Chapter 9 #2
The Hollow was thrown clear of Colton, its spine snapping as it struck a tree, but it dragged itself back towards us again.
The Fae males exchanged looks of surprise, but their attention was quickly stolen by the Hollows once more as six more of them burst from the trees.
I turned, hope dimming as I took in the weight of our peril, but Colton had made it back to his feet and the Bear bellowed as it charged between the trees, hunting the Hollows at his command.
The Bear collided with the first corpse, its claws ripping through rotten flesh, water spraying from the spirit’s body to pepper the trees and undergrowth, and when it finally leapt free of the Hollow, the monster moved no more.
The two Fae were closing in on Colton, and I broke into a run, wanting to join with them too, but a hard body slammed into me before I could take more than a handful of steps.
I hit the dirt beneath the weight of the Hollow, rancid breath flowing over rotten teeth as it lunged for my face and worked to rip into my skin.
I cried out in pain as its fingernails carved into the flesh of my chest, my hand closing around its neck as I fought to force it back.
The rock still filled my other hand and I swung it with all my might, a sickening crack confirming its impact with the Hollow’s skull, though I knew that wasn’t the way to its demise.
I thrashed and fought beneath my foe, calling Colton’s name in a desperate plea as the Bear raced through the trees, ripping the Hollows to pieces and claiming their destruction one by one.
“I’m coming Ferris!” he yelled, and I caught sight of his boots pounding through the dead leaves, a second set of heavy boots right behind him.
“Colton,” I gasped as the Hollow’s hand pressed down on my throat, its weight crushing the air from my lungs.
I swung my rock again and again, but the Hollow paid it no mind, its attention never wavering from the prize of my death as it fought to rip me apart.
Water crashed over me and the Bear bellowed as it tore the Hollow off of me, its powerful jaws snapping the corpse in two and puncturing its heart at last so that the rotting remains fell still.
Colton reached for me but as he bent low, hand outstretched, the dark-haired Fae slammed into him, knocking him straight into the path of a pair of Hollows.
I screamed in horror as the living dead took hold of Colton’s arms, tearing at him with inhuman strength, hauling him in differing directions as they fought over their prize.
The Bear ran back through the clearing, racing to the aid of its master, but with a sickening scream, the Hollows claimed Colton’s death before the spirit could save him.
A cry ran ragged through my throat, horror engulfing me as my one true ally in this place was torn away in a flash of bloody violence which left me reeling in shock.
The Bear exploded in a wash of water, its energy spiralling away, sinking back into the amulet which had fallen to the forest floor, useless without anyone to Summon its power.
I stared up at the dark-haired Fae in horror as he grinned triumphantly and stalked forward to take the amulet as his reward for that murderous act.
But the bastard had struck too soon and three Hollows still stood, seeking our demise.
Two of them charged for the blonde Fae, knocking him from his feet, his panicked screams ringing out through the trees.
The bastard who had killed Colton ran to his aid, his duplicity clearly only stretching towards my kind and not his own. My pain and fury over the death of the one Champion who had stood by my side roared within my skull and a want for his murderer’s death rose within me.
The last Hollow chased him, every monster in the clearing forgetting the pathetic human who still drew breath among them.
Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I took in Colton’s mutilated corpse, then my gaze spilled to the amulet which had cost him his life.
I got to my feet, meaning to claim it for myself, but as I reached for it, my eyes caught on a dagger at Colton’s belt instead.
My fingers curled around the blade and I tugged it free, my chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as I looked to the bastard who had killed my friend.
He fought his own foe with furious panic as the blonde male screamed his death cries beneath the weight of the Hollows who had pinned him to the dirt.
I watched, a deep coldness settling over me as they fought for their lives. The blonde male released a strangled scream as a Hollow tore out his throat and Colton’s dark-haired murderer cried out in anguish. His pain did little to stifle my own.
He cut down the Hollow he was fighting, then ran through another but the third tackled him, taking him to the ground.
“Help!” he begged as the Hollow clawed and ripped at his face, shredding the beauty from him and revealing the monster beneath.
“No,” I spat, backing away, leaving him to his death in payment for Colton’s.
The forest loomed around me and I turned, meaning to run from this place of horrors and instead colliding with another of the deadly Hollows.
I was knocked against the thick trunk of a tree, the back of my head connecting with it and my vision shuttering as I swung a poorly aimed stab at the creature intent on my death.
Rotten teeth and a ghastly face void of a nose lunged for me, my demise burning in its shadow-coated eyes.
I screamed as I stabbed at it wildly, rancid blood spilling over my fist and doing nothing at all to halt the monster as it pinned me to the tree and lunged for my throat, my forearm crashing against its neck as I fought to hold it back.
Again and again I stabbed at it, my screams echoing off the branches of the uncaring trees, the forest leaning close to watch as my death rushed closer. And in the depths of their rustling leaves and tangled limbs I found my name whispering between them, beckoning me close, making their claim.
“Come, Ferris. It’s time. Ferris…Ferris…Ferris…”
I stabbed and stabbed, hunting for a heart I couldn’t find, every second punctuated by the frantic thundering of my pulse as I fought with all I had for a life I’d barely begun to live.
I cried out for help that wouldn’t come, fighting with a feral determination I’d never known I had, desperate to survive despite the odds promising I wouldn’t. For my parents, for Rissa, for all I hadn’t yet done.
With brutal ferocity, I kept stabbing even as my arm ached with fatigue and the Hollow crushed me to the tree, even as my reason for entering this cursed forest taunted me and my chances of doing what I’d sworn to do diminished with every passing second.
But still I fought, and I would keep fighting, on and on and on until my dying breath left me and even then, I’d resist it with all I had and all I was. For her.