Chapter 25
I couldn’t comprehend the horror right in front of me.
In a matter of seconds, it looked like a cut had torn reality apart, widening until the fabric of the material plane gaped open while the most unpleasant shrill noise filled the air.
And the vast gash wasn’t empty. As if two pictures were mashed together, I perceived rolling hills shrouded in darkness, layering above and below the forest we were in.
Before I could even try to comprehend what was happening, something monstrous stepped out of the tear before the wound in reality mended itself, leaving only the… thing behind.
No. No, that wasn’t real.
I couldn’t help but scream at the sight in front of me. The only fitting word that came close to describing what was towering in the clearing was monster.
I’d never seen anything like it. Easily twice the height of Dion and much bulkier, its mottled gray skin was covered in scars.
The creature was humanoid in its features, just very big, very unkempt, and extremely ugly.
Instead of eyes, I could only spot empty sockets.
The creature was naked, but I didn’t even feel the slightest urge to peek if it owned some kind of body part resembling humanoid anatomy between its legs.
The club it held in its massive right hand was easily larger than me.
As the beast flared its nostrils and roared in our direction, my hope that it wouldn’t see us due to its lack of eyes was shattered.
Dion, whose head whipped around the same moment I screamed, first tensed, then snarled a really colorful curse I’d never heard before and certainly never wanted to repeat.
He released me from the hold he still kept on me and turned around, pushing me behind his back.
“Listen, Nayana, I know you hate to listen to me, but this here…just do what I say. Whatever takes place, stay behind me.” He reached for his side, and his hand froze midair. “Fuck, I didn’t bring a blade.”
I frowned. Dion never wore a sword on his belt, as far as I could recall. I’d always presumed he was so confident in his magic that he didn’t feel the need to carry a weapon on his person. “Bind it with your darkness!” It was obvious that drunk Dion was rather dumb.
The ground trembled with each step of the approaching monster as drool dripped from its hideous mouth. Finally, a few lazy shadowy ropes appeared, but they moved around sluggishly and vanished as soon as they grazed the thing. Understandable—I wouldn’t want to touch that either.
“Give me your dagger, Nayana.” Dion never stopped glaring at the monster. He extended his hand to me. “My magic isn’t working right, thanks to the bottle of schnapps I drank.”
Oh, by the gods, this couldn’t be real—I’d forgotten about his vice. Shit. “You can’t attack that—monster with just a dagger.” I suppressed my panic as I handed him the small black blade anyway.
“Hide.” Dion didn’t linger to see if I’d followed his order as he raced like a blur toward the angry giant who didn’t waste time and swung his club at his foe.
I remained rooted to the spot, unable to do anything else but watch Dion dodge the massive weapon as he tried to get close enough to hurt the monster.
He didn’t seem drunk anymore, but since his magic didn’t listen to him, he must’ve been still under the influence.
Suddenly, I understood why he preferred to stay sober all the time.
“Nayana, godsdammit, hide!” How could Dion tell I was still standing where he’d left me? He hadn’t even looked at me when he’d snarled his order.
“I won’t abandon you!” There had to be something I could do, something to help. I quickly scanned the clearing.
Two more rapid swings of the club forced Dion into a defensive stance, and his face contorted as he couldn’t find an opening in the creature’s defense.
Maybe I could create an opportunity for him.
Full of hope, I curled my fist around a medium-sized stone I’d found on the ground and—without even thinking about the consequences—hurled it at the giant.
Thanks to the size of my target, I actually hit its shoulder, but the stone bounced off harmlessly, much to my dismay.
Instead of using the second while the monster was irritated because it had been hit by my projectile, Dion jerked his head around.
“For fuck’s sake, Nayana. Stop trying to get yourself killed!”
The monster itself had noticed me but attacked Dion nevertheless. This time, he was a second too late because I’d distracted him instead of the giant. The club caught him in the chest and sent him flying until he landed on the ground with a horrible crunching noise.
“Dion!” My eyes widened in horror, and my breath caught in my throat. The beating of my heart ceased until I was convinced that Dion was still moving. Compelled by the need to check on him, I took a step, but the beast blocked my way, approaching me. Shit.
“Dion!” The next stone I threw was an act of utter desperation. I hurled it, trying to hit the monster’s groin, which indeed resembled human anatomy, hoping it would hit true and at least hurt. My projectile missed its target completely, and my stomach was in knots as sweat ran down my back.
No.
No—by the gods, that wasn’t happening!
The giant smirked as it extended his hand with every intention of grabbing me.
Saliva drizzled down its ugly lips, and I shrieked as a few drops hit me.
I couldn’t suppress a shudder with disgust. A wave of the most repulsive smell hit me with the force of a hundred angry godlings.
The vile mixture stank as if rotten fish, old eggs, months-old corpses festering in the sun, and animal waste had fathered a baby that had then died and decomposed.
My eyes watered from the bite of the stench, and I had no idea how I’d missed that earlier.
Paralyzed, I fought the urge to throw up and completely forgot about the approaching creature.
Oh, Immaru, please…let this be a nightmare.
“Nayana!” Dion’s roar was drowned out by the pain exploding in my scalp as the monster’s dirty hand grabbed me by my hair and pulled me airborne while something very deep in the back of my mind realized that the vile odor must’ve been some sort of attack the thing possessed.
“Run, Dion,” I screamed and sobbed at him, not even catching I was crying. I’d turn into monster food, but he could get away. He had to flee.
The giant lifted me higher, and all I could see were uneven, yellow, sharp teeth in its mouth, glistening with saliva. I sobbed louder, and my sounds mingled with a loud and angry roar coming from Dion.
Against all odds, a feeling of warmth washed over me in a way I’d never felt prior to this moment.
It flowed through me, soothing and rousing at the same time, before leaving my body altogether.
In and out. I embraced the sensation, dove into its depths, and tried to distract myself from certain death by closing my eyes. So warm…
Dion roared again, and my eyes shot open, only to see him holding a massive sword in both of his hands, pulsing with the power of pure darkness. I sobbed in relief. His magic must’ve returned just in time.
“Don’t stop, Naya!”
I was in no shape to uncover what he meant—not stopping being monster bait?—as he came running closer and closer. Dion jumped high into the air and brought his blade down in a wide arc, cleaving right through the giant from its left shoulder to its right hip.
Almost instantly, the monster turned to glittering dust, and I—I was just gravity’s victim once again.
I half crashed into Dion, who tried to grab me while I was still falling, which resulted in both of us tumbling to the ground.
Without even bothering to ascertain whether I was all right myself, I checked if Dion was uninjured.
My worries vanished when I caught him already staring at me with the weirdest expression I couldn’t decipher.
I’d have expected anger, maybe worry, but not the pure look of delighted happiness on his face, which I would’ve marveled at if the circumstances were different.
The way his face looked was so beautiful and alien that I wondered if I was hallucinating. “Dion? Are you hurt?”
Dion shifted and pulled us both up, crushing me into his arms against his chest, holding me as if I’d vanish if he let go.
I could feel his heart thundering just as fast and as hard as mine, and when he laughed in the most musical cadence I’d ever heard, I was convinced he must’ve hit his head somewhere—still, I couldn’t help but melt in his arms.
“Please, Dion, what’s wrong?”
“A lot. But it’s irrelevant. What matters is what’s right.” He suddenly lifted me up and spun me around.
“You’re still drunk!”
“I feel sober enough.” Dion stopped whirling me around but didn’t make any move to release me from the cage his arms had formed around me.
I couldn’t decipher his expression as he stared deeply into my eyes, sending shivers down my spine.
Dion was standing still in the weird way he sometimes did, his head canted as he trapped me with his presence alone.
In the past, I’d frequently compared him to a predator, and it had never held more true than at this very moment.
At last, he’d finished his hunt, succeeded to incapacitate his more than willing prey, and was about to strike.
Nervously, I licked over my dry lips. Dion’s gaze dropped to my mouth, and his nostrils flared as my pupils dilated, and my heart skipped several beats.
I couldn’t even explain why, but if Dion wanted to kiss me, I wouldn’t push him away, but pull him closer instead.
We drew nearer, and his warm breath mingled with mine.
Completely enchanted, I didn’t even mind the scent of schnapps still radiating from him.
It was undeniable that I was drawn to him like a moth to the flame, and just a fraction of a second in his presence was worth the burning inferno that would follow.