Page 56 of Venomous Lust
Zaxis and Khal locked gazes for a long time. Then, the Avonie nodded.
Without saying another word, Hazel followed Khal into the unknown.
Chapter 18
Hazel
The heat of the red sun seeped through her synthetic leather coat, but Hazel kept it on. Her skin wasn’t used to being exposed to sunlight for long periods of time. Khal walked slightly in front of her, ever alert, scanning the strange plain as they approached the forest. A large backpack containing water and food rations hung from his shoulders.
Hazel tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry and she shook her head.
“I need water,” she called out to Khal and he stopped, a frown on his face.
“We’re close now. We shouldn’t stop.” He turned his gaze to the forest. He wasn’t happy to stop but he did it anyway, fetching her a few pouches of water from the backpack. “This forest is the only place we can hide, but we need to make sure it’s safe before we bring Celaith.”
Because Celaith might not survive the trip. That was what Khal didn’t mention.
It was merely a hundred yards away now, and already Hazel could see the trees were not trees at all. In fact, it wasn’t even a forest.
“Are those grasses?” Hazel drank the entire contents of the pouch in a long, grateful sip, then started on the second right away. No point in staying thirsty now that they had stopped.
“It would seem that way.” Khal spoke in a suspicious tone, his gaze steadily on the forest. She knew he could see things she didn’t with his superior vision. She stared at the vast forest made of tall stalks that seemed to open at the top like blades of grass. The stalks were large and grew wide enough apart from each other to provide shade and shelter.
Shade and shelter for them, as well as any potential enemy.
“Stay close to me,” Khal instructed her before resuming his walk. He used a slower pace, allowing Hazel to follow more closely.
A few minutes later, they entered the forest. They had been right, the forest was made of long, incredibly large shoots of grass, growing far apart from each other. As the breeze blew across the top, they moved in unison like a unique organism. An eerie silence reigned supreme in the forest, any sounds further dampened as they got deeper between the thick, tall stalks. The light was dim and the air was damp after only a few dozen feet and Hazel’s nose wrinkled as a faint, indescribable stench became stronger and stronger.
“This place isn’t like any forest I’ve heard of.” Hazel turned to Khal who stood motionless, his deep blue eyes reflecting the low light.
All around them, the silence slowly gave way to a strange sound, like insects chirping in the night. Hazel’s arms covered in goosebumps at the noise and a sudden nervousness made her turn around, looking at the endless sea of green with suspicion. The chirping was eerie and ominous, but she couldn’t exactly say why.
Khal tilted his head lightly, his face focused as he, too, listened to the strange chirping.
“I hear chirping, yet no sounds of wings or legs on the ground. If it’s animals making that sound, then they’re staying perfectly still while doing it.” Khal took a step closer to Hazel, his shoulders tense, his back stiff. “I don’t like this. We’ll head back. Find another place for our shelter.”
“These are incredible.” Hazel stepped closer to a stalk, its surface glistening, green lined with red. It looked so smooth, so soft, she flattened her palm against a trunk then took it off with a frown.
“It’s warm,” she said, a growing nervousness eating away at her as she eyed the forest with new eyes. “What is this place?”
Khal’s head tilted sharply toward the stalk Hazel had just touched. His face turned deadly still for a second, then alarm spread across his features.
“Those are not trees!”
He grabbed her arm just as a long, sleek root shot from the ground, wrapping tightly around her ankle. An immediate burning sensation spread across her skin as wisps of smoke rose from her synthetic leather pants.
“It burns!” Hazel cried, bending to free her leg. She didn’t have time to reach out as another root shot out and wrapped around her wrist.
This time, the pain was like a branding iron as it seared through her skin. The burning in her ankle became stronger and stronger as the synthetic leather dissolved. Hazel screamed mindlessly as her flesh started to melt.
That root was no root. And it was eating her alive.
Khal moved, fast and efficiently. His talons freed her ankle, then her wrist in single, graceful swipes. The roots fell to the ground, twisting like the severed ends of a worm. Another root jumped from the ground, closing around his thigh. He sliced it before it was even done wrapping.
“Run!” Khal shouted, slicing another root that sprang from the ground, its attack lightning fast and precise like a snake’s.
A snake’s attack. That was exactly what this was.
