Chapter 67 #2
A loud, shrill noise made me stop. I froze in place, almost knocking Breno and Adele down, staring in shock at the flare that had been launched right next to us.
It shot up into the sky and exploded in sparks, lighting up the darkness above our heads.
Desperation surged to unbearable levels when I heard howls tearing toward us.
Through the bond, I heard Zion cursing out a student for panicking and setting off the flare.
“Run!” I shouted to Adele and Breno.
I stopped sending power to Breno—there was no way to focus on anything but my feet pounding over snow, dirt, and rocks.
“Kyller, they’re coming hard—the rear drones are down,” Zion shouted through the bond. “Run straight to the barrier.”
I felt like I was trapped in one of those nightmares where you need to escape danger, but no matter how hard you try to move, you barely budge.
When I looked toward the horizon, the wall of the enormous power sphere was still far away, and the howls were getting closer and closer.
At that point, I was already thinking that escaping alive would be a miracle.
The only silver lining was that Breno had returned to normal and was running on his own now, but he was unsteady and drenched in sweat.
“Try to use your shield,” I told him, hearing noises behind us. Breno looked at me desperately. “Now, Breno!”
He tried. A thin layer of barrier formed around his skin, but it wasn’t enough to protect us. I grabbed my bow from my back, activated the opening mechanism, and nocked an arrow. I could hear the sounds behind us but still couldn’t see anything.
“We’re going to die!” Adele sobbed between gasps. “I don’t want to die!”
“That’s not going to happen.” I looked into her eyes amid the trees, branches, and darkness. They reflected desperation and terror. “Don’t look back, Adele.”
I grabbed Breno’s arm, getting his attention.
“No matter what happens, run to the barrier. You’re our only chance,” I said, jumping over bushes and scanning our surroundings. They were close—I could feel it. “Zion and Zafira are already in position, waiting for you.”
I had the feeling that at any moment a beast would pounce on one of us, but from the howl, it seemed like only one carnical was close.
My heart hammered in my chest as I frantically scanned the darkness surrounding us.
The drones had fallen—only one remained above us, high enough that the carnicals’ presence couldn’t bring it down.
Suddenly the forest seemed to freeze. The air grew heavy and every hair on my body stood on end.
It was as if I knew where it was without even seeing it.
I fixed my gaze to the right and soon spotted it.
A black shape among the trees: large, the size of a tiger, its skin smooth, dark, and stretched taut over prominent bones.
Its skull resembled a human’s, but the eyes were tiny and black, and the mouth took up half its face.
I could see its white, sharp teeth filling three misaligned rows.
This carnical was the type I’d seen in my first dream.
My intuition had been correct—unfortunately.
I nocked an arrow in total desperation as I felt the beast closing in.
Ahead of us was a steep descent with a flat rock on the side.
I sprinted toward it, passing Breno and Adele.
When the carnical launched itself at Breno, who was farthest behind, I stepped onto the rock and pushed off into a jump, buying myself time as I rose and spun.
The world spun as I turned in the air. Time seemed to stop as the snow fell and I aimed at the thing’s small black eyes, pulling the string to its limit.
A strikingly similar image flashed through my mind—another place, another time, another person.
It was as if I knew what to do. I blinked, shaking off the déjà vu.
I released, and the arrow buried itself deep in the beast’s right eye, making it slow down and crash into a tree.
Breno and Adele scrambled down the slope as I finally landed.
My knees buckled and I staggered from the impact, slamming into the side of the ravine, but I quickly got back to running, staying behind Breno on the left.
The carnical had fallen behind, enraged by the arrow in its eye—but it hadn’t turned to ash like in the dreams, and that was a big problem.
“Move it!” I shouted even louder. Looking back, I saw the beast had recovered and was closing in on Adele.
I pushed forward past Breno, unable to see the beast—guided only by instinct, which pointed toward the misty darkness near two red trees. I shot blind and heard the arrow strike something soft, which I figured was the monster’s hide.
The moment I reached Adele’s side, my instincts screamed that something was approaching Breno.
I scanned behind us but found nothing. I pulled an arrow from the quiver, aiming low on our right, but I wasn’t fast enough to realize it wasn’t coming from below.
The carnical was on the ravine that circled our path—it leaped at us with its jaw gaping wide, all four claws spread toward Breno, who was running completely unaware.
I spotted a shape ahead of us, but I only managed to nock my arrow as the beast leaped.
Breno finally looked up, his feet skidding on the pebbles as he tried to stop, but there was no time to dodge.
It’s strange how in a single second the brain can process an infinite amount of information.
In that moment, we both understood the collision was inevitable.
Then, unexpectedly, a war cry rang out and the beast looked to the side as something slammed into its flank.
The impact knocked the carnical off Breno, sending beast and man tumbling to the ground.
I caught flashes of strong arms grabbing the monster, short blond hair buzzed close to the scalp, and shoulders the size of a refrigerator.
“HIRO!” I screamed desperately as he wrapped his arms around the beast’s disgusting neck and tried to strangle it.
The carnical thrashed Hiro around, but he kept clear of its teeth—until a claw grazed his arm and I heard skin and muscle tearing.
I aimed, but I might hit Hiro just as easily as the beast. Then another shape hurled itself at them and a small girl landed on the beast’s neck, stabbing rapidly at the thing’s eyes.
She was like fire and wind, the blade rising again and again, her movements a rapid melody.
The beast thrashed and howled, and Aish drove the dagger in one last time, clasping both hands together above its head and bringing her fists down with a furious shout, pounding blade and hilt into the creature’s skull. Black blood gushed out, washing over Hiro’s face.
I immediately ran toward them. Aish leaped off the writhing carnical as it clawed at the dagger. In desperation, I grabbed Hiro by his jacket and dragged him across the frozen ground, away from the creature.
“Keep running!” I shouted to Breno and Adele—they were the weakest right now and couldn’t afford to stop.
My whole body trembling, I watched the blinded beast rolling in the dirt, slashing at everything within reach.
I hauled Hiro to his feet and Aish immediately pressed against his left side, steering us away from the maddened creature.
I touched the wound spurting blood and poured my gift into it at full force.
There was no logic to what I was doing—I just sealed all the arteries and veins and covered everything with skin.
It was butcher’s work, but there was no time for delicacy.
“I can’t believe I got here in time,” Hiro murmured, his eyes bright with pain as we dragged ourselves through the forest. Behind us, the sounds ceased, but the carnicais were howling, communicating, calling to one another.
“Are you crazy?” I shrieked at the green-eyed man. My voice caught when I saw the pain shining in his eyes. “You must be insane to have done that.”
“He’s got worm shit for brains! That’s what this aikan? has!” Aish screamed hysterically.
“What I have is courage!” he declared proudly.
I wanted to punch him in the face and then kiss his feet for saving Breno.
“How did you guys find us?” I asked, trying to be rational.
“A drone,” Hiro said breathlessly. “I saw the flare show and knew something was wrong. Then a drone started hovering in front of us, bumping against me. We followed it here.”
“Thank the gods! I don’t have time to explain, but we need to get Breno to the barrier so we can get out of here,” I said, testing Hiro’s balance. It should be better now—the wound had completely closed.
“Protect the rear. I’ll take care of him,” Aish ordered, her braids whipping around her.
She was furious as she held him tight. He didn’t need the help anymore, but maybe she didn’t want to let go. Hiro smiled at the small, furious girl, looking like the idiot he truly was. I positioned myself at the rear of the group to watch for threats.
“They’re carnicais!” Hiro shouted to me. “My mother used to tell me legends about them. Drute legends, forgotten over time. We didn’t kill that one back there, but it bought us some time.”
I shuddered. By the gods, if we couldn’t kill them, what would we do when more of them caught up to us?
“It’s back!” I heard Breno shout from up ahead.
At the same time, I felt and saw a film expanding behind us. A strong, rigid barrier. I exhaled in relief, marveling at that power—I had never seen Breno use his gift on such a large scale. From that moment on, we just needed to reach the barrier, and he would protect us until we got there.
“Zion?” I called out, euphoric. The barrier was still far away, but it was only a matter of time.
“I’m here, my ray of sunshine, and I’m proud.”
My heart pounded from the adrenaline and my feet barely touched the ground as I silently thanked the gods for all the circuit training Zion had forced us through. Otherwise, I never would have had the endurance for this.
“Breno’s power is back.”