Bella did so, allowing our eyes to slowly adjust to the gloom again. I kept my head facing forward, but movement flickered at the periphery of my vision, shifting a foot at a time, smooth and almost silent as it tracked us.
“Trinity, it smells bad,” Bryce said.
I could smell it too now, not as strongly as he could, but just a whiff, like rotten meat and death.
“Water isn’t far,” Poppy said, keeping her tone low but steady.
We kept our pace even as more weavers gathered, joining the first lot. “What are the Carvers playing at?” Bryce said. “Why so many?”
“I don’t know. Maybe this was planned because they expected Tyler and the others to be with us.”
“Do you think he’s okay?” Bella said.
“I don’t care,” Poppy replied.
I did a surreptitious count. “There are six trailing us. Three on either side.”
“Water is up ahead,” Poppy said. “After a break in the trees to the left, which means we’ll have to run right past some of the soil suckers. Bella, dim the light a little more.” Bella complied.
Long seconds passed, tension coiling in my belly. My eyes adjusted to the gloom once more. “On my count, make a run for it. One. Two. Run!”
We broke into a sprint, cutting left, off the path and into the trees. Chilling moans, interspersed with the crack and pop of wood, shattered the silence.
I kept pace with Bryce even though I could have gone faster.
“Almost there!” Poppy yelled.
The moon was round and bright up ahead, spilling over a clearing that sat between us and the rush of water.
We were going to make it. Once we crossed the river, we could build a fire and?—
Branches whipped into our path, forming long arms with hands that wrapped around Bella and yanked her off her feet. Her scream was cut off by vines whipping over her mouth as she was dragged toward the brush.
“Bella!” Poppy dove toward her, fingers grazing Bella’s before she was swallowed by darkness. “NO!” Poppy ran into the trees. “Bella! Bell!”
Dark branches reached for her, blocking her from view.
“Anamaya, move!” Bryce body-slammed me out of the way as another set of branch hands made a grab at us. He snapped and snarled as it tried to get a hold of him, dragging its bulk onto the trail. A wet maw of pulsing flesh and jagged teeth surrounded by bark, the trunk moved on thick fleshy roots that spawned more roots to wrap around Bryce.
“Run!” he barked. “You have to run.”
His scream broke my paralysis. I drew my sword and attacked the roots, cutting them away faster than they could grow back.
Bryce twisted and bucked as I chopped and stabbed, screaming at the top of my lungs, the only way to purge the terror trying to cloud my mind. There were more coming. Pressing in on us. Hungry for our flesh.
I ducked to avoid the swipe of a branch, my scream dying as I gagged on the awful, rotten meat stench coming off the creatures.
Bryce broke free. “Come on.”
I swung my sword a final time, severing a few more roots, then ran for the river.
Lungs burning, throat dry and raw from screaming, I hit the icy water, splashing as my sprint turned into a wade. The water rose to my thighs, my hips, and finally my chest. My lungs hurt from the cold, shriveling in my chest until every breath was a struggle. I pushed past the discomfort, forcing my legs to move faster.
Bryce swam, sleek and fast, his bulk cutting through the water, reaching the other side before me.
I dragged myself out, fighting the chatter of teeth. Bryce stood at the shore, watching the trees we’d just abandoned. “They’re leaving,” he said. “They have Poppy and Bella.” He paced back and forth, dripping water all over the earth.
“We’re going to get them back.” I started gathering wood to make a fire. Movement would help warm me up. Movement and a fire. “Poppy had the pack of supplies, so I need flint.”
