Page 104

For a moment it stilled, as soon as she looked away it started towards her again. Locking her eyes on the crackling body, she froze it in place once more.

She tore her eyes away from the creature, sprinting to a window, throwing furniture out of her way as she stumbled over icy patches in her desperation, another twisting vine snapped around her ankle. In a blur she was yanked across the hoar frost and deeper into the cottage’s waiting shadows.

Panic clawed at her chest, but she shoved it down, reaching desperately for something to hold onto to stop her descent into the darkness of the unknown.

She would not die here.

Twisting her body enough to face the creature; she stared at it, defiance burning in her gaze. It froze—only for a moment. But that was all she needed.

Along the back of her outfit, Peri felt a long dagger turn from fabric to metal, begging to be used. She reached over her shoulder and pulled it out, then she slammed her body onto one of the long legs nearby, stabbing her blade deep into one of its tendrils. A high-pitched screech filled the room, rattling the walls as she drove the dagger deeper.

She blinked and it tossed her across the room. Her body slammed into the wall. She lay there, limp and disoriented.

And then it clicked. She knew what it was now. A Morozjak. A monstrous arachnid-like plant that typically lived in deep underground caves—and were known to have an outer shell that was nearly impenetrable.

She’d correctly guessed that its joints were the only place a blade could wound it, but there was one other crucial weakness she remembered now—it could not move if directly looked at.

It was then, as the creature crawled towards her, that something dangling from a high limb caught the moonlight, glinting ominously in the dark. The Bite burnt again on her wrists once more.

The earring.

Her hands shook around the hilt of her dagger. She gripped it tighter, forcing herself to her feet. Yet before she could take a single step, ice slammed over her face, cold and crushing, swallowing her gasp.

It clung to her like a living thing. Panicked, she smashed the hilt of the dagger against it, but the ice only crept further, encasing her face. Her vision fractured. It moved over her nose, making it difficult to see or breathe. Over and over again, she rammed the hilt of her dagger into the ice to break it from her face.

A sharp pain pierced her neck, followed by flames spreading across her frostbitten skin. Agony spiralled through her. She clawed at her face, trying to extinguish the fire. She stumbled, realising her nails were digging into her soft skin. Something had melted the ice. Touching her neck, she felt blood dripping from tiny puncture wounds.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a slender, white snake slithering away.

Her face was swollen, sure, but at least now she was not actively dying.

With what adrenaline remained, Peri sprinted towards the creature. Spindly tendrils, frozen by her glance, were stuck reaching for her feet. She leapt over them, eyes burning from the strain of keeping them open.

Not blinking was nearly impossible. Frustrated, Peri screamed and slammed her eyes shut, spinning towards one of the creature’s limbs. Its rough arm coiled around her waist and jerked her into the air. Panic surged within her, but she kept her eyes tightly closed, sticking to her plan.

When the rancid breath of the Morozjak blew across her face, she wrenched her eyes open. She dug her dagger into the joint of the tendril holding her, driving into it with all her strength.

It dropped her immediately and she tumbled into the massive, open maw of the beast.

The darkness was rank and suffocating. The stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed her, but her hand gripped the dagger and plunged it into the back of its throat, slicing up with all the strength she had left. Then, she wrenched the mouth of the beast open and pulled herself free.

Her body crashed to the floor—the cottage pulsed with blood-curdling screams. Peri scrambled to her feet. In its pain, the creature no longer froze when her eyes fell upon it. Instead, it crawled steadily away from her. She lunged, clamping onto one of its flailing vines, hauling herself up and fighting to keep her grip.

The silver earring glimmered off to her right. She leapt, crashing into the limb it dangled from. The limb recoiled, slamming her into the wall. Still, she held on, moving ever so slowly towards the earring.

Peri stretched her hand out, her fingers trembling with strain. Cold metal brushed her fingertips. It was larger than she’d imagined, nearly the size of her head.

She yanked it free, clutching it tight to her chest.

Her heart thudded erratically—now she just needed to get the Hell out of here. She let go of the limb she was holding, falling clumsily to the ground.

In a daze, Peri stumbled towards the window, shoving the earring into her satchel. Maybe now the front door would open, but she had no idea how to get past the convulsing Morozjak to even try.

Instead, she grabbed a broken chair leg. She slammed the chair leg into the window. Nothing happened. Something inside her shattered then—a final, fragile thread snapping beneath the weight of everything she had endured.

She would not die here.

She realised she was sobbing now, screaming—hammering the leg into the window frame again and again until her arms shook from the effort.