Page 65 of A Sunwoven Ascent

Evelyne groaned in frustration and glanced back. Heidara was already at Cillian’s side, blade drawn.

A familiar howl split the air. Kaldrek.

Holden’s grip released instantly. “Shift,” he ordered.

Evelyne did not hesitate. Bone cracked, heat surged, and fur rippled over her limbs in a rush. Then she was moving. A scream rose somewhere behind them, female and terrified, but she did not turn. Kaldrek was ahead. Her paws drove into the ground, mud kicking up beneath her as she ran, while vicious whispers slithered through the trees and coiled into her ears like smoke.

Noskari.

They were surrounded.

Holden skidded to an abrupt stop in front of her and Evelyne collided into his hind leg with a sharp yelp, her snout striking bone. Before she could demand an explanation, Kaldrek’s voice tore through the bond.

It’s a trap. Turn around. Help the others.

Where are you? she sent back, panic splintering her thoughts.

I’m fine. They drew me out on purpose. I’m coming back to you.

But her attention had already swung behind them, to her brother, to Alaric, to the elders and the young, some of them still in human form and screaming. Oh gods. She wheeled at once and tore back toward the pack with Holden at her side, her heart hammering against her ribs as rage and terror crashed together so violently it left her lungs burning. And as they drew closer, she saw it.

A dense knot of shadow, pulsing and writhing as though the dark had gathered itself into flesh. It moved like fog, but no true fog had ever held such purpose. It loomed larger than any cloud she had seen, hanging low over the ground like something poised to devour.

She cut left to circle around it, but the mass answered at once. It billowed outward into a wall with no fixed edge, only living seams of black that opened and closed, peeling apart only to knit themselves together again.

Then it hit her. It wrapped around her forelegs, cold and slick as oil-soaked vines, before creeping higher over her haunches and locking tight around her middle. The surface writhed and opened in places, and each split exposed something waiting underneath: black eyes without souls, mouths unfolding in narrow seams, needle-like teeth clicking together as though savoring her scent. She snarled and thrashed, trying to bite through it, but her jaws caught only shifting resistance, like trying to tear through smoke that had learned how to fight back.

The sound was unbearable, like thousands of layered voices speaking over one another and scraping across her mind. The shadows tightened and wound around her neck, her ribs, her hind legs, constricting like a living noose. Beside her, Holden whimpered—a raw, pained sound she had never heard from him before.

What is happening? she tried to send down the bond. Kaldrek, I—

The thread to him felt distant. Frayed. As though something clawed at the connection between them, thinning it, stretching it to breaking.

I’m coming! His voice reached her faintly.

Her lungs tightened. The Noskari shifted again, and one of the creatures pushed farther out from the writhing mass. Its gray face hovered near her forearm, its mouth opening. The stench of decay hit her full force—old blood, rot, and root, just like the creatures in the tunnels. Nausea rose hard in her throat.

Then its teeth sank into her.

Pain flashed white, and almost at once a terrible cold began to spread through her as it fed. Her blood streamed toward its narrow, hungry mouth, drawn in as the creature held tight. Her wolf form wavered. Fur receded. Bones cracked and slid back into place. She was human again, though she did not remember choosing it. Her body sagged in the tightening coils of shadow. Time warped. The world dimmed.

But the whispers only grew louder.

Her arm burned where the creature fed, warmth spilling from her body with every passing second. Her fingers had gone numb. Her heartbeat slowed to dull, heavy thuds. She was so tired. Too tired to keep fighting.

Then the bond stirred, faint but living, and Kaldrek’s fury broke through the dark.

Evelyne—

Her name reached her just as her vision began to blur. The Noskari’s jaws tightened one last time.

And Evelyne let her eyes close.

Chapter 31

Darkness pressed in from every side. It was not merely the absence of light, but something heavier, a suffocating weight wrapped tight around her. Cold had sunk deep into her bones and stayed there. The air was damp and stale, thick with the metallic tang of blood and the rusted bite of iron. Somewhere nearby, something groaned, low and wet and pained. Evelyne knew her eyes were open, yet she saw nothing at all.

A hard, pounding ache beat behind her temples, matching the frantic rhythm of her heart. Her mouth felt flayed dry, her tongue sticking painfully to the roof of it. Weariness dragged at her limbs, tempting her to stop fighting and let herself fall back into unconsciousness.