Page 7

The giant wolf-like creature towered over me from twenty feet away.

Black smoke billowed from its even darker fur in a swift, beautiful dance that left me in awe.

But my eyes were drawn to its face. To its canines, the size of my forearms, which glistened in the sunlight as they became wet with drool left by its split tongue running over them.

Two beads of red were glowing straight through me.

Even midday, they shone like bloody stars placed in an enclosed box, with no light, no life, other than those orbs.

The horror held within them almost left me paralyzed in place.

Legends spoke of aufhockers leaping on their victims and tearing their throats out before any movement could be made in retaliation.

And for a split second, I debated whether I should even bother putting up a fight.

It would most likely kill me before I could ever put my hand on my sword.

But would that be a bad thing? I could finally be free from this world.

Free from this guilt.

I stood, slowly, staring at it as I raised myself off the ground and readied to be killed. The beast continued to growl, dipping into an even lower tone that I didn’t know was possible. It was like a song from the worst depths of hell. My heart picked up in anticipation of the pain.

This was it , I thought. At least I knew this death would be quick.

I flinched as it launched and searing pain went through my bicep.

But the aufhocker hadn’t been the one to attack me.

Instead, it leaped over my head to another creature.

This one was similar in color; yet, it was smaller with very little fur and scales that covered its front legs.

It too had red glowing eyes but where a fluffy tail adorned the aufhocker, this one had a long spiked tail that curled over its back.

My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I looked at my arm to see that blood poured out of me from a protruding spike.

The burning intensified, and I at last awoke from my state of shock, unsheathing Airmathair with my uninjured arm—thankful that it wasn’t my dominant one.

I wasn’t quite sure what my plan was, I could never take on one, let alone both of these beasts while injured.

I should've stayed in bed.

The forest filled with yips and yelps from each of the monsters as they fought, and I hastily put my back up against the largest tree—scanning the rest of the area before looking back at the fight. More creatures would come here tonight at the smell of my blood if I wasn’t already dead by then.

The aufhocker clearly was bigger, faster, and stronger, but the second beast was shooting spikes from its tail. They became a black ball of smoke and snarls that rolled all over the forest floor.

I could run, run to the cabin where one of them would probably find me and kill me there.

If I tried running to the city, they would most likely catch up with me before I could reach it.

My eyes scanned the forest once again before focusing on the fight again in time to watch as the aufhocker pummeled the large cat-like beast to the ground.

Standing above it, the larger beast growled down, marking its prey for death. Then, faster than a shot arrow, it tore out the other creature's throat. It continued ripping and tearing until there was nothing left of the monster but bones and chunks of flesh scattered all about.

Fuck, I really should have stayed in bed.

The aufhocker finished only to begin stalking toward me. It tried and failed to pin me to the ground once again with its crimson eyes—contrasting with the green blood dripping from its fangs.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I was trapped between it and the tree. My knees gave out at the realization, and I sank to the ground.

“Please, just make it quick.” I whimpered. The words were like ash in my mouth. I hated how weak I sounded. I should be standing to fight, doing everything within my power to live. But the weight of the past few days had me ready for it all to end here and now.

The beast finally stopped a few yards before me, and for the first time I realized it wasn’t growling at me. It seemed almost. . . calm. We continued to lock eyes for another minute as it seemingly searched through every cell in my body before it swiftly turned and walked away.

What the fuck!

As soon as the beast was far enough away, I rushed to rip off the bottom half of my tunic, soaking up some of the dripping blood on my arm before haphazardly wrapping it under the wound and tucking my arm to my body.

I gripped my sword with a renewed strength replacing my moment of weakness, and stood.

My wobbly feet barely touched the ground as I sprinted toward the cottage.

Branches whipped my face, but I paid no attention to the sting as I continued barreling straight through them.

I was keeping my eyes glued to the distance so much that I didn’t see the slim fallen tree until it was too late. It sent me flying.

Thorns and sticks poked me from all around, scratching and scraping at my skin. But none of that compared to the spike that shoved deeper into my arm.

A strangled scream escaped me as tears started slipping down my cheeks at the pain. Pain that I didn’t have time to feel. Placing my hand upon the soil, my fingers curled into it as I groaned and pushed myself up with my unmarred arm.

The ripped piece of my tunic was drenched, deep red spreading throughout the light blue until it was unrecognizable. Blood started to trickle down once again, but not enough to leave a trail.

With blurry vision, I scanned the ground for the familiar metal of Airmathair, trying and failing to catch my breath.

Luckily, the stark blue stone at the end of the hilt stuck out like a sore thumb against the greenery.

Picking it up, I cast a cautious gaze over my shoulder, before continuing, this time being more careful.

When I finally reached the cottage, I was out of breath, covered in blood, and shaking from the pain as the adrenaline from the initial shock began to slowly wear off.

I knew I had to stop the bleeding and cover up the smell of it in the cottage before another beast was able to track it here.

I couldn't chance leaving anything for them to find.

Warmth and the smell of the burning fire greeted me as I stepped inside the living space. Immediately giving me an idea that had my stomach churning. After adding another log to the fire the metal poker was set in the flame.

Ripping off the rest of my tunic, I walked over to the basin. My mind, out of preservation, blanked when I stuffed the fabric into my mouth and bit down as I wrapped my fingers around the spike.

One. Two. Three.

The spike was wide and narrow, like a shark tooth, and I felt every groove of it leaving my arm, immediately increasing the throb until it was all I could think about.

Even muffled, my scream permeated through the room and more water dripped from my eyes, blurring my vision as I tried to look at the gaping hole that now oozed red.

I swapped out the drenched piece of tunic around my arm for the one I used to muffle my screams, pulling it tight.

My mouth opened but all that came out was a small cry as my body failed to breathe properly, followed by a cuss when I tucked the overheating limb close to my body.

I took a swig of water from the purified bottle on the counter, wishing it were wine, before returning to the fire.

An orange glow emitted from the tip of the poker, and I had to choke down vomit that rose at the sight of it.

It’s wintertime. Freezing, I’m freezing, I lied to myself.

With one deep breath after another, I calmed down enough so I could lower the wrap around my arm.

Grabbing the poker, I pinched the wound closed using the wall and the rest of my body.

It gushed, but not for long as I tried to surprise myself and placed the hot metal on the wound before my brain could decide whether or not to do it.

My skin sizzled, the smell and pain overwhelming me as the burning metal went down the deep gash.

I screamed on a breath, pushing it through my closed lips, which muffled the sound.

Tears uncontrollably streamed down my face.

It wasn’t the worst pain I’d ever felt, but that was the thing about pain—it doesn’t matter how many times you have felt it before, you will never be prepared for the next.

Once the gash was melted closed, I dropped the poker back on the fireplace and pinched my leg to distract myself from my arm. Black quickly clouded my vision, and before I knew what was happening my body sank to the floor.

My eyes opened to yellow, pink, and orange spilling in through the window above the basin.

It’s late. I sat up, sending a pain radiating through my arm, which elicited a groan.

My whole body seized, all my strength disappearing quicker than silence in the middle of a city.

But the colors in the sky told me that I needed to move. Now.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I worked up the courage to move, and after a few moments, I got to my feet—grunting through each second of agony.

I grabbed a clean cloth from the trunk, not bothering with a new tunic, and went over to the basin to rinse the burn.

It only granted me an ounce of relief, and as soon as I stopped the throbbing started all over again.

My vision became blurry once more, but this time it returned to normal.

I quickly applied a light coat of honey to the cloth before beginning to wrap it, which took a few tries with only one available hand.

Muscles still shook as I rushed to clean up the blood using the already ruined tunic before tossing it in the fire. A little bit of alcohol on another rag had the scent of blood gone, I hoped. And soon every piece of evidence, other than my arm, was ash.

With the cottage locked up, I went to my room, but I didn’t go to sleep. Instead, I made sure my sword was secured around my hips, and gripped my dagger, placing myself beside the door. I was not taking the chance of sleeping tonight, and tomorrow—I was leaving.