"He's known since you entered the corruption." Veroc started walking again, faster now. "The only question is whether he'll wait until we leave you at the border, or—"
The attack came without warning.
The ground erupted in a spray of rotted earth and bone. Something massive burst from beneath—not quite plant, not quite animal, a fusion of both that shouldn't exist. Tentacles of twisted wood shot toward them, each one tipped with thorns the length of daggers.
"Move!" Veroc roared, his blade already swinging.
The group scattered. Briar felt Eliam's hand grab her arm, pulling her sideways as a tentacle slammed into the ground where she'd been standing. The impact left a crater, the earth hissing and smoking where the corruption touched it.
Karse's fire roared to life, white-blue flames engulfing one of the tentacles. It recoiled, shrieking in that not-laughter-not-crying voice, but two more took its place, growing from the stump like a hydra of wood and rot.
"Don't cut them!" Veroc shouted, but it was too late. One of his warriors had severed a tentacle, and three more sprouted immediately, whipping toward him with renewed fury.
The thing rose higher from the ground, revealing more of its body—a trunk of fused bone and wood, wrapped in something that might have once been fur but now moved like it had a mind of its own. Eyes opened along its surface, dozens of them, all different sizes, all completely black like the deer's had been.
"What is that?" Sian gasped, water swirling around her in a defensive shield.
"Corruption," Veroc said simply. "Pure corruption."
The creature's tentacles swept toward them again, and this time they moved with purpose, with intelligence. They were being herded, Briar realized. Pushed together, grouped for easier capture.
"It's not trying to kill us," she gasped. "It's trying to trap us."
As if her words were a signal, the tentacles changed tactics. Instead of striking, they began to weave, creating walls of thorned wood around them, cutting off escape routes, forming a cage.
That's when she heard it. Footsteps. Measured, unhurried, approaching through the twisted trees. The pixies' not-laughter grew louder, more excited.
"He's here," Eliam said quietly, his hand finding hers. "Malus is here."
The footsteps stopped just beyond the wall of tentacles, and a familiar voice carried through, pleasant and warm as autumn sunshine.
"Well, well. How convenient to find you all together." Malus's tone held genuine pleasure. "Though I am disappointed. I expected you to get much closer to the seal before I had to intervene. This makes things almost too easy."
The tentacles parted like curtains, and Malus stepped through, dressed in his dark coat, looking perfectly at ease in the corrupted forest. Behind him came others—Forest Court guards, but wrong. Their eyes were solid black like the deer's, and when they moved, it was in perfect synchronization.
"Hello, dear one," Malus said, his eyes finding Briar immediately. "Did you miss me? Because I certainly missed you."
"Get behind me," Eliam said, pulling Briar back, but the movement triggered everything at once.
Veroc roared a battle cry in the Drak tongue, his blade igniting with flames as he charged. His warriors followed, meeting the corrupted Forest Court guards in a clash of steel and magic. The creature's tentacles thrashed wildly, no longer coordinated, responding to the sudden violence with violence of its own.
"Bring the girl to me," Malus commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos.
The corrupted guards moved toward Briar with that unnatural synchronization, but Karse's fire blazed between them, a wall of white-blue heat that made them stumble back.
"Run!" Arion shouted, his light magic flaring. "Get her out of here!"
The tentacle creature shrieked, its dozens of eyes focusing on different targets. One massive appendage swept through their group with devastating force. Briar felt Eliam's hand torn from hers as the impact sent her spinning. She hit the ground hard, mud and rot splashing across her face, filling her mouth with the taste of decay.
She pushed herself up, disoriented, ears ringing. Through the chaos she saw Eliam twenty feet away, Thaine pulling him behind an overturned log as tentacles slammed down where they'd been standing. How had she gotten so far from them?
A corrupted guard lunged at her. She scrambled backward on hands and knees, her palms sinking into the spongy ground. Karse's fire roared overhead, catching the guard and turning him to ash, but the heat and smoke blinded her. She stumbled to her feet, coughing, eyes streaming, and ran the only direction that seemed clear.
By the time her vision cleared, she'd lost all sense of direction. The battle sounds came from everywhere at once, echoing wrong through the twisted trees. She turned, trying to orient herself, to find her way back, but every path looked the same—dark, twisted, wrong.
Behind her, she heard Malus laugh, low and pleased. "Finally, some sport."
She ran.
