Page 24 of Tides of Shadows

Then came the roar, too close, and I knew it was over.

Something slammed into me from the side. I was driven off the path and into thick bushes, the air knocked from my chest.

I landed wrapped in hard arms, shielded by a body.

Black leather. The scent of smoke. Green eyes.

Dricus.

His broad chest pinned me, his shoulders braced over me. One arm locked around my waist, the other cradled my head. We lay pressed into the undergrowth as he listened, every muscle taut.

Silence.

“Are you hurt?” he asked quietly.

“No. Unless you broke my bones,” I replied.

“I had little time for warnings,” he said. “Forgive me.”

His jaw brushed my brow as he spoke. I tried to ease out of his grasp, my palms pressed to his chest. He was solid as stone. His hands remained firm, as though he feared to let go.

“I believe it is safe now,” I said.

He caught hold of a low branch and, keeping his arm tight around my waist, hauled us both up from the hollow. He set me on my feet, studied my face, and lifted his hand to my cheek.

My fingers followed his touch. When I drew them back, blood streaked my skin.

“That should be tended,” he said.

A howl echoed through the forest. Our heads turned as one. Without a word, we moved toward the sound.

I recovered my bow as we moved. Kael, Brenn, and the huntsman soon reached us, breathless but unharmed.

“Thank you for the warning,” I said to him. “What is your name?”

“Cedric, my Lady.”

“Are you injured?”

“No, my Lady.”

“Good.” I nodded once, and together we headed toward the sound.

When we found the boar, it was trapped.

It had sunk into a mire that refused to release it. Yet this was no ordinary bog. The sludge was black, thick, and foul beyond reason, its stench sharp enough to sting the throat. The trees surrounding it sagged and twisted, their bark darkened, their leaves sickly and rotting, as though the land itself had begun to decay.

The animal screamed, a sound so raw it seemed as if its flesh was being torn from bone. None of us dared step closer than the very brink of the tainted ground.

There should have been no marsh here. These forests are too dry for that. And yet the mire waited, hungry.

The boar thrashed and kicked, but the more it struggled, the deeper it sank into the oily depths.

I didn’t hesitate. I raised my bow and drew the string.

With a single arrow, I ended its suffering.

Silence fell over the forest.