Page 85 of Eldritch
“Maevyth, they’re getting closer!” Aleysia screamed at my back, her fingers digging into my tunic as she pressed herself against me.
Morsana! I’m begging you!
The distant sound of cawing hardly registered in my thoughts—not until the spiders skittered backward, and I looked up to see hundreds of black birds flying overhead.
My heart leapt in my chest, tears wavering in my eyes as the birds converged, and from their cluster, an enormous Corvugon soared over Aleysia and me.
Aleysia let out a gasp, falling to the ground, but I watched in awe as Raivox swooped down, landing beside us on a vibrating thud that sent a blast of snow into the air. With his enormouswings shielding us, he let out a roar that rattled inside my chest and shook the ground beneath my feet.
The smaller spiders scampered off.
The larger ones reared up, as if challenging him.
Raivox twisted around, as though taking stock of how many he’d have to fight off, those massive wings shifting like a dizzying black squall above us. He screamed again and a deep growl rumbled in his chest, erupting out of him as a silver flame shot through the air, engulfing the spiders in swirls of liquid metal.
My jaw nearly unhinged itself, as his flames struck fast and true, catching every spider before it had the chance to escape.
Their bodies froze in place, the look of agony permanently etched on the few that had human faces fused within the carapace, mouths agape as if they were screaming out for something.
I stared at one only a few meters from where we stood, watching a shadow flicker across its face, and from its mouth emerged a swirling mass of smoke-like blackness. It coalesced into a wraith-like creature that floated over the spider’s silvery carcass, which had become nothing more than a lifeless chunk of metal. Glowing eyes appeared from its shifting form, tracking our movements.
Raivox let out another blast of silver, but the strange creature dodged it, its movement fluid, like ink in water. It shot through the air toward me, and I clawed at Raivox’s enormous leg, desperate for escape. Sharp scales bit into my palms, my hands and feet sliding down the surface of the Corvugon’s skin.
Before the wraith could get close, Raivox hopped around and snapped it up into his beak, biting down with a surprising crunch.
It was only then I noticed Aleysia hadn’t spoken a word.
I spun around to see her lying in the snow, eyes shuttered. Thankfully, her chest moved. “Aleysia!”
She let out a quiet moan and slowly blinked her eyes open. Her body shot upright on a sharp breath, and the color drained from her face as her gaze trailed up. “M-M-Maevyth! It’s behind you!”
Raivox swung around to face her and let out a roar that sounded like a violent crack of thunder. My pulse hammered in my throat, and I leapt in front of her, laying across Aleysia’s body to protect her.
“No! She’s my sister!”
Raivox let out a deep, guttural chirp, flapping his wings as if in warning. I exhaled a trembling breath when his agitation settled.
Aleysia shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. “Maevyth?” Her tone carried a pitch of terror.
“It’s all right. He’s with me.”
“With you? How?”
“Remember that silly-looking egg I picked up a while back, and you told me not to bring it into our bedroom?”
“You’re…you’re telling me, th-th-that thing was in the egg?”
“Well, a smaller version, but yes.”
She shuddered a breath and wrapped her arms around herself. “M-M-Maevyth…I’m so cold.”
I looked down at my own worn and battered boots. My feet were so cold, I could hardly feel the tips of my toes. “C’mon, we need to find somewhere warm. Quickly.” I pushed to my feet and, in reaching out a hand, noticed a strange, glittery blackness, like that of Raivox’s scales, crawling from my fingertips, over the back of my hand to my wrist. Sharp metallic nails had sprouted over my own, their smooth surface engraved with swirls and symbols, looking identical to those on Raivox.
“What is it? What’s happening?” Aleysia asked, staring down at my hand.
“I don’t know.” I shook my arm to loosen it, but it wouldn’t come off, as if it had somehow fused with my skin like a delicate glove. Embedded in the scales appeared tiny, silver symbols that looked like glyphs. Long and skinny, vein-like fibers filled with molten silver weaved themselves over the black scales and gave a faint pulsing sensation across my hand, as if the glove were alive, somehow. Panic settled over me, and I shook my hand again. “It won’t come off! I can’t get it off!”
“Here, let me try.” Aleysia attempted to dig her fingers into one of the veins, but quickly retracted her hand on a yelp. “Ouch!” Blood trickled over her finger from a small cut at its tip.
