Page 15 of The Iron Raven

“Perhaps we are not safe yet, after all,” Nyx commented softly.

Keirran drew his sword, glamour flaring to life around him. His eyes were dangerous as he gazed toward the sky. “It’s still here.”

A rumble went through the ground under my feet, and a shadow fell over us. Slowly, I looked up, past the wall of the inn, and saw something massive, a dark blotch against the sky, perched on the roof. I didn’t knowwhatit was, but one thing was for certain—it was definitely a monster.

For starters, even hunched over, it was probably close to twelve feet tall.Notcounting the enormous pair of jagged horns sprouting from its head like tree branches. Its upper body was thick and apelike, with long, muscular forearms ending in claw-tipped hands, and the skin was hairless except for a shaggy, matted mane that bristled from its shoulders and ran down its back. A twisted face—equal parts wolf, monkey, and bearded goat—curled its muzzle back to reveal yellow fangs the size of my fingers, and the eyes that peered down at us were empty and white. Like the tainted Forgotten of earlier, shadowy tendrils writhed and flailed around it, tentacles of dark glamour curling off its body to dissolve in the air.

It was possibly the most disturbing, terrifying thing I’d ever seen, and not just because it was one ugly mofo. In both the human and the faery world, there was a lot of weird, scary shit, so I was no stranger to the grotesque and horrible. But seeing that twisted form looming over us, silhouetted against the yellow moon, filled me with a dread I’d never experienced before. I could feel the hatred pulsing from it, the absolute rage and loathing in those blank white eyes as it gazed down at us. As if I was looking at the End of All Things, brought to horrid, twisted life.

Beside me, Keirran let out a slow, shaky breath as we stared up at the thing. “It’s...a lot bigger than when I saw it last,” he commented, and there was something new in his voice. An understanding not yet fully realized, but his grim tone made it clear that when that understanding did come, it was going to be horrible.

The thing threw back its head and howled, an ear-piercing wail that set my teeth on edge and threatened to blow my eardrums from my skull.

Keirran winced, and Nyx clapped her hands to the sides of her head.

The monster leaped from the roof of the building, seemed to float in the air for a split second, then plummeted toward us, landing with a crash that shook the ground and toppled a couple nearby trees. Looming to its full, terrifying height, it lurched toward us.

5

THE MONSTER

Itensed as the monster stomped forward, but beside me, Keirran was already in motion. Raising his sword, he knelt and drove it point first into the ground, in a move I had seen from his father sometimes. I felt a pulse of frigid glamour go through the air. There was a flash of bright blue, and the ground was suddenly encased in a layer of ice several inches thick.

The monster bearing down on us stumbled as ice crawled up its legs, spread over its chest, and climbed toward its face, seeking to cocoon its whole body in crystallized water. Its furious roar was cut off as the ice flowed over its head, filled its jaws, and sealed it completely.

“Hurry,” Keirran urged, glancing up at me and Nyx. His expression was tight, his voice strained as he continued to grip the hilt of his blade. “Kill it quickly before it breaks loose. I don’t know how long this will hold—”

With a shattering of crystal that sounded like breaking lamps, the thing reared its head up with a howl, sending ice shards flying in every direction. Keirran staggered, and Nyx shot into motion, her moonlight blades appearing in her hand as she raced toward it. Pulling my daggers, I sprinted after her.

Tentacles flailing, the creature shook itself, shattering the ice prison with a roar. Ice shards went flying, and I ducked as one went spinning past my head and embedded itself in a nearby tree trunk. Thankfully, I had lots and lots of practice dodging frozen projectiles, particularly ice daggers. As the beast turned toward us, Nyx leaped forward, the moonlight gleaming off her blades.

The creature’s arm lashed out, faster than I would have thought possible, and curved black claws slammed into Nyx. Her body seemed to ripple and fray apart, like shafts of moonlight dissolving into shadow, leaving nothing behind. I didn’t have time to be surprised when she appeared from another angle, nearly behind the monster, and drove her blade deep into its thigh. It roared and spun, swatting at her with a tentacle, but she was already dancing away.

Not to be outdone, I drew on my glamour and leaped into the air, feeling my body shrink in seconds, growing wings, feathers, and beady bird eyes. Flapping my wings, I flew straight for the creature with a defiant caw, seeing Nyx dodge another swipe from the monster’s razor claws that raked deep gashes in the earth. Damn, she was fast. I didn’t normally stop to admire another faery’s fighting style, but this girl’s skill might rival the best swordsman I knew, and that was saying something. Even so, between the creature’s ferocity and the flailing tentacles, she was having trouble landing another blow. She could use a little help, or at least a good distraction.

I was very good at distractions.

Directly over the creature’s head, I released my bird form and dropped from the air in an explosion of feathers. With a whoop, I landed on the thing’s skull, between the huge, sweeping antlers of a monster.

“Hey, ugly. Let’s give you something else to think about. Bet you can’t get me off without ramming your face into something.”

The creature tossed its head with a roar. I, of course, had been expecting that and grabbed one of those sharp antler points to keep my balance. You ride one giant angry creature that wants to kill you, you’ve ridden them all. It was just a matter of timing, really. The only thing to watch out for was if it decided to headbutt a tree.

“Oh, come on,” I mocked as it hunched its shoulders and shook its head like a dog. “Is that your best attempt? I’ve piggybacked on giants and Minotaurs and once rode a very angry wild Pegasus without a saddle. You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

As I spoke, Keirran’s Summer glamour filled the air, and the ground under the monster’s feet erupted with vines, roots, and brambles. The creature halted, snarling as the vegetation wrapped around its limbs, coiling over its arms and dragging it toward the ground. The monster braced itself, fighting the inevitable pull. It was strong, but it wasn’t paying attention to us any longer.

I caught a streak of shadow as Nyx darted toward the monster, vaulted off a tree trunk, and slashed her blade through the creature’s thick neck. A very precise, deadly shot that would sever the jugular and bleed the thing out in seconds were it a normal beast.

I hoped it was a normal beast. Kneeling, I drove my daggers into the base of its skull, sinking them to the hilt. I wasn’t usually this ruthless, and I didn’t enjoy killing this way, but Keirran was right. Whatever this monster was, it had to die. No games, no playing around. Best get it over with quickly.

The creature staggered, falling to all fours. The vines and roots coiled around its body tightened even further, bringing its skull close to the ground. I saw Nyx emerge from the darkness again, both blades in hand as she rushed toward the monster’s head. Probably aiming to take it off this time, which was a good move, I thought. With very few exceptions, no matter how tough something was, it needed its head to stay alive. I took a quick step back, not wanting to be in the way when those blades of light came slashing down.

Under my feet, the monster stirred. I saw it lift its head, a chilling gleam in its blank white eyes as they fastened on Nyx, and I realized our mistake. It was baiting us.

“Nyx!” I yelled, just as the faery sprang toward it for the killing blow. “Don’t—!”

A massive claw shot out, tearing free of vines and roots as if they weren’t there, smashing into the Forgotten and pinning her to the ground. Curling its talons around her, the monster rose easily, vegetation ripping and tearing. Bringing a dazed, unresponsive Nyx close to its muzzle, it snarled, slavering jaws gaping wide as if to bite off her head.

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