Page 73 of Anathema

No response.

“Th-th-there was a scorpion. A big … scorpion.” I hated the way it sounded so ridiculous and unlikely in my head. Spoken in a weak voice, dry from thirst.

Still, he said nothing.

“I have to go back. My sister … she’s in trouble.”

“She followed you into the woods?” he finally asked, and I focused on the voice, not recognizing it from any of the guards I’d encountered. It carried an ominous tone, every word like a warning spilling from his lips.

“Yes.”

“She crossed through the archway?”

“No.”

“Then, she’s dead.” Not a speck of emotion, or empathy, in his voice.

“She is not … dead.” In spite of the tears in my eyes, I choked back the urge to break. Not yet. I refused to break until I knew for certain what had happened to her. “Take me back.”

Silence.

“I am asking you to take me back. I will return to where I came from. I won’t say a word. About this place. Or you. Just take me back.”

Still nothing.

He tugged on the reins, bringing the horse to a stop and my attention zeroing in on the scorpion inked on the back of his hand.

“You can leave me here, and I’ll …” The very thought of trudging back, of moving any part of my body that had become so laden with exhaustion, I could hardly keep my head upright, made me want to cry, but still, I said, “I can walk–” My words were cut short by the slap of his gloved hand over my mouth.

I clawed at the barrier, an angry retort pounding across my tongue.

From the quiet rose a squelching sound.

Through the darkness, I searched for the source, and found it crouched by a fallen log. A beast, the size of a fox, that reminded me of an oversized toad, with its stout, squatty body, big bulging eyes and flat snout. Long branching horns stuck out of its head, and when it lifted its nose up into the air, sniffing, I caught sight of fangs hanging down from its wide, upper jaw.

“It smells you,” my captor said, and I noticed the creature’s eyes were milky white, perhaps blind, the way it seemed to search the air with its flat nose. “Mortals make delicious little snacks. Much more exciting than its usual fare of snakes and swamp spiders.”

“S-s-snakes and swamp spiders?” I trailed my gaze over the glassy, black surface of the water below me.

“They’re all over this bog. Still up for a walk back to the woods?”

Before I could answer, the beast ahead let out a roar and opened its maw to show hundreds more teeth. It sniffed again, and lurched closer.

Closer.

“Shouldn’t we be on our way?”

“Those things can outrun any horse. Their eyes aren’t so keen, but their nose is spot on. And if they catch you? Well, imagine those teeth tearing across your delicate mortal skin?”

“So, what do we do?”

“I’m puzzling that very question as we speak.”

I didn’t dare turn to look at him. His voice was threatening enough, without needing a glimpse of his face. “Well, can you puzzle faster? It seems rather interested.”

“Oh, to be sure. We don’t get many mortals on this side. What luck that it stumbled upon you.”

He shifted at my back, and I twisted just enough to see my captor slide from the saddle, his boots making only a minor splash as he landed in the water.

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