4. Chapter 4
Cold swept through me as an unnatural wind pushed through the trees and crashed into us.
The remaining embers of the fire cast just enough of a glow to silhouette the beasts before completely burning out and leaving us in the darkness.
My skin prickled when the sound of crunching leaves drew nearer.
The earth around us rumbled at our feet as the sound of thrashing echoed.
The clatter of broken tree limbs joined the ominous chorus at the same time a series of shrieks pierced the night, each one altering the pitch.
They were communicating to one another. Add yet another fact to the list of ongoing shit I didn’t know about.
Before I had time to process the revelation, the trees in front of us exploded, sending splinters at a blinding speed.
I took a deep breath and covered my head with my arm, ready to embrace the pain barreling in our direction.
A heartbeat passed. I lifted my head up to see the shards hit a green wall then fall to the forest floor at our feet.
I turned to find Fyom’s hands twisting together, having urged his Wielding to shield us all in time for the splinters to miss their marks.
“Thank you,” I said, then turned back just in time to watch Ora send a ball of fire toward our intruders.
My heart sank as I counted six more crested walkers entering the now tree-encased clearing.
They all seemed to stop and analyze us, the same way we assessed them.
The two that stood in front were shoved to the sides as another crested walker pushed through the middle.
My eyes couldn’t believe the monstrous size of this thing.
It towered over the others by at least half their body length—how I missed it before, I didn’t know.
Its legs were thick as trunks, and its claws were twice as long as the others.
In one grotesque claw were white fur and feathers—the remnants of what I could only assume was once a bratrian.
It stepped forward and screeched an earsplitting scream that forced us all to cover our ears with our hands.
It took another step forward, ready to launch its form at us, but not before it stumbled back a half step with a bright, golden glow dissipating from its shoulder.
The skin was so black it looked like it would eat any light that tried to pierce it.
The urthen turned its attention to Ora and…smirked?
Its mouth widened to a sickening width, revealing its serrated teeth with reddened tufts of fur and a rolling, forked tongue.
It flicked its tongue in the air like a serpent before launching itself in her direction.
As if anticipating its move, I saw Ora move into a fighting stance and begin throwing her Wielding into the creature.
Before I could step toward her to assist, another crested walker barreled toward me with jagged movements.
I lifted my blade just in time and sliced the creature in its abdomen as it plowed over me and knocked me down.
The hard ground forced air from my lungs.
I blinked to regain my bearings, but it was my sister’s scream that sharpened my instincts.
I was back on my feet just long enough to hear her let out another frustrated cry before the creature that attacked barrelled after me again.
This time, I was prepared.
With my blade still in one hand, I called the celestial power back into my grasp and forged sharp arrows that shot in succession, each finding their mark in the creature’s skin.
It staggered forward and dropped to a knee, allowing me enough time to see everyone engaged with their own personal monster.
Sury and Peiro took turns between the three that circled them while Fyom fought bravely with his own sword.
I turned my attention back to the foe at hand only to be met with a hard force that pushed me back to the ground, knocking my sword away.
My hands pushed against the texture of dried leather as my eyes widened to find the urthen’s jaws ready to clamp down on my throat and claim me.
Fear raced through my blood but I would not let it hold me.
I brought my knee up to wedge the thing off me and pushed with all my strength to grant myself distance from its jaws.
A claw ripped through my tunic, drawing blood. I let out a howl of pain, twisting my irritation and frustration into something else entirely.
My celestial Wielding reacted and surged through my hands with such force that the creature flew through the air and landed on its back a few feet away.
I scrambled to my knees, searching for my lost sword, and saw the glint of metal against the spark of a fire Ora or Fyom must have cast in the distance.
The creature stirred and righted itself, ready to launch at me again, but was met with the strong wall of air I produced from my palm.
I wrapped a tendril of my celestial power round the hilt of the blade on the ground and nestled it back into my hand.
The crested walker thrashed against the invisible barrier, its claws ready to claim more of my blood.
I lowered the wall and watched the urthen stumble forward right as I thrust my metal blade-wielding hand into its chest. Thick ooze splattered on me as more ran down the urthen’s chest. A sharp sensation like pinpricks coated my exposed skin everywhere the ooze had touched.
I would have to deal with that later with one of Fyom’s tonics, since I wasn’t confident in my own Healing yet.
Another shriek escaped its mouth as it slumped forward, but not without one final slash of its claws across my thigh, tearing my pants and skin with it.
I stumbled away and watched the crested walker fall to the ground, embedding my sword deeper, through its chest and out its back with a final thunk. Using the toe of my boot, I flipped it to its side to retrieve my sword and turned toward the assault.
My heart plummeted.
Pieces of crested walkers littered the forest floor.
Heads rolled away from bodies. Limbs scattered and were set on fire by magic.
But what made my world stop was seeing Sury lying still on the ground.
Everything was in slow motion as I watched Ora scream, fighting her way to him as Fyom desperately tried to Wield his shield over himself as he hunched over Sury’s body.
One of the urthens maneuvered out of Peiro’s blocks and twisted its body in Ora’s direction. She was too distracted with the foe in front of her to realize the other creature was closing the distance at her back.
No one saw that four more were racing toward us in the distance. Panic set in. There was no way we could take them all. We were unprepared. We didn’t have a plan.
My body shook, but instead of fear, rage once again took control.
We were unprepared.
Just like everything else that had been laid before us.
And it fueled my rage. My body shook again, but not from trepidation—no, it shook with uncontrollable fury.
An oily sensation slithered its way through me, but it brought me ecstasy.
I could feel the power roll over my tongue, begging to be released.
Kill them all, my consciousness commanded, slinking through my mind like a feline between its owner’s legs. Kill them all and watch them burn.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peiro glance at me over his shoulder right before his spine straightened.
There was a shimmer in his eye. He released a fury I rarely ever see and moved with such extraordinary speed that it brought out a giddiness within my chest. He moved faster.
Harder. Stronger. He now wielded two blades and danced in such a way that seemed to carry a melody as he cut and sliced through the urthens he battled against.
A piece of a creature had been skewered to his sword, allowing him to sling it into the adjacent fire to crackle within the flames.
Take their source. Take their power. Yes, you can see how those creatures live. Make it yours, an inky voice said against my mind.
My body shook again, harder. Power rolled within my veins and coiled at my fingertips. The death was ready to claim and wanted its bounty. Release me, I heard the voice speak again.
I blinked and saw the hazy, silver glows that settled deep within the walls of the urthen’s ribs.
With a battle cry, I zeroed in on the abomination of the lifesource within all the creatures and threw my hands in front of me to reach for that power.
The very power appeared warped and forced against what nature provided…
but also looked so familiar and promising.
Wind ripped through my braid, pulling loose strands and rippling stray fabric against my cuts, which I hardly noticed. I screamed until my throat felt raw, until shadows clutched the lifesource of each of the creatures.
I screamed from the fury of us being attacked. Of Sury being hurt. Of us being in this giant-forsaken forest instead of our home.
I curled my hands, gripping so tightly that I felt blood bloom from where my nails embedded themselves in my flesh.
Mentally I could see the strings within my palms, and I pulled.
As if they were tied to a rope, one by one, the lifesources seeped through their skin and gravitated toward me.
The creatures stopped in their tracks and crashed to the floor.
Not that I noticed, because I now cradled their lives in my hand.
I gasped as I looked at their lifesources inside my palm. They were beautiful. They were power.
It was mine.
My hand absorbed the power, sending a tidal wave of euphoria through me. My body locked up tightly as if I were in the throes of passion. It fueled me. It possessed me. It was my calling.
It. Was. Mine.
I opened my eyes to see nothing but silver and gray. I wanted more. I needed more. I saw movement in front of me that held such beautiful lifesources. Simply there for the taking. They smelled so sweet. So cloying. I needed a taste.
Yes, it’s there. Pluck it like a divine berry and let it consume you, the ink in my mind whispered.
A muffled cry snagged my attention and I noticed a blonde-haired woman standing at a distance before me.
Her lifesource was the strongest. The boldest. It would taste decadent, like it was giant-made.
To have that power imbued with mine—well, I could do anything. I reached out my hand, ready to take…
“Naa’n le’ya,” a voice whispered next to me.
“I feel your power swelling. Find a way to control it.” Pleading at me.
I knew that voice. The voice that caressed every tender part of me.
Naa’n le’ya. I blinked rapidly again as I looked up into the swirl of piercing brown and silver eyes in front of me.
Eyes that knew my soul. “Naa’n le’ya. Where is your mind?
My moonlight, come back to me,“ the voice whispered again, lips caressing the shell of my ear, nudging me.
A gentle caress across my cheek sent a mixture of chills and heat down my spine. A firm grip on my waist, pulling me closer to a hard wall and setting that heat ablaze. I blinked again, the haze in my vision clearing as I looked up to Peiro’s watchful gaze, full of alertness.
“You’re hurt.” Rage laced his voice. He lightly pressed on the wounds on my arm and thigh as a hiss escaped his mouth.
Reality snapped back into me like a bowstring.
I was still in the forest, but the threat was gone. A hollow feeling swelled in my chest and forced me to push out of Peiro’s hold. I stumbled and caught my balance on a tree, struggling to catch my breath.
What have I done? I clawed at my throat. What was I going to do to my own sister?
I couldn’t breathe. Shaking fingers came into my vision but I didn’t know whose hands they belonged to. These hands weren’t mine. The actions these hands just took weren’t my own. I would never kill anything for the sake of killing. It was purely defense. Wasn’t it?
What was I becoming?
“OPHELIA!”
My head snapped up. I quickly registered my surroundings once again, looking for the source of commotion. Peiro moved forward as Fyom hovered over something on the ground, rapidly whispering incantations as his Wielding danced in his hands. Ora sobbed over the figure.
I blinked again, taking in the scene before me, made clearer by the faint light of the fire that lit up the clearing. Ora howled in grief as she looked to the sky before landing her tear-streaked gaze on me.
“Sury… He’s dead!”