My body toppled over the branch and crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. I pulled at the tight restraints, barely able to breathe, but the Writherbought held firm. I felt so defenseless—eyes closed, arms and legs still tied together at the joints, and my body screaming in agony from the fall.
“Who set you free?” The demanding question from Noctis barely registered in my still ringing ears.
But the response from the creature slithered across my brain, through my body, into my bones.
“Your father, Noctis, the Godsire,” it answered out loud at last.
Crashes boomed, trees splintering as they were ripped from the ground and slammed into ones nearby, grunting fromthe god and the Writherbought as their powers rushed through the space.
It calmed for only a second, and two strong arms lifted me. Warmth bled into my side as a hand brushed across the top of my head. I whimpered against the touch.
“Look at me, Caelyn,” Noctis whispered softly.
I slowly peeked my eyes open, and reared back in response. Four thinly slit rust-hued eyes stared back. A wry, cracked grin split its lips, the leathery skin along its body fissured and leaking moldy, rotten ichor. Although it had the body of a man of power,its limbs hung a fraction too long. Joints bent with a slow, deliberate looseness that suggested they could hinge further if asked. The air around it soured, thick with a damp, fungal rot that clung to the throat.
The Writherbought.
“You’rethe one I came for.” Spit flew from its canine filled mouth, landing on my face and sizzling against the power still restricting my movements and speech. “And I was ordered to keep you alive, but there’s still time to play.”
I fought against the restraints, but to no avail, frantically searching my surroundings but unable to find Noctis. The searing pain amplified, and I snapped my attention back to the creature holding me.
“Show me the magic that courses through your blood,” it taunted with a malicious smirk plastering its cracked ivory skin.
The gag around my mouth released, instant relief flooding my system.
“I don’t have magic,” I spat, but the Writherbought only laughed in response.
Its eyes warped, all four sliding into the center and merging into two. They blinked and flashed crimson at the same time my body spasmed uncontrollably. Jeering aches rattled my bones, limbs flailing in all directions.
“Is that what they want you to think?” Its slimy voice slithered through my mind. “Well, we need you fully—”
A gust of wind slammed into the creature and caught me in mid air. The other binds fell from my body along with the convulsions as the Writherbought crashed to the ground. It disappeared before our eyes, a black smoke becoming what once was its ghastly body. Then, the smoke gathered together meters away and formed the leathery creature whole again.
Noctis gently lowered my feet to the ground and wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Unfair. I wasn’t looking,” the words hit my ears like scratchy drums.
“Touch her again, and you’ll find my fury is the last thing you’ll ever feel,” Noctis snarled.
“Protective of one who cannot even remember you? That’s noble.” The Writherbought took three steps forward. “But I won’t return empty handed.”
“You won't return at all,” Noctis seethed.
The creature launched at him. They rolled across the forest floor, nearly taking me with them.
When they stopped tumbling, the Writherbought came out on top, his hands grasping the sides of the god’s face. Noctis’s eyes widened, and his skin flushed pale almost instantly. He struggled momentarily, scratching at the claws that gripped him.
The Writherbought was draining the life from his body.
Tightness gripped the organs against my sternum. Palming a throwing blade, I flicked it toward the beast. It implanted into its shoulder but did not stop harvesting from Noctis. I sprinted toward them, but my feet dragged like concrete through quicksand. I couldn’t force them to move faster.
My body burned, every nerve ending scorched and searing beneath my skin.
Noctis’s head fell limp.
And I was ready to destroy the realm in his name. I threw my hands forward, and a mass of spiraling wind flew from my palms and into the beast. It crashed into the nearest tree, crunching echoing through the canopies.
Holy shit.
