12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Kya
I woke to a hand clasping over my mouth.
My first instinct was to struggle and fight, but when my eyes snapped open, Njall was hovering over me with wide eyes and heavy breathing.
He put a finger up to his lips and nodded down below.
He released my face and I took a silent breath before turning to look at the ground beneath us, trying not to think about the fact that he was so close—and still shirtless.
A monstrous creature, bigger than any animal I had ever seen, stalked through the darkness toward the tree we were perched in.
I had to squint to just barely make out its silhouette against the blackness around it.
The river drowned out the sound of the beast’s steps as it grew closer and closer.
My chest rose with rapid breaths and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it.
I had read about the creatures of the Woltawa Forest, and even saw a few drawings, but it was nothing compared to reality.
The beast walked on all fours and was covered in thick mangy fur.
Black eyes glowed with the reflection from the water.
It had small stunted ears on top of its large head, and a gaping hole where a nose would be at the end of its fanged snout—a living nightmare that I knew would haunt my dreams. Its claws, each as long as my hand, dug into the ground as it moved past our tree and to the river.
I craned my neck to watch it drink from the bank of the river. Njall leaned in closer to get a better look, and I could have sworn he didn’t even blink, never taking his eyes off the threat for a second. I twisted to get into a better position and my boot scraped against the bark.
The beast’s ear twitched and it slowly lifted its head, sniffing the air before whipping around toward our tree. Njall ducked and pushed my head down with his hand, keeping us out of sight from the creature.
It can hear well. Better than us. Good to know.
I hadn’t noticed until now that Njall was breathing just as hard as I was, fear in his eyes as we listened for the slightest sounds. We couldn’t hear anything over the roaring water, and I prayed that its hearing wasn’t sensitive enough to hear our heavy breaths.
We waited and waited, too terrified to move to see if the beast was still there.
Panic settled in my chest and I began to shake.
Njall held me tighter. I was so used to being able to detect movements, and not knowing where it was filled me with an unfamiliar feeling of anxiety.
But without my abilities in this place, I was grateful to be away from that thing.
If it had snuck up on us while we slept on the ground…
I wasn’t sure we would have been able to run away or fight it off.
Njall took a deep breath and slowly raised his head to the side to look around the branch. He released his breath and his shoulders relaxed. Curious, I twisted my neck and my own tension eased as I watched the beast walking back the way it came.
After the creature was out of sight, Njall sat back on his heels and helped me untie myself from the wide limb. At least he was decent enough to warn me. That could have gone a lot worse if he had chosen to look out for only himself .
“What the fuck was that thing?” His voice was barely a whisper as he took the rope and placed it over his shoulder.
“A beira. Very territorial and temperamental. Its claws are sharp enough to shred through bones. We’re lucky it didn’t choose to investigate because it can climb trees just as fast as it can run.
” I mentally recalled the details of my readings.
We had indeed been lucky. While they didn’t have good eyesight, they had an incredible sense of smell.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“I live in a giant library with the greatest collection of knowledge in the realm. How do you think I know that?” I retorted.
“Right. Well, regardless of their climbing ability, I feel much better about being up here now. I vote we sleep in trees every night. I do not want to wake up to that thing in my face.” He shuddered.
“How did you know it was there? I didn’t hear anything.” I swung my legs over so he could sit beside me, his back against the trunk and one leg bent up.
“I had to take a piss. Just happened to see it in the distance as I was laying back down, then climbed up here to wake you.” He wasn’t boasting. He spoke as if it was the normal thing to do—to look out for me.
I dipped my head in thanks and gave a tight smile.
Not sure how to feel about having someone around, even someone as helpful as Njall, but grateful for it nonetheless.
We sat in silence with our legs hanging over the edge of the branch until the sun began to rise before we made our way down the tree and continued toward the mountain.
The first dawn.
After finding a spot up the river that wasn’t moving as rapidly, we swam across. The bottom was deep, too deep to see or touch. Njall had to help me through the water, keeping my blood-covered arm above the surface so the riddle didn’t wash away.
“We should refill the canteens before continuing. I’ll go see if I can find anything edible in those bushes if you want to take care of the water.” Njall said, handing me his canteen from a pocket on the side of his pants.
“Alright. But watch out for tanganats. They look like little orange balls hanging from bush leaves mimicking berries,” I warned while removing the canteen from my dripping belt.
Njall blanched. “Do they bite?”
“Not your skin. But they’re venomous parasites that will chew through your intestines if you consume them.”
“Right,” he squeaked out before slowly walking away.
I chuckled as I made my way back down to the bank of the river. I would check whatever he brought back before we ate anything.
Opening the canteens, I bent down to submerge them in the cold water one at a time. I did my best to hurry. With the rapids, I couldn’t hear if Njall shouted for me.
I didn’t see the dark shadow moving through the water. I didn’t hear the thrashing of the tail on the surface as it came in my direction. It wasn’t until a long snout full of serrated teeth burst out of the water that I realized the river contained monsters.
Within a fraction of a second, the creature broke through the surface of the water and wrapped its teeth around my leg. I barely had time to comprehend what was happening, let alone scream before it dragged me from the bank, slamming my head against the ground, and pulled me under the water.
I had the good sense to expel my lungs before being submerged but aside from that, I couldn’t think outside of the pain searing my leg while the creature carried me further down.
Twisting and kicking did nothing but tear my wounds more.
The creature’s bite was firm—there was no chance of pulling myself free.
My lungs were aching. With my instincts finally functioning, I pulled a dagger from my back.
I bent forward against the swift current and stabbed the black, gaping holes in the creature’s face where its eyes should be.
My blood clouded the water when the creature released its hold on me and pushed myself to the surface as fast as I could with my arms and uninjured leg, leaving a trail of red in the wake behind me.
The moment I felt myself breach the surface, I gulped down air into my burning lungs.
I scrambled to the bank, grappling with the dirt to pull myself out of the water.
The creature burst from the river again, snapping its jaws.
I rolled out of the way just in time and screamed.
Ignoring the pain in my leg, I quickly got to my feet and backed away, arming my other hand with a dagger from my thigh.
I couldn’t run. At least not fast enough to get away, and I was not turning my back on the beast before me.
Hopefully, it couldn’t walk on land. Otherwise, I would have to fight it.
Or perhaps it couldn’t breathe air and would have to return to the river soon.
Maybe I just needed to get far enough away before it gave up.
As if hearing my thoughts and taking it as a challenge, the creature slowly emerged from the water.
Its head was half the size of me, and its skin was covered in a slimy-looking substance.
Its body was long with a pointed tail flicking at the end of it and was carried by two legs with claws at the end of webbed feet.
I had never seen nor read about any type of water creature in the Trials. I had no idea what I was up against. I did know that it could be wounded, as blood seeped from its eye sockets.
It stalked toward me as I slowly backed away before it came at me again with a strike so fast I barely escaped its jaws once again.
Its head landed next to me and I drove both daggers into its skull.
It was then that I learned that the translucent, slimy substance was acidic, and burnt my skin as my wrists touched the top of its head.
The creature hissed and thrashed its head from side to side.
I was flung down the bank from the force and landed painfully on the side with my injured leg.
I grunted from the impact but never took my eyes off the beast. I watched with wide eyes, as it continued to hiss and screech and claw at itself, trying to dislodge the blades anchored in its skull, tail lashing from side to side in an attempt to remove them.
I heard the clamor of metal dropping to the ground a mere second before hands hooked underneath my arms and pulled me away. I grabbed his discarded sword and whipped my head up to look at Njall. The color had drained from his face as he watched the dying creature in horror.
I gritted through my teeth as he sat me up against the trunk of a tree, far enough away from the water and the beast.