Page 62 of Ravenrose

Our eyes meet, but I don’t dare speak. Instead, I mouth the words: Too quiet.

The man just stares blankly at me. All the while, the forest seems to close in around us. Not a breath of wind, no rustle in the trees, no insects. It feels unnatural… it feels… dangerous.

For a horrifying second, I think he doesn’t understand—doesn’t sense it, or can’t feel it—but then, something shifts in his gaze and his eyes turn toward the trees.

Tension spreads through his shoulders.

He feels it too.

One man sleeping by the fire stirs in his sleep, grumbling nonsensically before dragging himself to his feet. Still half-asleep, he stumbles beyond the edge of the clearing, disappearing into the woods.

Alarmed, I look between Ayer and the spot where I last saw the man, and in the silence, the trickle of liquid that follows is nearly deafening. My cheeks heat, while a smirk crosses the bastard captain’s face, taking with it some of the tension from his shoulders, as if he’s dismissed the threat.

My mouth tightens.

A moment later, that same soldier stumbles back out of the darkness, more awake than he was before, but when he looks toward Ayer, as if to greet his captain, he stills; only his eyes continue travelling north as his face goes pale.

Looking higher and higher, not at me, not at Ayer, but at something right behind us.

I don’t have time to turn before the roar slices through the night.

Ayer jumps to his feet, sword already in hand. The rest of his company awakens with a start as the monster—or whatever it is—releases yet another earth-shattering roar.

Gnarled branches or vines whip out over my head, wrapping around the nearest soldier, who only stares numbly back in horror before the vines rip him off his feet.

I scream, falling back, diving quickly to avoid being hit as the man’s body flies over me.

More vines lash out, slamming into men, taking out soldiers left and right.

Ayer ducks an incoming blow from a thicker branch by dropping hard to his stomach.

I scramble backward, taking cover behind one of the fallen logs. Only then do I look up. Just in time to see a tree emerging from the woods.

No—not a tree.

It only looks like a tree.

The creature steps out into the clearing, its body a twisted mass of wood and vines. Its gnarled limbs whip furiously about as the monster roars, tearing apart the camp and men alike with a fury unlike I’ve ever seen before.

And its eyes— Moons, its eyes. Hollow and glowing with an otherworldly light.

I gasp at the sight.

A scream sounds, and I tear my gaze away from the monster’s face. The scream came from the soldier in the tree creature’s grasp. Vines coil tightly around the man’s body as he continues to scream, begging for someone—anyone—to save him as the creature chokes the life out of him, thwarting any and all attempts by his friends to rescue him.

Arrows fly.

The men attack with swords, having some success splintering away pieces of bark from its body, though it doesn’t appear to deter the assault.

The creature roars with rage, stepping forward.

I duck down, covering my head as it takes a massive step over me, while sweeping a thick limb out, tossing the soldiers who’d struck it.

The scene playing out before my eyes is chaotic and intense.

Some soldiers defend against the creature’s blows with their shields, while others dodge, just narrowly escaping being crushed. Other soldiers, however, get ripped off their feet when vines wrap tightly around their ankles before dragging them screaming into the darkness of the trees.

The creature picks up another man, throwing him hard against a nearby tree. His screams cut off with a sickening crunch.