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Claw marks mar the outside of the wall, their height impossible for any natural-born creature. A shiver runs up my spine when I take note of huge pawprints in the soft dirt at the base of the wall.
“They were here last night,” I say. “Trying to get in?”
“Yes.” A warrior with long, dark hair braided down his back says. He glances at Fort, who remains silent. “They wanted something inside.”
“They always want something inside,” a woman with black smeared beneath her eyes responds.
“But last night was different,” the man says. “And you know it was.”
She simply shrugs and keeps walking, leading the way with Fort and me in between the two rows of fighters.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, trying to keep my voice low.
“Fine,” he replies, though his tone is more clipped than normal. Knowing it’s likely because we’re out of the walls and headed into dangerous territory, I push it aside and focus only on what’s around us.
The forest is vibrant. Bright colors as far as the eye can see. Intense greens, luminous purples, reds, and oranges…it truly is breathtaking once you get past the creatures that lurk in the night.
“I always believed this place was a wasteland,” I say. “Unable to grow anything.”
“As I imagine the elves wanted,” the man says. “They likely didn’t want anyone to come looking for us.”
“It’s so horrible, to be abandoned by your people.”
“You have no idea,” the woman mutters. The others remain silent, even as we pass a pond that bubbles, steam rolling off of its surface, and pits of sand with a single, breathtaking flower in the center, they say nothing else.
And I ask no more questions.
Shadow walks just behind me, the sound of his hooves muted thanks to the soft grass. Having him just behind me and Fort to my left gives me a sense of security, but I know better than to let my guard down.
A sudden pain shoots up through my ankle. I look down, hissing through clenched teeth. My heart drops when I note the red tongue wrapped around me. “Fort!” I yell as my foot is ripped to the side and I go down—hard.
“Carleah!” he bellows, but I’m already out of view.
Branches and plants whip at my face. They rip my clothes, and I do my best to shield myself from the stings while I kick my feet, trying desperately to loosen the hold of whatever has me.
Adrenaline pulses through my system, fear racing right alongside it. “Fort!” I scream.
But I can no longer hear him.
I stop abruptly and kick at the tongue-like thing still attached to my ankle. But still, it doesn’t budge. The trees straight ahead begin to part, and the largest animal I have ever seen steps from them. Its snout is long and shaped like a tube, its eyes a beady black and far too small for its face, which is roughly the size of Shadow’s entire body.
It glares down at me, sharp, razor-like teeth bared in a snarl.
Dark grey fur matts against its skin, but it’s missing patches, as though something has ripped the hair straight from the creature’s flesh. I reach back for my sword, only to find it gone, and my heart plummets.
Slowly, I pull at my foot, but the more I tug, the closer it draws me in.
It’s toying with me, playing with its next meal…so I freeze and instead scan the area for anything I can use to fight back.
My gaze lands on a branch as thick as my fist. It’s not long, broken likely as I was pulled through, but it’s the best I’ve got. Slowly, I reach over. The moment my hand closes around it, the thing gets bored and rips me toward it.
I yell then raise the branch and slam it down on the tongue, but it does nothing. It draws me up, and I’m lifted from the ground, hot, putrid breath fanning over my face. My feet disappear into its mouth, and I scream, “Fort!” My thighs are wet by the time my waist goes inside. It’s going to eat me whole—and there’s no one here to stop it.
Thrashing, I fight with everything I have. “This is not how I die!” I yell, as if it will care. And by the time it pulls me into its mouth, I jam the branch between its upper and lower jaw then hang on with everything I have as it tugs at my leg.
Pain shoots up through my body, but I ignore it.
Everything I have gone through.
