Page 32 of The Void

“Yeah.”

“Maybe she can’t talk to you in the city?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon. We’re about to cross the wall,” she pointed out.

The moment they were over the water, Mia gasped and her hold on him tightened.

“Are you okay?” he asked, thinking about turning around.

“Yes,” she said, relaxing slightly. “You were right. Feng is talking to me again. She is upset and wants us to go back to the city.”

“Do you want to go back?” he asked.

Mia was silent for a moment. “No.” She waved her hand and suddenly he couldn’t see his arms and hands in front of him. “I want to see what we’re up against and why she sounds afraid for me to see what’s out there. We’re going to keep going,” she said firmly. “Let’s go.”

Without hesitating, he took off towards the firelight.

Chapter Nine

Mia held on to Lucas tighter while they flew quickly through the chilly night air. She wanted to lean back and enjoy the ride, but Feng was pretty much screaming in her head to return to the safety of the city.

“Leave us alone,” she called out finally.

“Is she still bothering you?” Lucas asked over his shoulder.

“Yes. I don’t want to talk to her right now. After we find out what we’re up against, I’ll listen to her.”

“You’d better start listening now,” Feng hissed directly in her ear, causing Mia to jerk slightly.

Still, Mia didn’t respond. Instead, she scanned the hillside as they drew closer to where the fires littered the hillside.

“I’d suggest we not talk from here on out,” Lucas suggested softly. “Some creatures have highly sensitive hearing. They may not be able to see us, but that doesn’t mean we should let them hear us.”

“Right.” She nodded.

“Mia, tell your companion to turn around,” Feng said, sounding a little more urgent.

Mia shook her head and held onto Lucas a little tighter. They stopped and hovered about half a mile over the first fire and saw dark shadows moving around just outside of the low firelight. It was as if there was someone there, but they just couldn’t make out their forms.

Lucas motioned and she felt him turn towards the next fire. This time they both saw it. There, standing close to the flames, directly in the glow of the firelight, was a shadowy figure.

Darkness. It appeared to be made of smoke. It had long clawed legs and arms, which dug into the dirt as it consumed a creature that appeared to be a deer.

The sounds of the beast eating—bones crunching, hide ripping, and blood oozing—made Mia wince.

Lucas turned and moved towards another fire.

More creatures of smoke and sharp claws. Some ate small animals while others just walked around or stood still as if they were asleep upright.

Lucas turned again, and they followed the line of fires high up into the hills. Each fire had more than six creatures gathered around it. Who knew how many more were waiting or hiding in the darkness and shadows.

They had just reached the highest fire when Lucas turned as if to head back towards the city.

She stopped him by tapping his shoulder after seeing movement at the last fire. Real movement. Not a smoke creature. A human figure.

Lucas stopped and she reached up to nudge his head to where she’d noticed a figure dressed in all black.

Lucas shifted, moving them slightly closer.