Page 103 of Wraithwound

And then the rain came, and the screaming followed.

The sheet of water appeared from nothing. It drifted along the land, having originated behind the company somewhere. Once she reached higher ground, Lena looked over her shoulder and saw men melting under the onslaught of silver-tinged water. Only acid could melt flesh and bone like that.

A screech from above alerted her to the eleuth’s position. It shot straight for her, wings tucked close to its body.

Most of the Commander’s men had broken formation, changing their objective from pursuing Lena and her group to seeking safety. But there was a smaller unit at the front that was undeterred. It was only when they got closer that Lena realized she was staring at a familiar face.

Vince.

Familiar, yet not. It took Lena a moment to realize it was because his face was disfigured. The skin was lumpy in some places with divots and hollows in others, most notably his cheeks, likely due to the healer’s inability to set the bone. Surprise and panic swirled low in her gut, but it wasn’t long until fear replaced them both.

Cross was shouting something at Taya, and she was shouting back, her face contorted in anger. Or was it panic?

When Lena looked over her shoulder again, she realized the sheet of rain had disappeared. But as quickly as it’d gone, it reappeared, just outside her periphery. She turned just in time to see it drift over another portion of the Commander’s men.

The screaming was so much louder this time. And closer.

Vince and his unit shifted course to avoid the acid rain, and their unit rode parallel to Lena’s group with the gap slowly closing between them. The rain had eliminated most of the threat, leaving Vince’s unit and a few others. Vince didn’t seem to notice or care. Instead, he turned his horse and beelined for Lena. She saw the change ripple through the remaining formation as they turned to follow.

She knew the moment Cross realized it. He shouted something else at Taya, who slowed her horse just enough to put herself between Lena and Vince. Cross broke off and rode to meet Vince, his sword taking on the eerie red glow that seemed a permanent feature in the skies now.

Vince threw himself from his horse the moment he got close, letting the spooked creature ride off. Cross dismounted a moment later, his sword extended at his side. He stalked toward Vince, his huge frame highlighting how much smaller the man was in comparison, but Vince did not balk. It was only when Vince took a jerky step forward that Lena saw the rippling black aura in his wake. It was so faint she hadn’t seen it when he’d been riding toward her, the trailing wisps lost in the strange, dim light.

She didn’t know what it meant, but it wasn’t the same as the aura that signified impending death. As if the warning system inside her had also become unsettled by the realization, the prickling at her shoulder intensified to near pain. Something was very wrong. Somehow, she knew Vince wasn’t human . . . but he wasn’t exactly a wraith, either. He was something else. Something other. With that understanding, came another.

She had to warn Cross.

Lena slowed her mare.

“What are you doing?” Laney shouted.

“I have to warn him,” she shouted back before she dipped behind Taya and raced for warrior.

Just then a roar pierced the air, making Lena’s blood run cold as she looked around for the source of the sound. Vince’s head was thrown back, a gaping maw in the place his mouth should have been. The hollows in his cheeks stretched wide, elongating the opening in his face to reveal blackened stumps in place of teeth.

Cross continued to stalk towards the creature undeterred. Vince smiled, a gruesome imitation of the human he’d once been, and charged. Cross met his attack, effortlessly blocking his blows. This only seemed to enrage Vince, who became sloppier in his onslaught. Snarling, he brought his sword up, arching it high above his head. Cross did not miss his opening. He swept his sword through Vince’s center, cutting through the flesh and muscle of his stomach, effectively gutting him. Dark blood poured from Vince’s torso as he stood there, sword still over his head. Shock rippled across his features, giving him pause, but then it vanished.

The tiny spark of hope that lit up in her chest was extinguished immediately as Vince seemed to consider his circumstances and then re-engaged. He brought his sword down upon Cross, the blow meant to cut through the center of his skull. Cross blocked it just in time. Their swords locked in midair, and she saw the strain in Cross’s neck, the tendons bulging and the muscles of his arms stretching the leather of his armor.

Instinctively, Lena knew Cross had yet to face a creature such as this. Much less one that could sustain such devastating injuries and continue to attack. They appeared to be matched in strength, which was utterly confounding and terrifying. Deflecting the blow at last, Cross launched himself at the creature that had once been Vince. He moved like death, swift and sure footed, with a renewed sense of focus and a familiar fury. He had just sliced Vince’s throat open when he paused, weapon still raised.

A thick, black sludge slid from the gaping wound, slowly covering his neck and chest. Vince’s eyes went wholly black as claws shot out from his fingertips. Throwing his sword off to the side, he went down on all fours, vacating all pretense of being human. His skin turned a mottled grey, and his limbs, now elongated, morphed into something more animalistic.

He opened his maw again, and the skin in his face parted further, almost all the way to his ears, as he roared. The rest of his unit stopped just short of them and dismounted their horses. Their jerking movements and stiff limbs were now evident in the way they moved. The collective roar they emitted behind the creature that had once been Vince made her skin crawl, and the hairs stand on the back of her neck. One by one, they began to shudder and jerk, as they too descended onto all fours. Focused solely on Vince, she’d missed the faint auras of black that trailed the men that had accompanied him.

The horde descended upon Cross, a mass of open maws and elongated claws. Cross smiled, actually smiled, before he became a whirlwind of death. He decapitated one monster after another as they advanced. She realized that was what Cross had been waiting to see after he slit Vince’s throat and paused his assault. Lena felt ridiculous for thinking she had to warn him.

One moment his sword was unlit; the next it glowed brightly, the black-tipped, violet flames burning through flesh like a scalpel. He held his ground, decapitating creature after creature and wounding others until they pulled back. They seemed to sense their diminished odds and decided to regroup. The creatures did not flee though. Instead, they retreated slightly, making clicking noises. Communicating, Lena realized. They surrounded the soulbound before launching a more coordinated attack in pairs. Cross made quick work of the first ones, but then they attacked all at once, appearing to feign and then strike. One of the creatures landed a blow to his ribs, slicing the leather there. He winced in pain, whirling to take that one down. He decapitated it swiftly, but another rose in its place, its maw aiming for his head.

A blinding white light erupted before Lena, followed by a cloud of black smoke. Potions. White for light and black for attack. But after the smoke cleared, she realized the creatures were still alive, only stunned. Cross had managed to clear some space between himself and the creatures but not before receiving a couple other injuries. He was shifting his weight off one leg, and his sword arm hung limp at his side, and he’d clearly transferred the weapon to his other. The creatures began closing in, clicking loudly at each other as they approached. Using his injured arm, he lifted a small vial to his lips and threw it back, and then he raised his gauntlet and a cloud of red exploded at his feet. Lena halted her horse and waited. The wind struggled to clear the deadly red mist that lingered in the air, but once it did, she saw it worked. More of the creatures had fallen, but eight still remained. Lena lost sight of Vince in the melee but could sense him there, waiting for Cross to be injured enough to pounce. She would not give Vince the opportunity.

“VINCE!” she bellowed.

Vince’s head snapped up, homing in on Lena’s voice.

EverGods, he was terrifying.

Sinking onto his haunches, Vince leapt past the other monsters and then sprinted for her, four others breaking off the group to join him. He, it, they, were so fast.