I blinked as the rocks danced around the dying embers of the campfire. Blinking again, I peered closer. It wasn’t my sight. Thepebbles vibrated, at first small jarring jumps, then with more violence.
‘What—’ Matthias cried, grasping his sword as he rose.
The calm of the camp exploded.
A beast, a mountain of torn black flesh, tattered fur and bronze eyes, ripped through the trees. Matthias grabbed the fabric of my shoulder, heaving me up.
‘To the trees,’ he screamed. ‘Get Glesni, go.’
Then he was gone, and I stood while the morning peace blurred into a mix of blood and screams.
Get Glesni,he’d said. How did he expect me to do that when I could see fuck all? I shook out my shoulders and desperately tried to tamper down the urge to empty the contents of my stomach. I had to do something and standing there in my bare feet, squinting into the clearing, wasn’t helping.
The diafol – once a bear, judging by its shape – pierced the air with a high scream as a wall of flame burst in front of it, singeing its already ruptured shoulder. I collapsed to the ground. Threads, shining silver writhing with the brutal violet, slammed against my chest. I had power over creatures, surely that meant…
I shook my head and, gritting my teeth, rose from the ground.
‘I can stop it,’ I cried as Asher flew through the air, tumbling and cursing. He rolled onto all fours, running again before I had the chance to scream his name.
Glesni called to Ifan, for his sword, as she lost control of her flames, the wagon exploding in a blaze. Had the damned prince returned? The heat licked the strands of loose hair flying around my face as I took in the scene. Just because this hadn’t been done, didn’t mean it couldn’t…
The flames held the diafol at bay, but they were also holding the others back. Someone might die in the panic. Pab whined,standing under my hand. I clung to the wolf, reaching for my gift.
It answered without hesitation, and I huffed a laugh before the smile slid from my face. Something was wrong. The diafol’s mind, the mind I invaded, was a slew of contorted visions, her body a writhing mass of pain. She resisted, threw me out only for me to dive back in. My clenched fists shook, as I wormed my way through the diafol’s thoughts. Who screamed? Matthias? I hauled down mental shutters, drowned them out. My chest heaved as I found a sliver of her within the images of torn flesh, fire and snarling jaws.
The diafol screeched, and for a moment, every other sound died. She raised herself onto her hind feet, drool flying from her tattered maw. Through the haze, I found her bronze eyes locked on me.
‘Oh, fuck,’ I whispered, my voice torn and raw as her front paws crashed to the ground with a force sending blurred figures flying through the smoke-filled air. I’d no time to try and work out what was going on. Glesni doused her flames, but the smoke was cloying. All I knew was her rage-filled bronze eyes. The diafol answered my call, but she was too confused, fear rippling through every coiled muscle, too filled with a desire to consume to comprehend my innocent intent.
Pablo stepped back, a weak snarl escaping as the diafol burst towards us.
Stumbling, I gripped Pablo as he tore through the tall thin trees. I cried as my bare feet smashed into rocks. Trees cracked, splitting apart. Stopping wasn’t an option. Pablo’s muscles tensed. He held back, knowing even he couldn’t save me from the diafol tearing trees apart in her desperate urge to destroy me.
Branches sliced into my face as the roars of the beast, the thunderous cracking of the trees, gained with every step. Pab changed direction, weaving through the trunks. The wolf hadnever failed me, so I gave into him completely, but his twisting caught me off guard and I collided with trees, screamed as I slammed into rocks.
I held my breath at the unmistakable crashing of a tree. Branches, leaves fell before us, blocking our way. Pab could easily leap over it, but the wolf had no intention of leaving me. Tears streaked my face as we pounded around sharp, snapping branches, the roars of the beast splitting through my head. My lungs burned as we pushed harder. Here, the thick canopy blocked out the light completely and there was now nothing, nothing before me. Screaming, another branch sliced through my tunic, my knees crumbling, and I fell. Pab grabbed me, teeth slicing into my arm in his desperation to get me standing. The ground beneath us shook as she tore through the forest. Forcing myself to my feet, Pab set off before I’d barely grabbed his fur, and we raced again. The diafol’s pounding steps vibrated with every breath.
The whole forest screamed to run as my body blazed with agony. Pab lurched to the right and my bleeding feet slipped against the slick forest floor. My palm slammed into the rough trunk of a tree. I couldn’t do this. Pab changed course again. There wasn’t enough breath. Sweat, blood coated me, my body threatening to give way. I should let Pablo go. Give him a chance. A tree crashed, and I readied myself to let go of the wolf when he skidded to a stop.
He leapt, pushing me down, my head slamming against the hard ground. Grunting, the air expelled from my lungs. The wolf lay across my stricken form, shielding me, his front paws either side of my head as his maw lay across my tearstained face.
‘Go,’ I cried as his claws dug into my legs. ‘Fucking wolf.’
The ground trembled, fissured. The diafol crashed through the trees and leapt…
I screamed, forcing all my weight onto the wolf ready to sacrifice himself to buy me a few more seconds of life. Above him, the shadowy form of the diafol flew over us.
I closed my eyes, braced for the force of her crashing onto us. Poised for the moment she devoured us. Instead, the forest exploded with the diafol’s cries as she tumbled down a cliff I’d failed to see. Pablo moved off me, panting heavily, and gazed to where the land ended abruptly. Gasping, I rose onto all fours, staring down the chasm that had inadvertently saved us. I gripped my chest, the echo of each crunch of her bones fading as she died.
Grabbing Pab’s neck, I held the wolf, burying my face into his thick fur, muffling my sobbing gasps. The wolf’s sides heaved as he panted next to me, the occasional shiver racking through him.
I’d no idea how long we stayed there, but the sun was reaching her zenith, warming my exposed skin. Trickles of crimson ran down my stinging form. I should have checked if they were injuries or blight but I felt like I’d been flayed. I pried myself away from the wolf. Pab leaned down, licking at the exposed wounds as I scratched behind his ear.
‘And Matthias wants to replace you with a stick,’ I said, through the dry agony of my scratched throat. I placed my hands on his back and heaved myself up. I peered down the chasm, but couldn’t make out any sign of the beast. ‘Take us back, Pab. Take me to Matthias.’
The wolf stood and, placing himself on the chasm’s edge, limped slowly through the shattered forest.
Each step sent swathes of agony through me as we made our way back. Gods, I had some serious delusions of grandeur if I’d thought I’d be the first person to control a diafol. There had been a moment, where I thought I’d had control, but as my knees buckled, I had to concede it was the stupidest idea of my entirelife. For a moment, I thought of staying here, of not returning. But I couldn’t leave them yet. I couldn’t leave Matthias.
