Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
“No, Nyfain—!”
He bodily tossed me, throwing me up and over the tightening circle of creatures. I fell on my side and rolled, my wounds crying out and new bruises springing up all over my body. The creatures rushed in as he increased in size back to his beast. Another swipe scraped harmlessly across the scales of his mighty foot. He stomped on one, flattening it. Then another, all the creatures conveniently close together and easy for him to take out. They quickly figured that out, though, and increased their circumference.
He turned and knocked one with his tail. That creature slammed against a tree trunk and slid to the ground. He turned again and got two more before kicking out with his hind foot and raking his claws up the face of the last.
It was over in moments, all the creatures smooshed, knocked against trees, or missing faces and half their chests.
He reduced down and ran at me, falling to his knees at my side.
“Finley, are you okay? Oh goddess, Finley.” It sounded like he was begging.
He laid me out flat and ran his hands across my chest, looking for the source of the most blood.
“No, it’s fine.” I waved my good arm at him. “Just some scratches and bites. It’s fine. Hannon will patch me right up—”
“Their bite is poisonous. We have to get you—”
I flinched as he handled my arm. “It wasn’t from them. It was from some hellhound thing with a fin. But one of them scratched you. How poisonous?”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about me.” He ripped into my pants so he could see the scratches on my legs.
“How poisonous?” I demanded, pushing through the pain to sit up.
He glanced at me and then did a double take. His look conveyed all I needed to know.
“Hurry,” I said, shoving him away and struggling to stand.
He threaded one arm under my legs and another around my back then stood and cradled me against his chest. “I’ll walk you there as far as I can. When the poison takes hold, you’ll have to make it the rest of the way on your own. There is everlass and bandages—”
I yanked up my animal and owned the power she’d taken from Nyfain’s dragon. With every ounce of fear and urgency I possessed, all of my will, I said, “Take me to my village, now!”
His animal roared to the surface. Power rode his response, pushing back on someone telling him what to do. My animal was there to meet him, iron and fire and salt and stubbornness.
“Do it,” we said. “Now!”
His muscles popped as he fought it, and then he turned. I didn’t know who was in control, my animal or me, and I didn’t much care. I just needed him to get to safety.
“Let me walk. You don’t need to carry me,” I told him, tapping his shoulder.
“Don’t push it,” he growled.
Right. Pick my battles.
“Are there any more creatures to worry about?” I asked as he started to jog.
“No. The wood is mostly clear. I would’ve reached you sooner, but creatures kept crossing my path, as though they were purposely preventing me from getting to you.”
“Are there always this many?”
“There is a portal from the demon kingdom to ours, powered by the curse’s magic. On the first day after a full moon, when my power dips, they let in more creatures than normal. He is trying to kill me, of course. The consolation prize is my disfigurement. I collect scars as children collect stones. But finally…he might have managed it.”
“He didn’t manage anything. I can fix you. Did you know that in many kingdoms, children collect shells because they aren’t landlocked by wood like we are? Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Instead of collecting nature’s bounty, they collect the houses of dead sea creatures?”
I blinked a few times. “Those houses are really pretty, though. And the sea creatures aren’t using them anymore, so…”
“Your distraction techniques need work.”
“So, if you’re not distracted, I might as well ask…how badly does it hurt?”
“Like a motherfucker, actually. But not as badly as it would hurt if it had been you.”
I was suddenly choked up, not knowing what to say. Not knowing why he would say that. Not knowing if it was true.
He stalled by the edge of the wood. “I need some power.”
“Sure, yeah, let me just…ask Saltier Finley…”
Need more power.
So it wasn’t technically a question.
“Do you still suppress her?” he asked as a wave of power washed through me and into him, carrying a bit of me and my animal with it. I sighed at the sensation of the stronger connection between us. A dangerous feeling to enjoy. Did I never learn my lesson?
“No, but…she handles the power supply because she seems to understand the mechanics of it, and I do not.”
He stepped through the barrier, and I felt him tense again. “It’s easier to cross with you.”