Worse, Brynn could sense the presence of at least three of the unnatural beings.One of them was much smaller than the Wulfwir, but one was far larger.Brynn shuddered to think how large.
While she hated the idea of being in an enclosed space with the monsters, if she couldn’t escape quickly, that meant that they couldn’t, either.
Brynn dared to venture still deeper into the burrow, her eyes adjusting to the near darkness.She imagined this place would be pitch black at night.The burrow was uneven and jagged, not yet worn smooth by use.Some places it was high enough she imagined the Wulfwir would be able to stand, but other places even she had to duck.The roots were gashed in places, like the creature had been forced to claw its way out of the earth by chewing through the roots of the tree.
A dripping sound came from ahead, the telltale signs of water.That river she had seen must run through here.Her heart pounded so loudly, she was sure the monsters would hear that before her footsteps.
Hróarr yelled from up ahead, a roar of pain.
Brynn held back a shudder, quickening her pace.She felt her way along the walls, using thekaof the earth around them and her awareness of the monsters.The three fiends were together.
Light came from up ahead and Brynn moved faster.
Hróarr cursed in Valdari.
Brynn came to a branch in the tunnels, but she could sense Hróarr toward the direction of the light, so she went that way.
She stumbled out into what appeared to be some manner of cave.The stone had been carved away by the river that rushed through the middle of the chamber, but roots still dominated most of the walls and ceiling.
Massive roots tangled on the ground, creating a knobbed and crooked surface.Bones scattered in every direction and Brynn had her answer as to what had been eating the sacrifices.
Brynn glimpsed the Wulfwir up ahead, its back to her.She was sure she could sense Hróarr, too.Climbing over the massive roots in her path, she tried to get closer.Maybe she could strike the Wulfwir from behind.
Guin snarled just as Brynn sensed something move at her back.She turned, drawingkainto herself in a rush.
Brynn turned, coming face to face with another creature, barely managing to hold in a scream.
It was a little girl—or was supposed to be.She could be no more than ten with black hair and a shift that had long since rotted into tattered rags.
Half her face, left arm, and upper chest had been seared away, leaving nothing but blackened flesh shriveled around the bone.No human child could have survived such a thing, much less been able to stand there, staring at Brynn with a single, red eye.
Half skeleton.The creature was not quite half, but Brynn had no other explanation.The she-troll.It couldn’t be, but then again, what else could it be?
The child monster opened its mouth to speak and the voice that came out was a rasp, a whisper, and a wheedle all at once.The words sounded Valdari, but they were off.Something about the inflection.
Guin was not having it.The little dog planted herself in front of Brynn, letting off a low growl.
Brynn leveled Hróarr’s sword at the child troll, keeping the Wulfwir in her line of sight.She backed away from the child, careful not to turn her back to either monster.
Guin had the good sense to retreat with her.
“Hróarr?”Brynn called.
The monsters already knew she was here.She might as well let Hróarr know, too.
Bemused cursing in Valdari came from the mercenary, then, “What are you doing here, you stupid bitch?”
“Hyldish,” the burned girl hissed, her voice coming out in a lisping rasp because of the flesh missing off half her jaw.“You are a Hyldish sorceress.Have you come to bargain with us?”
It was difficult to understand what the creature was saying with her strange voice, but somehow hearing the thing speak in words Brynn could understand only made this whole thing worse.
“There was one who bargained with us.”The burned girl hissed, clawing fingers at empty air.“Before he betrayed us and trapped us down here.”
“What are you?”Brynn felt her words belonged to a stranger, far steadier than she felt.
“A child of the moons.”The creature’s charred mouth curled in the ghastly approximation of a smile.“Like you.”
“Eponine?”Brynn didn’t know what this fiend was, but it wasn’t Istovari.
