“Ready your spears—” Alepos’s command suddenly cut off.
She glanced back to see his body kicking and seizing on his side within the bonfire. Bile rose in her throat as his pained screams filled the air. It wasn’t the centaur flailing in the fire that stopped her from fleeing but the horned minotaur atop him, clutching his skull.
“Vedikus!” Aldora screamed, watching the flames lick his sides. She startled as centaurs closed in on Vedikus from every side. “Watch out!”
She dodged away from the horsemen approaching her and moved around the bonfire. Two circled to either side to trap her when a steady, low vibration filtered through the space, over her skin, and into her bones. The howls had vanished and she stilled, swallowing, as the centaur closest to her stopped and slowly raised his spear.
“Behind you, female. Do not move,” he rasped out, leaving his back open. Her eyes skirted to the other centaur who was also lifting his weapon and looking at something past her.
The vibration built throughout her whole body and her skin turned to gooseflesh. Aldora could feel something behind her, could sense it through its ravenous aura. There was nothing to protect her if the barghest pounced.
One by one the centaurs turned their attention to the creatures prowling outside the camp, the ones she had lured with her blood.
Please.Aldora screamed the word in her head. The growls deepened.
Her eyes found Vedikus rising out of the fire like an avenging demon, stepping over Alepos’s charred corpse to meet his next opponent heading in her direction. The abrupt loss of their chief seemed to disorient the warriors. She hugged her arms, eyes widening as the fire lapped at Vedikus’s hooves.
Relief surged through her and something more...
Something akin to awed terror at the monster that she’d come to rely upon, a thrilling, throat-constricting fear. A vengeful god.
“Duck!” the centaur closest to her screamed, startling her. He thrust his weapon as she dropped to the ground, the spear tip nearly catching her hair as Vedikus fought his way toward them. The two studs charged, and she huddled as they met the barghest head on. Their snarls and yells filled her ears. Unable to stay, she crawled toward the nearest fire before getting back to her feet.
Wherever she looked there were large black shadows attacking from every direction with giant jaws snapping as they dove from the dark mists and into the firelight. The barghests all aimed for her, their snouts twitching, breathing in the smell of smoke, cooked horse meat, and blood.
Another centaur charged across the clearing, stabbing his spear straight through the back of one of the monsters on his way toward her. She swiveled to the side and evaded his grasping arms, running toward Alepos’s corpse.
“Aldora!” Vedikus called out to her, his voice a snarling rasp, no less wild than the growls of the barghests. “Come to me!”
She made it to the edge of the bonfire and skidded to a halt, bringing her hand to her mouth. A gag caught in her throat, followed by several more as she fought to contain them. Alepos was nothing more than a crackling husk of red and black meat, his clothing burned off with strands of hair flowing up with the smoke. His head was a ruined mess from Vedikus’s iron grip, and she kneeled with her hand on her belly, applying pressure where her nausea grew. Aldora thanked the sun that she couldn’t smell him or taste the smoke that filled her mouth.
With the cacophony of fighting filling her ears, she tore off the rest of her tunic sleeve and wrapped it around her hand. She reached for her weapon, which was still lying among the guttering flames. The flames lapped into the space but quickly weakened, although the wafting heat brought tears to her eyes.
Aldora grabbed her dagger and dropped it in the dirt before her knees. Rising quickly, she rolled it with her boot to cool it down.
She turned to seek out Vedikus when something clutched her hair and tugged her to her feet. She yelped and swung her blade, twisting around, and was caught mid-strike. Black, wild eyes met hers. Her gaze lifted to the blood-splattered horns above. “Vedikus.” The air fled her lungs.
“Let’s go,” he said, releasing her hair. He was covered in soaked-through ragged bandages that fell off his muscles in wet ribbons. He had recovered both of his axes.
“We have to stay within the light,” she gasped as he brought her to the camp’s border, away from where the remaining centaur poked at the monsters skulking on the fringes of the campsite. Several more emerged from the mist as they entered the clear area around her. Vedikus let go of her and took up both axes again, hands crusted over with drying blood. Her own were dampened with sweat.
“The light won’t last the night. I’ve fought more barghests than all the times the sun has shown through the mist. We can run to Prayer. Once we’re within the circle of lights, we’ll be safe.”
“Your wounds...” They were apparent, even those that were covered, and she couldn’t help but notice his pallid, pale complexion under the grime. His stance sagged between breaths and his head hung as if it was too hard for him to hold it up.Have I made a mistake?
“They are nothing,” he snapped. Aldora grabbed his arm. “Can you run?”
She glanced down at herself, jerking when a scream sounded from behind. She turned to see a centaur being dragged, horse legs kicking, by the jowls of a barghest deeper into the mist.
“I can run,” she said quickly but eyed the others of the pack. They seemed to be waiting for her to do so. “Is there no other way?”
“Can you afford to lose more blood?” His question caught her off guard.
“I—” She stopped and hugged her clawed arm where most of the blood had stopped dripping. “I can lose more.” She hadn’t dug deep enough to lose a lot despite her efforts.
“Hand me your dagger.” He turned toward her.
Aldora studied his face, trying to read it and find the strength she usually saw in his expression. She handed him the blade, still warm from the fire. It slipped from her fingers to his with her stomach in her throat.
