Page 12 of Imbalance
And that was how I ended up curled on my side between Finias and Damien, their body heat making me almost instantly fall into a drowsy lull. I wasn't completely asleep, but my body was at rest, and the cold hardness of the ground beneath me felt almost good on my muscles.
Once again, I could feel that weird sensation of something reaching out to me, but it was just beyond my grasp. Impossible to hold onto...Possibly a figment of my imagination?
All too soon, someone was brushing hair away from my face, and I was blinking open my eyes to find Drayven crouching next to me. "Come on, Princess. We are heading out."
"Don't you guys need to sleep?" I mumbled, hearing a boom of thunder that had me wondering just how bad the storm was outside our little shelter.
"Already did, we took turns but let you sleep the entire time," he explained as I sat up fully, looking around to find the others were prepared to leave. I mumbled a “thanks”, annoyed that they hadn't woken me up, but also thankful because I had clearly needed the rest. Although, the fact that it hadn't been deep sleep left me feeling a bit off.
Colt kicked some dirt over the fire to extinguish it, then we were on our way once again, heading north as Adrien had suggested. About ten minutes into our walk, I got a weird sensation and a prickle on the back of my neck that had me looking around in confusion.
"Does anyone else feel that?" I asked quietly and on edge.
Adrien made a sound of agreement as he looked around, pausing in his steps and causing Drayven to jerk to a stop and look at both of us. Colt was searching the treetops above us, and Damien's head was tilted as if he was listening. Nico's hand slid against my back in a protective gesture that had me stilling with surprise before melting into it, not minding the contact in the least.
"Fin?" I looked around in confusion as I realized the man was gone.
Everything, outside of the sound of the storm, seemed eerily quiet. I broke away from the men and looked around, noticing an odd shadow drifting between the trees to the left of us.What the hell?I stepped back and nearly jumped out of my skin when Finias suddenly appeared behind me, covering my mouth with his hand.
The shadow moved closer and seemed to grow in size, the coolness of the air turning downright icy, and the trees creaked against a savage wind that whipped through.
It felt menacing.
"We need to go now," Finias suggested. "I have no idea what that is, but it isn't good."
If our resident assassin was saying that, it couldn’t be good.
Stepping back further, our entire group shifted as I felt Adrien's shadows circle around us protectively, his power seeming to spike dangerously as if it was reacting to the threat.
The shadow froze when the sound of a branch cracking under someone's foot echoed through space.
Fuck.
"Run!" I yelled, turning and sprinting as the sound of a roar filled the air behind us. We couldn’t face this creature in the forest like this. Not only was it obviously comfortable here, but it had home field advantage. I had no idea what we were even dealing with.
I nearly smacked into four trees, and I was cursing our current climate because I couldn't fly. Instead, I was darting between trees as the sound of growls and a massive roar echoed again, something very large destroying the forest behind us. I didn't have to look back to know the others were sprinting nearly as fast as I was.
"What the hell is that?!" Colt demanded sharply.
"Umbra," Adrien snarled, the earth rippling as if hit by a tremor. The ground cracked, and I jumped over the growing rift.
Holy shit.I’d never heard of an Umbra before, but it was very clear there was no need for me to ever interact with one again—it was devildamned terrifying.
I could feel sweat breaking out on the back of my neck, and I screamed as a tree fell behind me, nearly hitting me. Drayven's arms wrapped around my center, and he tugged me over his shoulder. I didn't bother fighting him, and he sprinted so fucking fast it seemed unreal.
The other men were quiet, but breathing hard. Then, we broke from the trees.
"Fuck!" Nico growled from the front of our group as he put the brakes, trying to stop before launching himself over the jagged cliffside.
I called out his name as the rest of us came to a halt, but his foot slid off the end and tugged him over. His hand grasped the edge, and I was immediately out of Drayven's arms and pulling on Nico’s hand.
The Umbra was growing closer, but Colt and Drayven helped me pull Nico back up until he rolled over the ledge, his fingers bloody from maintaining such a hard grip. We were all breathing hard and lying on the ground when the Umbra finally broke from the thick of the trees.
"What the hell," I choked out.
Suddenly, the Umbra was transforming into a massive beast that had to be the width of a carriage, the trees in its path decimated as its prickly fur bristled and its head dipped. Its pure white eyes swirled with black as it let out a vicious growl that vibrated the earth beneath us.
My mouth opened as I watched saliva drip from its teeth, sizzling when it made contact with the ground.Ah, fuck.Well, at least we could see what we were dealing with now…
