Page 10 of Blade of the Nightking

Snapping.

Hungry.

Aedric fought, the shortsword singing through the air with every desperate swing.

The nearest Infected shrieked, a piercing sound that rattled my bones. It lashed out with its claws, and Aedric caught the strike on his blade, severing the creature’s hand at the wrist. Black blood sprayed the mossy ground, but the monster barely reacted. Instead, it recoiled quickly and paced sideways, clicking its rotten teeth together in a steady rhythm as it circled him.

The other two lurched forward from between the trunks, their movements unnervingly coordinated. They darted in and out of Aedric’s reach, feinting, forcing him backward toward the ridgeline, his boots sending loose shale skittering. Sparks showered from the edge of his blade as it struck bark, rock, anything except flesh.

He grunted with effort and frustration, his breath coming in short pants. They were tiring him out. Toying with him. Like predators wearing down a cornered animal.

This wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen from the Infected.

The fourth one turned toward me, a gruesome grin splitting its face as it limped forward, its movements sharp and unnatural. Its black eyes stared into me—reflective, silver-edged, wrong. Something cinched tightly in my chest.

Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to run, but my hand moved first, scrabbling along the ground beside me as it approached until my fingers closed around a fist-sized rock. The jagged edges bit into my palm as I clambered to my feet, my legs shaking.

The creature stalked closer, its breath rattling through the gaps in its ribs. Every step was deliberate, almost taunting, as if savoring the moment. Behind it, Aedric’s blade finally crunched through bone; around us, the forest seemed to hold its breath.

“Aedric,” I whispered, but the creature’s low growl swallowed the sound.

It leapt.

I screamed and threw myself sideways. Its claws tore through the air where my throat had been a heartbeat earlier. It stumbled, screeching, just as I spun and brought the rock down on its skull with all my strength.

Once.

Twice.

Over and over, until its thick blood splattered the ground, my arms, my face. The thing’s head gave beneath the blows, collapsing into a dark, pulpy ruin. The Infected crumpled at my feet.

Panting, trembling, I braced myself against the nearest tree. My legs barely held me.

Aedric cried out suddenly. I whipped around to see him stagger as two more Infected emerged from the forest. His chest heaved with exhaustion. They moved around him as he swung again and again, slipping just beyond the reach of his blade.

Panic surged through me. I needed to help him. I needed⁠—

I froze, my eyes going wide as I suddenly realized…

The pain was gone.

I looked down at my left side, expecting to see nothing but scorched flesh. Instead, smooth skin met my eyes. Untouched. Whole. Glowing faintly in the strange light.

What…?

Had I healed? How? My mind spun, unable to catch on any logical explanation.

A sudden movement snapped my attention downward. Too late.

The Infected at my feet, the one I’d killed—the one with its skull battered—reached up and seized my ankle.

A strangled cry tore from my throat as it yanked me off my feet. Ash billowed around me as I hit the ground hard—yet the impact didn’t wind me. I wasn’t hurt. I didn’t even feel it.

The creature dragged itself over me, its skull reforming before my eyes as if made of liquid shadow. Impossible.

Its face hovered inches from mine, teeth bared, breath rattling against my cheek.

And then I realized—there was no smell.