“Can’t you like cast a light or something?” the grating voice called out from the dim light of the cave. Felix checked his sigh before shaking his head, not that anyone could tell in the dim light.

“I’m not actually a mage remember?” he called back to the voice for what felt like the hundreth time. He heard the snort from the same person and waited for the response he knew was coming.

She didn’t disappoint. “Then what kind of use are ya? Just taking up space and treasure. We should have hired a real mage instead of whatever this fuck is Rex. Never letting you talk me into something again.”

Felix ground his teeth in frustration and was about to respond when the cool voice of Rex broke through. “He isn’t a mage, he’s a beast tamer. And a damn good one. We didn’t need a mage to take down some giant crows we needed a hard hitter.” Rex was the defacto leader of the group and a decent friend to Felix for only having known him a few months.

The fact that he wasn’t a true mage still hurt Felix sometimes. Most Beast Tamers got their ability from magic of some form and could cast spells to support their Bond or other more violent things. Felix could not however cast spells. He couldn’t even touch the mana in the air. He could feel it of course, the air here was thick with it. But it alluded his touch and seemed to flow away from him. He ignored it like he had so many times in so many years.

“We don’t need a hard hitter we got me.” the brazen female voice spoke up again in the dark. Felix rolled his eyes and tried to ignore her as she continued. “What kind of Tamer has no magic? Seems worthless to me anyway.”

“My abilities are a Bloodline trait, they weren’t formed from magic.” Felix said slowly. Claiming to have a bloodline trait meant that you were claiming to be a direct descendant of the First Kings and possibly the gods themselves. It was almost heresy to say it. Thankfully Felix had proof. He had to. The church had almost burnt him at the stake before the mages could test him, now the church treats him as both the next coming of a King and a pariah all at once.

The silence from the group was nice, until it was broken. “I don’t see no Bond. I think you’re bullshitting us.” the same female voice came back definitely more heated this time.

“Do you think I really chose to look like this?” Felix responded while shaking his head. He knew she couldn’t see him in this passageway but it made him feel better anyway.

“You just look a bit scruffy maybe you just don’t know how to clean yourself.” the female voice shot back and Felix was starting to get annoyed.

Felix felt Kinkaid, his shadow wolf, slide up next to him. He was rather proud of the Bond he had since he had personally tamed him. Tamed wasn’t really the right word for their bond though. Felix thought back to the fight that had almost cost him his life, and had cost him an arm. Most Beast Tamers just used magic to bind the beats they wanted into service. It was an easy way to gain power. The bond would mix the two, granting the mage small parts of the beast and the beast parts of the mage. Mostly the beasts gained some form of intelligence and the mage gained one of the major traits of whatever beast it was.

Felix was slightly different. One of the major differences was that he could only have one bond from what he had figured out. He couldn’t find a reason for it but it probably had to do with the other main difference. Instead of capturing a monster and forcing it into service with magic, Felix had to actually get close to the beast and trade blood. Lots of it. Which isn't always easy in the middle of a fight. Thankfully Kinkaid had seemed happy to munch on the stump where Felix had previously had an arm which gave him plenty of time to clamp his mouth around one of the many wounds he had given the wolf.

The bond didn’t take long to form but it was forged in blood and battle and Kinkaid had respected him for coming alone. His new arm seemed to burn slightly as he remembered returning after forging his bond and finding out just how much it would cost to pay for a mage of healing to regrow the limb. Not to mention the pain. But it had been worth it. So had the years he had spent training with Kinkaid. Felix didn’t just gain one aspect of his Bond, he gained the aspect of his Bond itself. The more they were together, the closer the bond, the more Felix slowly morphed into what he was now. A hunter.

His senses had been the first thing to slowly climb until he could see in most dark and smell things for miles around. His muscled had toned next until he was a wiry mess of muscles and power. His shaggy black hair matched his Bond too as well as his eyes. They both had gold eyes that would flash in the dark. Felix felt Kinkaid slide away from him and then vanish as he sank into the shadows of the tunnel.

Felix tuned back in to what the others were saying, not surprised to hear a loud voice protesting pretty much everything. “We should have brought torched or a magelight. It doesn’t make any sense to just walk aimlessly down this tunnel and hope the not mage there can get us to the end. We are probably already lost in this godsforsaken-”

“You talk loud for prey.” the growling voice of his Bond Kinkaid interrupted her. Felix felt Kinkaid pad out of the shadows next to the voice that had been complaining. There was a loud gasp and then the ringing of metal which Felix assumed was a weapon being drawn. He didn’t worry too much though. No one here could really touch Kinkaid. It was too dark.

“What in the demons possessed hells are you talking dog!” the voice shrieked out and Felix couldn’t help but chuckle. She apparently knew almost nothing about Beast Tamers.

“I want to cut open your stomach and taste what kind of prey you are.” Kinkaid continued as if he didn’t even hear her question, which to be fair he probably didn’t. He never really listened to anyone but Felix. That thought made Felix actually let out a sigh. He knew he had to stop this otherwise Kinkaid really would open her up and eat her. He wasn’t tamed, just intelligent.

“Kinkaid, no eating the pack remember?” Felix called out softly, but he knew everyone would hear it. There just wasn’t really any sound other than their muffled footfalls, which had come to a stop the moment Kinkaid popped out of the dark. Kinkaid let out a huff.

“This pack member is weak. She should be submitting to you instead of growling her defiance.” Kinkaid growled out but he moved off slightly back into the darker shadows. Felix heard a hiss and the sound of someone spitting.

“I should carve you up into a rug. Come back out here and fight me like the worthless beast you are instead of hiding in the shadows like a coward.” the angry female voice seethed and he heard the air shift as she swung her weapon.

Felix had finally had enough. He turned sideways and sighted the woman causing all these problems and then he slowly stepped sideways into a shadow himself. He felt out to where Kinkaid was and was unsurprised to find him waiting in the women's own shadow caused by the glowing moss or bugs or whatever that littered the landscape in this passage. Felix stepped slightly again as he moved to his Bond. Being able to move in the shadows like his Bond did had taken him almost three years to learn how to do, and he still hadn't mastered it. Moving too quickly would just cause him to stumble. This time though he stepped out of the woman’s own shadow behind her, his knife already in hand as he casually placed the serrated back curve of it against her throat.

“You make one more aggressive movement towards my Bond and I will cut you open myself.” Felix growled out as the woman froze. The light wasn’t good enough for him to actually get a good look at her but she was tall, burly, and angry. Pretty much exactly what she sounded like.

“I would really prefer you not to kill her. It’s bad for business.” Rex coughed and sounded like he was covering a laugh. “I told you Fran. He’s fucking dangerous. Don’t forget that. And go easy on her Felix, she's not so good with small enclosed and dark spaces.”

Felix nodded slowly as Rex’s words. It made sense. Someone like her wouldn’t show fear, instead she would try and fight or something else incredibly stupid. He slid his dagger away and walked past her, not saying anything. She didn’t either.