Isprint across the plains, my cheeks and fingers numb from the cold by the time I draw close enough to lock eyes with Essi, seeing flashes of shame in hers. Offailure.
None of which makes any sense.
A surge of panic urges me on as I note the way her arm is bound around her abdomen. The spray of red on her pale cheek.
She’s bleeding.
Shit.
A blow of wind, and the Mists encroach, threatening to wrap their foggy wings around us. Barks and cackles rake my nerves, the crowls no doubt conversing about our impending slaughter. Something that will absolutely come to fruition if we don’tget the fuck out of here.
I run harder, faster—my boots hammering the snow, punching holes that almost swallow my shins.
Essi drops the strap of the laden sling. Takes three more wobbling steps and sinks to her knees, cloak puddling like a pool of ink. She lifts her hand from her waist and looks at the blood dripping from her fingers—so vibrant against the pale surroundings. The same red as her locks gusting about like a Sabersythe flame.
The sight does something to me. Punches through my chest, grabs my heart, and stuffs it in the snow.
She looks up—at me—exhausted resignation clouding her eyes as a shape emerges at her back. A large crowl gallops free of the Mists, its powerful gait at odds with its knobby limbs and sunken bits between protruding bones.
Teeth bared, itsnarls—white eyes pinned on Essi.
Rage explodes behind my ribs.
I rip out my sword and leap. The beast leaps too, claws splayed, maw wide and frothing for Essi’s blood.
“DROP!”
She flattens against the ground.
I collide with the crowl in a clash of swiping claws and slitting steel, knocking it back, landing so hard a jolt lashes my spine. Guts spray as I hack the scrawny beast in two with a mighty heave of my blade.
I’ve barely regained my balance before another comes at us from the side.
With Essi still flat against the ground at my back, I whip my blade around just in time to sever the beast’s neck.
More blood paints the snow.
Another wail of wind churns the mist into a blinding vortex, smudging our view of the wall.
Of ourexit.
“This fucking place,” I hiss past clenched teeth, spinning to see another beast prowl into my line of vision. It sniffs the air, tips its head, and bays to the sky.
I groan, easing into a deeper stance as the Mists come to life with a symphony of hungry howls.
Gaze narrowed on the beast’s unnerving eyes, I help Essi to her feet. Keep my left arm shielded across her while I survey our surroundings, watching multiple crowls skulk free of the swirling Mists—five.
Seven.
Nine.
Hunched low, their lips pull back from dripping maws as they take turns snapping at the air, hunting our weakest point.
“The moment the Mists part,” I murmur, eyes darting about, trying to anticipate which one might attack first, “I need you torun.”
“I don’t want to alarm you, but given how much I’m bleeding, there’s really not much point—”
One of the smaller crowls lunges into the open, striking for Essi’s side.
