Grabbing Anama, I wrenched her up. She winced in pain, and her eyes fluttered open, focusing on me.
“Run,” she said firmly, even as her legs wobbled.
“No.” I dragged her forward as if my sheer will would be enough to get us all out of here alive. The air screamed as another arrow whizzed through it. It hit Anama’s torso dead center, the force propelling her out of my grasp. Her eyes bulged, hands rising to her stomach.
“No!” This couldn’t be happening. How could everything be occurring in slow motion and so quickly at the same time?
I took a step forward, but Anama rose a shaky hand toward me. I could see the agony and defeat in her eyes. Blood bubbled, trickling from her mouth as she began stumbling away from me.
“Anama. Get on my back!” Lana screamed, trying to tug her over. But Anama shook her head, pushing her away.
“Run,” she coughed. “Please…”
The arrow-tailed lancer reared back again, its scales bristling, the spines on its tail quivering. Anama swiveled slowly to face it.
Its tail lashed out, quick as a whip, and tore into Anama. And then it was dragging her forward, right to the edge of the bank. I sprinted forward, not thinking, hand thrown out, fingers clawing for her as the arrow-tailed lancer pulled her into the river. My fingers grasped at air and nothing.
Dark blood drifted to the surface.
A choking sob split from my chest, my hand still outstretched. The creature, distracted by its prey, slipped beneath the surface, submerging until even its yellow eyes and arrow tail had vanished completely.
“Anama!” Her name clawed against my windpipes, a rough grating sound that was swallowed by the gurgling of the river. Lana was at Moric’s side, her fingers skating across his thigh, ripping at the fabric of his pants to reveal brown skin, marred by a long, thin gash.
“I’m okay. It’s a surface wound,” Moric said, but there was terror in his voice.
Lana appeared beside me, her hand on my arm. She pulled me to face her. “Lirah, we need to go before that thing comes back.” Her eyes were wild.
My breath tore from me in ragged gasps, and I turned one last frenzied look to the river, then to my friends. Moric was injured. And Anama was gone. Adrenaline coursed through me. Every second we spent on this bank put my friends’ lives in more jeopardy.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” I asked Moric, quickly.
He nodded.
“Then fuckingrun.”
CHAPTER 9
My throat was on fire. My calves burned like a furnace had been lit beneath them. And my chest was a hollow, aching beast that threatened to split open and unleash the seven fires of hell upon the world.
We ran all through the night, stopping only to check the direction we were headed in. Pale dawn sluiced through the trees overhead. We had no map to guide us now. It had been with Anama when she was dragged into the river.
I knew her injuries had been too serious for her to survive, whether the creature had pulled her in or not. There had been so much blood. But that didn’t make her loss any less painful.
So I ran, my legs pumping faster and faster, as if I were sprinting away from the trauma, the pain and grief. Away from myself.
Lana slowed to a stop ahead of me. Her hands clutched her kneecaps, her breath wheezing out of her. “I – need – a minute.”
Moric nodded, stopping beside her. He pulled out the compass and double checked our position. “We should be nearing the caves soon. We can stop and rest there for a bit.”
“No,” I said. The word surprised my friends as much as it did me. “We need to finish the challenge. The longer we spend in here, the more we’re at risk. I won’t let anyone else die today.”
I hated the look Lana gave me. Her eyes scanned my face, dipping to my hands, which were covered in dried blood.Anama’sblood. “We need rest, Lirah. We’ll be useless if we keep going at this pace. And being useless puts us at even greater risk.”
I hated how right she was even more. I wanted to be done with this challenge and out of the forest, away from the horror of it all, but my body was truly exhausted.
“I don’t think I can keep going, even to the caves,” Lana puffed. “My legs arevibrating. And I’m so hungry I think my stomach is trying to digest itself.”
“Then we have to take a break,” Moric said firmly. He looked at our surroundings, which were exactly the same as they had been hours ago. Just trees upon trees, damp soil and green leaves beneath our feet. Several bushes and shrubbery grew at the base of the trunks, and what looked to be ripe berries spilled from their branches.
