Page 79 of A Kingdom of Monsters

A massive bird soared directly above me, its wingspan stretching out almost as wide as the street itself.

No, wait.

The creature swooped lower and I saw clearly that it wasn’t a bird at all. It was a monstrous looking woman with great bat-like wings protruding from her back. Feathers covered her neck and climbed down her arms, which ended in sharp talons.

Ambrose yelled beside me, and reached for my arm, yanking me nearly off my feet. His cry jerked me from my trance.

“What is that?” I demanded.

“That is one of those monsters I’d rather avoid,” he ground out, dragging me forcibly down the beach. “We need to run!”

24

LONNIE

THE SOUTHERN COAST OF NEVERMORE

But I couldn’t run.

My feet had stopped working, all my attention completely fixated on the monstrous woman. I gaped up at her, completely frozen to the spot.

Ambrose stopped trying to drag me behind him, and instead picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

For once, I didn’t protest.

Not because I was thrilled by being dragged around and carried, but because I couldn’t seem to think of anything at all. That screeching wail of the creature was starting to sound enticing. Like music, heady and hypnotic. Begging me to come closer. To come swimming…

We ascended the hill of dry dunes, and darted into the trees. Immediately, the temperature dropped, and it seemed like the sun had been shut out. The needles of the pines were so thick, it could have been night and I would never have realized.

Ambrose dropped me back on my feet. He gripped my shoulders, and bent close to my face, forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me. Don’t move. Just stay right there and don’t move a fucking inch.”

I only stared back at him, my brain feeling a bit fuzzy.

“What the fuck am I doing?” he cursed under his breath. “...completely pointless.”

Then another wail pierced through the forest. Instinctively, I stepped forward and Ambrose shoved me back, hard.

A split second later, the colossal bird-like creature swooped low over our heads, diving between the trees.

Its powerful wings beating against the air as it aimed straight for me. Its beady eyes locked onto mine, its sharp talons extended and glinting in the sunlight. I could feel the rush of wind as it swooped closer and closer, until its claws grazed my shoulder, leaving behind deep gashes that seared with pain.

With a swift and practiced movement, Ambrose drew his sword from its sheath and swung it with all his might. The blade sliced through the creature's neck, severing its head in one clean motion. Blood spurted out of the wound, splattering onto the ground and staining Ambrose's clothes. He stood there, panting and covered in gore, his eyes tracing over me.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded, urgently.

I was, my shoulder was throbbing and I could feel blood running down my arm and chest. Though, that didn’t bother me nearly as much as it should. The pain seemed to have jogged something in my mind, and I reached up tugging at my ears. “What the fuck was that?”

Ambrose looked relieved. “A siren,” he said on an exhale. “Come on, we need to keep moving. Sirens live in flocks, and seeing one means there are three dozen more nearby. Keep running, I don’t want to have to fight off all of them.”

This time, I got up and sprinted alongside him into the dark woods.

"I thought sirens were supposed to be beautiful.” I panted.

Ambrose chuckled hollowly. “They are, unless you threaten them. We must have landed near a nest.”

It was all too familiar to run through the forest like this, with no light and no idea where we were going, sure the entire time that some great beast would descend on us and attack.

My heart raced as I pushed through the dense foliage, my feet pounding against the forest floor stumbling over rocks and slippery fallen needles. At least I wasn’t alone. I could hear Ambrose’s heavy breathing behind me the entire time, and knowing he’d kill anything that came at me kept me from constantly looking over my shoulder.

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