Chapter Thirteen Caspia #2
The creature was similar to the jackals that roamed the Nelfinex wilds, with a long snout and pointed ears.
Though this animal was twice as large, nearly the size of a horse.
Its fur stopped past its ribs, giving way to scales that rippled as it prowled our way.
And each of those scales ended with a pointed quill.
Xandra took a step toward the beast, her hand shaking loose of mine.
“What are you doing?”
Her answer was to take another step forward.
The beast snarled and bared its white fangs, the spines on its back bristling.
She raised her hand, palm out like she was waiting for the creature to come closer so she could scratch behind its ears.
In Nelfinex, I would have been right beside her. The Starling did not fear beasts. But this was unlike any creature that roamed my homeland. It wasn’t a fenek or marroweel or swift. And the sinking feeling in my stomach said this was not a wildling that any Starling could tame.
“Xandra,” I hissed. “Stop.”
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, entranced by the strange jackal.
“No.” I took a step with my uninjured leg, stretching out a hand to take hold of her elbow. “Something is wrong. They are not like the beasts from home.”
As if to confirm I was correct, the animal lifted its head, pointing its nose to the sky. With its throat exposed and bobbing, it let out a series of those clicks.
A snarl came from the trees.
Xandra and I both whirled toward the noise. Another black beast prowled through the foliage, its teeth bared.
Those clicks were to call its pack. To hunt us from all sides.
“Xandra.” With a yank on her arm, I pulled her out of her stupor.
She jerked, like she hadn’t even realized I’d been touching her.
“Come on.” I urged her backward.
There was no way we could outrun these creatures, not with my injured ankle and the weakened state of our bodies. But I wasn’t sure we stood a chance in a fight against those claws and fangs.
Xandra’s gaze shifted to me and past my shoulder, staring down the road. Her eyes blew wide as she gasped.
I followed her gaze to see a third beast closing in, this one having snuck up behind us, moving with such stealth it could have attacked without any warning.
Dead. We were dead. By an animal of all things.
“Do we run?” I let my pack slip from my shoulders, not wanting the weight of it to slow me down.
Xandra shook her head. “We’ll never survive.”
“Then we fight.” I took my kukri’s grip with both hands, finding my center so that when I had to strike, it would be quick. And if I missed…
By the grace of the Divine, make our deaths quick.
A growl, low and menacing, came from the beast still prowling through the forest. The other two crept closer, lowering their heads and shoulders, preparing to pounce.
Xandra shook her head so fiercely her hair whipped into her face. “No.”
The scream tore through her throat as she closed her eyes, her hands fisting at her sides. It grew louder and louder, morphing from a woman’s shout to an animal’s roar.
The ritus.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I brought a hand to my mouth, watching as my cousin dropped to her knees. Finally. If she shifted, she could save us.
The sound she made was so raw and savage that the beasts stopped their pursuit, the two on the road backing away.
Xandra bent forward, dropping to her hands as her back arched. She twisted to stare up at me, her eyes no longer gold or milky white. They were black as ink, the whites entirely erased.
“Run,” she ordered between gritted teeth.
“What? Xan—”
“Go. Now.” Another roar came from deep in her chest, her mouth stretched wide as she sank back to sit on her heels. She rocked back and forth, hands digging like claws into the ground.
I took a step closer, reaching for her, but instead of taking my outstretched hand, she bared her teeth.
Teeth that were not part of her normal, lovely smile. They lengthened as I stared at her, growing into tapered, razor-sharp fangs.
Was this why we went through the ritus alone? Because we were not safe to be around during the change?
“Xandra?”
The growl that came from her throat was not human.
Her eyes flickered to gold, the black receding for only a moment. “Please. Run.”
“But—”
“Go, Caspia.” The gold vanished in a blink, and the feral snarl she unleashed made me stagger backward.
Terror took hold, and I whirled for the trees, running as fast as I could, despite the pain in my ankle.
Xandra’s scream followed me into the forest.
I lost track of the other beasts as I kept running, heart in my throat. Risking a look over my shoulder, all I could see was green. When I faced forward, I turned too quickly, and my balance faltered. My toe caught on a stick and sent me crashing forward.
My palms slammed into a mossy rock, the impact jarring enough I dropped my kukri. I let out a single cry, snatched my blade, then pushed myself to my feet, checking behind me once more.
The sight of a black beast perched on a rock, its eyes locked on me, made my blood run cold.
“Xandra?” Or was this another one of the creatures? Had I left my cousin on that road to die?
The beast lifted its nose like it was searching for my scent.
I backed away, weapon raised. “Xandra, if that’s you, please know me.”
Its ears twitched.
Click. Click. Click. The noise from the other creatures filled the air, and the beast’s attention shifted to the side.
With its focus elsewhere, I spun around and did as Xandra had ordered. I ran until my lungs were bleeding and my legs were on fire.
The sound of rushing water cut through my terror. The trees opened up, then stopped at the edge of a sheer cliff. The river below raged with rapids. The ravine was too wide for me to jump.
“No.” I came to a sliding stop at the edge, peering down the long drop. Then I backed toward the forest to run another way. My curls stuck in my face as I turned.
Three beasts came at me like a wave, crashing from all directions, leaping over fallen logs and rocks.
By the grace of the Divine, turn me true.
The only way I was surviving those beasts was by becoming one of my own.
I ripped a knife from a sheath at my wrist, and with a flick, sent it flying toward the nearest beast.
The knife drove into the jackal’s black fur, but the horror kept running at me with an ear-splitting roar. It opened its jaw and pushed off all four legs, ready to slam into my body.
I raised my weapon over my shoulder, ready to strike down with all my might, but then another beast came charging from the side, slamming into the animal that had been a heartbeat from making me its lunch.
A ball of black fur and scales rolled in front of me, slamming into a tree trunk. Then came the snapping of teeth, followed by the sickening gurgle of a throat slashed.
Xandra. No. My eyes swam with tears as the larger of the two beasts stood over a lifeless body.
Blood seeped from four deep gashes in the dead animal’s throat.
Time seemed to slow, to move in languid images, almost like my visions.
The other two beasts backed away, heads lowering like they were cowering before a new leader.
Xandra.
It had to be Xandra. When Starling died, we returned to our human form. The beast bleeding over the forest floor was still an animal.
She growled at the others, then raised her head and let out a series of those clicks.
Was it a warning? An order? They seemed to bow to her, dropping to a crouch, giving her allegiance.
I lowered my blade, my entire body trembling. “Xandra?”
She looked like she was about to come close and nuzzle against my hand.
Until her lips curled up at the sides. Until a low, menacing growl came from her throat.
Until she took one prowling step my way.
“Xandra.” I backed away from her and the other two beasts. “It’s me. It’s Caspia.”
For every step I took, she followed, five steps, then ten. Until she’d pushed me to the edge of the cliff with nowhere to go.
“Xandra.” I repeated her name again and again. “Xandra.”
She only snarled.
“Xandra.” My voice cracked as tears streamed down my face. “Don’t do this. Come back. Shift back. Xandra, remember who you are.”
The other two beasts lurked behind her, awaiting her command.
“Xandra!” I screamed, hoping it would break through to the woman, my best friend, somewhere beneath the beast.
She lowered her shoulders, eyes locked on mine.
“Xandra.” I sobbed, my chest racking as I cried. “Xandra, please.”
Except Xandra was gone. She was lost. She was nothing but the beast.
And I would not let my cousin destroy me.
If this was my end, then it would be my own doing.
She leaped, maw opening wide, claws outstretched.
But I was already gone, jumping over the cliff’s edge.
Flying, for the first time in my life. Flying, for only a moment.
Until I fell.