Chapter 13 Brynn #3
Guin came skidding to Brynn’s side, whimpering. Her body shuddered, but she stayed close to Brynn’s ankles.
“It will be dangerous,” Brynn whispered, stroking Guin’s coat even as her own hands tremored. “Can you be brave for me, little girl?”
Guin clung close to Brynn in response. The dog was terrified, but she seemed as committed as Brynn was.
Brynn picked up Hróarr’s sword. She cast a final look to the sky, sending a plea toward Eponine for protection, and stepped down into the burrow. The ground was slippery, mud plastered over a maze of roots.
The tunnel sloped down gently, reaching deeper into the earth. Brynn could hear Hróarr shouting from ahead. She thanked Eponine he was still alive and sent a silent prayer for continued good luck. They would all need it.
Guin padded along at Brynn’s side. The puppy trembled, but she remained silent.
Roots jutted out of the ceiling, the walls, and made twisted patterns on the ground. The earth here seemed to be made of roots as much as soil. That ancient yew with its many offshoots had created a mesh underground, entwining together in a woven gauntlet.
Up ahead, Brynn could sense the burning presence of evil. That was the only way she could think to describe it.
Brynn had never liked spiders, but their ka felt much the same as all other creatures. Foxes and weasels sometimes stole geese, but they did not have this kind of malice to their presence.
Worse, Brynn could sense the presence of at least three of the unnatural beings. One of them was much smaller than the Wulfwir, but one was far larger. Brynn shuddered to think how large.
While she hated the idea of being in an enclosed space with the monsters, if she couldn’t escape quickly, that meant that they couldn’t, either.
Brynn dared to venture still deeper into the burrow, her eyes adjusting to the near darkness.
She imagined this place would be pitch black at night.
The burrow was uneven and jagged, not yet worn smooth by use.
Some places it was high enough she imagined the Wulfwir would be able to stand, but other places even she had to duck.
The roots were gashed in places, like the creature had been forced to claw its way out of the earth by chewing through the roots of the tree.
A dripping sound came from ahead, the telltale signs of water. That river she had seen must run through here. Her heart pounded so loudly, she was sure the monsters would hear that before her footsteps.
Hróarr yelled from up ahead, a roar of pain.
Brynn held back a shudder, quickening her pace. She felt her way along the walls, using the ka of the earth around them and her awareness of the monsters. The three fiends were together.
Light came from up ahead and Brynn moved faster.
Hróarr cursed in Valdari.
Brynn came to a branch in the tunnels, but she could sense Hróarr toward the direction of the light, so she went that way.
She stumbled out into what appeared to be some manner of cave. The stone had been carved away by the river that rushed through the middle of the chamber, but roots still dominated most of the walls and ceiling.
Massive roots tangled on the ground, creating a knobbed and crooked surface. Bones scattered in every direction and Brynn had her answer as to what had been eating the sacrifices.
Brynn glimpsed the Wulfwir up ahead, its back to her. She was sure she could sense Hróarr, too. Climbing over the massive roots in her path, she tried to get closer. Maybe she could strike the Wulfwir from behind.
Guin snarled just as Brynn sensed something move at her back. She turned, drawing ka into herself in a rush.
Brynn turned, coming face to face with another creature, barely managing to hold in a scream.
It was a little girl—or was supposed to be. She could be no more than ten with black hair and a shift that had long since rotted into tattered rags.
Half her face, left arm, and upper chest had been seared away, leaving nothing but blackened flesh shriveled around the bone. No human child could have survived such a thing, much less been able to stand there, staring at Brynn with a single, red eye.
Half skeleton. The creature was not quite half, but Brynn had no other explanation. The she-troll. It couldn’t be, but then again, what else could it be?
The child monster opened its mouth to speak and the voice that came out was a rasp, a whisper, and a wheedle all at once. The words sounded Valdari, but they were off. Something about the inflection.
Guin was not having it. The little dog planted herself in front of Brynn, letting off a low growl.
Brynn leveled Hróarr’s sword at the child troll, keeping the Wulfwir in her line of sight. She backed away from the child, careful not to turn her back to either monster.
Guin had the good sense to retreat with her.
“Hróarr?” Brynn called.
The monsters already knew she was here. She might as well let Hróarr know, too.
Bemused cursing in Valdari came from the mercenary, then, “What are you doing here, you stupid bitch?”
“Hyldish,” the burned girl hissed, her voice coming out in a lisping rasp because of the flesh missing off half her jaw. “You are a Hyldish sorceress. Have you come to bargain with us?”
It was difficult to understand what the creature was saying with her strange voice, but somehow hearing the thing speak in words Brynn could understand only made this whole thing worse.
“There was one who bargained with us.” The burned girl hissed, clawing fingers at empty air. “Before he betrayed us and trapped us down here.”
“What are you?” Brynn felt her words belonged to a stranger, far steadier than she felt.
“A child of the moons.” The creature’s charred mouth curled in the ghastly approximation of a smile. “Like you.”
“Eponine?” Brynn didn’t know what this fiend was, but it wasn’t Istovari.
Amusement twisted the child’s lips. “No.”
Brynn didn’t want to converse with the creature. She wanted to get Hróarr and get out.
“We are grateful to whoever weakened our prison,” the child mused, tilting its head back to peruse the roots overhead.
“I was able to claw out of the roots, then release my brother. He did the rest. We will all be free soon.” The child’s half-skull gaze fell on the Wulfwir. “Only a matter of time now.”
The Wulfwir growled, shifting over the spot where Brynn sensed Hróarr. She wanted to attack both the monsters, but not while the Wulfwir had Hróarr. If she could just get the monster away from him, maybe she could land a killing blow this time.
“Hundreds of years trapped down here while food was piled on the branches of the trees, just out of our reach,” the she-troll giggled.
“Now food walks in by itself.” The girl monster licked her ruined jaw, even half her tongue had been scorched and blackened.
“Good. Because we are very hungry. We are always hungry.”
Brynn wracked her brain, trying to think. She dragged power to herself, even though that made her even more aware of the sick, tainted presence of these creatures around her. The large one was still nearby, not moving, but still very much alive.
The burned girl crouched down on all fours and cocked her head in the direction of Hróarr. “Is he the father?”
Brynn choked, stunned. She shouldn’t have let herself get distracted, but the words hit her like a blow.
The creature made a keening, chortling sound. “Killing families together is always entertaining.”
“This is your fault,” Hróarr yelled. He must not be able to hear what the rasping monster child was saying and that was likely for the best. “All your fault. If you hadn’t come here, if you hadn’t come to Valdar in the first place—no—if you hadn’t decided to swyve Cenric, none of this would have happened! ”
The burned girl glanced in the direction of Hróarr, her one remaining eye sparking in amusement. “So, he’s not the father? Interesting.”
Brynn chose not to respond to either the monster or the angry mercenary. Heart racing, she forced herself to address Hróarr calmly. “I have your sword.” She held it steady, leveled at the burned girl. “Do you want it back?”
Hróarr remained silent for just a moment. “Yes,” he answered, drawling the word with an edge of suspicion.
“Alright.” Brynn thought quickly, mentally mapping out her next actions.
These monsters healed almost instantly, but she’d still been able to chase off the Wulfwir, which must mean they could be killed somehow. All she had to do was get a killing blow the first time.
Brynn lashed out with her power, slashing into the child’s neck. The creature screamed, then its head toppled off.
The child split. A being made of knobbed limbs and patches of scaled flesh broke from the corpse. For just a moment, it locked eyes with Brynn, teeth snapping and snarling.
It tried to rush her, but something seemed to be drawing it away, dragging it off like smoke on the breeze. In an instant, it was gone, leaving behind the crumpled body in two pieces.
Beheading could kill them. Good to know.
The Wulfwir creature let off a howl of fury that seemed to shake the earth around them. Brynn sent another spell for its neck, but this one dodged. Her strike slashed across its shoulder instead.
“Hurry up, woman!” Hróarr choked. The Wulfwir held him down with a paw.
Brynn scrambled up the side of another root, coming closer. She lashed a spell in the direction of the Wulfwir, catching the beast in the face. It careened to the side, blood spraying the roots at its back.
Then it spun its head around to her once again and Brynn watched as its face mended before her eyes. Brynn doubted even Cenric had witnessed nightmares like this.
Teeth gritting with determination, Brynn scrambled up the last root between her and Hróarr. She touched it and the root shifted, fleshy and warm under her hands.