A low growl rumbled from the creature’s throat. The huntresses scrambled to regain hold of their chains. The Forgotten God reached out, its hand circling Aloisia’s chin. This close to, she could see the swirling depths where its eyes should have been. The darkness there called to her, drawing her in. A fragment of a memory, a vision, surfaced only to be swallowed in that darkness.
“Blood,” the Forgotten God said, “is the undoing.”
Arrows rained to the ground, the chains sliding free with a heavy clunk. The Forgotten God had turned to mist, its form dissolving and reforming, though its grip on Aloisia’s face never faltered. As she watched, unable to take her gaze away from the creature’s eyes, the world dissolved with it.
The smoke slid across Aloisia’s skin, slick as oil, faint as haze. Tendrils wove through her hair, coiled around her arms. It called to her. Beneath it, however, a warning, a memory, too soon smothered. Panic rose within her. She couldn’t move.
Voices sounded near, but too far. Then another voice, more immediate, more present.
“Darkness gathers,” the Forgotten God said.
The mist pushed further, filling her nose, choking her breath.
“And death with it.”
THIRTY NINE
Alltooswiftly,theworldsnappedbackintofocus.ThechainsbindingtheForgottenGodweregone,casttotheground.Thecreatureloomedoverher,itsformswirlinginablackfog.Andthatsmokepressedintohereyes,intoherlungs,herbodyalivewithpain.
Inari was running to her. Dhara was swinging her chain, as if it would still hold.
Aloisia unsheathed a blade, slicing at it. But the Forgotten God parted around it, just as it had with the arrows.
How could she fight back againstmist?
Darkness closed in around Aloisia. Her chest constricted, her heart beating against her ribs.
Ezra rose to his feet, a blade pressed to his palm once more. Aloisia’s ears were ringing. She could not hear the words he spoke, the spell he wove.
The Forgotten God recoiled as if struck, its form shifting in and out of solidity.
Aloisia fell to her knees, a hand going to her throat as air finally came in a shaky breath. Inari caught her, pulling her back to her feet and away from the Forgotten God. Ezra’s spell continued, his words rising and falling like a long-forgotten song. The creature retreated and howled. Ezra halted; the spell complete. As quickly as it had appeared, the Forgotten God fled back through the woods.
“Lis!” Kaja burst towards her, the chain discarded at her feet. “Are you well?”
Aloisia managed a nod, not able to get the air to speak yet.
Inari wound an arm around her waist, supporting her as she caught her breath. “This is much too dangerous. Even with the spells, the enchantments on the chains—”
“Of course it’s dangerous.” Ezra scoffed. “What did you think would happen? We would ask it to come with us and wait for it to politely agree?”
“We need a better plan than this,” Inari said, his teeth gritted.
The scholar raised a brow. “Not up for trying again, then?”
Kaja cast a glare his way. “Considering Aloisia almost died – again – we’ll have to go with no.”
“Agreed.” Dhara grasped Aloisia’s shoulder. “We should head back and devise another plan. Surely, you must have some other spells up your sleeve to weaken these beasts?”
“There are others, of course,” Ezra said. “But it is a question of whether we shall be capable of such a feat. Having been on the verge of death myself recently, albeit sustained by a rather nasty spell, I am not at my full capabilities at present.”
Inari sighed. “If you give me the spell, then I can perform it.”
“I think you overestimate your capabilities, shaman.”
“And I think you underestimate me, scholar.”
Mavka gathered her chain. “We go back. Now.” Her word was final, and her sisters obeyed, the shaman and the scholar following alongside them.
