I got little sleep that night, or any other night over the following week, neither did anyone else within the town as those endless cries tormented us. For the first few days, the sound had me wanting to tear out my hair. Now they were a distant, annoying noise I’d somehow managed to shove into the back of my mind.
When I did sleep, I dreamed of Kobal and would wake filled with a yearning so fierce I couldn’t ease it no matter what I did. I’d never been like this before. I wantedhimso badly it had become a hollow pit in my stomach.
At least I was finally able to go back to training on the field today, where I could try to work out some of my increased sexual frustration. If I was exhausted from training, I wouldn’t dream of him, or at least that’s the lie I told myself.
Kobal had been scarce in my waking life since the day he’d sent me inside the house, but he was the one who stepped across from me on the training field now. I tried not to blush as I recalled his gaze on me in the window and the way I’d touched myself in front of him.
I should be mortified, but I wasn’t. Instead, I found myself wanting to step closer to slide my fingers inside his shirt, then over those chiseled abs as I’d imagined doing last night.
“Are you ready for this?” he inquired in his deep voice.
His eyes raked over me in a way that caused my nipples to harden. I had to fight not to lick my lips. What was freaking wrong with me?
I thrust my chin out as I tried to retain my composure. “More than ready.”
“Do you think you can see my moves before they come again?”
“We’re about to find out. If I can, hopefully, it will be with my ribs and lungs still intact.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his full mouth. “That would be preferable. You’ve been out of it for a bit, so we’ll take it easy at first.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, not in the mood to be babied. No, I had to be so tired by the end of today that I could barely walk; otherwise, I would never rest without visions of this man playing in my head.
Lifting my hands, I got into a fighter’s stance, staying on the balls of my feet as we danced around each other. He took a couple of swats at me that I deflected with ease. I tried to relax, tried to let my mind go free in order to tap into the visions that could roll so easily through me sometimes, but I felt nothing as we continued to move around each other.
I took a few swipes at him, nearly connecting with his chin, but he dodged me. He honed in on me, his movements becoming more aggressive and demanding. It wasn’t some mystical power or whatever flowing through me that helped me deflect his hands, it was the training I’d endured before I’d been injured.
I could feel the heat of his body against mine and smell the fiery scent of him. The sensation of his skin brushing over mine became overwhelming. All I wanted was to touch him, to run my tongue over his sweat-dampened skin as I tasted him.
My head spun as he filled my entire world until there was nothing but his skin against mine and his scent in my nostrils. I felt dizzy with the sensation; my breath came in rapid pants. Then I realized that though I could see him, everyone else on the field had faded away; the wails were finally silenced as I stood alone with him on the field.
Bewilderment filled his eyes as he stopped coming at me to stare around the strangely empty landscape. The green grass blew in the warm June breeze beneath my feet and the hills rolled endlessly onward around us, but there was no longer a wall, or people, or homes; there was onlyus.
Confusion swirled through me. I had no idea what I’d done, but somehow I knew I had pulled him into this alternate reality with me.
Slowly, his gaze came back to me, but I didn’t meet it. My attention was focused on the hill behind him as what I could only describe as monsters burst over the top of it from the direction of the wilds. They barreled toward us, their four stubby legs carrying their plump bodies faster than I would have assumed possible given their awkward build.
There was something about them that reminded me of a boar, maybe it was their shape or maybe it was the giant tusk sticking out the center of their foreheads, but they were far more hideous than any boar I’d ever seen a picture of. Their skin, a mottled red and black, shone in the sunlight beating down on them. Plumes of smoke or something like it shot from the blowhole in the top of their extended, rounded skulls. Cloven hooves left dents in the ground and beat out a pounding rhythm as they carried the monsters over the earth.
“What are those?” I whispered.
“Madagans,” Kobal replied. “The beasts.”
“They’re coming.”
The minute the words left my mouth, the almost dream-like world I’d created slipped away, and I found myself standing face to face with Kobal. He blinked and shook his head as his gaze drifted over the people and noises surrounding us once more. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh, steel clashing against steel, and grunts filled the air. They all continued as if nothing had happened, completely oblivious to Kobal and me standing there.
Beyond the sounds of training and fighting was the noticeable lack of the wails.
Kobal’s focus came back to me; he seemed to be trying to assess me and figure out what had just happened. Maybe if he figured it out, he would let me know. His head turned toward the hill, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air.
“They’re coming,” I said again.
He gave a brisk nod that caused a lock of hair to fall into his eye. “Yes. Everyone be prepared!” he bellowed. Those closest to us jumped away from him, and others glanced around in confusion. Lifting his hands, he cupped them around his mouth as he looked toward the wall. “Arm the wall!”
Through the town, the streets exploded with commotion. The shine of the sun reflecting on rifle scopes could be seen as people on the wall lifted their guns. Kobal spun back toward me as the first of the creatures I’d seen in my vision burst over the horizon. Frightened shouts came from some of the volunteers surrounding us. They were used to beating on each other and shooting at targets; they weren’t prepared for something like what was coming at them.
And, truthfully, neither was I. My pulse picked up at the sight of them, and my stomach plummeted. We didn’t have any guns with us, but as soon as I realized it, shots rang out from the wall. Dirt exploded in front of the monsters barreling toward us. One of them squealed as it tumbled forward and slid to the ground. Plumes of dirt skidded up in front of it as its heavy body slid down the hill.
