Aydra felt a swell rise in her chest, a smile on her lips, and she looked fondly towards the Forest of Darkness.
“There she is.”
The Ulfram wolf’s howl was joined by the rest of her pack. It echoed through the air, and Aydra closed her eyes as the wind circled them.
“Only you would look so happy at the noise of a deadly creature waking for the first time in seventy-two days,” Lex said as she started trying to light the fire once more.
“No creature deserves to have to sit and wait for moon cycles to align before they can be released from their curse,” Aydra argued. “Besides, her howl is beautiful.”
Nyssa was staring at the darkening wood, her mouth slightly agape, as the Ulfram creatures continued to howl into the wind. Aydra wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulders and pulled her out of her daze.
“Come sit. We can hear their songs together,” she told her.
A shriek so high-pitched that Aydra’s eardrums pulsed, cut through the air. Nyssa jumped at her side.
“What was that?”
“Aviteth,” Aydra answered. “Noctuan brother of the Aenean Orel. Looks much like your eagle except black, and also taller than you.”
“They say that screech you just heard pierces the ears when you are near it and causes your eardrums to bleed. You are still alive when they begin to consume your flesh,” Lex chimed in.
Aydra sat down around the now lit fire, expecting Nyssa to sit as well, but she simply stood, staring between them. “Okay, now I just feel like you two are making this up.”
“I honestly wish we were,” Lex assured her.
Nyssa’s eyes widened, and her weight shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I understand,” she managed. “Why are we here?”
“Because learning these beasts might be the difference between life and death one day,” Aydra argued. “The Noctuans are beautiful, powerful, creatures. They deserve the utmost respect for their way of life. Yes, they are different and born in darkness, but their ruthless blood thirst is not their fault. There are Noctuans who do not prey as well as those that do.”
“Name one,” Nyssa said incredulously.
“Noirdiem,” Aydra said. “Berdijay. The Bygon. The Bullhorn. Wyverdraki—”
“You’re telling me the great Wyverdraki dragons are not bloodthirsty?” Nyssa interjected.
“I am saying they would not eat you if you would just respect their realm and authority,” Aydra said.
“They’re not pets, Drae,” Nyssa argued. “They’re wild animals.”
“Wild animals that you are going to get to know tomorrow night. Period.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE SUN WAS just beginning to set.
They’d entered the forest earlier in the day, intent on learning some of the scape before night fell so that they would be familiar with where they were. They’d helped Nyssa more with her bow, and for some of the day, simply relaxed while Lex told stories that made Nyssa eye her in a wild way.
But they’d overstayed their welcome in the Forest, and now were almost caught deep inside it with the sun setting. As much as Aydra wanted Nyssa to meet the creatures, she did not want to do it so deep inside with no easy way out were something to go wrong. They were retracing their steps quickly back to the edge of it.
The abrupt cry of the Ulfram wolf startled Aydra’s horse. It shifted, rearing up violently on its hind legs, causing Aydra’s hands to slip from the reins. Aydra flew backwards into the air and her back hit the ground, head thrown back against the trunk of a tree. She could hear the noise of Nyssa speaking to her horse as it continued to whinny and buck against the sound of the Noctuan creatures’ calls. Aydra shook her head, trying to rid the spinning of her mind.
Which was when she felt something wrap around her ankles.
A shadow consumed her core. She gasped for air and opened her eyes to nothing but black and silence around her. Trapped. Her voice cried out into the void. She searched around her, but there was nothing. Not her sister. Not her Second. Not their horses.
Just black.
She closed her eyes and pulled for the creature that was consuming her.
