The sun was going down, taking all of its warmth with it. My limbs started to shake, almost paralyzed with cold. I shivered and rubbed my forearms.
I slept so long that I missed the safe window of time to go down and explore the area. It was absolutely impossible with the sun setting now. It would not be safe, it would be suicidal.
I swallowed, noticing how dry my mouth felt. The best possible solution would be to fly through the night and sleep during the day, when it was warmer. Except, I could not fly like this, I needed water. I looked down at the remains of thepaved roads, almost fully concealed by sand and dry branches, and noticed how fast the dim light around me was disappearing. I still could see the buildings below but that would not last for much longer. I probably had another ten minutes before it would get too dark to see anything around me. I bit the inside of my cheek and shifted back to my dragon form.
Without wasting any more time, I landed on the rocky pavement and circled the area around the church. My dragon body was bigger, taller, and less maneuverable, but I could soar up if I needed to. I walked between the buildings, painfully aware of my tail scraping against the rocks under me. My patience was rewarded after the very first turn, I saw a round brick structure with a simple bucket and a chain attached to the wooden beam on top.
I resisted the urge to sprint forward and looked around, straining my ears. The wind was moving a squeaky door somewhere behind me. The sound was making me paranoid. I took another step, turning back to examine the area.
When I was close enough to the well, I did not waste any more time and changed to my human form. My hands were shaking when I gripped the metal handle. The chain lowered the bucket, producing a sharp, hard clanking. My heart almost stopped, but I kept moving the handle. I could hear the wooden bucket hit the water below, then I started bringing it back up.
My eyes kept returning to the silhouettes of the buildingsas I fought the waves of panic that threatened to overpower me.
At last, when the bucket was all the way up, I dragged it to the edge of the well, moving it closer. I could hardly stop myself from placing my lips to the edge and drinking, except, my eyes caught a glimpse of something moving inside of it, and a silent scream died down deep in my throat. I saw the outline of a bloated human hand floating on the surface. I dropped the bucket that fell all the way down with a loud splash. At the same moment, as if responding to a call, multiple screeches came from every direction.
No, no, no, no!
I stood paralyzed as the sounds of multiple feet on the pavement made my blood run cold. I tried to turn, but my heart would not stop beating like mad, and the change would not come no matter how hard I tried.
Panic whirled deep in my stomach, and I ran toward the buildings. I tried the door handle but it would not budge. I banged on the glass door when suddenly the silhouette of a monster appeared on the other side and I screamed, losing my balance. I scrambled up to my feet and ran to another door.
I was in luck, the door swung open, and with my unsteady hands, I locked it behind me. My breath was so ragged and loud, that I thought the monsters could easily hear me through the walls. I searched the dark area, deep into the room. It was a storefront with empty shelves. Trash and broken furniture littered every surface, the counterswere mostly bare. When I spotted a discarded poker on the floor, I immediately snatched it and returned to my spot by the entrance.
My back touched the front door and I slid down, hugging my knees. My eyes kept sweeping across the room that was getting darker by the second.
The sound of unsteady footsteps and guttural growls came from behind the walls. I clenched my teeth, allowing fear to invade every fiber of my being until I could hear almost nothing but the frantic beating of my heart and the blood rushing up to my head. I covered my ears, rocking back and forth. My conscience was slipping away.
Somewhere in the farthest reaches of my mind, flashes of me, in what felt like another life, came back all at once. I started seeing the same painful memories that would not leave me for days at a time, reviving every hurtful event that led me to where I was.
It always started the same; I saw myself in our family castle, my hair was loose, and I wore a silk dress in the color of the tender lilacs. Petro was watching me with a lazy smile as we practiced swords together.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, somehow making me weaker, until I felt so brittle that I could break at any moment.
In my dream, I swung my sword and Petro caught my arm, embracing me. I laughed and pushed him away. His face was so close to mine that I could see his golden eyelashes that outlined his soft blue eyes.
That memory gave birth to something darker, and I saw myself on the floor of the church, the flower petals crushed under my feet, my hands shaking. My brother was holding on to his fiancee, who was convulsing on the floor, covered in blood. Blood was everywhere.
“Where’s Petro?” I screamed.
I whimpered, reliving the same scene over and over. My mind was descending into the darkest place I could not come back from.
My conscience made another attempt to return me to the present and I concentrated on the sounds that were coming from the shadows. My eyes focused on the black corner, and I started hearing dull rustling and a quiet, barely recognizable, breathing. In that instance, my senses came back.
Something is here!
Cold sweat beaded my face, as I clenched the poker until my hands went numb from the effort. Whatever it was, I had to kill it. I stilled, counting the seconds in my head, my eyes glued to the dark edges of the room. The sounds were growing louder with every passing moment, until I could take it no longer, and when a disfigured shape appeared on the floor, I almost screamed. Something was crawling right to me. I whimpered, getting up.
The darkness made it almost impossible to see, but the monster was slowly inching closer, with its arm outstretched. Its head was turned to the wrong angle, and its legs were missing. I could clearly distinguish its eyes that reflected the dim light coming from the windows. My backpressed against the door and I froze. The monster's mouth opened wide, its lower jaw was completely exposed, the black gashes on its face were clearly visible in the moonlight. Without a hint of hesitation, the corpse was closing in on me, trying to reach me with its misshapen hands and broken fingers.
I gasped, readying my weapon. When the crawler was almost touching the soles of my shoes I swung my poker, hitting it in the head. The blow did not affect the undead, its eyes looked up at me, the low growl continued coming from its distorted mouth. Almost in trance, I moved the poker and plunged the sharp edge into its head, its body jerked and stopped moving.
Only then, I released the breath that I did not know I was holding.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TYNAN
We flew the rest of the day and a good chunk of the night. It was more difficult than I thought it would be. Every time we flew over a village, we had to stop and survey the area. If she was in trouble, the crawlers would show us that something was amiss. Usually, crawlers just stood by themselves, not motivated to move unless the possibility of getting fresh meat was somewhere on the horizon. So far, every town, every city, we passed was quiet, without large herds gathering together.
