“Come nought. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he barks.
I hike one step back and stumble.
“Princess…” he says slowly, eyes cautious as he prowls forward. A predator to his petrified prey.
My heart lurches, and the daemon expels, cracking the bark of a nearby tree. He jolts, jerking his head in the direction of the tree. I eventually remember how to work my legs and bolt. I don’t make it five paces before his arms latch around me. I can only huff out a strangled cry with the throb of the daemon pounding in my blood and whooshing in my ears. He tosses me over his shoulder.
“Calm down,” he demands. “You’re fine, but we need to get out of here because the noise will call others.” He’s back at the horse in no time, hoisting me onto the saddle. I gasp in a breath. It’s more like a wheeze, barely able to suck in air through my swelling throat. He’s behind me then, hands on my face.
“You’re okay. You have to breathe,” he commands.
“Dn’t,” I choke, feebly pushing his hands away from my face. The daemon barrels, like flashes of lightning stealing what little air I have. I try to suck in another breath. It gets lodged there with another choking wheeze. He dips a hand under my chin.
“Sleep.”
There’s a throb from his fingers that ignites one last pulse of panic before my body obeys his command and sinks into the black.
Her body goes limpin my hands, and I lay her back against my chest, relieved when her breaths turn slow and even. A significant improvement to the horrifying choking sound she was making seconds before.
I wrap one arm around her to keep her steady as I grab the reins with my other hand and urge Epona to full speed, knowing the sounds of the mylings' cries will bring other much more monstrous creatures than the mylings themselves.
This is precisely what I was trying to avoid. I knew she wouldn’t react well to the things out here after living in the safety behind the Wall her entire life, yet I didn’t know she would react quite likethis.
The mylingsareterrifying to see in person. I’m surprised she hadn’t tried to run even sooner. Her head starts to loll forward. She’s probably going to wake up with a kink in her neck. I turn my head sharply to the side. Not my problem. What am I supposed to do? Hold her head up the entire way? I am the one that forced her to sleep…
Gods fucking damn it. I place a palm under her jaw to straighten her with a low growl.I want to hate her. It’s not easy with her body, warm and small and nestled against me. The heat of her skin emanating into my palm. Cute and curious, highly suspicious. Maybe a bit of an over-reactor. Or a lot of an over-reactor.
She might be fully grown, but she’s still like a child in both her innocence and ignorance of the world. I feel this strange obligation to protect that innocence. Keep it whole. That’s what really grates on me. I didn’t want this responsibility shirked on me. Dropped in my lap like a new fucking puppy. A pet. I snort.
I barely have time to take care of myself with what Morin puts on my plate. How in the hell am I going to take care of a whole other person? I already know she’s going to be asking too many questions, giving me grief, and making me feel… bad for her. She’s already fucking making me feel bad for her. The worst part is she’spretty. And pretty girls have ways of making me bend to them.
Thankfully, she stays asleep for a good portion of the trip. The scenery changes as we emerge into the Shadow Wood, and I pray she continues to sleep. She had gotten so spooked by the mylings she tried to run. Mistakes like that are a huge liability to both of us, especially with the things that lurk inthisplace.
The unmistakable howl of a shadow wolf jolts me from my thoughts.Shit.That’s the last thing I want to run into with her with me. Every muscle in my body tightens. Shadow wolves have impeccable hearing. If I force Epona into a gallop, I’ll likely lure them into a chase. If we can remain unnoticed while they pass by, that’s our best option.
I slow Epona to a still and draw the symbols to throw a few wards around us, but something about my magic feels…off. The wards aren’t taking. My magic isn’t cooperating. It’s the same as earlier when I’d tried to stop her from running. It’s almost as if I’m close to overexertion, and I am tired after clomping around with Morin and her Masks for the last few weeks, however I shouldn’t be anywhere close to depletion. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought. Or becoming even more dependent on the ichor than I realized.
Moving carefully so as not to wake the nought, I grope at the pockets of my cloak, searching for the vial. Closing around it, I pull it from my cloak, uncork it with my teeth, tug up my sleeve, and jump as the sound of a shadow wolf calls closer this time. I fumble the vial—and drop it.
It lands on the ground with a dull thud, inky black liquid streaming across the leaves.Fuck.That’s all the ichor I have left, and I can’t even retrieve what’s left of it without waking the nought. Another howl. Closer this time. Too fucking close.
As if on cue, the nought begins to stir with a soft moan. I clamp a hand over her mouth. It’s the wrong move. She jerks frantically, trying to escape me with a muffled wail.
I lean forward to whisper in her ear. “Shh. Don’t panic. But I need you to be quiet right now because it’s not safe.” That gets her to still, her body tense against mine. I really need that ichor.
“I’m going to let you go now, but you can’t make any noise.” A long moment passes before she nods against my palm. Another shadow wolf calls. Further away this time, and I blow out a breath. Maybe we’re going to get out of this after all. And then…she starts to cry. That first shudder of her chest, and I already know—we’re fucked. I mutter a curse under my breath.
Still seeking to extinguish the fire, I draw her back to me and clamp my hand over her mouth again, her tears wetting my fingers. “You can cry later,” I whisper, trying my damnedest to sound gentle despite the irritation boiling under the surface. “But. Not. Right. Now.” I squeeze her tighter under my hand in an attempt to make her understand the urgency of the situation. “You have to stay silent,” I whisper.
Not even two seconds after she makes this awful, careening, squeaking wail like her chest is being ripped into two. Welp, that’s enough to do it.
There’sonehowl. I snatch my head in the direction of the sound.Twohowls. This time, in the opposite direction.Three.Four. I lose track of them as the sound of scurrying nears us, and the howls are overtaken by snarling. The trees around us darken until we’re completely eclipsed by shadows. There’s only a few feet of visibility left of the path in front of us and behind us.
Within seconds, they’re prowling toward us, bringing the shadows with them so you can barely make out the outline of their hunched backs and muscled forelegs. Only their eyes, red as blood, are visible, emitting a lurid glow. That’s what finally gets her to stop crying. Now she has a reason to cry. I don’t move, barely even breathing as the one in the front paws into the clearing and comes to a still.
I keep my hand pressed tightly over her mouth in a silent warning not to speak. “Don’t. Move,” I whisper.
My body tenses as the one in the front takes another step forward with a low snarl. There’s only four of them. Probably more to follow. They usually travel in packs of no less than nine. I wait for them to make the first move.
