Page 50 of The Luminaries
“Go slowly,” she tells herself, reaching a hickory tree. “Think it through.” For some reason, though, instead ofgoing slowlyorthinking it through,her brain just spits out the Nightmare Compendium.
Basilisks: Though seemingly small, no wider than a cobra, the basilisk can, in fact, stretch up to forty feet long. Fine, hairlike tendrils alert it to nearby movement of prey, and the head can move with uncanny speed once prey is detected.
Revenants: Corpses left in the forest or buried too close to the forest will reawaken, imbued by spiritual energy and hungry for blood.
The Compendium and all its nightmares are exactly what Winnie doesn’t need right now. “Trust the forest,” she hisses at herself. “Jay told you to trust the forest.” She puts her hand on the fused maples, the bark grooved under her gloved palm. “Look left, and you’ll see a clearing in the trees. Cross it.”
Winnie does exactly that, left at the maples. Cross the clearing. Two hundred and twelve steps onward, then it’s left at the fallen pine and another hundred to the little spring that forms the first hint of her special stream.
Winnie is so relieved to see it in the dark, a glittery, burbling thing that makes a small puddle at the top of an incline, she doesn’t noticeright away that the noises around her have shifted. She’s breathing hard already. Her new boots are giving her a blister.
Do not sprint, do not sprint.
She realizes too late that she should have sprinted, for the mist has begun to rise.
It’s like it was a few days ago, white and thick and hungry, yet it moves more quickly this time, since she’s nearer to the forest’s heart. The entire world smears away before Winnie’s eyes, the warmth of the mist undulating over her. Erasing her legs, then her arms, then her neck and nose. Any second now, it will turn to scalding.
She can’t breathe. She can’t see, and she certainly can’t move—but she needs to. She knows she needs to. The Compendium tells her she needs to keep moving.
Do not sprint, do not sprint.
The hunter must keep moving. The hunter must keep moving.
Which is it? Which is Jay’s voice, which is the Compendium, which is her own? She can’t breathe, she can’t think. Everything sears. She is boiling from the inside out and the outside in.
Left at the maples. Cross clearing. One hundred paces to an aspen stand. Left at the maples. Two hundred and twelve…
No, no. She’s getting everything out of order—and the Compendium just won’t shut up.
Melusine: These beautiful, mermaid-like creatures inhabit the rivers and lakes of the forest. They are not aggressive but will attack if humans get near.
Winnie tries to stumble forward. She makes it three steps before her hands hit a tree trunk. Even with gloves, it scalds.
Two maple saplings growing leaves. Cross the clearing.
Banshees: Known for weeping and wailing, they lure prey to them via the natural human instinct for empathy.
Winnie tries to inch around the tree, even though each pat against its trunk is like touching a hot burner on the stove. Or it starts out that way, but when she has moved maybe halfway around the trunk—or maybe all the way around it twice, for all she knows—she realizes it doesn’t burn quite so badly. And soon, she can see her arms. Then her hands. Then the tree bark (it looks like oak).
She is so relieved for half a moment that it doesn’t occur to her what the vanishing mist might mean—what it heralds. She is just desperately grateful to breathe again.
It is right when Winnie is going to turn away from the oak, right as her head swivels and her muscles coil inward for movement, that she hears it: a soft, skittering sound like mandibles nearby. It’s coming from her left.
No, from her right. No, from behind her… from beyond the tree… from her left and her right because, oh god, she is completely and utterly surrounded.
The mist has created an entire horde of vampira, and Winnie is smack-dab in the middle of them.
CHAPTER27
Vampira: Also called the praying mantis of the forest, these tall creatures move on stilt-like feet that rest atop the soil, leaving no tracks. They move in hordes, but when tracking prey, they do not move at all.
They have what appear to be mandibles, but are in fact side-hinging jaws and fangs. To startle a vampira is to startle the entire horde.
Additional tips: Always aim for their knees. A well-placed blade can destabilize them, preventing pursuit.
Winnie does not move. It’s only a matter of seconds before the vampira smell her in their midst, but if the exo-scales are as good as Aunt Rachel said, then she should have a few extra seconds before they sniff her out.
She is very careful to breathe through her nose. And she is very careful not to move. The alarm lanyard hangs temptingly around her neck, but even if she could pull it, it would take too long for the hunters to get here. She is on her own for this, and surprise is the only real weapon she has.
