Page 63 of Chosen By the Fae King

For the next hour or so, we meandered, moving away from any shouts or voices we came across. I paid close attention to everything, but there were few unique markers around.

“Are we lost?” Sofiya asked.

Lorne shook his head then did the worst thing he could possibly do. He lifted an index finger to his lips and made a sign to listen. Then he drew his sword.

I froze in my tracks, scanning around us. The trees blocked most of the sunlight, cloaking the forest and making it difficult to see. An unnatural stillness had settled over us, as if the whole wood was holding its breath.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled with warning. My heart thudded against my ribs. Sofiya and I shared a wide-eyed look.

A flicker of movement caught my eye. A dark shape lurched between the trees, distorted limbs twisting. Yellow eyes glowed from within a misshapen head.

“Get behind me,” Lorne ordered.

Only three feet away, I slowly slid to his back.

“Sofiya,” he said calmly.

I looked to our left. “Sofiya. Get over here, now!” I whisper-yelled.

She was motionless, the yellow eyes were blazing in her direction. “I don't think I should move,” she whispered back. “And I don't ... I don't think that's an animal.”

The creature took a step forward, into a ray of sunlight.

“What the fuck?” Lorne asked no one.

I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. It was as big as Lorne, with a broad frame and lengthy brown arms, but it had the face of a fae. Long, gnarled tusks grew out of its jowls. Patches of rotted flesh hung from its bones.

The creature emitted a foul stench that wafted toward us, the scent of dark magic and decay. It was clearly some kind of magical construct, but what kind? A golem? Some sort of corpse puppet?

It prowled toward Sofiya, then leapt. Lorne tackled her and rolled into the underbrush out of sight. Quick as a whip, it jerked its body around.

The bespelled creature let out a bone-chilling squeal and charged straight for me.

I fumbled for an arrow and notched it to my bow, hands shaking. Naively, I prayed it would run past and let me be.

It was nearly upon me when I loosed my arrow, striking it in the shoulder but barely slowing it down. I dove out of the way just as its razor-sharp claws gored the earth where I'd stood.

Scrambling behind a large oak, I pressed against the rough bark. I couldn't outrun this beast and my weapon hardly fazed it.

Shit!

The creature rammed against the tree, jolting me forward. The earth shook under its fury. I didn't know how long the tree would hold. I needed help.

“Lorne?” I called out.

As if my words had manifested the male, I heard him shout for the beast's attention. Peeking around the trunk, I searched for Sofiya and, unfortunately, found her covering Lorne's flank with her small swords in each hand.

Where was my gentle friend who'd wept before her name was even drawn?

“P-please leave, Sir,” she kindly requested of the monster.

Ah, there she was.

Then I noticed the blood streaking down her cheek. All the fears plaguing me about her safety, about ensuring she went back to her family, hit me at once.

There was only one way to get her out of this. Gripping another arrow, I stepped out from behind the tree.

“Hey!” I yelled.

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