Page 124 of Starside

I keep rolling. Keep crawling. My leg is wholly numb. I desperately drag it along. And hope to all the gods that the wolves are too distracted with their current meal to follow. The sound of those massive fangs tearing through flesh echoes through the forest, and my skin prickles with fear, anticipating the weight on my spine as they push me to the ground, as they gut me just like they did their pack member.

Blood roaring in my ears, dirt under my nails, I make it far enough away that their snarls of satisfaction are muted, and then I get to my feet and run.

It’s more of a stumble. To make up for my leg, I push the rest of my body forward with all my might. I don’t look back. I just keep staggering, hoping to find the end of this mist, hoping I get lucky and just fall out of it—

Silence. The sounds of thrashing teeth fade away completely. But I’m not that far, no. They’re just done.

But not with me.

Those heavy steps are at my back in seconds. Shit.

I force my numb leg forward, gasping, clawing at the trees, using them to fling me ahead, but it’s no use. I know that. Still, I can’t just give up.

My limbs burn as I force myself forward. My neck prickles with awareness. A feral growl rumbles behind me.

I turn my head—and am met with razor-sharp teeth, nearly at my height. They’re on my heels. A couple more strides, and they’ll be on me. This is it. I stumble with a final push of desperation.

They leap.

The woods slope beneath my boots, the world spins, and I’m suddenly tumbling down a hill, gasping as my arms hit stumps of bone, as my vision turns to flashes of mist and soil, before I finally hit a tree with crushing force and stop.

I can’t take a full breath. Everything hurts.

Cheek against the bone roots, I can’t summon the strength to get up, even when those wolves crest the hill I just fell down. Even when their eyes lock on me. One of them snaps its powerful jaw, head falling back, emitting a satisfied howl.

It sits back on its haunches, preparing to bound down the hill in one massive jump. But before it can, it turns its head. Snarls. Lunges forward.

Toward nothing short of a swarm of winged, leathery bats the size of people. There are dozens flying in a wall. They open their mouths and emit high-pitched screams.

The two packs crash together, and it is carnage. Blood spurts. Flesh and fur paint the white bone forest, pieces getting stuck in its branches. Their shrieks and growls echo.

And it’s like a call, awakening every monster in the mists. I can feel the forest rousing, almost rippling, like a stone being thrown into a lake, casting waves.

The fog goes still.

A sky-splitting screech has it scattering. What can shift even these mists? I have a sinking feeling I’m about to find out. For even though this pack and swarm are battling, more are joining in and they will all eventually turn their attention to me.

I cling to the trunk for purchase and push myself up, inch by inch. Stumble through the forest as more creatures barrel toward this stretch of woods, cries and screams and hisses turning the mists into a nightmare symphony.

Shredding. The unmistakable sound of ripping flesh fills the forest—something with rows and rows of teeth has joined the fight, and razed countless creatures. I need to get out of here. My breathing is too loud, my steps are too clumsy. My arm is hanging at an odd angle, and that’s when I realize I must have dislocated my shoulder in the fall down the hill. Fuck. It’s my sword-wielding arm.

I should give up. I’m lost, and defenseless, and in a hungry beast-riddled mist. It’s useless to fight this hard, with so much stacked against me. And maybe that’s what makes me a fool—refusing to stay down, even when the world tries to keep me there. Fighting, even when fighting seems useless.

Always rising, just like Stellan taught me.

Those roars are growing louder. Closer. As if the battle has spilled down that slope. As if it’s coming right in my direction.

I turn to look back—

And a growl sounds right in front of me. I barely get my head back around, but I’m still rushing toward the monster, not able to stop myself before I crash right into it.

My scream is smothered.

By a hand.

I look up, eyes wide, heart battering my ribs, only to see a familiar hood.

A whimper of relief spills from my lips, and I don’t even try to hold back the tears that streak through the blood and dirt.