Our intimate moment was obliterated by seven shadows flying overhead. With a screeching squeal, they banked hard and began to chase.
“What was that?” I shouted as Astaroth kicked his heels into the beast. I hoped they weren’t what I thought they were.
She lurched forward, bounding with the strength of an elephant. I held on for dear life as I bounced around on her back.Astaroth trapped my legs beneath his and pulled a bow from out of the darkness. He pushed my chest flat to the beast’s neck and loaded an arrow. The hood of his cloak caught the wind and blew off his head as he looked up and raised the bow. I laid there in awe and shock as his arm pulled back the arrow. He followed his target, released the arrow, and a second later it struck.
I covered my ears to block the piercing shriek of pain that filled the corridor. A moment later, something careened into the brick wall in front of us. Bits of rubble exploded into the air as the wall caved in. Astaroth pulled on the beast’s hair and brought us to a stop. More squeals sounded, and I snatched the blade from my boot, terrified I would come face to face with something that wanted me for dinner instead, and cringed when I saw the pigs flying toward us. Tusks jutted from their foaming mouths full of sharp teeth. Why did all the monsters have to have sharp ass teeth? Why did they always seem to point them at me?
Arrows arched over us, striking two more. They fell to the ground, and the other pigs pulled back and circled our group before screaming and flying away. Goblins leaped off their beasts and ran to the massive hairy hogs. The two on the ground snorted and struggled to stand up and move. The one that went through the wall didn’t so much as twitch. The goblins ganged up on the remaining two, slicing their throats and their bellies.
Gagging, I covered my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut when they shoved their hands inside and dragged their entrails out over the ground. A putrid stench lingered on the wind and blew between my fingers.
Astaroth opened a portal, and the goblins got to work dragging the corpses through.
I swallowed down the bile burning my throat. “Why?” I couldn’t ask more without vomiting.
“For two reasons. One, their smell permeates everything. I don’t think it ever goes away.”
It made me think of skunks, only this was far worse. Like decaying bodies. And those goblins dove inside like serial killers playing with their victims. I would make it a point to steer clear of them.
“Two?” I asked as the goblins reappeared and made for their mounts.
A deep roar shook the labyrinth walls. My eyes flew open as Astaroth smiled. “Grizwyn.”
Astaroth caged me in his arms as he grabbed two dreadlocks on our beast’s head. It took off, building steam, and sliding into the turns of every icy corridor. The snow piled higher around us the farther we traveled until we finally met the maker of those petrifying wails.
Standing twice the height of Astaroth stood a furry monster on two legs. A mix between a grizzly bear and a wolf, this was the closest thing I’d ever seen to a werewolf. Fangs hung past its bottom lip, dripping with saliva. Irises like shattered ice on blue waters glinted our direction. It opened its mouth and roared, jowls shaking from the force of it.
A fuzzy memory flitted through my mind of running from this thing, but it wasn’t at night, and I didn’t remember snow on the ground. Goblins rushed around the corner, but it paid the smaller threat no attention. The focus was squarely on us. The bigger threat. Or maybe on our mount. The bigger meal.
My nails dug into arms. “Ast—”
“Shh.” Astaroth covered my mouth as I shoved back against him. I scratched at his arms while we slowly backed up in the corner. The Grizwyn charged. Astaroth jerked the beast toward the corridor we came from. We bolted forward as he handed me the makeshift reins. “Hold tight, and don’t stop,” he yelled over the wind.
I didn’t plan to stop. I’d run the labyrinth until I found safety without looking back.
Astaroth jumped off the rump of the beast. Shocked, I watched him land and pull his sword. The monster swiped a paw at him, claws extended, and Astaroth ducked and rolled between its legs. I pulled the mount to a stop as he jumped on the grizwyn’s back and climbed up to its shoulders. Try as it might, its short arms couldn’t reach behind it or above its head.
While Astaroth had it distracted, the goblins moved in with spears twice and even three times their size. They stabbed it and then jumped out of its way as it flung itself about. He held on as the grizwyn slammed him against the wall. And when it threw its head back and wailed, Astaroth plunged his sword into its chest. I could feel the agony in its bellow. I reminded myself it wanted to kill me, and I didn’t feel as guilty anymore.
The goblins unrolled a large drape over the ground, and Astaroth wrestled the monster’s jaw up, making it lose balance and fall backward. Jumping off its back, Astaroth landed on its stomach and drove his sword in to the hilt. The grizwyn swung one last time. Searing pain lanced my midsection, and I doubled over screaming as Astaroth hit the ground.
Instantly, the pain vanished, and I sucked in a breath checking my body for wounds. When I looked up, Astaroth was on his knees holding his stomach. I kicked the sides of the beast and rushed to him as he staggered to his feet. Blood seeped through the tears and fabric of his shirt, covering his hand and dripping to the ground. Every drop melted where it touched on the snowy canvas, ebbing out and creating a bloody portrait of tonight’s events.
“Roth!” I shouted as the beast skidded to a halt. I struggled to get down, as it lowered to the ground, and nearly fell off in my rush. I surged through the goblins crowding him and gripped his forearms.
“You don’t listen.” He sucked a breath between his teeth when I moved his hand to inspect his wound. I could see his insides. He was caging them in with his hand.
“You’re just now learning this?” I took off my cloak and gasped as the wind hit me. Wadding the fabric, I pushed it against his stomach and pressed his hands over it. My teeth chattered as I spoke. “We need to get you back to the castle.”
Astaroth staggered forward, trapping me between the warmth of the beast and him. He supported himself against it while he blocked me from the wind. His skin was paler than usual, and his face gleamed with sweat. “I’ll be fine shortly.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “You came back for me.”
I did, and I didn’t understand why. “So I wouldn’t get lost in this frozen tundra and die along with you.”
He chuckled and cringed from the movement. “You don’t have to say it, I can feel it.”
