Page 42 of Ties of Frost

My heart fell. “How many so far?” I whispered.

“Some livestock. My nephew.” His voice cracked. “He was six. Old man Vigon distracted the monster so us runners could escape. I fear…” He shook his head.

“I am sorry,” Zidra said, her quiet tone tight with emotion. “May Iskyr grant their spirits peace and give you and their families and friends comfort.”

“May it be so,” I agreed solemnly. “I grieve for your loss. We will take care of the monster.”

“Thank you!” Tears ran down Allinde’s cheeks, mingling with his perspiration.

I fashioned three ice disks and stepped onto one. Zidra immediately stepped onto the second. I motioned to the third. “If you wish, you may return with us, and then you can ensure we find your village quickly.”

He eyed the disk, hovering inches above the ground.

“I won’t let you fall,” I reassured him.

“All right. Thank you.” Allinde’s legs shook as he moved from kneeling on the ground to sitting on the disk.

As we flew to the village, I steeled myself for the upcoming fight.

Void-tainted creatures were difficult to take down. While some beasts caused harm because they were hungry or were protecting their territory, themselves, or their young, monsters were driven by Ascadrion’s malice. Energy from the void-between-worlds twisted by the Earth-Shaker’s rage at his banishment sometimes escaped through weak places and invisible tears in the barrier between the void and our world. Animals that came in contact with the leaked malicious energy turned into monsters. Void taint warped beasts’ appearance, made them fiercer and stronger, and drove them mad so they attacked any living thing they saw.

Thankfully, if people came in contact with void energy, which was rare, it only made them ill for several days.

“That’s it!” Allinde pointed a cluster of old buildings scattered among gardens and animal pens and surrounded by fields of grain. Not a person or animal moved between the structures.

I turned toward the village and began descending.

“Stop,” Zidra shouted.

I complied so abruptly that she stumbled half a step forward and Allinde yelped.

No, I’d been wrong. Somethingdidmove between the buildings.

A wolf with an uneven gait prowled around the corner of a house. It had grown far larger than most wolves, perhaps half my height at its shoulders, but it hadn’t grownuniformly. One grotesquely large back leg dragged a little as it walked. Lumps where its spine had grown pushed up, creating a line of bumps down its back. It threw itself against the closed wood shutters, which rattled but did not give.

“We need to lure it away from the village,” Zidra said at the same moment I said, “We should get it to come to us outside the village.”

Our eyes met, and despite the situation, the corner of my mouth curved up. If it hadn’t been for Allinde, I might have actually said, “See, wearea great team.”

Moments later, we had a plan. Actually, as usual, Zidra had a plan. She could see how things might play out in a fight better than I could, strategizing and planning ahead while I tended to act more on instinct and impulse. I sent Zidra’s ice disk close to the ground and then to the far side of town, to a fallow field where little could be damaged. The void wolf caught sight of her and gave chase, and even though everything in me screamed to go to her aid at once, I stuck to the plan.

Allinde landed next to the closest house, one far from where I was sending Zidra and the wolf. As soon as the occupants unbarred the door and pulled Allinde inside, I zipped over the rooftops.

Seventeen

Zidra

The void wolf released an unnatural warbling howl and bounded after me. Even though I trusted Kyrundar to move the ice under my feet fast enough that the wolf couldn’t catch up, watching it gain on me made my breath come faster. I drew my sword and purposefully slowed my breath, summoning years of practice remaining calm during a fight.

The ice disk reached the field and continued, but slower. Braying with triumph, the wolf stretched its misshapen legs longer. This close, I noted the red and black of its void-tainted eyes and the blood splattered over its legs, sides, and snout.

Unlike the shifters we had faced, this monster would cause me no remorse when it fell.

At least it was only one. If I could shift, I’d grab thissingle monster in my long talons, and the fight would be over quickly.

No use in wallowing over what couldn’t be changed.

With a growl of my own, I jumped off the ice and brought my sword down in a powerful arc toward the creature. Although the wolf turned, my blade still struck its side.

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