Page 10 of Wraithwound

Lena didn’t dare move, but the woman across the way from her did. She slowly retreated further into the trunk of the tree, keeping her gaze fixed towards Lena’s right. Lena’s view was obscured by the undulations at the base of the tree, but she understood that danger was nearby. She retreated too, suddenly very aware of her current circumstances. Lena was injured and exhausted, her body unused to the mental or physical strain she’d been forced to endure. Her ability to successfully fight off an attacker in this condition was next to none. Lena’s hands began to tremble, and before long, her entire body shook with fear. She closed her eyes and held her breath, hoping he would continue through the forest, and they could flee, but by the time she picked up on the near silent crunch of leaves before her, it was too late.

Lena stumbled backward, fear flooding her senses. He reached towards her, extending a thick, muscular arm and plucked her from the base of the tree like a child. Once he’d pulled her face close to his, she realized he was covered in severe burns. The raw skin around his eye and cheekbone was one, large, weeping blister, and it looked like part of his scalp had melted.

Lena gasped, unsure of what was more frightening, the man’s appearance or his resolve. Lena gripped his wrist, using her fingernails to scratch feebly at his arm slick with his own crimson blood.

He held his sword out, remnants of black blood beaded along the edge, but he didn’t raise it. He didn’t need to. His grip, viselike around her neck, tightened. He was choking the life out of her, darkening the memories she was desperate to hold onto. Lena pulled them closer and focused on them.

On the swing of her mother’s ponytail as she turned in the kitchen to reach for a new jar of herbs. The way the sunlight illuminated her medical journal as it lay open on the well-worn wooden table. The way she tucked Lena’s hair behind her ear when she was little.

Henry at ten, his hair mussed after sleep, telling her stories of fantastical creatures he’d made up. The way his nervous smile looked more like a grimace when he was getting into something.

Her grandfather’s face crinkling as he laughed, the movement accentuating the creases at the corners of his eyes. The first time he pulled a God’s Eye flower out from behind his back. Nights he would tell her stories about his patients and new discoveries he’d made in his travels.

The face of her best friend and the warm smiles of those she’d once treated.

She would die in this forsaken forest, having failed the people she loved most. A heavy sadness crept over her as she shut her eyes, only to open them again as the man’s hand disappeared from her neck.

Lena crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. He turned slowly, pulling a small crossed double blade from his shoulder, to face the woman. Lena saw fear flit across her face and then settle into something like determination. Despite the man’s towering form, she stood her ground and was ready for him when he took a swing at her head. She ducked and spun, avoiding what would have been a devastating hit.

Lena forced herself to stand, desperation building in her chest. Then, just as she found her footing, she completely lost control of her body.

Chapter

Ten

Lena’s consciousness was yanked back, pulling her from her body and into her mind. She watched helplessly through her eyes as something else took control. Panic filled her as she realized two things: the wraith had seized control of her body, and she had no idea how or if she would ever get it back.

Lena’s right leg dragged involuntarily toward him. He hesitated and glanced over his shoulder, confusion settling across his features. Her other leg pulled forward, managing a second step. He turned to face her, as if he couldn’t quite wrap his head around what was going on. Her eyes focused on the man’s broad chest. Then, her gaze rose as her face slowly angled upward to meet his eyes.

Stunned, he stared at Lena for a moment, almost as if he were entranced by her, but recovered quickly, shifting to lift his sword.

“Fucking demon!” he spat, his face contorting with rage. But before he could lift his sword any further, the woman sprang up from behind and grabbed his bicep, pulling both his arm and his attention away from Lena. Lena’s arm thrust forward, fingers spread, aimed toward his chest. A sharp burst of pain erupted from her fingertips. Surprise and shock bloomed inside her as warm, wet liquid poured through her fingers, followed by the scrape of bone, as she reached into the man’s chest and pulled out his still beating heart.

His body crumpled to the ground in front of her, revealing the woman who had been standing behind him. She had gone pale, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Lena and the heart still clenched in her fist. The woman retreated several steps, moving slowly.

Lena fought to regain control of her body, pushing at the entity that had expanded into her consciousness, but it seemed to wrest more and more control from her, needy and desperate. Just as Lena seemed to gain some traction, pushing her mind outward, a shimmering mass appeared in her vision.

No.

Lena watched, repulsed, as a bloody, claw-tipped hand, her hand, reached forward into the mass. Fingers open, she gently waved her hand through it. The mass entered her body, soaking into her skin. It felt like a heavy mist had descended upon her. The eerie sensation lasted only but a moment before it disappeared, and she felt the wraith get stronger, planting a foothold in her mind. It was satiated, at least a little, after having consumed another soul. Distantly, she knew the soul had stabilized her physical body and the infection within her. She didn’t have any time to dwell on the horror of it before she realized her body was getting ready to move once more.

No, no, NO!

Desperate, Lena pushed and pushed, trying to expand her consciousness. To regain control of her body. Lena felt her legs move as her body stepped jerkily over the heap of the man who lay at her feet. But the woman seemed preoccupied by something above them. Fool! What else could she possibly be looking at when Lena, the wraith, continued to approach her? Bile rose in her throat as she realized the woman had picked up the dead man’s sword.

“Fight it!” the woman commanded, but Lena didn’t know how.

Anguish filled her as she anticipated what the wraith might do.

Shoved into a small corner in her mind, she was helpless to do anything but watch. Pressure pushed down on her as the darkness expanded slowly around her, but when she thought it would take over completely, an earsplitting screech cut through the heavy silence.

Adrenaline flooded her and not just her mind, her body too. She wasn’t sure if it was her or the wraith that snapped her head up to scan the branches above. As she did, she felt the pressure loosen. She could feel the entity inside her was distracted. Lena took the opportunity and pushed. Her legs became leaden. The darkness in her mind pushed at her, and she pushed at it, making her body freeze in an unnatural position. Lena could see the moment the woman figured it out. She approached tentatively, raising the sword. Lena had just enough time to hear the woman’s parting words as she lifted the sword high into the air.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she brought the pommel of the sword down hard on Lena’s temple.

The words barely registered through another piercing screech as pain burst from the side of her skull, and once again, her world went black.

Chapter