She reached the bottom and held the lantern up as she scanned for a sign of them.
“aaron!agatha!”
Behind her, near the bridge’s edge, she heard a soft moan. She ran toward the sound, just making out the edge of the canyon.
Aaron lay near the drop-off, drenched in his own blood.
Helaina dropped to her knees beside him, assessing his injuries as best she could. “It’s okay, I got you.”
His armor was so warped and mangled, pressing in upon him.
Tears spilled from the corners of his eyes as blood leaked from his lips. “Can you talk? Can you tell me what happened? Where is Agatha?” She spoke in a hushed voice, fearing they weren’t alone.
“I don’t kn-know,” he choked out. “Darkness swallowed her. I tried to follow... I...” Aaron clutched his crushed chest plate with one arm. His other arm was torn to pieces. “Get it... off. Please. I can’t breathe.”
She heaved it apart. Wetness leaked below his collarbone, seeping through shredded fabric.
Gurgled screams pierced the darkness, the devastating sound ripping through the night. Helaina couldn’t stand the despair in that voice, but she couldn’t tell which direction it came from, and she couldn’t leave Aaron alone like this.
“someone help!”
The screaming stopped. An unnatural quiet took its place. Other than Aaron’s strangled breaths, she heard nothing. Not even the creaking of the old wooden bridge swinging over the canyon.
In the distance, twin pairs of red glowing eyes appeared. She could just make out two tall bodies skulking closer—human in form, although she couldn’t be certain.
Helaina put Aaron’s head in her lap and clutched him tight. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her breaths.
In through the nose, out through the mouth.
“Helaina,” a wicked voice purred in the distance.
She wouldn’t look. She heard the crunch of grass beneath boots, the deep groans of satisfaction as the creatures advanced.
“Helaina,” a second slick voice beckoned.
Aaron tried to whisper something, the sound strained and muffled.
I can feel your panic every time you let them out.Theodon’s words echoed in her head.
She would not let herself succumb. Not this time. She had survived too much already to give up now. And this time it wasn’t just her own life on the line.
“Run,” Aaron gurgled out.
“No.” She exhaled deeply, ignoring the sinful calls from whatever was coming for her. She called on what power she had left, anything she could reach for, and ordered it to come forward.
She refused to open her eyes, but she felt the shift in the wind. The same enveloping shadow that shielded her against flames blanketed her and Aaron. She homed all her focus into that shadow, cocooning them in safety and pushing anything else back with all her mental will.
The growls in the distance were sounds of chaotic fury. She felt the sharp pain in her chest as the monsters scratched and clawed at the barrier of shadow. Their nails pierced her own skin with every swipe they took at her wall.
She used that pain to fuel her, to force her shadows outward like a ripple of water.
The monsters clawed harder.
The agony tore a scream from her throat, but she held the barrier, pushing the creatures back. Their howls grew distant as she shifted them farther and farther away.
“helaina!” A different shout rose over the hills on the other side of the bridge. That familiar gravelly voice sounded so desperate.
“I’m here! We’re here!” she screamed back.
