Another turns to the north and pushes off the forest floor, opening its wings with a rush of air. But Rook is there, catching it by the foot, yanking it back.
The monster wails, its wings going sideways as it crashes into a tree, then slams to the ground.
The unmistakable sound of bones breaking echoes through the forest.
Only two creatures remain: the shortest one with the deep, raspy voice, and another with wider shoulders and bigger claws.
The shorter one edges backward, wings half open, as several sharp consonants emerge from his throat, aimed at Rook.
Rook takes a step, blood splattered across his face, knuckles darkened with more. He is a vision of dark vengeance, singularly focused on destruction, his shoulders heaving with heavy breaths.
He stoops down and retrieves one of the fallen tree branches. He snaps off a smaller twig, tossing it into the underbrush. He snaps another, stalking toward the remaining two creatures.
The bigger of the two monkeys clicks his tongue, and the shorter clicks back.
“Just let us go,” I say. “We pose no threat to you.”
The shorter of the two looks over his shoulder at me, his sharp brow furrowed. “It’s not you we worry about,trokinna.”
Rook spins the branch in his hand like a bat, testing its weight.
“Then who?” I ask.
Rook swings. The taller monkey catches the branch in his bare hand, his legs bent, feet planted in the dirt.
If it’s a fight of strength, I worry Rook is no match for these creatures, even though his expression betrays no struggle, no weakness,no fear.
The monkey grits his teeth, lips pulled back.
Rook presses forward and the monkey loses his footing in the slippery moss.
The shorter one glances at me, then clicks his tongue again.
Almost like a warning.
I hear the cut of air first.
The soft whistle of steel and wood, end over end.
My stomach drops.
I suck in a breath.
“Rook!” I shout, but my brain is two seconds too late.
An axe hits him square in the back.
“No!”
He drops to his knees.
Blood gurgles from his mouth.
“No. No. Rook!”
I run, catching him as he pitches forward, all dead weight.
We collapse into the earth together, him pinning me, blood spilling from his mouth, his nose, rushing down his sides.
