Page 64 of Synodic

The mass of white collapsed down on me like an avalanche, caving me under its immense weight as the hard ground rose up to meet me.

I expected the laith to lash out, but the body remained lifeless on top of me, seeping the air from my lungs one breath at a time. I tried to push the mammoth beast off, but my arm was bent at an awkward angle, and the laiths were heavier than they looked. I wasn’t budging.

The impaled creature reeked of blood, moss, and raw meat, and a warm sticky liquid pooled on me as its life-force drained from the wound by my hand. My stomach churned, and I wanted to vomit.

Trapped, I could do nothing but listen in terror as the fight continued on around me in deathly thuds and mortifying screeches.

Suddenly the tremendous pressure of the dead laith was lifted from my chest, and I held my breath as I waited to see what uncovered me.

To my immense relief, it was Rowen who hefted the creature off me and helped lift me to my feet. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his panicked face scanning my body for injuries.

“I’m alright,” I said as I did the same to him.

Satisfied that the blood I was covered in wasn’t my own, Rowen glanced at the dead mound beside me. “Well done. Now, aren’t you glad you had the blade?”

“Not the time,” I panted.

“Later then?” he asked, prying his ax from the neck of a dead laith, and I grimaced at the sickening squelch.

Takoda ran up beside us. “They should never have been here,” he said, looking grieved by all the still and bloodied bodies. “It is by no chance this pack happened upon us. We must leave.”

Before I could catch my breath and fully process what I’d just done, two more laiths came charging towards us, their green hair and red eyes the only slash of color in this bracken-grey forest.

With barely a moment’s reprieve, the chase for our blood ensued. Our lead, however, wasn’t as great, and one barreled right into Rowen, knocking him off his feet. I heard him grunt as they tangled and rolled across the ashen earth.

“Rowen!” I veered to the side and ran to him. Fear ripping at me like its own clawed beast.

The laith was on top of him, viciously snapping at his face. Rowen managed to keep its savage mouth at bay, holding it back by one of its antlers as it ferociously bit at him. The creature reared back its clawed arm, readying to slash Rowen to pieces.

I was too far away. I wouldn’t get to him in time.

Just before the deadly blow could land, Rowen swung his blade, gutting the laith’s torso wide open. Intestines poured out of the beast’s middle in gushing, bloody waves, and I gagged at the gruesome scene.

Rowen, doused in blood, rolled out from under the maimed figure and leaned over it in what looked to be an embrace.

What was he doing? Whispering a warrior’s death rite into its ear? We didn’t have time for that!

After what felt like several wasted seconds, Rowen finally shot up from the slain laith, panting, when more of the pack emerged from the trees.

How many were there? They just kept coming!

Three flanked mine and Rowen’s left as two others zeroed in on Takoda’s right.

They were driving a wedge between us, separating us farther and farther apart as we ran. I heard one of Takoda’s arrows whizz by, selflessly taking down the beast closest to me and not himself.

“Takoda!” Rowen yelled.

“Go! Keep her safe!” he shouted, disappearing through the trees, the laiths swiping dangerously at his back.

Panic rose in my throat now that we were separated from Takoda, but we could do nothing as we ran for our lives. My legs burned and my lungs squeezed, begging me to stop lest they give out of their own accord. I was a sprinter, not a long-distance runner, there was no way I could keep this up forever. And I soon realized I wouldn’t have to as our runway grew shorter before us.

Bracing myself for a hard stop, the ground dropped away into a steep cliff, and I teetered over the ledge before Rowen yanked me back against his hard wall of muscle. There was nowhere else to run, nowhere else to go, we were forced to the edge with no escape.

Two more laiths prowled toward us, joining their pack for the spoils of battle. Their jaws were unhinged, opened, and ready to feast. Our reflections shimmered in their feral eyes, the taste of victory already drooling from their tongues.

My pulse pounded in my ears, deafening me to everything but the countdown of my heartbeat. Our backs were towards the plummet and my heel slipped over the edge as we backed up farther.

The creatures did a slow, stalking dance toward us, and I realized it wasn’t the pounding of my heart I was hearing but the massive crashing of water down below.

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