Page 114 of Wraithwound

“Are you okay? What happened?” she asked as he flipped her over and once again covered her body with his.

Another blast of air swept over them. Lena reached for his face, and when it seemed intact, she slid her hands over his shoulders and onto his back through something wet and sticky.

“You’re hurt!” she exclaimed.

“But alive,” he replied, already pushing himself up. “If you’d like for me to stay that way, you have to stay down. I can’t keep track of you and that thing at the same time.”

“Okay.” She nodded.

It was so hard to stay put, especially knowing Cross was in danger, but he was a seasoned warrior. The best of them. She had to trust he was capable and would return. To her. The thought formed quickly before she could dismiss it. She focused instead on breathing through the heat and listening for his movements. The creature, whatever it was, shrieked again, the sound so loud that she curled onto her side and covered her ears. As she lay there, she felt tiny pricks scuttling across her neck, but the sensation seemed to register only after a small delay. When it finally sunk in, she sat up and reached toward her neck, grabbing where she’d last felt the unnerving sensation. What she felt sent her skin crawling.

A long, segmented insect was attached to her neck.

When she tried to pull it off, she was stung. The bite was excruciating. Lena tried again, pulling at it with her fingers, but as she did so, the insect felt bigger in her hand, like it was growing, ballooning somehow.

Another shriek sounded from above, accompanied by the sound of snapping branches and then a thunderous noise, like an entire tree being felled. At the deafening noise, Lena covered her ears once more, the ground trembling beneath her as she braced against the log. She hoped Cross was okay, but she also knew she needed to tend to the pressing matter that was the insect attached to her neck.

Her thoughts grew murky once more, the fog slowly rolling back in. But it wasn’t the heat this time. She’d been right when she’d thought she felt the insect ballooning; it was drinking her blood. Her nails extended at the thought, and Lena wasted no time, sinking them into her own skin beneath the insect, and ripped it off, taking some of her own flesh with it. Lena cried out as it came free but felt her head clearing. She crushed the insect in her palm, making sure to skewer it with her fingernails. Blood, likely her blood, spilled from her clenched hand.

“Why are you bleeding?” Cross asked, panting. He crouched down in front of her, placing her pack onto her lap.

“Are you okay?” she asked, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.

“Just a scratch. I’ve already managed to stem the— Why are you bleeding?”

She extended her palm and opened it. “Can you tell what this is? Or was?”

She knew it was unlikely he’d be able to provide any truly enlightening details, but any clue about the organism could help determine how to tend to the wound.

“Some sort of centipede, I think. Where did you find it?”

“It was feeding off me. Latched onto my neck,” she said, fighting a shiver of repulsion that threatened to break out across her body.

Cross placed his hand on her shoulder, the touch ever so gentle, and slowly pulled her forward to get a closer look. He smelled of cedar and leather, mixed with a hint of smoke.

He shuddered. “It doesn’t look too bad.”

“Did you just shudder?” she asked.

“I—uh, I have a thing about segmented insects,” he admitted.

But Lena didn’t have time to reply as Cross yanked her off the ground and started swatting at her legs.

“We have to move!” he shouted, pulling her by the hand.

But Lena’s legs wouldn’t work. She stumbled as she ran, struggling to keep up. He held her hand firmly and pulled her up the mountain, shouting commands as they ran.

“Low branches up ahead, duck!”

Lena did as he bade, ducking under the low branches where her hair was ripped out of her braid and stray twigs cut at her face. She willed her leaden legs to move.

“It’s the trees. They move and turn into the creatures we’re seeing,” he shouted as they ran.

Lena wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. Nevertheless, she followed, her breaths coming out in ragged pants. Blood dripped down her back, and her body ached with exhaustion.

“In a minute, I’m going to let go. Run straight ahead, thirty paces, and then stop. No further!”

“But—”