point to a small ledge a quarter of the way up the inside of the crater wall. “You can still reach the beast if you shoot ice from there, can’t you?” I ask.
He measures the distance with his eyes. “Yeah, I should still have reach.”
“Good. And Macy needs to be closer—”
“How much closer?” Xavier asks, and he doesn’t look happy.
“As close as I need to be,” she answers him with a glare before glancing around. “If it’s coming down this path, I can get a really good shot at it if I’m sitting in that tree.” She points to a huge