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“They’re converging now.” Flint points up ahead, to a familiar strip of forest. “There. The Bone Man is there.”
I switch on my blinker to alert Sharpe and pull over on the side of the road, in the same place I had stopped only two days ago, when Darius’s presence called out to me.
It’s not a coincidence that we were led back here. As Sharpe said before, we already knew where the Bone Man was hiding.
We pile out of the vehicle, and I stare at the swaying line of trees in front of us. “Where are we going in, pretty boy?”
Flint’s brow wrinkles, and he shakes his head. “I’m not sure…”
“I thought you said you could track it,” Darius rumbles.
“I can. It’s just…” Flint’s head moves from side to side. “It’s all over the place. Maybe it’s still absorbing him?”
The rest of our group joins us.
Sharpe eyes the swaying forest. “Where are we going, Flint?”
Flint’s face pales. “I think we’re already there.”
Beneath us, the ground shakes, the tremors growing stronger by the second. I stumble and catch myself against the SUV to stay upright. A few officers drop to their knees as the street buckles, the cement cracking.
Flint’s eyes widen, and he points toward the forest ahead of us. “Look!”
We return our attention to the trees, and my blood runs cold. The very earth beneath our feet trembles and quakes, and the trees begin to sway and shudder as if possessed by an otherworldly force.
Or rather, theyarethe otherworldly force.
Creaking and groaning, the trees rise upward, the expanse of greenery in front of us transforming and fusing into a living monster.
“The ancient one,” Mayn breathes and unsheathes the sword at her side.
I can’t tear my eyes away as the forest rises, the colossal form of the Bone Man emerging from the ground like a behemoth awakened from slumber. The ancient trees groan and creak as they twist and contort, their branches extending like gnarled appendages.
The monster’s body forms as it rises from the ground, roots and fallen trees twisting around bones, marrying together into a grotesque semblance of a form.
Dread fills Johannsson’s voice. “The Bone Man… It’s the entire forest.”
Not all of it, but more than enough to send fear streaking through me. This monster is so much bigger than the one we faced in the Bone Yard. It’s a twisted embodiment of nature, with a hunger for the living.
We need more rocket launchers.
The monster turns toward us with the deafening sound of trees being torn in half as it breaks away from the surrounding forest. Then it seems to dismiss our small life forces and steps toward Clearhelm, which offers a feast for it to glut itself on.
Sharpe’s voice cuts through the screaming of the forest. “Just like last time, people! We kill it, one limb at a time!”
“The bigger they are!” Trent shouts.
Savannah’s magical tattoos blaze to life. “The harder they fall!”
There can be no hesitation in this battle. No holding back.
I reach for Darius at the same time the ignis demon extends his hand.
Darius releases his corporeal form, his true self sinking into my body, his fires curling around the flames inside me, his presence stretching to strengthen my limbs.
I reach into my shirt to grasp the fire amulet and pull it off, tossing it back into the SUV.
Are you sure about that?Darius’s voice curls through my mind like a welcome balm, easing the singed places in my soul.
