Page 19 of The Blood Crown

“So did I,” Ven replied, dragging Aurelia deeper into the Shades, glancing over his shoulder as Karro jogged beside them.

“Why do you keep looking over your—”

An explosion of water sprayed the banks of the Kesh and the surrounding pines and the mountainside shook as something heavy struck the ground.

Pushing Aurelia behind him, Ven unsheathed his blade, wielding it at the wall of mist that rose up in front of the river.

“Run.”

Aurelia stumbled backward as an inhuman sound ripped through the air. The mist parted, and yellow eyes flashed from a dozen feet up.Three pairsof yellow eyes. Silvery scales glinted in the moonlight as the heavy body of a serpent slithered out from the river.

The beast must have been at least two dozen feet long and the circumference of a barrel. Three massive arrow-shaped heads swiveled in each direction before all three pairs of eyes landed on where they stood.

The center head snapped its fangs with a hiss that rattled Aurelia’s teeth. A moment later, the head on the right lunged for Karro, who rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the strike. The head on the left struck at Ven. He dodged the assault, sliding just under the outstretched body of the serpent and slashing with his black blade. The serpent reared back with a scream, coiling its body for another strike. In the dim light of the moon, a slash of metal glinted between the silvery scales.

Aurelia’s dagger—the one she’d lost in the river when she’d shoved it into the back of one of the silver sirens.

“Go!” Ven shouted from where he ducked under the heavy body of the serpent.

Two of the heads were still lunging for him, attacking him at every chance. The other head was still occupied with Karro, who was trying to draw the beast further into the forest.

Aurelia only hesitated for a heartbeat before her feet were pounding against the hard-packed dirt. She slid under the great silver belly, much less gracefully than Ven, but close enough to her prize that when her feet were beneath her again, she reached the dark blade that was still embedded between the iridescent scales.

Grasping the jeweled hilt, she threw all of her weight into prying the dagger free. But no matter how hard she pulled, the blade refused to come loose, lodged in the thick hide.

The sounds of fighting filled the darkened forest around her. Dredging deep, she called on her newfound strength, her palms barking in protest as she gripped the hilt so hard that her knuckles turned white.

The dagger wrenched free as slitted yellow eyes appeared above her.

Her mind screamed at her to run, but her feet wouldn’t obey, rooted in place by sheer terror as the monstrous black maw opened wide.

This was it. This was the end for her—but maybe she’d been enough of a distraction that Karro and Ven would survive. They could still make it back to Ravenstone . . .

Pain lashed through her shoulder as she was thrown to the ground. Had she still been mortal, her body would have been broken on impact from the force of it. Through the haze of agony, a shriek rent the air.

Any moment—any moment, the beast would deliver the killing strike. But as she rolled onto her side with a groan, the blow never came.

Cracking her eyelids open with breathless pain, she watched as the serpent swiveled its heads away from her.

Ven stood a dozen feet away, chest heaving, blade dripping silvery blood onto the dark forest floor. But whatever he’d done only seemed to anger the beast as two of its heads reared up.

Aurelia moved to lift herself from the ground, but the pain sent her buckling again. Something warm and wet drenched the sleeve of her gear. Wincing, she spared a glance at the place where her shoulder met her arm, immediately regretting it. The deep puncture gushed blood. Too much blood.

Fighting for her last scrap of strength, Aurelia hauled herself onto her feet with her uninjured arm. The heavy body of the serpent still lay coiled beside her, its pairs of eyes focused on where Ven stood in the clearing, marking him as the bigger threat.

Gripping the dagger in her left hand, she plunged it into the glistening scales. Over and over and over. Until her hands were wet with blood the color of quicksilver. Consciousness was already slipping from her, threatening to loosen her grip, but she held onto the jeweled hilt, the metal biting deep into her hand.

The scales around her shifted and moved, so fluidly that she didn’t have time to run before the tail of the beast coiled around her, squeezing so tightly that she could barely breathe.

Ven shouted her name across the clearing as she pushed against the heavy body.

Fighting his way toward her, he sliced and hacked at the two heads still attacking him as the body of the serpent mercilessly crushed the breath from her.

Her eyes landed where Karro fought the third head of the serpent, the edges of her vision blurring as large jaws clamped around his torso, his broadsword falling from his grasp as the serpent shook him. He was thrown through the air, hitting the trunk of a large pine and falling to the forest floor with a sickening thud.

A wild look had filled Ven’s eyes as he fought closer to her, hacking and slashing. The leg of his shadowskin shined wetly in the moonlight, and she knew he was hiding an injury, too. One sleeve of his gear had been torn away, revealing the spiraling ink that wound up his arm. Silver blood speckled his dark brow, and black strands of his hair fell across his face as he stood his ground.

The muscles in his jaw flickered with determination as the three massive heads leveled at him.

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