AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Don’t let it turn into a pack,warned another voice.
She nocked an arrow and aimed it at the twisting shape, but it hit the water beside it. She fired another, and another, each one smacking rock or water. This was pointless, a waste of her arrows. She chased the grindylow downriver, the other not far behind it, watching Briarsong flash in the silvery stream.
The cold had started to settle, but she refused to give weight to it, ignoring the voice in her ear that sounded suspiciously like Hawthorn that told her it was just a sword—
Notjusta sword. Her sword.
She wasn’t leaving it.
The two grindylows arched and dived through the water, and Juliana followed. She would not be stopped, not be swayed. The earthy bank started to dwindle, replaced instead by rock. The stream cut through the remains of a mountain, a stony mound cleaved in two.
The grindylows slowed. Ahead of them was a dam stretching between the two sides of the craggy mountain. Juliana, nearly out of bank, slowed too.
The grindylow shoved Briarsong into the dam. Several other floppy bodies crawled out to inspect it.
Not a dam—a nest.
Juliana scanned her surroundings, counting, anticipating, planning. She could possibly use her equipment to start a fire, although whether it would take in such damp conditions seemed unlikely. She’d also have to climb onto a fiery mound to take Briarsong back.
Not the best plan.
What else could she do? The grindylows were easier targets in the dam, but she didn’t have enough arrows to realistically take all of them out. She only had her daggers now, none of which had the reach she’d need to fight so many. And she’d been fighting them on their grounds, where they had the upper hand. It wouldn’t take much to topple her, bring her into the freezing waters, and hold her till she drowned.
Just leave it!said the voice again that sounded like Hawthorn’s.You can get another sword!
But it wouldn’t be this one.
Her eyes drew to the rocky ledge over the stream. Several large boulders toed the edge, none wobbling…
At least, not yet.
Fighting against the cold that was now progressing to numbness, Juliana clambered up to the top of rocks, peering over the ledge, testing the weight of the rocks. At least two were immovable, but a couple of them, with the right leverage…
She grumbled inwardly. Her sword would actually be perfect here. As it was, she had to scuttle back down and find a branch that looked about right, testing its weight and praying it wouldn’t snap under the pressure.
It nearly did. Irritated, she turned to one of the smaller rocks, prying it loose, muscles straining.
This is good,she told herself.I can’t freeze while I keep moving.
The first boulder toppled over the ledge, taking out a portion of the nest and squishing at least one grindylow. Three dived away, hissing and spitting.
Juliana heaved a second rock over the edge. This one struck down the middle, catching another two. The branches of the dam heaved against the strain.
Sensing another boulder might collapse the thing entirely, Juliana sprung down the cliff face and raced onto the dam, boots squelching and slipping against the wet branches. Remaining grindylows snapped at her heels, but she paid them no heed until her fingers clasped the hilt of her beloved blade.
She drew it out. It gleamed in greeting.
A grindylow shot towards her, but Juliana sliced it straight through, blood spraying. One bit at her calf, but a quick stab and a kick later, it fell to the stream.
That didn’t stop the others. They crawled out of the dam like enormous ants, hissing and spitting, claws sinking into her calves, her thighs, her hands—
Her balance threatened to desert her. Her legs sank beneath the woven branches. Water hammered against the construction.
Juliana refused to fall. She kicked and slashed, stabbing and swinging, hacking off spindly arms, fins, clawed paws, slicing through scaled bodies till the river ran with blood and all fell still and quiet.
The dam sagged again. Juliana grabbed her belt and sheath, leapt off it, and waded towards the bank.
Her skin was littered with scratches and punctures, but she was alive.
