Like a big predator had moved in.
Shivers washed over her this time. Threads of unease started to tighten her chest. She knew it before the voice sounded in her head.
It’s here.
Damn right it was here. The darkrend. She could almost feel its unnaturalness as it moved through the fabric and magical folds of the wylds. As it shedwrongnesswithin the lush, strange lands. It was a disease to this place, plucking at the natural order and creasing what should have been smooth.
You can feel the danger now,the voice said.Heed it.
She could, it seemed. So she did.
She dashed through the room and yanked open the door. The wood porch led down to small rocks, like gravel. She didn’t bother going back for her shoes. There might not be time. She ignored the pain as she ran over the rocks, quickly taking stock of the collection of shacks in a large circle, it looked like, with a central hub. If Tarian didn’t sleep in that hub, it was the meeting place.
Her heel came down on the point of a rock. She sucked in a pained breath but wouldn’t allow herself to lose speed. She wanted to knock against the side or shout for him, but there was no telling where the creature might be. The wall of the hub-shack ended,leaving room for a wide porch. She rolled under the banister and hopped up.
The roar drove fear directly into her heart. Branches cracked and tore. The compression of huge feet slamming down rattled the rocks. She sprinted across the porch and to the door right as it opened. Soft light spilled across her, and a wide-eyed Lennox stopped short. Terror was etched into every line on his body.
“Get to safety, you idiot!” she yelled at him, shoving him back into the room.
His body was ripped to the side, and Tarian took his place, grabbing her around the shoulders, turning in a hurry, and spinning her into the room. He let go and slammed the door shut as another roar shook the walls. Her body began to shake.
“Get below and set the ward!” Tarian yelled as he darted to the corner to douse the light.
She turned to Lennox, who was frozen solid. He’d never been this close to a darkrend before. The learning curve was rough.
A pretty woman sat in the corner, with the same style of hair as the others, her eyes wide in shock. Niall was next to her, appearing perplexed, and that was a very strange response to the current situation.
“Go, go, go!” she yelled, waving her arm.
Lennox unfroze first as a pulse rocked through the room. The creature was seeking them out. Either it hadn’t seen her a moment ago, or once she went out ofsight, it had lost her location. She hoped the latter, because that would indicate it wasn’t a very smart beast.
Quiet,she thought as loudly as possible. They said she could broadcast, so she assumed it was the strength of the thought. Couldn’t hurt.Set the ward. We gotta set that ward.
Lennox pulled up a trapdoor at the side of the room and motioned her forward. The two at the table rose and hurried over as Tarian bumped into her back. He grabbed her shoulders and directed her on as the others started to descend.
We need to close all accesses to the building in order to set the ward,Tarian explained.There’s no telling how long that creature will stay. We’ll go to our bedchambers and wait it out. It’s time for bed anyway.
Shivers crawled all over her. She turned slowly, the feeling of dread arresting her.
“Get below,” she whispered, knowing what would happen. Feeling it. “Hurry, Tarian. Get below.” The breath was barely leaving her mouth.
He grabbed her hand as she finished turning. As her gaze ventured out the window. As she met the eyes of an enormous creature made of nightmares.
Its body was only partially obscured by the trees. Huge, yellowed teeth curved down from red-and-black gums. Its head was a flatter version of her idea of a werewolf, its nose pulled up like a canine’s but its forehead like a human’s. Batlike ears rose from its head,and its body resembled a gorilla drawn by a five-year-old who didn’t have a firm grip on proportions. Each hand had claws as big as her whole person, and in about two seconds, it would rip into this hub.
Go!Tarian shouted in her mind, yanking her toward the trapdoor.
The compression of footprints shook the ground. Its roar tried to freeze her, but she fought past it and yanked Tarian with her. Lennox waited at the bottom of a ladder.
Catch me,she hollered, dropping into the hole. He gripped her sides and hurriedly moved them out of the way.
A cacophony of destruction rattled the floorboards above her. It drowned out all sound. Wood splintered and metal whined. The creature had charged into the structure. There’d be no setting the ward here.
Tarian jumped in, holding the edge of the trapdoor. He let go at the last moment. The slap of wood as it hit the frame was lost to the rest of the carnage. All light cut out. She felt his hands on her, holding her to him, then saw images filtering in her mind, a tunnel partially lit in ultraviolet.
She closed her eyes as he directed her. A structural groan filled the tunnel. Dirt and rock shivered away from the walls. The ground shuddered.
Another roar, this one frustrated, like the first time she’d lost it. Then a pulse.
