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"Get in position!" Frexin shouted, pulling my attention back to the chaos in the clearing.

The pleased-looking woman continued shouting orders as she climbed into a strange wagon with metal walls — the same metal used in the collars. The box was really more of a cube, as tall as a man, and covered inornate designs with strange objects embedded in its walls.

Fuck. That must have been what she meant by a "safe room." It must hide her from the monster, despite all her corruption …

I watched as soldiers finished lighting torches around us, then retreated into the tree line around the clearing, leaving us alone in the center of it all.

We'd have the misfortune — or, depending on your perspective, the benefit — of seeing the monster's approach …

The sky dimmed as the sun slipped further behind the mountains, and the villagers behind me whimpered.

The thing was most active at night. It wouldn't be long now …

A young man next to me gasped and pointed towards a flaming arrow, rising into the sky above the distant forest.

My heart skipped. "It's been spotted."

"We're all going to die," an older man with dark brown hair sobbed behind me. "Why did I agree to this?"

I looked back, heart aching. "Remember, get as far back from it as you can. We just need to survive until the ballistas fire."

I wouldn't mention how quickly it would tear through the metal cage …

The girl from earlier broke into sobs, as well, and the widowed woman scooted next to her, hugging her close, rocking her.

"It'll be okay, dear," she whispered, eyes swimming. "You aren't alone."

A shudder ran through me, and I resisted the urge to vomit again.

"There!" gasped a woman not much older than me. Another fire arrow lifted into the sky, much closer than the first.

"It will be over soon," I said, throat tight. "I will protect —" I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

What could I even do to protect them — unarmed and trapped in that damn cage with a collar on my neck and corruption eating away at my korra?!

Fuck!

A bitter laugh bubbled in my chest.I'd stay up front — be taken first. That might give them a little more time, at least …

Th-thump th-thump th-thump.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and I counted the beats to distract myself.

Sixty beats passed.

Then another sixty.

Hells! Where was it?

Panic fluttered in my chest. What if it saw the ambush and knew to avoid us? Then the prisoners wouldn't be freed, and all of this would have been for nothing!

And Tye —Fuck. How was I going to explain to him that I was corrupted — doomed to turn into a wraith in the weeks or months ahead?

What would I tell Jaiel when we found him?

And Rien and Liam …

Gods, they would be pissed when I asked them to kill me when I turned … perhaps it would be better this way.