Page 16 of Wicked Prince of Shadows
Nothing.
The footsteps were getting closer. “It’s not letting me! The Hollow King grabbed me. There’s a ceremony when the blood moon ends. I’m going to die because I’m not a royal!” I climbedback up onto the ledge and clawed about for a rock to bash against the portal.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Enola gestured toward someone out of sight and then pulled back, holding a club. She swung it against the portal on her side. The surface wavered for a moment, but it did not break. “We’re going to—” Her eyes widened. “Sabine!” She pointed behind me.
I spun around in time to see a large skeletal hound peering over the edge. Dull red light burned in its eye sockets though it had no eyes. It snapped its jaws, long yellowed teeth clacking together. The sound reverberated down the pit like bones tearing across stone. Its ragged body shifted, its massive spindly legs arching up and then down like a giant spider rather than a wolf’s. A rancid stench rolled down with each exhale, the scent of damp earth, iron, and rot.
My knees buckled as I pressed against the wall. The creature let out a low growl that vibrated through the pit, a rumble that sank into my chest and twisted my stomach. “Sabine, run!” Enola struck her fist on the barrier again.
The skeletal hound cocked its head, its focus shifting to the portal. Another growl rumbled from its chest.
Enola had his attention.
Panic threatened to overwhelm me as I struggled to form a plan. There was a way out of this. There had to be. I was pressed against the wall farthest from that creature, but it could easily reach me in a single lunge. Its hot breath stirred the dirt on the sloped wall beneath it, its gaze fixed downward. If the barrier held for me, it’d likely hold against this creature.
Enola slammed her fists against the surface again. “Oh! You see me, huh? Come and get this!” Her movements made the portal shimmer and ripple faintly. The beast growled as it crept closer. Its long spindly forelegs pressed into the dark sloped surface, its shoulders tense as it stalked closer.
My heart pounded as I watched the skeletal beast lower itself further until its chest brushed the slope, muscles tensing. I edged silently along the far side of the slope to a point where the incline wasn’t so steep.
“That’s right, you ugly beast!” Enola struck her fist against the portal again. Her voice wavered and echoed on the other side. “Come on!”
Snarling, the beast lunged at her. Its skeletal jaws struck the portal with a sickening crack as its spindly spiked legs punched against the slick dark surface. The portal flickered but held firm.
I scrambled up the slope, my bandaged feet slipping as I fought my way up, fingernails digging into the slope. The beast was too focused on Enola to notice me climbing out. Its howls of frustration echoed through the pit as its teeth scraped uselessly against the barrier. Maker, help me, I had to be fast.
It howled and snarled, punching and biting at the portal.
I flung myself over the side, then froze. Bleeding hemlock! Two more skeletal hounds prowled on spindly spider-like legs near where I'd jumped, sniffing around the stones. Their hollow eye sockets burned with the same dull red light, heads swinging back and forth as they searched. One lifted its skull, sniffing the air, then turned its gaze directly toward me.
Could they see me if I didn’t move? The one had tracked me right into the pit. Maybe that was sound-based or smell? Both growled low and throatily, then started toward me.
Oh, they could see me.
Spinning around, I bolted along the chasm's edge, running in the opposite direction from where I'd crossed. The first beast howled from within the pit, the sound like metal being torn apart as it echoed off the sides. The other two gave out a series of bellowing howls that chilled me to the core.
I bolted along the chasm's edge, running in the opposite direction from where I'd crossed.
Behind me, one of the beasts howled again. A heavythudfollowed as if something had jumped and crashed, clattering. From the clicking and snarling, it sounded as if all three now chased after me. I hinged a glance back in time to see that the escaping skeletal hound had caved in part of the wall of the pit as it struggled up. The other two chased me.
Terror pulsed through my veins. My bandaged feet throbbed with agony, leaving behind a clear blood trail, but I urged myself forward, trying not to imagine those long, yellowed teeth sinking into my flesh. I could hear them gaining, their bony limbs striking the ground in an unnatural rhythm, their breathing ragged and hungry.
There had to be another way across! I scanned the far side, the blood moon’s pale light revealing only more of the same treacherous terrain. The chasm curved ahead, wide and merciless, its far and narrower edge still out of reach. It was at least another fifty feet before the chasm started turning inward.
I needed a narrowing—somewhere I could leap across like I’d done before they caught me. It was somewhere ahead. But right now I was on the fat side of the damn crescent! If I spotted that narrow bridge again, maybe I'd risk it.
The clattering click of claws closed in behind me like knives stabbing packed earth. Several of the steps lurched out to the side. I hinged a look back in time to see them spreading out. Damn them all to whatever place was worse than this!
I flung myself forward with desperate intensity, my torn feet screaming as they pounded against the unforgiving ground. The howls rose behind me, a chorus of bone-chilling wails that seemed to come from everywhere at once. The sound reverberated through the air, piercing my skull and sending ice through my veins.
A heavy weight slammed into my back, driving me face-first into the ground. The impact crushed me into the dirt, knockingthe air from my chest. Searing pain ripped through my body as I skidded forward toward the edge of the chasm.
Help!
Hot, fetid breath seared across my cheek, the stink of iron and rot filling my nose. Three of its eight bony claws dug into my thighs and back, pinning me down. Panic surged within me. I shoved, twisted, and writhed as I scraped for purchase to get up. Its jaws snapped near my right ear, and the claw against my back pressed deeper, threatening to snap my spine.
Whimpering, I flattened myself and went limp as it sniffed at me. Pain radiated from each of the points where its claws pressed into my body. It snarled again, its weight shifting back. One of the legs moved directly in front of me as the creature now stood over me, the nearest bony claw pressing into the dirt. It sniffed at me and then growled again as if unsure what to make of my scent.
Panic rose within me. This was it if I didn’t figure something out—I was going to die in this horrible place.
