Without thinking, she took off after the Forgotten God, Inari and Morgan on her heels. As they moved forth, the first creature charged. Kaja and Ezra leapt backwards out of its reach, but it gave chase. Aloisia halted, aiming for the bear-like monster.
“Go!” Kaja shouted. “We’ll deal with this one.”
Aloisia had no time to respond as they ran up the street, the bear-like creature chasing behind them. Screams sounded behind her from the direction the second Forgotten God had gone.
“Come on,” Aloisia said. “We need to help these people.”
The creature, having had a head start, scurried along the cobblestones far ahead of them. Two young women ran ahead of it, and the Forgotten God was closing the distance. Inari began his chant as they sprinted after it. The shadow monster leapt, knocking one woman to the ground. The other woman dived into a doorway, a hand pressed to her mouth as she watched on. Inari’s spell seemed to have little effect at this distance.
Aloisia took aim.
Two arrows loosed as Morgan took a shot, too. They both pierced the creature’s torso. It howled and reared up, but it did not stop. The woman was pinned beneath the Forgotten God, her screams broken by sobs. Its claws circled her face. As it shifted into mist, the arrows did not fall. She shot again, catching the Forgotten God on the shoulder. Still, it did not stop.
The mist pressed around the woman, cutting off her screams. Two more arrows buried into the creature’s back. Inari continued with the spell, his words rising in intensity. Finally, the Forgotten God recoiled, its claws pressed to its head. It backed away down the street, yowling as it went.
The woman lay on her back, her face turned to them. Her green eyes were wide. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Aloisia ran towards her, glancing to the Forgotten God that Inari was keeping at bay. The green of the woman’s eyes slowly faded into black. Darkness spread atop her skin like ink spilling with her tears, etching markings across her body.
Aloisia’s steps slowed.
The Forgotten God shrieked and the woman’s back arched upwards, her lips parted in a silent scream. The black markings turned red, orange, white, as if a fire scorched from within. Fissures cracked her skin, the light blinding.
“No!” Aloisia lurched forwards, reaching for the woman as if she could stop whatever was burning through her.
Inari caught her arm, pulling her back. “Don’t. There’s nothing we can do for her.”
With his words, the spell he had woven broke. The Forgotten God’s howls stopped, and it scampered away down the street, arrows still littering it.
The light grew until they could not look at the woman any longer. When it finally faded, only ash remained, stirring in the breeze.
FORTY
Aloisiastaredattheblackenedash,allthatwasleftofthewomantheForgottenGodhadattacked. Inari squeezed her arm, walking past her to the second woman still huddled in the doorway.
He crouched before the woman. “You need to get to the Temple. Do you know how to get there?”
She managed a nod.
“Good. Go there now. Stop for no one.” He helped her up.
The woman wiped away her tears, giving a last glance at what ash remained. Aloisia wondered who this woman had been to her. A friend? A sister? A stranger? Her footsteps echoed through the street as she ran for the Temple.
“We have to continue onwards,” Inari said, returning to Aloisia’s side. “We need to get to Execution Square, as you said. The lead huntresses will join us there and we can capture one of these monsters. And hopefully drive them out of the town.”
“How do we do that?” Morgan asked. “Look what they’re capable of. How do we fight that?”
“We just did. True, this woman died. And countless others will have lost their lives today. But the arrows are working. The enchantments are working. We can fight them. And we will.”
“What about the Temple?” she persisted. “Once everyone is off the streets, out of reach, surely they will go there?”
“She’s right.” Aloisia swept a hand down her face. “There may be guards protecting those at the Temple, however, without enchantments, what use will they be?”
“What are you suggesting?” Inari asked.
“I don’t know. There are still people out here. But, if these creatures make it to the Temple before we do, what use are we out here?”
“There are still people out here, as you said.” He grasped her shoulder. “Those people need help. They are alone, afraid. There is no one out here protecting them. The guards are at the Temple. Once we get as many as we can back there, as we have done with the child we saved and the woman just now, once we have captured one of the Forgotten Gods, we will return to the Temple. Right?”
Aloisia gave a nod. “You’re right. There are people who need us out here.” She set her gaze back up the street. “I hope Kaja and Ezra are all right.”
