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I jolted awake at the sound of a woman’s frantic whisper. It took me a moment to remember where I was and who was speaking. It was Lina. We were in a tent, in the forest.Why did she sound so urgent?
It was too dark to make out her features.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“I think… I think there’s something outside the tent,” she spoke quietly, right into my ear.
Sitting up, I rubbed the sweat from my brow and bit back a sigh. There were probably lots ofsomethingsoutside the tent. We were, after all, in the middle of the forest where countless creatures lived. Still, I strained my ears for a moment and cursed internally.
There was definitely someone—or something—out there.Something big.
Not a leaf crackled or a branch crunched. It was more the absence of sound than the presence of it that unnerved me. The cut-off squeal of a smaller creature, the muted pad of a very large footstep.
I didn’t want to risk more noise by telling Lina to be quiet, but for once, she seemed content to make no noise all on her own. Only her barely audible breaths told me she was still next to me at all.
Mentally, I reviewed our options. I had a knife and a sword, but there was no telling how big the thing was or if there was more than one of them. It hadn’t attacked yet, so that was something. The smartest thing to do would be to stay here and hope we avoided notice.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a grunt sounded directly outside the tent, and the top of the canvas strained like something was pressing against it.
Son of a goblin.
A massive snout sniffed at the edge of the canvas. The hot, heavy air that the beast huffed out filled our small space, practically gagging both of us with the smell of rancid breath. It reeked of death and decay, and a shiver ran down my spine.
This wasn’t a normal bear or wolf, both of which I’d encountered before. This was something bigger, and, I suspected, far deadlier.
The slow ripping of fabric sounded as long, glowing spines began to tear through our shelter.
Sweet fairy hell. I’m going to have to fight this thing—or run.The latter might be the better option with Lina to consider, as well.
Blood rushed to my temples, and I secured Lina in my breast pocket and Maggie in my satchel for the quick getaway we were about to make. I bit back a curse as the hedgehog bristled and bit my finger hard for having woken her up.
Slowly, silently, I raised myself into a sprinting position, ready to run us far away from whatever was out there. My hand gripped the hilt of the sword next to me. Just as I was about to rip open the slit of the carefully draped tent, Pepper cawed loudly overhead.
The heavy breathing cut off abruptly, then the sound of soft footfalls receded.
Pepper’s distraction must have been enough for the creature, or creatures, to decide they weren’t interested in us.
It was another solid ten minutes before I even dared to let loose a sigh of relief. Gently, I sat Lina back down onto the ground. Again, I didn’t have to tell her to remain silent. In fact, only minutes later, the sound of her even, peaceful breaths filled the tent.
At least one of us will get some sleep tonight.
* * *
I was right about not gettingany sleep. After the near miss with whatever that thing was, I woke at every snapping twig, or even when there was a stretch of silence too long.
Finally, when there was the slightest shaft of light to see by, I got up to dismantle the tent. Lina slept through me reorganizing my pack and rolling up the canvas to our tent, even through Maggie’s grunting as she pulled a few worms from the ground less than a foot away from Lina’s head. She didn’t stir at all until I gently tapped the ground next to her.
She bolted upright.
“Peonies!” She looked up at me. “Oh, it’s just you. I thought there was an earthquake for a second.”
I guess I didn’t tap so gently, after all.
“Sorry, it’s time to go,” I said. “That is, if you still want to go forward.” I was hoping last night had put the danger into perspective for her.
“Of course, I do,” she said, way too brightly for someone who had only been awake about three seconds. “Why wouldn’t I?”
She yawned and stretched her arms wide, perfectly content, as if she had entirely forgotten what transpired last night.
