Page 103 of Sohut's Protection

That…thing in front of them was huge. There was no way little Wawa could take it on and survive.

Even as she looked it now and the rest of its body appeared from the bushes, she couldn’t imagine Wawa taking down something that was that big.

There weren’t four spikes on the thing’s back. There were many. Four large ones came before the smaller ones that ran along its spine right down to its long reptilian-like tail.

“Run.”

One word.

One word uttered from Sohut’s mouth before there was a blur of black in front of them and a horrible, horrible growl that seemed to shake even the leaves around them.

In the panic of her mind, it took a second for the word to register and then adrenaline pumped through her so fast, she took off, heading in the direction from which they came.

As her feet beat against the jungle floor, she prayed this wasn’t the time she fell over a root or vine. This was the exact time people fell in the movies—when their lives depended on them not stumbling.

Fear pushed her forward. But as she ran, her breath coming in sharp gasps, she realized something.

She was running alone.

Cleo stopped dead in her tracks, a bunch of low-hanging branches giving her a sharp slap in the face as she did.

Turning, she searched the bushes behind her for some movement, any movement.

Where the fuck was he?

In the few moments she took searching the orange bushes for some sign of blue, a gut-wrenching reality dawned on her.

Sohut wasn’t coming.

He was frickin’ fighting the thing.

Panic had her frozen for a few moments.

She was an idiot.

She shouldn’t turn back as she was doing now.

She shouldn’t run back toward danger.

The fuck was wrong with her?

Her lungs were about to give out, but the closer she got, the more she could hear.

It was a deep growling sound that made the air vibrate.

The creature sounded powerful, lethal, unyielding…

As she reached the spot, her gaze followed the trampled leaves and bushes that led farther into the undergrowth.

That’s where the growling was coming from and her heart beat so hard, it almost broke through her ribs.

She couldn’t hear Sohut, only the beast.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

He couldn’t be dead.

Oh God, please don’t make it so he’s dead.

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