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Every time I blasted the creature and made it disappear, the next time it manifested, it lookedcloserthan it had been before. I would smash it with a bolt of pure light, it would retreat into the shadows, and we would get a moment of respite, but then it would come back, and I would be able to see a little more of it… and I realized, that while it stood on two legs like one of the Fae, it certainly wasn’t.
I couldn’t see its face, that and the rest of its body were still wreathed in shadow, but the shape of its head was weird. Elongated, and marked with what looked like holes and indentations. It was not a Fae head, or even ahumanhead, even its antlers didn’t look quite right, and that was the worst thing about it.
There was an inherent wrongness about this shadow figure. Not only did it give off an aura of dread, exciting the fear response in anyone that saw it. Looking at it left you with nothing but questions, with a need to see more, to know more; with a need to let it getcloserstill, as dangerous as that was.
Was that this creature’s way of pulling its targets in?
“What are you waiting for?” Valerian asked, “Hit it again!”
“Right,” I said, conjuring another beam of light into my hand and flinging it into the darkness behind us. The darkness around us shrieked, and the shadow figure vanished again, leaving us with another couple of seconds with which to catch our breaths, but I knew I was spent. I could feel it. The drain, the lack of power. It created a kind of physical ache I had never truly felt before in my life.
I’d never had to use this much of my own power before, either, so it figured.
“I’m done,” I said.
“Done?” Valerian asked.
“Yeah,” clutching my chest, “That was my last bolt.”
“We’re nowhere close…” Valerian said to himself, then trailed off.
I perked up, reached across his shoulder and pointed at the darkness ahead. “Look out!” I yelled, but it was no use. Colbolt was quicker to react than Valerian was, and the Maukibou came to an abrupt halt that almost saw us both going over its antlers and flying into the trees and the snow ahead to land at the feet of the shadow figure standing in the dark.
Colbolt bucked, and whined, and snorted.
This was it.
He would go no further… and neither would we.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Valerian tried to tug Colbolt away from the shadow figure, but he was too scared to move. Poor thing. I couldn’t blame him for being rooted to the spot. Whatever was in front of us was so close now that its scent was overpowering; that dark magicstinkpervading the air.
“This is it,” Valerian said, as he got ready to dismount.
“What is?” I asked.
“The end of the line.”
Part of me couldn’t help but agree with him. I felt cold inside. Not the cold you feel when the temperature drops, though. This wasdreadat work again. The shadow figure ahead of us wasn’t moving, but it towered above even Colbolt now. It was here, I had brought it closer to us, and now there was nowhere left to run.
Valerian’s feet hit the snow with a crunch. He took a few steps away from Colbolt, keeping his eyes trained on the shadow figure, and drew a sword from out of its sheath.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“The only thing left to do,” he said.
I quickly dismounted and stood next to him. “That’s it? That’s the plan?”
“It’s here, Amara. This is it.”
I looked over at the shadow figure again. It simply stood there, directly in our way, entirely motionless like the specter of death itself. Looking at it now, I realized I could pick out a few more of its features. The broken antlers on its head, the large, black cloak it wore, its long, thin limbs. It didn’t have a head like mine or Valerian—its head was a giant, cracked wolf’s skull, with dark holes and hard lines going through it.
I swallowed the ball in my throat. Colbolt was padding, and whining, and still scared out of his mind. I moved over to him, keeping the shadow figure in my sights the whole time. Gently, I stroked Colbolt’s neck, running my hand through his thick, white fur.
“Thank you,” I said to him. “For everything… but you have to go home. It’s not safe anymore.”
Colbolt lowered his head. He was trembling, but I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to stay with us, he wanted to help. Maybe he understood what he was getting himself into by staying, maybe he didn’t. I couldn’t say either way. The only thing I knew, though, was that this shadow figure wanted us, not him, and I wasn’t going to let Colbolt get hurt on my account.
