Page 123 of Walking in Darkness

They hit the floor of Faydor with a thud, both crouching low as they slammed against the frozen ground. They used their positions to catapult themselves forward and into a sprint, though their hands remained forever twined.

Except the second they’d stepped through the gauzy portal that lured them toward the sordid, Pax had known something was off.

He’d still been impaled by the cold slice of the frigid atmosphere, but there was something missing.

Something that left him feeling unsettled and agitated.

It took him a second to catch up to what it was.

To what sent a slick of apprehension clawing beneath the surface of his skin.

The howling.

The howling that whispered calamities into the ears of the weak.

The howling that imparted deviant thoughts into the subservient below.

It had been quieted. It was there, but it was different.

At the realization, he and Aria both skidded to a stop, their expressions troubled as they shared a confounded glance before their attention turned to race across the barren terrain to take it in. The Kruen were in a frenzy, racing as vapor across the pitted, rocky ground.

It was like they were lost.

Searching.

Their thoughts had mutated as they flailed.

“It’s time. It’s time. It’s time.”

The beasts chanted the chorus, no longer pausing to drip their venom in the minds of the willing.

Pax might have found comfort in it if it weren’t for the sickening sense that crawled over him, penetrating flesh and bone.

His gaze scanned their surroundings, and he noticed that many of their Laven family had also taken off in different directions where they would walk in the darkness. Where they would fight. Only they’d also halted, rooted to the spot in varying states of confusion.

Turning in circles as the Kruen swept by them.

“It’s time. It’s time. It’s time.”

“What is happening?” Aria wheezed. He could sense her horror. The questions that spiraled through her mind.

“Don’t know.” It was a low rumble of caution.

Aria inhaled a steeling breath before she whispered, “We have to find out.”

She yanked at his hand before she darted out into the nothingness, taking him with her.

Running.

Tracking.

Searching.

Despairing when they ran for what felt like for hours through the Kruen who seemed to seek the same thing. All being driven toward one place.

Until they came upon it.

In the distance.