the creature's massive neck. To the left Jim became a jaguar in an explosion of flesh and golden fur.
The Fu Lion reared, trying to claw. The moment it exposed its gut, Raphael and the werejaguar darted to it. Knives and claws flashed and the slippery clumps of the beast's innards tumbled out in a whoosh of blood. Derek tore his claws free and leapt aside. The Fu Lion swayed and fell.
The shapeshifters rose from his corpse, silent. Derek's eyes glowed amber, while Jim's were pools of green.
"Jim improved his warrior form," Curran said. "Interesting."
Behind the shapeshifters Andrea loaded the crossbow and fired. The crossbow spat bolts, one after another. Three shafts punctured the oni's chest, but the ogre just bellowed and brushed them off the massive shield of flesh he called his torso.
Andrea landed a shot to the forehead. The bolt bounced off the ogre's skull.
Magic grew behind the oni, blooming like a flower around the sleeping man. Long, translucent strands snaked past the oni's legs, like pale ribbons.
"Bad," Dali murmured behind me. "Bad, bad, bad . . ."
The strands knotted together. Light flashed and a creature spilled forth. Ten feet tall, it resembled a human crouching on frog legs. It squatted in the sand, leaning on abnormally long forelimbs, the magic ribbons binding its back and legs to the sleeping mage. A second set of forearms sprouted from its elbows, terminating in long, slender fingers tipped with narrow claws. A huge maw gaped where its face would have been, a black funnel turned inward. Its hide shimmered with a metallic sheen, as if the creature were spun from silver wool.
The Arena fell silent.
The shapeshifters backed up. Andrea reloaded and sent a bolt into the creature's maw. It vanished and emerged from the aberration's back. The oni danced behind it, stomping the sand.
The creature reared slightly, its sallow chest expanded, and it belched a glittering, silvery cloud.
Fine metal needles rained into the sand. One grazed Jim and he snarled. Silver.
The shapeshifters retreated. The monster kept a steady stream of metal vomit, and began crawling forward, slowly, ponderously, chasing them back to the fence.
The cloud caught Derek, slicing through his torso. He jerked as if burned, and leapt away.
"Take out the sleeper," I murmured.
Jim barked a short order, barely audible behind the hiss of needles slicing the sand. Derek ducked left, while Raphael darted right, trying to flank the creature. A second mouth bloomed in the side of the creature's chest and the new flood of needles cut Raphael short.
I clenched my sword. Curran watched with no expression, like a rock.
Another command. Raphael and Jim fell back, while Derek backed away slowly, just out of the monster's reach. The two shapeshifters grasped Andrea's legs and heaved. She flew straight up, squeezing off a single shot.
The bolt punched through the sleeper's chest, emerging through his back. He awoke with a startled scream and clawed at the shaft. The threads of translucent magic ribbons ripped and he crashed into the sand. The ribbons shrank, breaking from the monster's skin, leaving deep black gaps as they tore. The gaps grew, and the creature began to melt. It whipped about and backhanded the oni out of the way. The blue brute crashed into the fence. The silver aberration crawled to the sleeper, dragging itself faster and faster across the sand. Its back and hips were gone, melted into nothing, and yet it continued to crawl. In a moment it loomed above the flailing human, bent down, and gulped him in a single swallow. The mage's screeches died and the beast vanished.
The crowd exploded. A hundred mouths screamed at once. To the left some hoarse male voice yelled, "Gooooooal!" at the top of his lungs.
The oni stumbled to his feet and met three shapeshifters. It was short and brutal.
I opened the door and took off down to the gate. Curran and Dali caught up with me.
A few moments later the four trotted to us, covered in blood and caked with sand. Andrea ran through the gates and hugged me. "Did you see that?"
"That was a hell of a shot."
"Into the infirmary," Doolittle ordered briskly. "Quickly, before the silver sets in."
They passed us. Jim glanced at Curran. The Beast Lord nodded very slightly.
Derek and Raphael were the last through the door. The boy wonder limped badly. He looked up at Curran, stiff.
"Good," Curran said.
Derek drew himself straight. A small, proud light played in his eyes. He limped past us, trying not to lean on Raphael.