Chapter Twenty-Three
Andi
I don’t understand what’s going on until Myles runs up to us, staring daggers at the governor. Only then do I see the abundance of guards from the red-armoured army, stomping up the road in the centre of town.
“Was this you’re doing?” Myles spits at the governor, pulling me into him, shielding me beside his chest. “So much for loyalty.” Myles looks down at me. “I told you we shouldn’t trust him. We should have left as soon as he found out the truth.”
“I assure you, I had nothing to do with this.” Thran squeezes my arm tightly, saying to me, “I am, and always will be, loyal to the Tanith’s. To you. Princess, please. You have to go. Now.”
Myles grunts at the governor while yanking me back to the inn with such force I trip up over my own feet. Kali follows us, concern over her face as she registers the impending army.
“What’s going on? You’re leaving?” she asks with a pained expression on her face. Myles' thundering footsteps boom upstairs.
I’ll be sad to leave her, the first new friend I have had in a while, and the only one who understands the burden of having magic. I pull her in, squeezing tight.
“We have to, they’ve found us. I’m sorry, I couldn’t shield my magic.”
“Don’t be stupid, it’s new to you. Where will you go?” Her voice breaks.
“I don’t know, we need to get out of Cyvail. Somewhere safe.”
“I know where you can go, it’s a trek, but you’ll be safe there.” She grabs my hands in hers. “We can sneak out the back of the inn, through the forest. The soldiers won’t see us leave that way...” Her eyes are wide, and a gentle smile is on her face.
“Us?”
“Yeah. You’re going to need your magic tutor with you.”
“No, Kali, I can’t endanger you too.” I shake my head and pull away from her.
Gripping tight to my wrists, she says, “You’re not endangering me, I’m choosing to come. I can handle myself, remember.” I nod, there’s not much I can say if this is her choice.
Myles runs down the steps of the inn two at a time, our bags on his arm, tucking Dad’s box in one of them.
He pauses for a moment while Kali rushes over to the young barmaid and whispers her goodbyes.
Kali skips back and leads us to the storeroom and out the back door while folk shout in the street.
The night is dark, and only a faint orb floats in the cloudy sky. Myles and I stumble along the ground, unable to see where we are going, while Kali walks with ease. I recall reading that elves can see in the dark, so I trudge behind her careful footsteps.
Our feet squelch, fighting against the muddy field towards the immense forest. Behind us, folk shout and scream, yet another town I leave to the mercy of the guards. Pangs of guilt nip at me, and my feet begin to drag on the ground. This is my fault. They tracked me.
I hold my chest as it tightens. Myles pulls me along. “The best thing we can do for them is leave. The guards will follow,” he says, dragging me under the cover of the trees.
The forest is creepy and eerily silent, barring the odd cawing of birds flying away from something hidden within the wood. An omen, I wonder if we should heed. Kali is adamant in her step, and I trust her.
Every time we set up camp, I can’t sleep.
There’s something in these woods; I can feel it.
Dark smoke sails around our camp, followed by a foul, putrid smell, like a decomposed body has been exhumed very recently.
From the corner of my eye, a figure emerges through the trees.
The soft crunch of twigs grabs my party’s attention, and cackling frantically is the witch from my house.
“You’re very brazen, setting foot in this forest during a full silver moon.”
Kali gasps, looking up at the night sky. “I didn’t realise.”
“What’s a full silver moon?” I ask, confused and tired beyond belief.
The witch’s eyes darken, her smirk curling into a lupine grin.
“It’s a very special moon, which allows terrifying creatures to come out for the first time, in a long time.
Nothing good resides in this forest, deary.
Use your magic. Stop being frightened.” With a wave of her hand, shadows blind us, and she vanishes.
Kali becomes more on edge after the witch disappears.
Through a gap in the trees, proudly displayed, is a bright full silver moon.
Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. What kind of beasts could she be talking about that only come out during this type of moon?
Wyatt would know, he loved reading all sorts of fables when we were kids, then adding them in our games.
The sooner we get through these woods, the better.
Myles tosses kindling on the fire while Kali stands as still as a statue. Footsteps crunch along the ground, but nothing is in view as I scan around the forest. Kali’s eyes widen as she carefully watches the trees before taking soft, silent steps towards me.
Strange noises emanate from deep in the woods, growling, howling, and snarling. The noises steadily grow louder before abruptly stopping. The only sound I can hear now is my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Behind me, claws scrape across the tree bark.
The air chills, my breath fogs in front of me. Kali snaps her head to us and yells, “RUN!”
Out of the corner of my eye, a creature that I couldn’t even have dreamed of, prowls out of the thicket.
Its body is similar to that of a dog, but with tainted green-blue skin with scales like a reptile.
Razor-sharp horns atop its head, and large, knife-like claws.
Its eyes shine bright like a fire as it salivates a blue goo, dripping with each snarl.
My heart stops beating in my chest, and my skin grows clammy as more follow behind. I stumble backwards onto the ground, falling over branches and logs. Scrambling to my feet, I run. Myles pulls out his sword, and Kali grabs him by the shoulder, pulling him away.
“That sword will do you no good.”
With the beast hot on our tails, we tumble unwittingly through the forest. I have no idea what they are, but I know, I don’t want to become a chew toy. Their teeth would rip me apart in seconds.
My legs are jelly. I have no strength to keep going. But I have no other option. The sound of footsteps quietens, and I stop for a second, clinging to a tree, catching my breath. Myles falls to his hands and knees, panting. Kali scans around us, keeping a close eye.
“What are they?” I say, straining in between each breath.
Kali’s eyes are wild, panic written all over her face.
“I haven’t seen them in so long, they are called Hundicans.
One of the many beasts that appear during this cosmic phenomenon.
They happen so rarely that I just didn’t think.
Hundicans will devour anything in their way; their saliva is poisonous.
No one survives long enough to know if there are remedies.
” She turns to Myles. “You cannot kill them with mere swords. It takes a special kind of weapon to take one of them down, nothing like we have here. Our best chance is to get out of the…”
Her words die out, her eyes drift along the ridge line, out of nowhere a Hundican dives out from behind a bush, sinking its teeth deep into my arm. My scream is strangled; the pain is so colossal that no sound dares come out.
The beast's jaw wraps tightly around my arm. I try kicking it away, but its jaw is locked. Even though Myles was told weapons are useless, he swings his sword at the beast, but the weapon disappears through its body like a ghost.
Exhaling a deep breath, my body heats up and convulses. I grapple with the beast's face, digging my fingers in its saturated mouth to loosen its jaw. The beast howls. A warm, inviting feeling seizes me, and the beast falls to the ground. Its skin melting from its body.
My arm pulses hot, white pain, which sears through me. I let out an earth-shattering scream, and my body falls limp.