Had she touched the beast, perhaps she could have sensed what lay within it. Fear, rage, or possibly loneliness? Whatever emotions drove such a creature to roam Driochmor.
The possibility sent another shiver through her.
At last Bria forced herself to move, hurrying back through the dark forest toward the faint glow of dying embers still visible between the trees ahead.
Relief loosened slightly within her chest when the sheltering roots finally came into view. Then tightened again instantly.
Kaelan still was not there.
Bria stopped near the dying fire, her gaze searching the darkness surrounding their small camp while unease slowly settled over her once more. The little creature remained pressed tightly against her, though his trembling had eased some now that they had returned.
Where had Kaelan gone? Why hadn’t he woken her?
Her thoughts returned suddenly to something he had said earlier.
I lost the creature’s trail… but I picked up another.
And later…
I can sense them.
Bria looked uneasily toward the forest.
Perhaps he had caught the beast’s scent again and gone after it. The thought alone made her stomach tighten. She had seen the creature up close twice now, had felt the sheer size and power of it standing near enough that its breath warmed her skin.
Yet still she could not shake the strange certainty that it had never intended her harm.
The little creature’s ears suddenly twitched.
A moment later, footsteps approached quickly through the trees and Kaelan emerged from the darkness.
The instant he spotted her standing there, his expression sharpened. He crossed the clearing swiftly and stopped directly before her, his eyes searching her face.
“What happened?”
The urgency in his voice startled her.
Bria barely spoke above a whisper. “The beast was here.”
His jaw tightened instantly. “In camp.”
“Nay, I woke to find you gone?—”
“So, you foolishly searched for me?” He gave her no time to answer. “You do not wander in Driochmor alone in the middle of the night.” Irritation roughened his voice. “Anything could have found you.”
“But it did not.”
Kaelan went still.
Bria held his gaze despite the lingering fear still twisting through her. “This is the second time I have stood face-to-face with the beast, and neither time has it harmed me.”
“It approached you?”
She nodded slowly. “Close enough that I could feel its breath.”
Kaelan’s expression hardened further, though not in the way she expected. Not fear for himself, fear for her. The realization touched her heart in a strange way.
“He could have killed you.”
