14. Flames of Misery #2
“The wrists!” she cried out.
The creature turned to face Darien, swinging Larissa with it.
A sudden jerk caused Larissa to thump against the ground, gasping for the air that fled her lungs.
The creature’s shrieks bellowed in Larissa’s ears as she fought the claw still holding her ankle captive.
She reached for it, only to pull back in horror when she realized the claw was no longer attached to its owner.
The draugr screeched, waving its bloody stump of an arm before leaping into the sky, flying unevenly due to the hole in its wing. Larissa tugged at the claw around her ankle, bloodying her fingernails against its death grip.
Then Darien was there. Setting down his sword, he peeled back the amputated claw and tossed it aside.
Anara’s eyes glowed like an owl’s as a growl escaped her teeth. “Get to the trees!”
On swift feet, Anara led them to the treeline.
They ran as the draugr swooped down with its remaining claws extended.
Anara yanked Halla from its reach with only a second to spare.
Then Anara was carrying Halla in her one good arm, her black hair flying in the wind.
When the draugr dove again, Larissa threw herself to the ground.
She rolled away from its outstretched claws, but unbearable pain clenched the muscles in her injured leg.
She rose to her feet, took a step, and fell again.
Ahead, Anara and Halla had made it to the tree line.
Strong arms hauled Larissa to her feet. “I’ve got you.”
Darien wrapped Larissa’s arm around his neck, supporting her with one hand as he gripped his sword with the other. They stumbled toward Anara’s encouraging voice. They were nearly to the forest.
The draugr dropped from the sky, its legs extended, claws out. They clutched Darien’s shoulders and ripped him away before Larissa knew what was happening. With one violent jerk, the monster hurled him across the field. Darien rolled hard several times before stopping, motionless.
“Darien!” Larissa screamed.
“Lara, behind you!” Halla emerged from the trees with wolf-Anara at her side.
Larissa dodged just as the draugr dove for another strike.
She rolled, with far less grace than she’d hoped, onto something hard and sharp.
Beside Halla, the wolf howled, a threat that demanded the draugr ’s attention.
The monster veered toward Anara, pouring its frustrations into a scream that vibrated Larissa’s bones.
Anara pounced, her extended claws catching on the draugr ’s already damaged wing and tearing it from the monster’s body.
The creature’s cry of despair mixed with Anara’s howl of triumph in a discordant symphony.
“Larissa, get up!” Halla called out.
Attracted by Halla’s cry and sensing her defenselessness, the draugr pivoted, advancing on the smaller girl. She tried to flee but stumbled over a rock and fell to the ground. She lifted her burned, blistered hands to protect her face.
A fire ignited in Larissa’ veins at the sight that nearly blackened her vision. She would not let the monster take Halla too.
Get up.
The voice returned, but Larissa was no longer afraid.
She embraced its strength, rising to her feet.
She did not feel the pain of her injuries.
A different kind of pain replaced it, a scorching kind of pain.
Like the fire that consumed the bones of her home, this fire raged just under her skin, ready to consume her.
She lifted the gun, pointing it at the creature, but hesitated. She could hit Halla or Anara.
Dropping the gun, she scooped up Darien’s heavy sword and ran toward her sister.
Anara was snapping at the draugr ’s tail, trying to regain its attention, but the monster’s focus remained on the weakest of them all.
Halla stumbled to her feet. Anara pounced again only for the draugr to swat her from the air.
Darien still hadn’t moved. There was nowhere for Halla to run.
The creature bent over Halla, its sharp teeth bared in Halla’s face. It did not see Larissa coming until a war cry seared through Larissa’s throat.
The heat in her bones ripped through her body, racing down her arms and into her hands.
Larissa found the light gray patches at the base of the creature’s neck, where Anara had already broken through its defenses.
Channeling all the fire in her body into the sword, she swung it back, over, and then forward in a high arch.
It came down just as the draugr turned its remaining colorless eye to meet Larissa’s.
The sword finished its downward arc, catching for only a moment on the scales before the blade sliced through skin and muscle.
When the sword hit spine, a painful jolt ran up the blade and into Larissa’s arms. The draugr ’s head tilted sickeningly to the side.
Both head and detached body crumpled to the ground, the head rolling to a stop at Larissa’s feet.
The sword fell from her hands and into the tilled dirt. Larissa could not hold her nausea back any longer. She turned away from the creature’s head and, falling to her hands and knees, heaved until her stomach was emptied.
As time passed, Larissa became aware of small hands rubbing her back. Halla.
At least Halla is safe , she reassured herself in between heaves. Larissa continued until only acid and bile remained. When it finally stopped, she spat the taste from her mouth.
All the while, Halla held back the hair that hung around her face.
The fire inside Larissa died out, leaving her cold and weak, as if she had stepped out during a winter blizzard.
Quiet reigned in the fields without the screeches from the draugr , the snapping of burning wood, or the screams of her sister.
Like the feeling of a nightmare she could not escape, Larissa kept waiting for the next attack. She crawled away from the blood of the draugr and from her own bile. She could hear Halla following her, asking her questions, but Larissa could not make sense of her words.
She collapsed, rolling to her back and gasping for air.
Try as she might, she couldn’t catch her breath.
The pain in her lungs was worse than when she had been in the barn.
Halla’s face appeared above her. Those green eyes pinched with worry.
Her mouth moved. Larissa could not hear anything, feel anything.
Beyond Halla’s right ear, Larissa watched the stars wink out of existence.
Then there was sweet nothingness.