Page 33 of The Shadow of Polaris

We struggled through the nearly impenetrable clusters of thorny growth where small magenta blooms poked between razor-edged spikes, sharp enough to pierce skin with the lightest of touch. It was as if the wild greenery of eternal spring swallowed up the cobblestone road, its weeds invading the cracks between laid rock.

Arcturas stayed close, uneasy and wary of the shadows that loomed beneath the brush. A deep dread fell over us as the high afternoon sun beamed down upon the feral vegetation obstructing our path.

Wide, bulbous tendrils of roots coiled into a blockade towering before us almost 20 feet in height. Arcturas, sniffing at the slithering vines, yipped when a thick branch gave out and slammed to the ground just in front of her nose.

“Well, this makes things difficult,” Rune said, running his hand across a vine.

The root system extended in either direction, fading into the blackness of the forest.

“We could climb it,” I suggested, tugging on a loosened vine. It snapped beneath my weight, flopping limply to the ground. “Or maybe we don’t climb.”

Rune scanned the massive wall, looking for an opening to crawl our way through. The sun beat down harshly on our backs as I wiped a bead of anxious sweat from the nape of my neck. My skin crawled as if there were thousands of eyes searing through my flesh.

The air was thick with the perfume of malice. We needed to keep moving and find a solution to this impasse as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to stick around too long to find out what lurked in these woods.

“I think if we squeezed and cut a few of these smaller vines away, we might get through here.” Rune motioned towards a narrow burrow. “There’s light on the other side. It looks like it goes all the way through.”

Growing antsy and impatient to press on, I unclasped my pack. Unsheathing the dagger from my thigh, I began clearing away the jagged vines. The edge of the blade was sharp enough to slash the smaller vines in one clean slice, but some with armor-like bark, I had to saw back and forth until the incision was deep enough to snap the root entirely.

Arcturas scurried through behind me withRune gingerly crawling after her, careful not to pinch her tail. The burrow felt like it extended for miles, and after what felt like hours of writhing through vines, the opening of the tunnel came into view. Reaching my hand in front of me, I shifted my weight and slid my knees forward. Something groaned above us as soil and dust particles sprinkled from above us.

“What was that?” Rune whispered.

Arcturas growled deeply in her throat and bared her teeth. I stretched my neck to see behind us as best I could.

The tunnel was too narrow to turn around. We exposed our backs to any threat that snuck in after us. Another groan came from above. More debris fell from the tangle of vines. Rotating my shoulder up, I unsheathed my dagger, knuckles white against my grip around its hilt.

“I don’t know, but let’s keep moving.”

We squirmed towards the tunnel’s exit, picking up our pace to close the distance as fast as possible. Another groan, this time louder. The vines above us seemed to wriggle and writhe like a knot of snakes.

We needed to get out of here.

Now.

I crawled faster, Arcturas restlessly nipping at my ankles behind me. The sound of Rune’s breathing quickened as he kept my pace and raced for the exit. My blood curdled when a shadow passed across the light of the tunnel’s exit. I held up my hand for us to stop.

“There’s something out there,” I whispered. “We need to be careful.”

A vine snapped behind us and my heart stopped.

“Elpis,” Rune’s whisper was now only a tremor, “there’s something in here, too.”

We took off down the tunnel, crawling frantically toward the exit. Panting and sweating, I struggled through the narrow opening into harsh sunlight. My eyes watered from the contrast of the burrow’s darkness.

Arcturas shimmied through and shook the dust off her pelt. Seconds passed. Then a minute. Rune hadn’t yet appeared. There was a crack from within. Then a low, menacing groan.

Rune’s scream was a blow that nearly knocked me to my knees. Fuck.

Without a second thought, I dove back into the darkness, darting through the narrow passage. Thorns pierced my skin and nicked scrapes across my arms. Rune continued screaming, his voice echoing through the tunnel, drowning out all the other sounds.

Blood pumped through my ears and I grasped at the earth in front of me, flinging mud and gravel everywhere as I continued to crawl. Time seemed to stop when his screams cut off, a deafening silence rushing between the serpentine vines. I picked up my pace, throwing myself forward with bleeding arms and tangles of thorns trapped in escaped strands of hair.

Finally, his limp body came into view and I scrambled toward him, only to stop dead in my tracks when a pair of crimson eyes blinked out of the shadows in front of us. I’d seen those eyes before. Meeting their gaze, I felt as if every organ inside my body froze. I gripped my dagger tighter as I slowly crawled closer to Rune.

Relief spread through me with the reassuring rise and fall of his chest. With the tip of the dagger pointed toward the invisible beast, I curled my fingers around his limp wrist and began pulling him backwards down the tunnel. Never breaking contact with those ruby eyes glowing through darkness. At any hint of an attack, I was ready to throw myself over Rune and slit the throat attached to those deadly eyes.

The creature, however, blinked and receded into the shadows. I dragged Rune, still unconscious, through mud and dirt as we finally made it to the exit.

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