As fixated as she had been on the sounds far distant, Aloisia had ignored those close by. Too late, she heard the hastening footsteps behind. Her grasp tightened on her blade, drawing it from its sheath as her eyes snapped open.
Before she could turn to see what approached, a hand clamped over her mouth. She brought the dagger up to slice at their arm, only to be restrained before it made contact. Aloisia let out a low growl, kicking at her assailant. Her foot connected with their leg, and they grunted. Their grip slackened and Aloisia pulled free. As she spun, she swiped her blade at them.
Her arm was caught again, and the blade brought to her own throat. Now facing the assailant, she discovered it was Inari. He covered her mouth again, glancing back. Aloisia writhed against him, trying to free her wrist, to no avail.
“Stop,” Inari hissed. “It’s just me.”
She let out a muffled, frustrated scream and renewed her efforts.
“Stop,” he repeated, his voice hushed. “The Forgotten Gods have returned.”
Aloisia froze at his words, looking back to the tracks. Was that what she had been following? With her free hand, she batted at his fingers still covering her mouth.
“If I let go, will you be quiet?”
She managed a nod insofar as she could whilst restrained.
Inari moved back, releasing her, and stared out into the trees again.
“Those tracks…”
“Trust a huntress to follow those prints,” he murmured.
“Do they belong to the Forgotten Gods?”
“What tracks have you seen like them? As large as they are? What could you possibly have thought you were following?” The muscle in his jaw ticked as his hazel gaze returned to her.
“I was trying to find you.” She crossed her arms.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I have more than three toes and none of them are clawed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Where are they?” She peered about them, still seeing no sign of the creatures bar the prints. “Why are there tracks for only one?”
“Have you seen them leave tracks before?”
“No.” They had moved almost like mist, like oil spreading upon the ground, like the shadows they mimicked.
Inari’s lips pressed into a thin line. “They’re getting stronger. They’re starting to take a more corporeal form.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing good.”
Aloisia stepped away from the tree and Inari caught her arm. “What?”
He drew her to him, a hand covering her mouth again, and another wrapped around her torso.
She fought against him, but it was like fighting a statue.
“Shh,” he hissed.
Aloisia stiffened in his arms as the Forgotten Gods traipsed past them, a mere thirty feet away. Inari shifted further behind the tree and out of sight. While some still moved like smoke, curling and unfurling in waves, their forms almost translucent, there were others which had taken on more solid forms.
One was a horrifying cross between human and bird, its feet ended in clawed feet like the tracks, feathers covering its elongated limbs, and a beak protruding from its face. Another was more bear-like, the least humanoid of the pack, on all fours and covered in fur, with a snout for a nose. The last had the antlers and hooved feet of a deer, walking on two legs like a human, whilst its limbs were still as disproportionate as the rest of them.
Aloisia and Inari remained still as they passed, nestled against the bark as if they could disappear within the tree. They watched until the creatures were long gone. Even then, with her hearing still heightened, Aloisia listened until they were far enough away, out of ordinary earshot.
“As hylän,” she uttered, her hearing returning to normal. “I think we’re safe now.”
