Page 83 of Kingdoms of Night

He didn’t even want to bethisclose. “Something’s wrong. I can’t—”

The wind gusted loudly.

From beyond the stalactites lining the cavern’s mouth, a deep, rusty voice grumbled.

CHAPTERSEVEN

FERON

Feron stared into the cavern, scowling. Whatever it was sounded big.

The ground thudded, and the dark waters rippled out of the cave.

Hawthorn and Buttercup froze, their hackles lifting. Low snarls rose from their throats.

Idalno remained crouched on the boulder, but she glanced at him, her eyes wide.

There was no way he could’ve missed hearing signs of life. How was this possible?

And more importantly, what were the chances that whatever was coming was a harmless plant-eater?

A long jagged green muzzle poked from the cave’s entrance. Long black catfish-like whiskers trailed from oval nostrils. Long jagged teeth protruded from its blunt maw, their edges sharp enough to easily snap any of them in two. Tall, ragged antlers covered in something like moss protruded from its head on either side of a bulging green crest. That crest flushed darker green with each exhale and lightened with each inhale.

With each step, more and more of its neck emerged. Almost ten feet of neck appeared before the first set of legs came into sight.

Probably not harmless.

The beast halted, scenting the air.

“It’s the Lambton Wyrm, I think,” Idalno whispered.

Looked like it had returned, after all.

He kept his gaze fixed on the wyrm. This wasn’t what he’d expected, and yet it felt as if he had been called here to deal with it. A stupid thought. But the feeling refused to fade.

Very bad,Buttercup said.Very, very bad. It’s gotten bigger.

Hawthorn growled in agreement.No moves.

The wyrm slid further into sight, its long body sliding through the low waters, its scales sleek and shining in all but a few places. Its bulbous amber eyes scanned the area, not settling on any one thing.

All the snakes he’d dealt with hunted based on movement, at least partially. But with the way that creature’s long black tongue flicked out and its nostrils flared, scent probably helped it find prey, too. Especially as it kept sliding toward them.

“I’ve still got two thorn darts,” Idalno said. “I can aim for the eyes.”

“Will it work?” He didn’t take his eyes off the wyrm.

“I don’t know.”

Not very comforting. But the wyrm didn’t react to their noise, so maybe it couldn’t hear them. He’d glean what insight he could before engaging it.

A large gray crane with a red head landed on the hill overlooking the creature. It squawked and flung a beak full of pebbles at the wyrm.

Uh-oh, Hawthorn said.

Buttercup closed her eyes briefly.Stupid bird.

I think he was trying to help us,Hawthorn replied with a sniff.

---