Chapter Seven

Itook point, through the forest, my connection to the forest stronger than the others, even if Sasha refused to admit that.

They weren't able to navigate the same way that I could. They could feel the forest, they might even be able to feel exactly where they are in the forest, but they wouldn't be able to feel the creatures that live there. They wouldn't be able to guide our group around to avoid them.

I could.

If the creatures had a pulse and their feet connected with any part of the forest, I would be able to avoid them without an issue.

I followed the webs of roots along the forest floor within my mind, my wolf prancing along their paths as he sniffed the forest through my mind's eye. There were herds of centaurs hidden among the trees, a hunting party, it appeared. I watched through the link of the forest as they tracked their prey and moved further from the path we walked.

"We're almost out of the forest," I told the others.

"You said that before," Sasha growled.

"Yes, well, when the forest beyond us is still constantly shifting and changing, the distance can vary," I calmly explained.

"I thought these wards protected us from that," she continued.

I nodded. "They do. The forest we walk isn't changing. We aren't falling off of this path, but beyond the ward's reach, the forest is moving. It is constantly shifting to try to keep us here. Luckily, the wards negate the shift within it, so the path is always under our feet. So long as we keep up like this, we will make it out of here soon."

I looked back at her and could see her annoyance at my words. I could also see her eyes ripping away from me as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.

A smirk pulled at my lips. I turned back to face forward, then stopped short. A creature as black as night stared back at me with blood-red eyes. I couldn't pinpoint the creature in the roots. I hadn't felt it come near us to avoid it.

The creature's lips twisted into a grin; sharp fangs revealed within the gut dropping expression. I had no words for what I was looking at. I had no idea as to what dangers this creature may pose, but still my blood ran cold.

The others noticed the creature as well, its body multiplying before our eyes with childlike laughter filling the air.

"What is that?" Aurora asked, her eyes wide as she pressed closer to Baer out of fear.

"I have no idea," I admitted. I pulled on my father's powers to try and find the tether between myself and the creature, but nothing was there.

I strained my ears to listen for a heartbeat, but all I could hear was the breeze through the trees.

Its shape morphed and shifted more, a near army of clones grinning back at us like we were its favorite meal. I moved instinctively closer to Sasha, my claws growing out as I flexed my hands at my side.

I looked over at Sasha, her eyes widened and glazed over as if she were in a trance. Or as if she were having a vision.

"Shit," I growled under my breath, my arm wrapping around her waist to move her if need be.

She came back then, a gasp leaving her lips as she felt my hand touch her.

"Did you have a vision?" I asked, my eyes never leaving the strange shadowy creatures as they began to circle around us.

"No," she choked out, her hand pushing against my arm to break free of my hold. "No. I don't know what happened."

She looked pale as I looked back at her. The color of her eyes even dimmed as she stared in fear at the creatures that moved closer.

"Blood Wisps," she whispered.

My own eyes widened at the words, my gaze taking in the full magnitude of what we were staring at now.

I had heard of wisps. I had heard tales of both good and bad of the spirit creatures that could lead a person to their destiny or to their death. I had never, however, heard them classified as Sasha called them.

I had also never heard of any of the wisps in tales being black shadows with crimson eyes.

"You have to aim for their heads!" she yelled out just as the creatures advanced on us. "Between the eyes!"

As much as I wanted to question her on how she could know that, I didn't have time. The creatures moved fast as one, passing the barrier of the wards with ease.

I could feel my blood pulled beneath my skin. My veins puckered and pulled as if my very blood was trying to escape my body. Bruises began to form along my arms, growing redder as the blood threatened to break the surface.

My wolf helped take control, our hold on Sasha's waist never breaking as we moved quickly with precision attacks. We followed her advice, shouting it out to Baer and Aurora as they became overwhelmed by the creatures, floating orbs of blood pulled from their skin and sucked into the floating creatures.

I understood then why Sasha had called them blood wisps.

My claw stabbed into the center of a wisp's head, right between the eyes, as Sasha had told me to do. I watched as the creature froze, its grin falling as its eyes began to dim until their form began to disintegrate to nothing.

I looked down at Sasha, still in my arms, with a look of confusion and fear in her eyes. She stared at the space that the creature had been moments before, and I couldn't help but wonder how she could know.

My family had studied everything we could in the Forgotten Forest. We had lists of creatures to expect in the realm. Creatures that were found in myths and tales passed down through both human and supernatural circles.

I knew that there were dragons, a phoenix, centaurs, and sprites. I had read every book and reread every tale I could and studied the different regions' beliefs on each creature. But I had never come across anything about wisps who stole the blood from its victims. And certainly nothing on how to effectively kill such creatures.

So how did she know?

"Aim for their heads, between the eyes!" I called out to Baer and Aurora.

They both looked over at me, then nodded. I watched as Baer took out the next wisp, its body disappearing with a haunting scream.

Sasha gasped in my arms; my attention turned back to her as a wisp latched to her chest. I punched my arm through its head, the creature letting out a hiss as he released her and turned his attention to me. I growled when he didn't disappear, solidifying the exact aim needed to kill these strange creatures.

"Fuck," I growled as the creature turned his blood red gaze on me.

That same pull along my veins returned, the bruising on my arms darkening before orbs of blood floated in the air towards the wisp. I could feel tears along my cheeks, though I knew I wasn't crying. More blood filled the air around us and my head began to grow light as my vision blurred.

My wolf let out a deep howl, my clawed hand lashing out on his command and piercing the wisp directly through his forehead between the eyes.

I felt my knees buckle underneath my weight, both Sasha and me falling to the ground as my body gave out.

She stared back at me in horror, the wisps around us all disappearing as Baer and Aurora finished off the last of them and rushed to our sides.

"We have to go," Aurora called out. She pulled Sasha to her feet as Baer grabbed me and threw my weight over his shoulder.

The four of us ran, my connection to the forest gone with my strength from the loss of blood. I tried to find my grounding, to help lead us out of the dangers of the forest, but I couldn't regain my strength. Not fast enough, anyway.

"Don't worry, Fairchild," Baer whispered to me. "We got this. Just hang on, we can see the forest's edge. We're almost out."

I nodded weakly as my feet dragged along the ground, his strength keeping us both up while the girls ran ahead towards a bright light. The edge of the forest was in view, and as I turned to look along the trees around us, I could see the tethers of creatures coming nearer.

"You have to hurry," I gasped out. "The creatures, I don't know what they are, but they're coming this way. They sense. The ward is severed."

"Don't worry about any of that, man," Baer assured me. "You just hang on. Once we get out of this forest, we'll get some meat in you, and you will be back to full strength. Just worry about staying awake right now."

I nodded at his words, though the world around me was fading out. All I could see was a bright light growing closer. The strands of colored tethers and the creatures they belonged to were being washed out by the bright light.

My body grew heavier with every stride that Baer made, and voices that I couldn't quite place called out to me to just stay awake. To not give up.

A singular voice threatened me. The sound choked as she begged me not to give in. That she would hunt me down in the afterlife if I didn't make it through this.

I held onto that voice. Even as the light began to darken in my view, I held onto the voice that threatened my afterlife if I gave up on my life. There was just something so calming about it, I couldn't quite place it.

‘She is all that matters,'my wolf said, his voice as groggy as I felt. ‘We will not leave her. She needs us more than ever before.'

I felt myself agreeing with him, but I couldn't quite understand why.

‘She needs us more than she knows,'he added, his eyes drifting closed as he faded into the back of my mind. ‘Protect our mate.'

I gasped, my lungs burning as they filled with air, as if they had been emptied before. I could feel pain in my chest, my ribs somehow broken. I could feel them healing now, slower than I'd like. The pain still evident.

As I opened my eyes, Baer leaned over me, his mouth inches from mine and eyes locked on my chest.

"What the hell?" I coughed.

His gaze turned to me, relief in his eyes as the sound of sobs came from behind him.

"He's awake! He's okay!" Baer called over to the other two.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, my head throbbing as I tried to shield my eyes from the sudden bright sun when Baer moved away.

"You lost a lot of blood with that last wisp. You even stopped breathing for a minute there. I thought we lost you."

I frowned, groaning as I sat up, the pain in my ribs sending shocks through my nerves. "That doesn't explain why my ribs are broken."

"My bad," Baer said. "I guess I pressed too hard in the chest compressions. But hey, good thing you have a wolf to heal you."

He patted me hard on my back. I winced from the impact as my body jolted forward and my ribs screamed.

Everything slowly came back to me then. The wisps. Their name. How to kill them. And how we knew how to kill them.

I looked over at Sasha, her eyes puffy and red, a scowl on her face as she attempted to hide the fear and relief in her eyes, but all I could do was wonder.

How did she know?