Curse Breaker (2)

2

There's no time to clamber out. I reach for Samu, wrapping my arms around his frame as the carriage t lands with a thud. Head spinning, low growls seep through the cracks in the wood.

Blood pounds in my ears as my eyes dart around. Samu's weight crushes me against the window of the sideways carriage, one of the beams from the crushed seat trapping my foot. I don't dare make a noise as I try to shift from beneath his body, the growls closer now. The stench of blood thickens the air, a stomach-churning slurping noise following.

The sheet hangs limply, exposing a sliver of the night sky. The eerie silence screams. All around, a metallic scent hangs in the air. I manage to shift Samu's body to the side and start trying to free my foot, my heart pounding against my chest.

The carriage creaks, as if the wood will collapse at any moment. My pants of desperation fill the silence as I yank at my leg. A low growl vibrates through the wood. I freeze, fear paralysing my entire body.

I force myself to look at Samu, but that only makes it worse. Memories crash over me. The Red Moon. Red paints my eyelids. My father's screams fill the empty space of the carriage, his body painting red across the wooden floor of our cabin as the shifters dragged him away.

I squeeze my eyes shut to chase the memory away, but it only serves to make his screams louder. In the desperation, my leg comes free. The beam crushing it loosens, clattering against the roof of the carriage, the end jagged and sharp from the way the wood snapped.

The growling pauses as I scramble to my knees, reaching for Samu to put him on the side of the carriage against the earth.

My heart stops as heavy breath registers just outside. A dark shape hovers just over the entrance, blocking the moon from sneaking inside, the gentle flapping of the sheet revealing its large frame. Low, ragged breaths fill the air. My mind threatens to shut down, to roll into a ball and squeeze my eyes shut until the monster disappears.

But then I remember Samu.

Lurching forward, I pull the jagged beam of wood from where it clattered to the ground and brandish it towards the opening, forcing myself to take deep, slow breaths. I've faced Ereon. I've walked into a ballroom filled with hundreds of shifters.

A snout nudges the sheet aside, revealing sharp, yellowed jaws. Foam gathers at the edges of the shifters snout, tinged red. I force myself to remain still as it drips down from above, splattering on my cheek.

The carriage creaks beneath its weight. But just as it goes to lean further forward, its head snaps in a different direction, leaving the rag flapping in a wind. I remain frozen in the carriage, the wood my only weapon as the shadow retreats.

A moment later, the sheet is pulled back by another figure.

Killian raises a finger to his lips, eyes wide. He assesses my position, balancing over the small entrance and reaching in to lift Samu from me, throwing him over his shoulder. I shift once his weight is gone, trying to stand.

Killian offers me a hand. I'm not stupid enough to refuse it, letting him lift me from the overturned carriage. My head spins as I clamber atop, letting out a shaky breath. The front of the carriage is obscured from my vision, but there's no sign of the horse.

Behind Killian, Lei carries Samu over her shoulders, Draigh in front of her with a knife pointed towards us. I ignore Killian hand this time and clamber to the ground myself, stumbling backward towards them. It's only when I turn around to face the carriage that I see what they see.

My stomach lurches with nausea, but it's overpowered by fear. That thick stench of blood, the growling, the slurping. It's the tearing of flesh. The horse's corpse lies on it side, a dark figure crouched over it, tearing into its body.