I Become the Baby Tiger in a Beast Taming World

Chapter 157: Chapter 153: Pick Your Poison

Both of us are choking from poison set afire. The law of unintended consequences, coming back to bite us.

My lungs burn. My eyes have been set on fire. Even my fur has turned against me.

As if through water, Kaline’s voice, out loud and through the link, reaches me. "Blaze!"

[BLAZE! Antidotes! Sending them to you.]

I check my Arsenal.

[2X Poison Antidote added.]

Thank goodness. I suppose System can’t prevent me from accessing the antidote. I opt to consume it. It feels like ice spreading through me. Maybe cryostasis for the poison. Maybe it freezes the poison so that it dies.

[LOBO! Did you get the antidote?]

He grunts. [No. System interfering. Damaged.]

I send the antidote to him from my Arsenal. [Coming right up.]

A huge breath through the mind-link. Lobo is relieved. [WHEW. I was choking on acid.]

[I know the feeling. If only we had some kind of potion that would grant us immunity. But there’s no time to brew one.]

INCOMING! Yaretzi’s sticky feet detach from Quetzalcoatl and she drops down, plummeting toward us. Conserving my Super Jump energy, I descend and brake before my paws hit the platform. Lobo, too, lands, slightly off balance and wobbling but safe on all fours.

PLUNK! Yaretzi drops down, her feet glued to the platform temporarily. A lethal ribbon, her sticky tongue darts out, and poison vapor puffs out of her gaping mouth.

We backpedal, putting distance between us and Yaretzi. Meanwhile, Quetzalcoatl circles in the air above us, orbiting our position, trying to get a lock on us. We keep moving. No reason to make this easy for him.

Kaline gasps, "Blaze! Thank the ancestors. I knew you would be fine. I just knew it."

Quietly reassuring, Minette adds, "Lobo, from now on, no more Shooting Stars near Yaretzi."

"That goes double for you, Blaze," Kaline adds.

I communicate with Peridot. [Does Master Niall have any ideas about avoiding poison?]

Peridot’s reply is swift. [Don’t ignite his poison! That was your mistake.]

[Noted. Anything else? Does he have any anti-poison charms?]

Peridot pauses. [Not for Poison Dart Frogs. He’s never been able to get enough of a sample.]

I grimace. [Sorry I can’t help him there.]

It was worth a try. I ask Kaline if Lamant has any antidotes. Her answer is, unfortunately, the same as Niall’s. Lobo and I are on our own.

Is there a way to shield ourselves? We can make invisible forcefields sometimes. Maybe those would work.

[Lobo! Can we throw up our forcefield weaves to block Yaretzi’s poison?]

He woofs. [Possibly, but that still doesn’t help us knock her out.

[Wait. Can she get sick from her own poison? Maybe in a closed space?]

Again, he woofs. [Good thought, but I think she’s immune. Maybe we settle for luring her off the platform and having her fall?]

[She’s not very big! That would be a SPLAT.]

A disgruntled growl. [Darn. What can we do?]

[Knock her out, I guess. But not with too much force. Maybe if we pounce on her back and both hit her on the head...]

Lobo woofs. [Crude. Brute force. But what else is there?]

[Nothing unless we want more poison. Or a frog disaster that would ruin everything. Not to mention hurt our consciences.]

He shakes his furry head. [You are such a soft touch. I can’t believe you wanted to be a lawyer.]

[I think I still do, but that’s a conversation for another time. Are we doing this or not?]

He stalks toward Yaretzi from the side. [Follow my lead. And keep an eye on Quetzalcoatl.]

My nose tracks the feathered serpent. Still hovering, probably waiting and watching to see how the battle with Yaretzi plays out. The two of them did not get to be Expert without working together seamlessly, which is more than I can say for some of our opponents. It’s why Quetzalcoatl and Yaretzi are in the finals.

The display screens show the houses that are still in contention, just to remind everyone.

House Riddlehoeven (pending)

House Lammermoor (pending, tied to us)

House Ixchel (pending)

House Rottmas (safe)

House Barillot (safe)

House Yonel (safe)

House Bottomsley (safe)

House Carlinet (pending)

House Hegel (pending)

House Pikari (pending)

House Shamoon (pending)

House Milian (pending)

House Ceareach (pending)

Only thirteen houses remain in contention, technically twelve, since House Lammermoor is linked to us. The remaining houses will fight after us, but all my attention is on our own fight.

The announcer clarifies. "At this stage, a house has to win ALL its matches to advance to the final contest. That was true in the previous rounds, although exceptions have been made for strong house performances. However, this year the rules are stricter."

You don’t say. I bet I know why that is.

[Focus.] Lobo circles Yaretzi, who hops in slow motion as if she has all the time in the world. [Don’t watch the screens. Watch her.]

My heart pounds. The suspense keeps the adrenaline going. Any moment, we could slip up. Or Yaretzi’s poison could--

No!

No room for doom. No room for negativity. No place for pessimism. We have to win.

Smooth orange and blue, Yaretzi draws us in like a magnet. She hops, confident of her victory. After all, we’re the ones drawing nearer to her like moths to a flame. And she knows we could easily smash her, but the rules prevent us. Of course, she knows that her poison could overpower us and even kill us in a large enough dose, but those same rules work in our favor.

[What are you waiting for?] Yaretzi’s voice is thick and syrupy, like poison. [You have not given up, surely? I would hate that.]

[Still fighting.] Lobo wags his tail. [Not giving up till the bitter end.]

Yaretzi makes a froggy sound. [I was hoping you’d say that.]

Without warning, we both leap at her, our paws smacking her in the head.

[OW! OW!]

Yaretzi tries to hop away, but too late. We keep striking her, staying away from her mouth. Thankfully, she isn’t expecting such an attack, and within minutes, she collapses, half-conscious but alive. A froggy croak is the only son that she’s still with us.

The announcer booms, "5...4...3...2...1...Yaretzi is OUT!"

Yaretzi’s tamer, Patli, shakes her rattle to try and rouse Yaretzi, to no avail. The orb arrives and catches them both in its beam, airlifting them away. Regrouping, Quetzalcoatl’s tamer, a man named Votan, shakes his rattle harder to stir up the spirit within his beast. Although house Ixchel is borderline eliminated, Votan and Quetzalcoatl will not go quietly.

The announcer calls out, "It’s the might of Quetzalcoatl versus the ferocity of Blaze and Lobo. Now that the poison peril is past, these two furred contenders can concentrate on the fire and flight that are Quetzalcoatl’s specialties."

A colossal coiled sight, Quetzalcoatl descends. His shadow sweeps over the platform. Mesmerizing. However, Lobo and I brace for combat. We will not be distracted.

Quetzalcoatl’s fluting voice echoes through the mind-link. [That was a savage trick on my fellow beast. I will not be so easily fooled.]

[No trick.] Lobo wags his tail, ears perked forward. [It was just stealth, which any self-respecting beast should expect in this battle.]

Still descending, Quetzalcoatl isn’t impressed by our argument. [You hit her before she had a chance to use her poison. Brutal.]

[Now who is distracting whom?] I taunt.

[Are you not going to jump again?] Quetzalcoatl sounds lazy, as if he, too, has infinite time to banter. [Or has your energy faded?]

I check in with Lobo. [Energy good?]

[Fine. Can yours take another draw?]

[That healing potion did me good, so yes.] I draw energy through the amulet. [Heads up, Lightning. I’m going to--]

[Do it already!] Her impatience simmers. [Defeat that snake and be done with it.]

I alert Kaline, and then draw as much power as I can without overloading myself. I want a sustained jump this time.

Ready...set...jump!

My paws strike the air as I rocket upward, while Lobo also shoots high in the air. WHOOSH. I can feel and hear the air whistling past me, rippling my fur.

Fangs glistening, Quetzalcoatl undulates toward us. Tiny flames explode around him. [Very good. This is now an aerial contest, as it should be. I am connected to the heavens and the earth. I bring all the powers of that connection to this fight.]

Wind, icy hail, swirling fog, bursts of water, and buzzing insects surround us. Distractions. Hurdles. Just tricks to slow us down. We weave through and around every one of them.

I watch the serpent’s jaws come closer and closer as I sail toward him with Lobo to my right. [Is that the best you’ve got?]

We let the Shooting Stars fly, bursting and destroying the nature displays. Bugs burn up. Fog burns away. Water and hail turn to vapor. As for wind, it’s a minor inconvenience.

Then...BOOM!

Quetzalcoatl explodes.

He died. Rebirth is imminent. Where is he? Where will he appear?