Page 16 of The Vanishing Throne

I listen to the shadows, to the rustle of fur and bodies around me. Hot breath blasts against my face and I cringe at the stench of it.

Teeth snap. I strike with my blade, catching skin and fur. A high wail of pain fills the shadowed silence. Then the galloping of feet, dozens of them, right toward me. Themaramove the way shadows descend upon a forest near nightfall – precisely that quickly.

I don’t hesitate. My blade whistles through the air, cutting, slicing. I fight the way Kiaran always taught me to: by instinct. Every single one of my senses is honed, alive from the deprivation of my sight. The taste ofmarapower, of smoke and heat, burns my lips and my tongue– an indication of how close they are.

My muscles remember how to fight. My body battles as easily as breathing. Though my strikes are less refined, less smooth, I make up for it with sheer tenacity. Each kill only energizes me until I’m finally keeping up with Aithinne. Her back remains pressed to mine, her breathing in cadence with my own.

We are an impressive team.

Claws slice open my arm and I grit my teeth. My blood sends them into more of a frenzy. Just as I cut one down, another comes at me, then another.

I arc my blade and fur catches and gives beneath it. Blood splatters clear across my face. The powers of deadmaraflow inside me, thick like the sweltering heat of summer’s warmest day.

Normally, I’d revel in it. I’d cut each of them down with a bursting euphoria, but not this time. I don’t feel that urge, that pleasure with a kill. Only necessity and the need to survive.

The realizationslows me down for only a moment, but that’s all themaraneed. One of them latches onto my arm, teeth sinking in just above my wrist. I gasp in pain, slashing downward to sever its head in a single quick stroke. Its teeth rip across my arm as it drops to the ground.

‘Get ready to run, Falconer.’

The ball of light Aithinne produces is enormous, the size of a carriage wheel at least. Themarasurrounding us yelp, seeking shadows outside its reach.

Pulling back her arms for leverage, Aithinne launches the light up to the sky. It explodes, stars shooting all around us. They light up the forest, illuminating large creatures with dark fur and shining eyes and teeth like knives. Their screams are piercing as they flee, leaving behind the hideous stench of burning fur.

Aithinne gestures to a parting in the trees. ‘That way. Don’t look back.’

We’re running again, pounding through the forest. I hate how weakened I am, how my entire body is aching from such a short battle. The effort it takes to avoid the sharp branches only makes it worse. Fabric along the bottom of my shift tears, the spikes scratching through. I wrench myself clear and dart after Aithinne.

The guttural roars of themaraecho around us. I realise then just how badly the cuts on my arms are bleeding. The scent is probably driving them mad.

The lights above us are twinkling out, fading fast. We pick up speed, our legs pumping. My muscles burn from the strain, my chest aching.

‘There,’ Aithinne gasps.

Just up ahead is a dim light beyond the trees. Almost there.Almost there. Darkness is falling around us. The heat from the pursuingmarais slick down my back. They are growling, panting, their heavy paws pounding through the trees behind us.

Hurry hurry hurry. The lights on either side of us are completely snuffed out, with only the glow up ahead to guide us. I map my escape. I memorize the path through the trees where the spikes are absent.

I push myself harder, ignoring the strain in my legs, the pain of it.Almost there.

The last stars go out. Something claws at my leg, catching skin. I don’t lose course. I stay on my mental route. Just as I feel the heat of themaraunbearably close, I leap for the forest exit.

My body slams into the ground, and I roll through the grass. I close my eyes hard against the sudden daylight, not even opening them when I hear the yelp from amarain pain behind me.

Moments later, others growl from the forest. They let out low whines and whimpers of frustration.

Don’t worry. They’ll keep to the shadows.That means I’m safe. Finally.

I lie on the ground, breathingdeeply. The trees around me groan, the leaves fluttering in the cool breeze. I never want to move again.

At the stomp of boots on grass, I ease my eyes open. Aithinne leans down with a grin. ‘You didn’t die. See? I told you it was easy.’ She offers me a hand and I take it, rising unsteadily to my feet.

‘I’ve been bitten by some demonic woodland creature. My legs have been shredded by razor-sharp trees. We almost died.Easy? I’m getting you a damn dictionary.’

I inspect my bleeding arm. The cut bisects five of the marksLonnrach made, and I feel inexplicably proud of that.Good. Replace the old, bad memories with new badges. Start over.

‘A dictionary,’ she repeats. ‘Is that a type of dessert?’

For the love of –‘A type of book that explains the meaning of words.’

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