This wasn’t right. I should have been able to see just fine even without the light. The last time this had happened had been during the sorcerer’s theatrics in his office.
I reached for my belt just as something bowled into me from the right. I crashed to the ground, the raging, spitting thing atop me. It clawed at my face and latched onto the arm I raised to protect me.
“Where is it? You have it. They told me you had it,” the thing wailed, milky white eyes staring, unseeing into mine.
It was vaguely humanoid but stretched impossibly long. What I thought were claws were actually long fingernails. It reeked of putrefaction and death, like something fresh from the grave.
I kicked out, knocking it away from me as I scrambled to my feet.
The creature was vaguely familiar, its skin patterned like bark and hair the color of moss. Its limbs were too long for a human’s, and it was reed thin. Pieces of it were missing, exposing jagged holes that seeped a white, pus-like substance. It looked like a dryad, one that had been dead for a long time and had already started to decompose.
I reached for the charm the sorcerer had given me and broke it. He said that would summon him. Well, it was time for him to do his part.
The creature lunged at me, and I jumped back and up, landing on top of a car. It was fast, running across the ground on all fours. I leapt to the next car as it landed on the roof I’d just been on.
Its head cocked at an unnatural angle, like it had no bones in its neck. I edged back, stopping when my foot almost slid off the roof. The car the dryad creature was on buckled, the metal screeching and the glass abruptly shattering. The dryad began growing, turning into a hulking monster three times its size.
I should have run, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It was like watching a train wreck in progress. The monster shook itself and set one hand on the hood, crushing it and leaving a palm print in the metal. That was going to be difficult for the mortals to explain.
Any time now the sorcerer would show up and bust out some crazy spells to take out this thing.
Any time.
Where was he? I had kind of hoped he’d appear in a puff of smoke.
A dry rattling came from its chest. With a start, I realized it was laughter. I’d have to wing this until the sorcerer got here.
“Very impressive. You can get bigger,” I said sarcastically. “Any American with access to fast food and donuts can do the same.”
The creature snarled and slapped the car, further crushing the hood until it was a mangled mess. I could not let that thing touch me. One swipe and I’d be dead.
“I will pulverize your bones and feast on your flesh,” the thing hissed.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll have to catch me first.”
I crouched as it sprang, covering the distance between us faster than I could blink. I leapt to the side at the last moment, rolling once as I hit the pavement and darting in a crouched run behind another set of cars.
I was hoping its added size would slow it enough for me to escape using the cars as cover. A roar sounded behind me. There was a screech of metal and then a car door sailed over my head.
Shit, this thing was strong and possessed a nasty temper.
I moved stealthily, crawling beneath a four-door truck and rolling to the other side. Heavy thuds followed me from the row I’d just left. I fitted myself next to the front wheel, making sure I wasn’t visible in case the creature leaned down to check underneath the truck.
I held my breath. Please move past. Don’t look here.
The footsteps paused on the other side of the truck.
It was over. I was dead. My parents would probably never even find my body. Jenna would think I hated her.
The footsteps retreated down the row.
I exhaled shakily. Safe for now. I needed to find transportation before the thing caught up with me again.
This was the second time I’d been attacked in two nights. The eyes of this thing had the same milky glaze as the wolf. It also had the same smell of death and decay, the kind that stuck around for days. I’d have to throw these clothes away, no way would I ever be able to wear them again without smelling that stench. Luckily, they weren’t mine.
There was a connection between the two attacks. It made me question whether Brax had been the intended target. Both monsters accused me of having its treasure. I was beginning to think the two creatures were one and the same despite their different packaging.
What made it keep targeting me? I didn’t have whatever it kept ranting about.
