Page 50 of Forged By Heart and Claws
Not behind us. Ahead.
We rounded a bend, and the walls widened into a branching cavern. The lamps cast jagged shadows over the stone, but my stomach turned to ice.
Then something in the walltore. Another slit appeared, black and seething, shadows pulsing inside it like living rot.
The scent hit first. Wet fur. Iron. Decay.
More wolves.
I opened my mouth to warn the others, but pain exploded through my left calf as teeth clamped down, piercing flesh and bone. I let out a bloodcurdling scream.
CHAPTER 11
Briar
Sharp teeth crushed my foot, and the ground vanished beneath me. The corridor flipped as I was wrenched backward toward the gaping, writhing wound in the wall.
Pain spread through my ankle, and I thrashed and clawed at the ground, looking for a way to fight my attacker. My nails split on the stone as the shadow wolf tugged me closer.
Briar!Vad’s voice crashed through our link, our connection blazing from his anger. The others screamed and shouted.
Shadows pulsed like a heartbeat, the portal yawning wide just feet away, eagerly waiting to devour me. The air churned with rot and static, like wet stone struck by lightning. Claws scraped for purchase behind me. The beast’s jaws clamped tighter, crushing leather, tearing through flesh.
This wolf was larger than the others, its eyes crimson like the figure in the tapestry and on the banner. The pressure from its jaw intensified, and I whimpered.
Vad collided with the wolf in a furious storm of wings and claws. His talons punched into the creature’s side, and he yanked it off me in one savage motion. The beast shrieked as Vad tore into it, his snarls raw with rage. Blood arced through the air, and he slammed the wolf into the wall with a crunch of bone.
Rhielle dropped beside me. Her arms locked under mine, and she helped me to my feet as Veralt surged past. A flash of steel came from the corner of my eye, and Veralt’s blade cleaved through the wolf’s skull in one clean stroke.
As soon as I put the slightest pressure on my foot, I gasped. Pain flared, sharp and hot as fire.
“We need—” Rhielle started.
“It’s fine,” I managed, breath hitching. “Looks worse than it is.”
Thalen appeared on my other side, catching me as I swayed. “It’s very clearly not fine, Chaos.”
“Get some bandages,” Elara called out from several feet away where she was leaning on Silus. “Did it crush your foot, Briar? Is it broken?”
Vad whirled away from the crumpled wolf, blood streaking his arms like war paint. His chest heaved, and his eyes burned molten silver as he stormed toward me, shoulders taut, every line of him seeming carved from stone. Relief and fury warred in our bond. “Everyone, hold your position and watch the portal. If another one comes through, kill it.”
He crouched in front of me and lifted my bloodied foot.
I bit back a pained cry and gritted my teeth.
“Sorry,” he murmured, voice rough with guilt.
Vyraetos knelt beside him with the lamp and the medicine bag, eyes scanning the wound with grim focus. “Deep lacerations, but the bone’s whole. You’re lucky.”
“If I shift, I’ll heal. It’s not a terrible wound.” I hoped I could. I’d been injured horribly and had still managed to shift twice, but there had been times recently that I'd tried to shift, and something had prevented me.
“You shouldn’t shift yet.” Vad’s voice was tight with fury. “Not until we’re somewhere safe.” Concern bled through the bond, weighing it down with a dull throb.
Rhielle pressed a scarf to the back of my neck and tied my hair out of my face. “That wolf’s eyes weren't the same as the others. Something’s changed.”
“Doesn’t matter what color their eyes are,” Veralt muttered, still gripping his blade. “We kill whatever comes through next.”
Quen glanced at the tunnel and adjusted her grip on the lamp she was holding. Elias steadied one of the bags slung over her shoulder.
