Page 152 of Flame and Sparrow

I changed directions—which slowed us down, giving the beast that had survived the crashing river time to catch up to us.It snapped and slashed at Zell’s legs, growls and howls assaulting my ears in between its show of fangs and claws.

Zell let out a panicked bray as it leapt toward us. I swung my sword for the hound’s neck. I missed, though I did manage to knock it off course and briefly disorient it.

Another lunge quickly followed the first. This time my attempt at parrying connected, but without the force to truly penetrate the beast’s jaw like I’d wanted to—I only made it angrier.

It stopped attacking, throwing its head back and letting out a deep, gravelly howl.

The fog in the distance billowed, its movements growing more violent as the other three hounds answered the first one’s sound. It was almost as if they were somehow controlling the mist with their eerie song. My eyes darted back and forth between the fog and the monsters, watching closer, trying to understand the connection between them.

The lower their howls, the larger the tumbling fog swelled.

Then came a series of sharp barks, and cloudy tendrils shot out from the churning mass and struck toward us.

Zell retreated, bucking wildly back and forth as the other three hounds closed in and circled around us. He slammed to a stop as he caught sight of them, throwing me sideways out of the saddle.

I dangled awkwardly, leg twisted in a gruesome, painful manner. In a panic, I swung Hydrus through the stirrup, cutting myself free. I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from my lungs.

Zell bolted, narrowly avoiding stomping a fiery hoof onto my head as he went. Two of the hounds gave chase.

The remaining two narrowed their focus on me.

I stumbled to my feet, brandishing Hydrus in one hand and unleashing my claws on the other.

The tendrils of fog swarmed around me. As soon as I breathed it in, dizziness struck. I swayed dangerously, nearly dropping Hydrus as I flung my arms out beside me and snapped my eyes shut, trying to maintain balance.

The veilhounds rarely made violent work of their targets, I recalled—they drained them, leaving nothing but a shell of a body behind. It felt like they were attempting to do that now.

As the fog completely circled me and sank through my clothing and skin, the soul-deep chill of the Death Marr’s magic came to mind. Except this was more painful. The fog pressed in only to immediately try to force its way back out, the wild back and forth pressure enough to make me want to collapse, to hug myself into a tight ball out of a desperate desire to just make myself and the world around me hold still.

But I stayed on my feet.

I had to stay on my feet.

These were the same sort of beasts who had been sent to hunt down my sister. For all I knew, one of them could have been the very one who had actually killed her.

Vengeance took a fierce, determined hold on my body, steadying me, fueling movement.

I broke through the disorienting fog, gasping for clean air, sword swinging at the curls of mist trying to reach for me. Hydrus seemed to have at least a minor effect on this mist, not parting it as easily as the river water, but scattering the reaching tendrils into thinner wisps that were easier to avoid.

One of the hounds lunged toward me, slamming their head into my side, trying to make me stumble once more into the mass of fog. I stopped myself just before the wall of grey touched my back. The hound charged again. This time I held my ground, catching it by the throat, my claws sinking deep into its rough, thick fur.

There was little blood, even as I flexed my fingers and twisted, deepening my hold. The blood that did spatter the ground was dark and purplish—shining almost the same way the Death Marr’s ocean did.

I tried to wrestle the creature and pin it to the ground, but despite its light frame, it proved much stronger than me. It stood on its hind legs, digging its paws into the dirt, giving it leverage to jerk its head away from my claws. Its teeth grazed my forearm. As a steady stream of blood rolled down and collected at my wrist, I gave a vicious cry and violently dislodged my grip, throwing it off balance. It hit the ground with a yelp.

The second hound’s eyes flashed brightly as it charged toward me and then stopped, crouching low, lifting its head with another low howl.

The fog behind me exploded in size, threatening to engulf us both.

Before the disorienting mist could overtake anything, a shadow overcame the entire area, long and twisting and accompanied by a low roar—

The shadow belonged to a dragon.

It took my fogged brain a moment to understand what I was seeing.

Mairu.

Her golden, serpentine form landed with enough force to shake the ground and knock the second veilhound off its feet. She lashed toward it as it tried to recover, and it rolled awkwardly, legs kicking and scrambling for purchase, before struggling to its feet and starting to run.

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