“Stay under the stall,” I shouted.
Grabbing a bow and a satchel of arrows, I got into position, searching for the wraith and quickly nocked an arrow. Flooding everi into the arrow, I found the wraith across the square. Seeing it more clearly, my blood ran cold. Its skeletal face was eating the flesh from its victims, its boney fingers scratching and mutilating as the woman it trapped struggled and screamed.
My stomach lurched as I fired the arrow, piercing it in the back.
It screamed so loudly the ground shook.
It looked at me and, for a moment, I saw the green glow of its eyes lighting the fresh blood dripping from its mouth.
“Anna, run!”
She moved like lightning, and I nocked another arrow firing it into its chest, but it barely slowed as it moved so fast, I could not follow where it went.
A woman shrieked.
Anna.
I ran, panic flooding me. I moved, not breathing until I saw her. She was in the street, her body shielding the young boy we saw earlier. The wraith was hovering before them.
Surrounding Anna and the boy was a glowing orb of Anna’s everi radiating in voluminous waves of energy.
Quickly, I fired another arrow but it moved, avoiding the strike.
Anna couldn’t keep this up.
“Another one! Behind you!”
I jerked my head to the side, seeing another soldier struggling to nock his arrow looking behind me. I turned, seeing another of the ghastly creatures. Throwing the bow to the ground, I drew my sword.
I did not have time for this. Running at the wraith, I struck with all my might. It moved, hissing and wailing. Drawing everi into my left hand, I thrust it like a lasso, linking to its own everi and harnessing it to mine.
“Try getting away now,” I muttered, slashing my sword heavy with my everi across its frail skeletal structure.
Its shriek waned as the skeleton beneath the cloak collapsed, the green glow within its skull fading.
I ran to her but her shield was gone.
“No,” I muttered, seeing the wraith before her.
I wasn’t going to get there in time…
A painful wail filled the air. I watched in stunned relief as a figure appeared between Anna and the wraith, a blade glowing in white everi piercing its chest.
It shattered in an explosive boom, its bones flying in every direction like shrapnel, the cloak fluttering through the air in fragments.
A man stood in the wake of the attack, his expression calm, his deep red eyes focused on me.
“Get her out of here,” he said, his voice low. “More are coming.”
I grunted, my everi pounding through me as I stood in his presence. It felt almost like standing in Ezreal’s presence when he wasn’t cloaking his power.
Who was this?
The man turned, holding his hand out to Anna who was still shielding the boy.
She took it, staring up at him in shock.
“Derrick?” she whispered.
