Page 4 of Dawn to Dusk
My face felt tight and probably resembled something someone with constipation would wear. I marched in the direction of the safe house. “My friend’s house is where we want to go then.”
“You have friends?” He dug his words into an already raw place.
“Not many.”Jerk.
I only took three steps before he spoke again. “If you betray me, Petriv.” He said my last name with the amount of scathing hate that only someone who truly suffered at the hands of my family could manage. A painful reminder that I was no longer a Petriv, but I certainly wasn’t a real member of the faction. My face tightened more, refusing to let this man know how lost I felt. “I will carve that pretty face up to show everyone how ugly you really are. Am I understood?”
“Understood, sir.” I tried to muster up some hate, but his rage was understandable. He fiercely protected his people, and even if he was a prick, I respected that about him.
I led him through the dense forest. In minutes, the sun dipped below the horizon, and darkness surrounded us. My nerves sat on edge, waiting for the attack that would inevitably come. I avoided brush that might give away our position, taking calculated steps. Meanwhile, Bigfoot stomped behind me like he wanted to start singing Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, ignorant of all the threats around us.
“Walk softer. You’re bringing us unwanted attention.”
The crickets and locusts went silent, hiding from a threat creeping in the dark. One I couldn’t see. I halted, trying to get a lock on what was out there.
“You are the only witch I smell.” He shoved past me. “Move it, Sunshine.”
The soft whistle of a projectile whipped through the air. I grabbed the back of Edur’s trousers, yanking him back hard enough that the poisonous quill flying through the air narrowly missed his face. Edur snarled towards the darkness, trying to establish himself as the alpha of whatever dared to challenge him.
“That won’t work.” My hands slid into the holes of the pockets I’d cut out.
Seven smaller snarls echoed his response, then chittered amongst themselves, making a plan of attack we could only hope to anticipate. Edur snarled again, this time louder, because that’s usually how it works with beasts; the biggest, baddest one makes the rules.
“They only report to their own hierarchy.”
“What are they?” Edur asked.
“Karnethea. Native porcupine-esque creatures with a surly disposition. Their quills are extremely toxic and if you can’t see them, they’re about the size of a small pony.”
“Never heard of them.” Then he roared so loud, he would lead anything for three miles right to us.
I wrapped my fingers around the worn handles of my wyretooth blades and pulled them from the halter secured to each thigh.
“Stand down. The witch is with me.” A final warning from Edur. Too bad they didn’t care. They leapt out of the shadows. One aimed itself right for Edur’s front. I moved fast and threw one of my daggers into its throat. As it went down, I used the other to slash the tender underbelly of the one coming from my side. Four quills dug into my torso, but I ignored them for the time being.
Edur shifted into his yeti form, shredding his clothes in the process. He grew taller, beefier, and meaner within seconds. White fur covered him from head to toe. They didn’t stand achance against a yeti. As the Karnethea leapt for him, he tossed them back like they were nothing. I threw my other blade to nail one in the forehead that aimed its ugly buck teeth at the back of Edur’s neck. He nodded to me in acknowledgement.
We managed to easily dispatch the pack of karnethea that attacked us. I wrenched a quill from my side. Edur turned back into a man to scold me. “Leave them in.”
“The poison.” I reminded him. Bleeding out was a better option than the agonizing pain the toxin would cause if I left it in my body. That was when I heard a simple quack. It sounded innocent enough, unless you knew there were no ducks on the Horizon Isles.
“Beasts will scent you.”
“Beasts aren’t our problem here, and the creatures we need to worry about aren’t following their snouts.” I rushed to get the last quill out, snapping it in my hurry. I ripped my daggers from the last karnethea I killed, returning them to my pockets and into their halters. “We need to run.”
Another innocuous quack. I didn’t dare breathe. I put a finger over my mouth. These things hunted by sound. Silencing that booming voice of his became top priority.
Edur shook his head. “You’re not going to be useful to me bleeding out.”
You are not letting me be useful now,I thought to myself.
The quacking picked up in tempo as it approached us. I glared at Edur, and he met my gaze with the same amount of energy. Eventually, he scanned the area. “What is that damn noise?”
To answer his question, the creature making that cute little sound stood over the trees to show itself. Moonlight glinted off the black shadow, showing its spectral-like shape, but I knew it was as solid as I was. Silver gem eyes stared at us in a way that reminded me of pig at slop time. It opened its human-likemouth to quack and sport its blood-red teeth, where it already found other souls to eat. The three-foot-long ginsu claws still had chunks in it from its last kill.
“What is that?!” Edur’s eyes went wide. Good, now he would behave like the wise beast I knew he was.
“A manith, also called a death shadow. You die in agony within hours if it even touches you.” I told him, turning on my heel. “Can we run now?”
