Chapter 21
W e follow the sound of Maddox’s screams until we reach a clearing.
There’s a tree with the base hollowed out—a nest that really looks more like a den. It reminds me of what a bear might hibernate in over the winter. Chills rush over me, but I suppress them.
Maddox’s screams faded from earshot only a few moments ago.
Charlie, Victor, and I exchange worried glances, then all nod and advance toward the gaping hole of the den.
We haven’t even made it to the den before a bird darts out from its opening, this time wailing a sea shanty in Michael’s voice.
Fury envelops me, and I slash at it with my dagger. Black feathers float down from the sky, stinging as their razor edges slice against my face. I cry out as another bird advances upon me.
This one I block with my dagger just in time for its beak to come clashing with the blade. I swing again, slashing the bird’s throat. The next one I dodge, glancing out of the corner of my eyes to see Victor ducking to avoid the talons of another bird.
Charlie, Victor, and I form a circle, back to back, striking at the birds as they attack. This proves more effective than our previous stance, where we had to defend all sides at once.
Charlie cleaves one’s neck, and its body crumples at my feet. I kick it away, twisting to catch another bird on the end of my dagger.
The three of us shift toward the den in a huddle. Victor deflects another bird’s attack with a thrust of his blade.
We hack at the ambush of birds, all the while being swarmed with the voices of our loved ones.
After a moment, it occurs to me to wonder whether Maddox’s screams from inside the den are real, or if our friend has already succumbed to the birds’ hunger.
I fight the grief that threatens to overcome me at that thought. I cannot accept that fate.
Eventually, hacked bodies of the birds we’ve slain surround our feet, our labored breaths competing with the rage of the howling wind whipping through the forest.
As soon as the fray is over, Charlie rushes toward the den of the cave, calling Maddox’s name, but a dark figure appears before she ducks in.
Maddox’s shoulders are heaving, his hand over his chest where a claw mark streaks across his torn tunic. He spits, and a mixture of blood and saliva hits the ground in front of him. Hanging from his left hand is the head of the bird that had carried him away just moments ago.
He looks down at Charlie, wonder in his eyes—before collapsing to the ground.
“The talons must be venomous,” says Victor.
Charlie’s eyes go wide, and she drops to her knees, pulling a vial out of her satchel.
“Come on, Maddox,” she says, tapping at his face, then flipping him over and rubbing his sternum with the contents of the vial. He sputters awake, though he still looks disoriented.
“Are we sure there aren’t any more of them?” says Victor.
Maddox shakes his head. “I finished off whatever was in there.”
Victor sighs in relief, but I can’t bring myself to—not quite yet.
I glance around, panicked now that we’ve journeyed all this way through the woods.
“You go on ahead,” breathes Maddox. “You need to find the Sister.”
Charlie purses her lips and furrows her brow, glancing at me.
“It’s okay. You can stay with him,” I say, though it breaks my heart to tell her so. I still have Victor, but I don’t want to be wandering into the woods searching for the Sister’s cabin without my best friend. Still, I can’t expect her to leave Maddox—not in the state that he’s in.
“Come on, Winds, let’s go,” says Victor, heading back toward the forest.
Just then, another shrill cry breaks forth from above.
“Winds, watch out!” yells Victor.
But it’s too late. Something slams against my back, launching me past the tree line and onto the cold forest floor. I hit chest-first, the wind knocked clear out of me.
I roll over, the bird descending upon me—this one three times the size of the rest.
Fear encompasses me, not for my own life, but for the knowledge that if I die here, my husband will die not long after. If he’s not already gone.
Vaguely, I hear my name called, but even sound becomes muffled as the bird sinks its talons into my shoulder.
I cry out in pain, the venom searing through my blood.
But then something strange happens. Something that’s happened only once before. Shadows from the forest swarm upon me. Except—not upon me.
Upon the raven.
Voices. Voices I’d heard in the forest and thought were coming from the birds cry out against the creature. And though they cannot truly touch it, they flock around its face, covering its eyes, plunging its entire world into darkness.
I scramble away, crawling across the forest floor.
The bird lashes out, another talon sinking into my ankle.
I let out a bloodcurdling scream, then wrench myself away from its grasp, crying as it tears through my flesh. The pain is almost dizzying. But then, a drop of my blood hits the ground.
The earth shifts beneath me. Vines wrap around my body.
I don’t have time to look again before the shadows encroach upon my vision.
And the earth pulls me under.