Chapter 11: Shard and Surge
Ryan faced the Distortion Hound. The dog-thing [ he refused to call it a ’hound’ because that made it sound almost normal, which it definitely wasn’t ] was all rippling shadows and bad attitude.
Its growl sounded like someone gargling gravel and radio static at the same time. The air around it shimmered and warped, making it hard to focus on.
The God Warden’s little info-pop-up had called it a Level 2 Anomaly, with a "Dangerous" Threat Level. Ryan privately thought "Really Freaking Weird and Wants to Eat Your Face" was a more accurate description.
"Okay, Ryan," he muttered to himself, gripping his reinforced knife. His other hand hovered near his new Phase Gauntlet.
"You wanted to test your true capabilities. This is it. A phasing, shadow-dog that probably eats rainbows for breakfast and poops nightmares."
His Hyper-Awareness was screaming at him, not with panic, but with a high-pitched, "LOOK OUT, IT’S WEIRD!" kind of alarm.
His recently consumed Resonance Bloom was still working its magic, making his senses super sharp, which in this case meant he got a really good, up-close look at how bizarre and threatening the Distortion Hound was.
The Hound didn’t wait for an invitation. It lunged.
But it didn’t lunge like a normal animal. Oh no, that would be too easy.
One moment it was there, a vaguely dog-shaped blot of darkness, and the next it was half-gone. It literally phased out of reality for a split second, then reappeared right in front of Ryan, its shadowy claws extended, aiming for his throat.
"Whoa there, Fido!" Ryan yelped, instinctively triggering his Phase Gauntlet’s "Short Blink" skill.