Page 80 of The Last One
“But those aren’t wolves,” Olivia snaps, “not anymore.”
She’s right, but the only hope for survival is for us to defeat the burnu, and that will be impossible with two girls underfoot.
A quick glance reveals that all three creatures are in the last stages of transformation. We’re out of time.
“The safest place is up,” I say, jerking my chin in the direction of the trees behind us.
“We’ll keep them from coming close to you,” Jadon shouts. “Nowgo.”
Olivia and Philia race back to the poplars right as the three fully transformed creatures rise to their full, impossible height and roar.
My amulet beats, and a buzz fizzes through my body until my fingertips tingle. Heat rushes through all ten digits like wildfire. The wind is ready. But why now? What’s changed? Is it becausetheychanged from wolves to…this?Burnu? Otherworldly?
I make eye contact with Zigzag, still marked by that blue lightning bolt on his snout even in his new form. “Let’s see what you’re made of.”
The burnu to our left pounces.
Before Zigzag can attack me, I lift my arm. The powerful punch of wind bursts from me, driving the burnu back. He crashes against a tree, rolling and recovering too quickly. I can’t build up any more force, not so fast, and he’s already on me. I scrabble over the rocky forest floor until I find another stick, a thicker stick. With a wrenching howl, I strike and twist the stick hard enough to drive it deep into his eye. Warm, bright-green liquid erupts over my hand. But that doesn’t kill him. I release the bloody weapon and grab another stick from the grassy ground.
Jadon makes quick work of another burnu with his sword, jabbing it into the creature’s eye. More spurts of warm green blood. That burnu’s definitely not having breakfast this morning…at least not inthisrealm.
With only one working eye, Zigzag’s head dips and stays low as he watches his fellow burnu fall. But his attention quickly turns to the beta burnu, who’s still lurching from Jadon’s strike. Zigzag barks at him, and the beta growls in response.
The beta lunges, and Jadon spins to face him, wielding his sword in a clean arc.
Green blood explodes from the beast.
The second burnu charges at Jadon, but I don’t turn to watch. No, I’ve got my eyes and hands trained on Zigzag, who hasn’t let a twig in his face stop him. My fingers fluctuate from hot to cold.No!I can’t wait for whatever’s happening with my hands to either stop or start, so I grab three more sticks and a jagged rock from the grass, tuck them into my ripped breeches. In the light of the rising daystar, I can see every hair on Zigzag’s coat and the fine gray bristles on his snout.
“Why are you here?” I murmur to Zigzag, readying myself, feet apart. “Who sent you?”
Zigzag responds with a growl that ends in one word.“Destroyer.”
What does that mean?
He snarls,“Die!”
A growl starts in my belly, twists up my throat, and then thunders like an erupting volcano. My amulet is hot against my chest, alive.“Make me.”
The burnu rushes at me and—
Howls of pain. The creature is suddenly wrapped in a purple light, a spectral lasso that wasn’t thrown by me.
I leap backward in surprise and watch as the mysterious lasso tightens, digging into the beast’s fur, past his skin, until all of the burnu glows lavender. But that light does more than glow. That lightgrows.And grows, and grows, pushing and expanding the burnu from inside until…
The creature explodes; pieces of burnu fly everywhere.
Then that purple light dissolves, and two burnu lie still among chunks of the third. The glen slips into a nervous quiet—interrupted only by my ragged breaths and pounding heart. But I don’t dare move. Is it over? How is it over?
Slowly, I face Jadon.
He’s breathing heavily, wearing a similar expression of surprise. “Was that you?” he asks. “That light?”
“No. I… No.” Awed, I stare at the space where I first saw that violet light. I want to say more, but I can only say, “No,” again.
“Then…” Jadon swallows, fighting through his shock. “What was it?”
I tear my eyes away from the sky and peer at the trees. “There’s something back there,” I say. “We felt it at the river’s edge, remember?”
