Page 66 of Their Trials

Unable to stop myself, my fear increasing my need to know what the source was, I asked, “What's not good?”

When Lennox's eyes met mine, I blanched at the terror I saw in his face. We'd faced so many creatures that seemed to defy reality in the first trial, and yet, whatever was causing this noise had him petrified. Before he could answer me, a dark cloud burst through the trees surrounding us.

“Run!” Arryn yelled, spurring his horse forward without concern of the low hanging branches that could easily knock any one of us from our seat in the saddle if we didn't keep a close eye on where we were going. Not needing any encouragement from me, Meadow jumped forward, her haunches bunching and extending under me as she sped after Arryn.

The cloud continued to close in on us, none of us able to fully outrun whatever this was due to the density of the trees and underbrush. We might as well have been shackled for all the progress we made trying to outrun the cloud.

“Fuck!” I yelped, my hand swatting at my neck as a pinch burned through me, like a mosquito bite, except a thousand times worse.

I pulled my hand away to find a red smear on my palm, a small bug-like creature with four wings that reflected the minimal light and cast iridescent colors across my skin.

Another pinch on the back of my arm had me jerking and cursing in pain. “What the hell are these things?!” I shouted as we continued fleeing as best as we could.

A limb scratched my other side as I swerved to avoid a branch that would have knocked me off Meadow's back. The little buggers were biting me and setting my nerve endings on fire. It distracted me from the hazards in our way as I tried to swat the creatures and keep them from biting me further.

“Fucking pixies!” Callum hissed with disgust from beside me, his horse darting in and out as he swerved to avoid the trees in our path.

“Aren't pixies supposed to be flower and animal loving fairies?” I asked, my voice screeching from me unintentionally as another one bit me.

“Definitely not. Pixies can eat an entire herd of cattle when in a frenzy, fucking bloodthirsty little bastards!” Baer yelled from behind me. I didn't dare turn to face him; my focus was already being pulled in too many directions.

“We need to hurry!” Arryn yelled back at us. “Baer, are we anywhere close to water?”

I could feel Baer's magic swirl around me as he sent tendrils of it out and away from us in all directions, seeking to answer Arryn's question. As if I could taste it in my mouth, I knew the moment he found it.

“Turn left!” Baer yelled out.

Arryn immediately cut his horse to the left, leading us all in the direction that Baer indicated. I had no clue what water would do to stop the swarm of these creatures, but I knew we needed it soon. I could feel myself starting to sway in my saddle, as if the pixies’ bites held a venom that was now starting to affect me. “Are these assholes poisonous?” I called out, fear spiking in my chest.

I didn’t want to go out like this, being consumed by giant mosquitos. Not only would it be embarrassing, but it would be painful as the fire from their bites continued to flash across every inch of exposed skin.

I'd given up on trying to swat the little shits away, instead focusing as best as I could on keeping a straight path. I was finding it more and more difficult to keep directly behind Arryn, Meadow jerking back and forth as if I was driving a car while drunk.

“Fuck!” Lennox cursed from beside me. “The venom's already affecting Rhowyn,” he announced as my arms grew heavy and I started to lean forward.

Big hands wrapped around me, and for a moment, I was weightless as Callum lifted me from Meadow's back, plopping me down in front of him and holding me upright, keeping me from falling over now that my body was proving utterly useless.

“Sthansks,” I slurred out, trying to thank Callum for not letting me crash to the ground to be trampled by Charity and her men, who still followed behind us.

“Don't thank me yet. We still need get out of this mess,” Callum growled, his arms tightening around me as he spurred his horse faster through the trees, his evasive maneuvers causing me to jerk back and forth, unable to hold myself upright anymore.

A dull roar sounded from ahead of us. “We're about a hundred yards away from the river!” Baer called out. At that pronouncement, the horses put on another burst of speed.

“Shite!” Callum yelled, slapping at his neck as his horse took a sharp turn to avoid colliding with the tree directly in its path.

Apparently, the universe hated me because I slipped from the saddle, unable to keep my body steady without Callum's arm to hold me in place. As I tumbled from the saddle at breakneck speed, I threw out my arms, trying to grasp onto something to keep me from crashing to the ground; however, my body was not currently cooperating, leaving me to flail about wildly.

I hit the ground hard, hearing multiple snaps that weren't from the branches that littered the forest floor that I was now tumbling across. I cried out in pain. Or at least I tried to as I rolled across the rocks and roots that littered the forest floor.

My voice was no longer sounding out loud as the pixie venom slowly paralyzed me. I lay on the ground in excruciating pain, unable to get my body to obey the commands from my brain. My eyes were only able to see the swarm of pixies that seemed to change direction now that they knew they had easy prey before them.

A tear leaked from my eye, rolling down my cheek, my fear wholly consuming me as I watched the pixies grow closer to me, fully at their mercy. I couldn’t even close my eyes to block them from sight, forced instead to watch their approach.

Just when I thought I would be consumed by the pixies, doomed to become their next meal, a burst of flame caressed my skin, so close and hot that I was surprised scorch marks weren't left behind. Hell, maybe they had been since I couldn’t exactly do anything but lie here.

I heard cursing as the flames grew in intensity, if that was even possible, letting me know that Callum was approaching me, doing his best to reach me before the pixies could do even more damage. The chittering and Callum’s grunts of anger were the only things I could hear from my position.

Before I knew it, his beautiful face, framed by his messy auburn hair, came into my view, full of concern. Not speaking a word, he picked me up in his arms, cradling me close to his chest and curving his shoulders around me. His body formed a protective cage to protect me from the swarm now closing in on us both again with the cessation of his flames.

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