“Where’s Yvette?” Florian said, trying and failing to keep the frustration from his voice.
“She can’t be that far,” Lilith said, looking off into the trees.
“Why did you let her out of your sight?” Florian snapped. “She’s not armed.”
“I didn’t think she wanted an audience,” Lilith jabbed back pointedly.
Florian sighed. Point taken. They would just have to find her before-
His blood froze as a shrill scream pierced the night.
Too late.
Yvette
Something had wrapped itself around her leg.
Yvette had thought it was just a leaf brushing her ankle before whatever it was had gone taut, grabbing her calf and tugging her off her feet. Thankfully, she landed on a bed of snow and leaves and did not crack her skull open against a rock. However, she had little time to consider herself fortunate as the unseen thing began to pull at her with alarming strength. Yvette screamed again. The first had been a shriek of surprise. What came from her now was a deep seated wail of panic.
Yvette scrambled, kicking out wildly and clawing at the ground. There was nothing to grasp onto but loose stones and dead branches buried in the snow. Her heart raced as real terror washed over her. Whatever had snaked up her leg was wrapping itself higher. Worse, she was rapidly losing sensation. She couldn’t feel her foot anymore, couldn’t move it.
Rolling onto her back, she could see that nearly her entire leg was wrapped in thick black vines. There were more of them, a dozen more, reaching and flailing frantically through the air. Their movements were only shadows in the night, but Yvette followed them to the center of whatever this thing was. As if it could sense her gaze, it opened to reveal a malformed mouth, gaping with rows of needlelike teeth. It wasn’t large enough to eat all of her, well at least not all at once.
Her hand brushed against something hard in the snow, and Yvette took it, a large jagged stone. It was a pathetic weapon, but it was better than nothing. Yvette threw the stone, hoping to give it something else to chew on. Instead, it struck the monster in the side, sending a jolt through the tendrils, but not stopping it as the vines drug her closer still to its eager teeth.
Immediately her hands began to dig through the snow for another weapon, a lifeline, anything. Shooting pain seared through her hand and wrist as another vine coiled around her. Getting a closer look, she could see thin spines lining the tendrils, anchoring into her skin. Yvette dug her fingers into the vine, madly attempting to tear it off, but it felt like in order to the remove the vine she’d have to peel off her own skin with it.
A growl of desperation left her as she tried once more to rip it off. Movement streaked through the corner of her vision, and she felt a jolt go through the vines. An arrow was protruding from its mouth.
“Yvette!” a male voice called desperately.
“Where is she?” a woman, Rhea, responded.
“It’s got something,” another deeper voice responded.
Another arrow loosed and struck the monster in the mouth, just beside the other. It began to bleed thick yellow muck.
“Help!” Yvette screamed, hoping to draw them nearer.
She heard the wet and brutal sound of vines being sliced around her just as Florian came into view. His eyes were darting around madly, mostly focusing on the area around her leg.
A shot of annoyance went through her as she realized she was invisible. This had happened since she was a child, when she was very frightened, a defensive reflex. Yvette cursed and released the magic.
Florian’s eyes widened as they fixed on her. “Here!” he called out as he pulled out a knife, dropping to his knees beside her inthe snow. His voice became softer as he looked down at her. “I’ve got you.”
His blade snapped through the vine on her hand, spewing the same thick yellow liquid.
Rhea appeared by the mess of vines tangled around her leg, bringing down her long handled blade in a savage swing. It severed the twisted mass in a single stroke.
“Get her out of here,” Rhea said without looking back. She planted herself between them and that thing which was flailing erratically in the shadows.
Florian didn’t waste a moment, lifting her by the shoulders and under her knees. Limp vines were still clinging to her as he ran through the trees. She wanted to ask if the others would be okay, but she couldn’t speak. She could hardly string a single thought through her frantic mind.
The shadows of the trees rushed past as Florian ran. The sounds of the battle grew distant as his panting breaths and crunching footfalls remained steady, constant. They had come far enough that she could no longer hear the others when Florian hiked her legs back into his arms. She studied his face with clearer focus.
“You’re hurt,” she managed.
His tight expression melted into his familiar crooked smile. “Don’t worry about me, love.” His voice was tight enough to betray his easy expression.
