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My feet move before I can stop to think. Instinct and fear and desperation drive me forward. The need to reach him is too strong for Varin’s attempts to keep me where it’s relatively safe. They quickly stop fighting against my efforts. I draw on the borrowed strength and speed to weave through the fray.
The tide of a battle nearly won has turned. The air grows thick with the stench of blood. It’s strong, making my stomach churn, but I don’t dare stop.
Alaric is up and running. He strains against the ropes binding him. Unable to break them, it slows him down. The Greater demon’s eyes shine with malicious glee as they stalk toward him.
Varin is shouting at me, but between the pulse roaring in my ears and the commotion of battle, I can’t understand them. I slowly gain, but I’m afraid I won’t reach him in time.
The demon dives for Alaric. Their massive, clawed hand shoves him from behind, sending him sprawling in the dirt near the foot of a bridge that spans a wide ravine above a rushing river.
No.
There is a sound, horrible and desperate. The demon halts mid-motion, swiveling to face me. And I think the sound came from me.
Alaric rolls to his back and sits up. The demon doesn’t notice because their attention is now on me. Once, I thought Varin’s grin was a sinister thing. But I was wrong because the way this demon looks at me now chills me to the bone.
“Yoooouuu…” they growl. “I willlll gut yooouuu thisss timmmme and ssstring your innardsss in the trreees for decorrrationnnn.”
The distraction gives Alaric the opportunity to get to his feet. He runs, but the thudding of his steps draws the demon’s attention back to him.
The demon’s jaw opens unnaturally wide, and they let out an earsplitting screech that could shatter glass. They turn the sound on me, furious that I let their prey escape. For a moment, the demon seems torn between chasing Alaric or coming at me for revenge.
Alaric is halfway across the ravine when the demon moves. They feign as if they will attack me, only to twist, swiveling, and strike out, talons slicing through the ropes like cobwebs.
For a brief moment, the bridge seems to hover. Then time speeds back up, and it collapses. I can only watch in horror as Alaric falls, disappearing beyond the cliff’s edge.
Then the demon sets their sights on me. Long twisted limbs eating up the distance with quick jerky movements at painful angles. I reduce my speed and prepare to attack.
Everything seems to stall, slowing to a crawl. The cacophony of fighting fades to a dull roar in the distance. I keep my gaze locked on the demon, judging the length of each stride, the speed, the way they move. I search for a weak point. Prepare to strike.
My body drops to the ground, rolling without my permission. The air is knocked out of me from protruding roots and broken tree limbs digging into my ribs. The demon’s talons slash at where I stood seconds before, carving deep grooves into the winter-hardened ground.
Stupid human,Varin hisses.
Anger flares from within. Mine and theirs.
I knew what I was doing!
I grit my teeth. This is not the time to argue. The demon skids as they change trajectory. I get to my feet and run for the fallen bridge. Hot, putrid breath surrounds me as I near the cliff’s edge.
And then I jump.
My fingers tighten around the hilt of the dagger.
The river comes rushing up to swallow me whole before I draw a full breath. Ice cold water cracks over me—the contact a sharp strike that smothers every inch of my body with stinging pins and needles. My muscles seize from the burning cold.
The river carries me in its current, pilling me in every direction until I don’t know which way is up, shoving me into large rocks protruding from the riverbed, only to drag my body to the next. Slowly, the ache in my muscles lessens as I go numb, and the fire in my lungs becomes more demanding.
I am going to drown.The thought comes as it spits me out with a whirling rush of water gurgling in my ears into an endless, dark abyss. Disoriented.
My legs and arms begin to move in rhythm to right myself until my head breaks the surface. I gasp and sputter for air. Feeling returns to my body, soaking outward to my limbs. Varin is oddly silent.
I twist in a circle. The lake stretches wide, lapping against the shore. Beyond that, the trees are thick, melting into the shadows of night. But wherever I look, I find no sign of Alaric anywhere. He must still be in the water.
Thrashing and screeching echoes from the ravine. I crane my neck to look, squinting into the last scraps of the dwindling sunset’s light. A dark form rises up, the greater demon still pursuing both revenge and prey.
We need to get out of this water.Varin’s voice is urgent.
I need to find Alaric.
