Chapter 19

A t dawn, Rune and I packed and continued our journey east. Arcturas, having slept soundly through the night, now zoomed up and down the road as we trudged on, every once in a while returning with a stick for Rune to toss.

"She's so happy out here." Rune smiled, watching my wolf sprint back and forth across the trail.

"She'd been cooped up in the tavern for far too long. She can finally stretch her legs and feel the fresh breeze on her face," I said, feeling tendrils of cool, morning air lick across my cheeks.

"Being out here suits you, too." He gazed at me with those sparkling, cherry wood eyes.

I found myself lost in those eyes, swimming in them, warm and cool at the same time. Dreaming, but awake. Images of last night rushed through me, pooling in my stomach. My cheeks burned as I remembered the feel of his hands against my skin.

"I feel more myself when I'm not confined in one place," I said, clearing my throat.

"You and I are similar in that way," Rune said, trailing off as he drifted away, into his thoughts. I wondered where his day dreams took him, what shadows lurked in his mind, what light banished them away. His brow softened with a hint of sadness as we carried on down the road.

With each passing mile, the landscape became more overgrown, more unkempt. Underbrush crept into the roadway, thickening into dense patches of thistles.

We struggled through the nearly impenetrable clusters of thorny growth where small magenta blooms poked between razor-edged spikes, sharp enough to pierce skin with the lightest of touch. It was as if the wild greenery of eternal spring swallowed up the cobblestone road, its weeds invading the cracks between laid rock.

Arcturas stayed close, uneasy and wary of the shadows that loomed beneath the brush. A deep dread fell over us as the high afternoon sun beamed down upon the feral vegetation obstructing our path.

Wide, bulbous tendrils of roots coiled into a blockade towering before us almost 20 feet in height. Arcturas, sniffing at the slithering vines, yipped when a thick branch gave out and slammed to the ground just in front of her nose.

"Well, this makes things difficult," Rune said, running his hand across a vine.

The root system extended in either direction, fading into the blackness of the forest.

"We could climb it," I suggested, tugging on a loosened vine. It snapped beneath my weight, flopping limply to the ground. "Or maybe we don't climb."

Rune scanned the massive wall, looking for an opening to crawl our way through. The sun beat down harshly on our backs as I wiped a bead of anxious sweat from the nape of my neck. My skin crawled as if there were thousands of eyes searing through my flesh.

The air was thick with the perfume of malice. We needed to keep moving and find a solution to this impasse as quickly as possible. I didn't want to stick around too long to find out what lurked in these woods.

"I think if we squeezed and cut a few of these smaller vines away, we might get through here." Rune motioned towards a narrow burrow. "There's light on the other side. It looks like it goes all the way through."

Growing antsy and impatient to press on, I unclasped my pack. Unsheathing the dagger from my thigh, I began clearing away the jagged vines. The edge of the blade was sharp enough to slash the smaller vines in one clean slice, but some with armor-like bark, I had to saw back and forth until the incision was deep enough to snap the root entirely.

Arcturas scurried through behind me withRune gingerly crawling after her, careful not to pinch her tail. The burrow felt like it extended for miles, and after what felt like hours of writhing through vines, the opening of the tunnel came into view. Reaching my hand in front of me, I shifted my weight and slid my knees forward. Something groaned above us as soil and dust particles sprinkled from above us.

"What was that?" Rune whispered.

Arcturas growled deeply in her throat and bared her teeth. I stretched my neck to see behind us as best I could.

The tunnel was too narrow to turn around. We exposed our backs to any threat that snuck in after us. Another groan came from above. More debris fell from the tangle of vines. Rotating my shoulder up, I unsheathed my dagger, knuckles white against my grip around its hilt.

"I don't know, but let's keep moving."

We squirmed towards the tunnel's exit, picking up our pace to close the distance as fast as possible. Another groan, this time louder. The vines above us seemed to wriggle and writhe like a knot of snakes.

We needed to get out of here.

Now.

I crawled faster, Arcturas restlessly nipping at my ankles behind me. The sound of Rune's breathing quickened as he kept my pace and raced for the exit. My blood curdled when a shadow passed across the light of the tunnel's exit. I held up my hand for us to stop.

"There's something out there," I whispered. "We need to be careful."

A vine snapped behind us and my heart stopped.

"Elpis," Rune's whisper was now only a tremor, "there's something in here, too."

We took off down the tunnel, crawling frantically toward the exit. Panting and sweating, I struggled through the narrow opening into harsh sunlight. My eyes watered from the contrast of the burrow's darkness.

Arcturas shimmied through and shook the dust off her pelt. Seconds passed. Then a minute. Rune hadn't yet appeared. There was a crack from within. Then a low, menacing groan.

Rune's scream was a blow that nearly knocked me to my knees. Fuck.

Without a second thought, I dove back into the darkness, darting through the narrow passage. Thorns pierced my skin and nicked scrapes across my arms. Rune continued screaming, his voice echoing through the tunnel, drowning out all the other sounds.

Blood pumped through my ears and I grasped at the earth in front of me, flinging mud and gravel everywhere as I continued to crawl. Time seemed to stop when his screams cut off, a deafening silence rushing between the serpentine vines. I picked up my pace, throwing myself forward with bleeding arms and tangles of thorns trapped in escaped strands of hair.

Finally, his limp body came into view and I scrambled toward him, only to stop dead in my tracks when a pair of crimson eyes blinked out of the shadows in front of us. I'd seen those eyes before. Meeting their gaze, I felt as if every organ inside my body froze. I gripped my dagger tighter as I slowly crawled closer to Rune.

Relief spread through me with the reassuring rise and fall of his chest. With the tip of the dagger pointed toward the invisible beast, I curled my fingers around his limp wrist and began pulling him backwards down the tunnel. Never breaking contact with those ruby eyes glowing through darkness. At any hint of an attack, I was ready to throw myself over Rune and slit the throat attached to those deadly eyes.

The creature, however, blinked and receded into the shadows. I dragged Rune, still unconscious, through mud and dirt as we finally made it to the exit.

Stepping into the sunlight, mud caked on both of my knees and elbows, I breathed deeply. Rune stirred softly, wiping the dirt from his eyes. Arcturas's fur straightened down her spine, sensing that we weren't alone.

"Rune, I need you to roll behind those rocks and stay quiet," I said through gritted teeth.

My hands shook and I forced them still as I scanned our surroundings. Trees, flourishing and green, whispered with a gentle breeze. It was too quiet. Not a single chickadee chirped. Not a single field mouse squeaked across the forest floor. My toes curled in my boot, ready for an ambush.

Rune struggled to the boulder, gasping and wheezing as he tucked himself into its shadow. A blood stain across his tunic grew. I needed to tend to his wounds. A twig cracked to our left and a flock of birds flurried into the sky. I couldn't do that, however, if we were both dead.

Without hesitation, Arcturas shot into the trees, darting between roots and boulders. I sprung forward, following behind her. The muscles in my calves strained as I pushed faster to keep the wolf in sight.

Blood pounded in my ears and my vision tunneled. Arcturas growled and roared as she tore through the flesh of our unseen enemy. I skidded to a halt, watching the creature howl in agony as Arcturas ripped at its neck, thick black ooze spewing from the open artery. My skin pricked behind me. Just as another leapt for my back I ducked to the ground, rolling away from its yellow claws.

The creature landed inches from my face and straightened its spine to stand on two hairless, dirty feet. Its toenails, vile with green fungus, curled around the front of each toe. The creature hunched down to face me, cracking its skeletal fingers. Its leathery body, humanoid and hairless, wrinkled beneath the movement. Instead of eyelids, the creature's four emerald eyes protruded from its face like an arachnid. There were two small slits where its nose should be.

It pounced once more, and I raised my forearms to block the rows of needle-like teeth snapping at my skin. Hot, floral scented breath licked across my cheeks. With all of my strength, I pushed the creature away. It flung backward, as if weightless, and slammed into a large tree across from us. I jumped to my feet. Before it could lurch for me once again, I flung the hilt of my dagger toward it.

The blade spun and hurtled through the air. Seconds drew by until my aim struck true, plunging through the creature's eye, pinning it against a tree trunk. It shrieked in fury, frantically clawing at its now gushing face.

Arcturas, having torn the other creature to shreds, pounced and tore the sagging flesh from its chest. With her muzzle soaked in black sludge, she ripped at its insides, letting its organs hang limply from its frame as the life faded from its gelatinous eyes.

My head spun and a cold sweat washed over me as I watched blood spurt from the carcass now splayed across the forest floor. In its cold, white knuckles, was a strand of long black hair and a scrap of dirty grey cotton. They had been tracking us, using my scent to follow our route. Blood sprayed across the undergrowth, and a foul sweet scent burned my nostrils like wilting flowers. Falling to my knees I released the contents of my stomach, heaving violently and spitting up bile profusely. Arcturas nuzzled against my face, smudging blood across my cheek.

Staggering back to my feet, we made our way back to Rune who had straightened himself against the boulder.

"What happened?" His eyes grew wide at the muddy flesh caked up my arms.

"There were trackers, some sort of hairless creatures with buggy green eyes. They had a scrap of my clothes and a few strands of my hair." I kneeled next to him, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Are you okay?"

I pulled off his bloodied tunic, but there were no gashes or wounds. Only smooth, tanned skin.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I must've passed out when that thing dragged me back through that burrow," he said, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"Who's blood is that?" I asked, pointing to the discarded tunic.

"It all happened so fast, but I must've wounded whatever had grabbed me. Those creatures you're describing, they sound like Arachnae. They're beasts of the Eastern Realm. Once they're summoned and introduced to a smell, they'll relentlessly stalk their prey. Do you think someone in Venia summoned them to find you?"

"Maybe. By now, I'm sure the Elders have gotten wind of my escape." My stomach knotted at the thought of those ancient men in their high thrones.

"Well, they normally travel in pairs. So, I think we're safe. Let's just pray to the Gods that they don't send more after you." I helped Rune to his feet, using my shoulder for support.

"The thing that pulled you into the burrow," I said, kicking a pebble across the path, "I think I've seen it before."

"What do you mean? It's attacked you before?" Rune asked, watching the round, grey stone scatter down the sloping trail.

"Well, not in real life," I said. "I've seen it in my dreams, I think. At first, I thought they were just nightmares, but now I'm thinking they're premonitions."

"With everything else going on, that wouldn't surprise me," he said.

"I know. That's what worries me. These dreams, they…" I trailed off, my stomach lurching at the stench of rotten flesh. "They terrify me. At the end of each one, I end up dead."

"Well, that thing didn't kill you." Rune reached for my hand. His skin was warm against the cold sweat of my palms. "It went after me and it sounds like it let you go."

"I guess you're right. Still, something about those red eyes. I can't shake them." I shuddered. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves overhead, scattering gems of afternoon sunlight across the cobblestone.

"We're safe for now. Let's just focus on getting to the city. Once we're there, nothing can touch us. Not even your dreams." Rune smiled and continued down the road.

At every snapping twig or rustle of leaves, my fingers, still wrapped tightly around my weapon, twitched. He was right, we were safe for now. Dwelling on nightmares wouldn't do me any good, I thought, but the feeling of unease only grew as we carried on .