11. Chapter 11
The Water Court was a seven-day trip on foot, five days on Leo’s wolf form.
The sun had set long ago, and the cool air of the encroaching fall chilled Yareli’s skin.
Leo moved fast; his muscles rippled under her with every leap.
She tucked her head into his neck fur, blocking the rush of air from hitting her face.
With his speed, they could make it. She could allow herself to drink Hope's cup of salvation.
Almost, Almost, Almost… The affirmation helped her endure the pain from holding one position for hours.
A howl rang in the night, followed by a cacophony of similarly pitched sounds, reminding her of their precarious position—they were prey. Hunted. By what… She didn’t know, didn’t want to know. All she could do was hold on and pray they’d make it.
The world tilted ninety degrees, and she fell from Leo, landing hard on the ground.
Pain exploded in her right shoulder. Grunting, she pushed herself halfway up and squinted.
Ambushed in the forest, the moonlight was obstructed by the thick leaves.
She faintly made out Leo’s white fur as he struggled with what looked like a misshapen shadow.
“Yareli!” Bri materialized by her side, shoving her backward and intercepting another shadow that lunged at her. Bri made quick work of it, beheading it with a single swing of her sword, and turned to Yareli.
“I can’t see,” Yareli told her, her voice a higher pitch than normal.
A moment later, lights popped into existence, hovering high above them. She shut her eyes from the sudden light until her eyes adjusted, and she saw Leo walking toward them. Back in his Fae form, he held a large axe. The shadow’s body lay lifeless behind him.
“We’re surrounded,” Bri whispered. “Do you have your daggers?”
Yareli turned to her, heart racing. “Yes, but I can’t—”
“You can.” Bri’s brown eyes flashed with burning intensity. “And you must. If you are separated from us, you must fight. This is why you trained.”
Bri held her calloused, scarred hand out, and Yareli stared.
It was a hand that knew battle, so unlike her own, but she didn’t want to die—this she was sure of.
She accepted Bri’s assistance and stood.
The three of them stood back-to-back, forming a triangle and circling in place.
Yareli mimicked their stance—knees slightly bent, daggers out, scanning the area in front of her.
Her palms were sweaty, making it hard to grip her daggers; she adjusted, then did so again.
She nearly jumped when Leo and Bri placed their hands on her shoulders in reassurance.
Feeling a little sheepish, she exhaled, letting the extra tension leave her muscles. Her grip steadied.
She could do this. No, she would. For as long as Tuom lived, she would not allow herself to die.
“What are they?” she whispered to Leo.
“Howlers.”
Yareli thought back to his lesson about the nox creatures that plagued Izmari. Howlers hunted in packs, finding sport in the pursuit. It was likely there were more than a few in the shadows beyond the visible tree line.
A howler dashed past them, testing their defense.
Another followed. Soon, it was a constant barrage of attacks.
Leo and Bri protected her, blocking attacks sent her way, but it didn’t go unnoticed.
Changing their tactics, two groups rushed at Leo and Bri, forcing them to fall away from their position. Leaving Yareli alone.
Rooted in place, fear clasped her in its claws.
Nearby, Bri deftly blocked snapping jaws with her sword, landing blows, but the howlers were quick to retreat, preventing her from dealing a killing strike.
Leo moved with surprising speed, his large axe catching a howler unaware.
The corpse flopped. Another took its place in an instant.
A cold liquid dripped down her throat. She couldn’t do this; she couldn’t fight.
“Eyes up front,” Bri yelled.
Her voice snapped Yareli out of her daze. A howler the size of a large dog barreled toward her; it had thick fur with a tail that looked like a scorpion’s, except instead of a stinger at the end, it had a second mouth with sharp teeth.
She threw herself to the side, narrowly escaping its jaws, and rushed to her feet. It circled back to her, slobber falling off its maw in globs. Yareli glanced at Bri and Leo, who were still battling several howlers; she was on her own.
Nox creatures were notorious for their tenacity. Only beheading the creatures would truly kill them, and her daggers weren’t built to slice through tissue and bone, but to puncture. If she wanted to take one down, she would have to be creative.
It charged at her again. Yareli could picture herself in its eyes—she was the weak fawn, easy prey. But it underestimated her. She knew her limitations, and she was prepared to be a step ahead of them.
Yareli held still until the last possible second, spinning out of its charge and using the momentum to drive her dagger deep into its shoulder.
The mouth on its tail yowled in pain, and the howler stumbled to the ground.
She dropped to her knees and stabbed its neck.
Her only hope was to damage the tissue between the neck and the body enough to sever it.
Blood splattered on her, and her arm burned from the exertion, but she kept hacking until it finally stopped twitching.
She slumped over her dagger, which was still impaled in the dead howler’s neck. Her chest rose and fell in short bursts.
“Yareli!”
Her head whipped toward Leo, who stood on the opposite side of the clearing, surrounded by corpses. He held his palm outward, and a bright flash of green light flew past her cheek. Something yelped from behind her.
Stupid.
She had let her guard down. A howler lay on the ground, writhing in pain. She leaped onto it and plunged her dagger into its neck, but she struggled to lift the dagger through the skin and muscle.
Not enough, she needed more strength.
Too slow to sever the nerves, she caught a flash of movement on her left, and her reflexes kicked in.
She raised her dagger in time to block the howler’s attack.
Its tail reared back, snarling, its yellowed teeth on full display.
Her arm trembled. She couldn’t block another attack, but she also doubted she could dodge in time.
As the gaping maw rushed at her, she braced herself, praying her strength would hold, but the blow never came. Leo appeared by her side, severing the howler’s head with his axe, just in time. The tail flopped to the ground, lifeless.
She looked up at him, her dagger clattering to the ground. “I don’t think I can move anymore.”
He dropped to one knee, catching her as she fell backward into him. He held her shoulders, her back leaning into his leg. “It’s okay. It’s over.”
The ground was littered with corpses. Bri walked amongst them, confirming they were dead. There were so many, and Yareli had dealt with only one. She didn’t count the last one, certain she would have died were it not for Leo.
“You did great,” Leo said, squeezing her shoulders, his eyes warm.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She had been about to reject his compliment, but she thought better of it. “I guess… I really did.”
She smiled and yawned. All she wanted was to fall asleep, but coughing wracked her chest. Bri rushed over to her, placing her palm on her chest, and soothed Yareli’s lungs with magic.
Bri frowned. “We’ll have to get your lungs looked at again.”
Yareli nodded, massaging her throat. It was not her first coughing fit. In the earlier weeks of her rescue, she had had several, but they had gradually subsided with medicine. She had pushed herself hard, and now, her body demanded care.
The brush in front of them rustled, and Yareli tensed. Bri stepped in front of them while Leo picked her up, ready to run. A howler’s twisted face popped into the clearing, and her blood ran cold.
“Go,” Bri said. “I’ll hold them off.”
“No!” Yareli said.
Howlers hunted in packs; there would be more. They couldn’t leave her behind.
But Leo didn’t give Yareli a choice. He took off, Bri’s figure a fading outline in the distance. Yareli struggled, pushing against his iron grip.
“We have to go back!”
“Bri has her orders. She won’t die.”
“Let me go!”
She slapped his chest, and he grunted. He adjusted his grip on her, squeezing her until she couldn’t wriggle anymore. She whimpered and glared at him.
How dare he…
Yareli held her tongue despite her indignation. She hated being restrained, and he knew it, but like it or not, Leo was determined to take her to safety, and she couldn’t do anything about it. She gritted her teeth, but lay limp in his arms.
Leo ran for a long time, running in the opposite direction from Bri and the Water Court.
But he wasn’t fast enough. Soon, thudding paws crashed in the underbrush, the sound crawling closer to them with every passing second.
Leo cursed under his breath. The fast rise and drop of his chest pressed against her, and the sweat that drenched his shirt seeped onto her.
It was obvious that he was growing tired.
A shadow shot past them, and dread rose up her throat. Leo was too slow. Bri had not been enough. And Yareli was the damsel they were fighting to protect. Guilt struck her; they were in danger because of her. She hated it.
Leo huffed between breaths. “I’m going to get us out of here.”
Her heart softened at the perspiration streaming down his face, his eyes set on a point in front of them. His gaze burned with conviction, and she believed he would get them out.
“Tell me what to do,” she said.
His response was immediate. “Hold on.”
At first, she didn’t understand, missing the change in the darkness. Then, an abrupt constriction squeezed her from all sides, and she flailed. Leo held her tighter.
“Hold. On.”
It choked her, leaving her unable to scream, unable to think. A rush of nippy air flooded her lungs, and she gasped. Pushing away from Leo, she fell onto the hard ground and vomited.
Leo kneeled in front of her, murmuring apologies. She trembled as another wave of nausea rocked her. Her head throbbed, as if it were split in two.
She forced the words out between heaves. “What was that?”
“Shadowstepping. It’s an instant travel method.”
“Safe?” Another heave.
“Yes.”
More vomit. “Where?”
When Leo didn’t answer, Yareli glanced up. His face was hesitant, brimming with what seemed like both guilt and excitement.
“Far from the Water Court.”
His words were like a needle popping a balloon in her chest, and she exhaled—from relief or disappointment, she didn’t know.
Her reaction confused her. She didn’t have a special connection to the Water Court.
Perhaps it was due to the promised protection, and the sudden change was jarring.
Regardless of the location, they were safe, and that was all that mattered.
Although she tried to convince herself of it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forgetting something important, and the answer lay in the Water Court, but she was nowhere near it now.