Page 59 of Nightingale

“Fight, and live to see another day.” She angled her blade forward and cut through another leg, a strangled hiss coming from the large creature as it fell. Vrea plunged her weapon directly into its head and shoved all of her might as the thing died. Too slow for her liking but it was better than it being alive.

She ripped it out with a grunt and studied it.

Her steel was heavy with the obsidian blood, oozing off the end in a dripping sludge that reminded her of oil. The consistency, the colour, the smell even.

“I think I’ll go with option two. We can keep advancing little by little.” Rian said as he fended off a swipe of a leg. He moved just in time and struck the second down as the largest one with the red legs opened its mouth and let out a wretched cry that rattled the mountains around them.

The ground trembled with tremendous force.

Vrea met his gaze.

She saw the sky and storms, the lake as it froze over and switched into something fierce, darker, deadlier.

“Run!” She yelled and directed herself towards the small opening of the valley that would take them towards the Niroulian camps.

It was either that, or let the spiders kill them.

Rian flipped around and did the same, running as fast as he could as he said, “Right there with you.”

Neither put their weapons away as they bolted for the other end of the valley, trying to gain as much distance as possible before engaging in another duel with the oncoming spiders. Four more emerged from the tunnels, slightly tinier in size than the last two, but larger than they were.

The Blackleg spiders chased after them.

Twenty Nine

Vrea hadn’t lied. To Rian or to herself.

Shewasa fast runner.

Her feet barely touched the ground as she darted over it, her thighs stretching over the mile without so much as a single burn. She got three feet before a creature shot for her, its war-cry echoing down the valley and causing a crumbling avalanche. The mountains shook with tremendous force as boulders began to wedge free, tumbling down the slanted sides and crushing anything in its path.

Small spiders became nothing more than globs of sable and twitching parts, legs sticking out at odd angles. The slate balls rolled back and forth, up one side and down the other, causing a rocky barricade that allowed Vrea to dash forward another four feet before a massive arachnid leapt for her. It hurdled over a large boulder, aboomfollowing as it landed sixteen inches away.

She spun around, ready with her dagger in her hand as it attacked. It screeched as she slit its front leg off, swiping in an angular cut that added another to the pile. Vrea was faster than the wind sent by a summer sun, hurling enough of her might that she wouldn’t expend herself too quickly, but enough that she could fend off the beasts without losing herself.

Rian did the same, grunting as he rolled under a second spider, slashing at the pinchers that aimed for him with a nastyclick.They were both spotted with dark blood, which Vrea knewwouldn’t be the end of it. Their clothes were ruined, that much was for sure.

It didn’t matter where they hit the creatures, a thick spray always followed.

Rian dodged a blow to the rib, skidding back in the conglomeration of dirt and blood, a thick mix that stuck to them like glue as he stabbed upwards, succeeding in taking the Blackleg down. He spared one look in her direction as she finished off on her own, twisting the blade in a direction that would render the spider incapable of anything anymore.

He had the audacity to flick his red eyebrows suggestively, mischievously smirking like a wild plains-cat of Niroula as he lunged up and started to run once more. Vrea hopped off the dead creature and poured her strength into her legs, following. Two more chased after them, gaining a handful of feet with each reach of their long legs.

Vrea bounded over a fallen rock, skidded around the slight bend in the canyon and ran as fast as she could. Rian was a good foot ahead of her but he didn’t stop. She didn’t feel the burn in her lungs yet, the ache in her muscled thighs as she darted through the pass, eyes pasted to the colourful war tents up ahead.

She knew that an old family friend would be stationed inside, one that she missed nearly as much as Teminos. Alpheus, Eamin or Malik could appear on the horizon. There was even the possibility of her mother being on the front lines, earning a personal escort back to Vasthold if anyone recognized who she was. With the captain of the guard unquestionably within the tents, she knew there was a likelihood of that happening.

Rian stumbled as a divot appeared, pebbles rumbling down as the spiders created an echoing vibration. One with yellow triangles high on its body brushed past her, aiming like a shooting star for the Moordian Prince as it tapped its beak in abone-rattling way.

A blur of speed, and its leg pierced him.

He let out a dismayed cry of alarm, sinking back against the rocky wall as one pointed leg speared the side of his shirt, tearing the fabric as he yanked away.

Vrea’s heart was a trembling bird as her attention was called to the dribble of scarlet on his golden skin.

He clapped his hand over it, grimacing as he pushed off and thrust his sword directly into the Blackleg’s meaty head, earning a shivering groan from the beast in return. It snapped and clawed at his face, but he only shoved the weapon in deeper. Black oozed down his arm, sprayed his face, stained his clothes.

Rian added an additional heft of steel, withdrawing as the creature slumped back and toppled over. He edged around it, his skin blackened and blanched.

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