Chapter 67 #4
I got up and pulled her to her feet, but when we turned to run back the way we came, an enormous carnical was sniffing us out.
An arrow still jutted from its right eye, and it looked like something from the depths of hell.
It blocked our path. I heard noises all around me, but I couldn’t see much through the fog.
Then the first carnical howled, and all the others joined in as they surrounded us.
We were trapped in the center of a death circle.
I pulled Adele behind me, my protective instinct stronger than my fear. I grabbed an arrow, but there was no time to nock it. The beast with the arrow in its eye lunged at us, knocking the bow from my hands. It went flying into the lake.
At the same instant, the carnical slammed into me with the force of a speeding car, and Adele and I were hurled through the air like rag dolls.
I flew backward, slamming into a tree and losing my breath, while Adele was flung far away, tumbling across the dirt.
I opened my eyes and tried to focus, but I only had time to see the beast skid to a halt before it charged back toward us.
Without thinking, I fumbled at my pants for the dagger, but found something better.
In my desperation, seeing the beast hurl itself at me, I fired the red flare straight into its mouth.
The beam of light and red smoke slammed into the back of its throat, and the beast, stunned, crashed into a tree, roaring and thrashing as it tried to rid itself of the light and piercing noise inside its body.
The carnicals surrounding us froze, staring at the beast’s mouth, which glowed red and spewed smoke that filled the air with the stench of burning flesh.
“Run!” I screamed at Adele, who was struggling to recover, her hair full of leaves and a cut on her forehead dripping blood. She looked at me, hesitating.
“I’m not leaving without you!” she shouted as the carnicals assessed the damage to the first beast.
“Run, or you’ll die too!”
I didn’t see what she did next, because another beast moved. The moment it got close, I fired the last flare—the one Aish had left in the holster. The beam sank into its eyes, and the carnicals froze, watching. Somehow, they seemed to fear the red light.
The problem was that now I had no bow, no flares. I pulled Aish’s two daggers from my pocket. The whispers in my mind told me not to fight, and I finally understood whose voice it was.
It was my mother’s voice.
Adele, to my relief, was no longer behind me, and Zion was screaming in desperation. In the distance, I could see the barrier glowing blue as he pounded against it.
I faced the beasts around me. The second flare was already fading against the creature’s skin.
“Don’t fight. Run.”
The voice continued, but there was nowhere to run.
Even if I escaped, I’d only put Adele back in the crosshairs.
I took a deep breath, letting the understanding settle in my mind and reach Zion.
I would have to fight—it was the only option.
It had always been the only option; I’d just been running all those years inside the wall.
I lowered my barrier and focused on the man who gave my life meaning.
“Zion, I want you to know that I’m grateful for the time you gave me,” I murmured, swallowing the bitter lump in my throat. The light was fading.
“NO! NO, KYLLER,” he screamed, shaking the bond from the other side.
His scream was like a red ocean, overflowing with piercing, immeasurable pain. The flare sputtered and released more smoke as the beast thrashed, kicking up leaves and dirt in its obsession to remove the device.
“And I’m sorry it’s so little, but it was enough to make this life worthwhile.”
“DON’T DO THIS,” Zion roared from the other side.
“I love you, forever and beyond this life.”
I focused on the challenge ahead, keeping my shield down as tears streamed down my cheeks.
I flexed my legs, swallowing the bitter fear in my throat, while staring into the demonic eyes of the five beasts.
I tried to be strong, despite the fear and the pain of leaving my partner alone in the world.
My determination came from knowing I wouldn’t be seen as a coward—that Zion would remember me as someone worthy of being called his partner.
I would buy time for my friends, and they would live.
It was a dignified death. I was a pillar, not a weakness.
The light sparked, flickered, and went out completely, signaling the end.
“No,” I heard Zion whisper, breathless.
Two beasts launched themselves at me, and I gripped the daggers in my hands, ready to accept my fate.
Before our bodies collided, something in the sky caught my attention.
A thunderclap of power.
I looked up in time to see the top of the barrier explode in light.
Something plummeted into the area like a meteor of blue light, shattering the despair, the light, and the darkness.
The thing spun as it fell, its white wings tucked tight against its body like a cocoon, and debris from the barrier rained down around it like falling stars.
The beasts leaped at me.
Then I saw two wings unfurl, a face contorted in pure fury and violence, enormous teeth bared, promising blood and death.
The chimera’s war roar shook the forest as it collided with the two beasts, and they rolled through dirt, snow, and black blood across the forest floor.
“No,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “No, Kiara.”