The Reader

Chapter Twelve - The Shadowrith

Kallista screamed and rolled onto her back, her first instinct to meet the attack head on. She flung out her arms and urged her power to come but nothing happened. Her veins felt as if they were full of ice. The familiar burning of fire just beneath her skin had vanished. It was both disconcerting and terrifying. With a shout, Merric flung his knife. The course was straight and true but it passed straight through the shadow, which had marshalled itself into the form of a massive cat. Jaws agape it torpedoed straight for Kallista.

Just before it hit her she rolled out of the way. She expected a thump as it hit the hard earth, something that huge would surely make the ground shake. But no sound came except that sinister purr she had heard from the reeds. Heart in throat, Kallista lifted her head and stared into the eyes of hell. They glowed carmine, pupil-less and endless in depth, and remained firmly fixed on her. But the beast didn't attack again.

“Kallista,” came Merric's measured, calm voice from the other side of the cat. Kallista flicked her gaze up and realised she could see straight through the creature's ribcage. It was made purely of smoke. Its edges were blurred and uncertain, and dark shapes swirled within it.

“Kallista,” Merric said again. “Stay still and calm. This is a shadowrith. It's attracted by movement.”

Kallista bit back the snappish retort that danced across her tongue and did as Merric said. Shivering from the cold, she tried to touch her power again, but it was like grasping at a wet bar of soap. As soon as she had a handle on the familiar warmth it slipped from her clutches and flickered out. The freezing water had dimmed it to a fluttering, useless spark inside her. Desperately she kept trying to call it but it had difficulty moving through the sluggish blood in her veins.

The shadowrith took a hesitant step forward and tested the wind with its dark smudge of a nose. It didn't seem to know where she was now that she was still. Kallista wondered if it could smell her. If it could it didn't seem to notice.

Movement caught Kallista's eye and she turned her head an infinitesimal fraction to see the shape of Merric moving on the other side of the cat. He crept painfully slowly around the beast, yet those terrible eyes remained on Kallista. She felt as if her soul was being peeled back layer by layer by them, all her past sins and transgressions laid out bare for the cat to judge.

An icy breath of wind blew across them. The shadowy form buckled slightly, pieces blown away by the breeze. The edges became even harder to discern. Yet the cat seemed unaffected. It took another step forward.

“Kallista, stand slowly,” Merric said. His deep, reassuring voice washed over her like a summer stream.

“But you said it was attracted to movement,” she protested, panic creeping into her words.

“It's attracted to quick movements. Just stand slowly and carefully.”

She didn't want to trust him. Self-preservation warned her to stay absolutely still. But there was something in his voice. Some intoxicating quality that encouraged her to obey. Slowly, painfully slowly, she rose to her knees. The shadowrith's purr intensified, so loud that it vibrated in her breastbone. It opened its massive jaws revealing long, yellow fangs that looked lethally solid. Another breeze wafted through, bringing with it the reeking stench of death. Kallista fought to keep her stomach from heaving with disgust.

There was a quiet schick sound. Alarmed, Kallista flicked her gaze from the cat to Merric. He had drawn his sword, the blade glimmering in the moonlight. The cat didn't notice.

“Merric, your knife didn't work. What makes you think your sword will?”

“Do you have a better idea?” he asked.

“Well … no.”

“Then shut up and trust me.”

Kallista fumed but did as he asked. She didn't really have an option. The cat had taken a few more steps towards her. As the minutes dragged by it seemed to become more and more aware of her location.

“It's learning,” she whispered, horrified. Merric nodded but didn't reply. He concentrated on the head of the beast which was as long as her torso. Kallista's eyes danced between the lurid eyes and the gleaming fangs, the shortest of which would have been equal to her forearm in length.

Merric edged around until he stood at her side. The shadowrith didn't even glance at him, so focused was it on finding Kallista. It had closed the distance between them to mere feet, so close that she could smell its reeking stench without the aid of the breeze. Kallista wrinkled her nose. It smelt of death.

“Merric ...”

Her voice trembled. The Shadowrith pricked its rounded, bear-like ears. A ferocious snarl tore through its lips. The beast crouched, smoke bunching and rolling like iron muscles under a silken hide. Kallista instincts screamed for her to run and she pivoted on her heel to dash away.

“KALLISTA, NO!”

Merric's roar was drowned out by the shriek of millions of dead souls. Before Kallista had gone two steps a colossal weight crashed into her back knocking her to the ground. The impact drove the wing from her lungs with a grunt. She tasted blood. Hot breath and slavered fangs raked the back of her neck. Fear took a firm grip of her heart and it stampeded painfully below her ribs, which were being steadily crushed by the heavy shadow. White dots began to appear before her eyes as her brain was starved of oxygen. She couldn't get enough purchase to flip over. She was going to die.

As Kallista gasped what seemed to be her last breath she heard from afar Merric's shouts. A flash of silver severed the darkness. The shadowrith yowled in pain and something sticky hot splattered Kallista's bare shoulders. It stung like the bite of acid. The pressure on her torso lessened slightly. She struggled up onto her elbows and twisted her head to look over her shoulder.

Merric danced back and forth swinging the sword at the cat. Kallista was shocked to see one of the beast's eyes had been put out. Dark blood seeped down the translucent black vapor of its head. The remaining eye was fixed maliciously on Merric. With the lightning speed of a striking cobra one of the shadowrith's great paws shot out and tripped him. He fell with a shout, the sword clattering from his hand. The cat's balance on Kallista's back wavered and it wobbled unsteadily. She took her opportunity and wrenched her body around, dislodging it.

Pain screamed from the nerve-endings in her thigh. One of the shadowrith's great claws had ripped a deep gash through the muscle as it fell. She clutched the open wound with one hand and gripped fistfuls of grass to drag herself backwards, away from the predator. Merric was nearby, cursing as he fumbled for his sword. Somewhere in the darkness the cat shrieked again. Panic flared anew in her breast, searing hot.

She froze. It wasn't panic. It was her power. Her heart gave a leap of joy as she subconsciously took hold of the familiar heat, caressing it, fondling it. Then anger boiled through her veins. She saw a patch of darkness move and without thinking she thrust her arm out towards it. A jet of liquid flame shot from her fingers, fuelled by her fear and fury. The shadowrith's shriek suddenly became one of terror. The flames enveloped it in a ball of molten wrath, licking over the formless shape, devouring the beast until it was nothing more than a pile of ash.

The night was abruptly silent once more. Darkness rushed to fill the void left by the light of the magical fire as it fizzled out. Her energy sapped by the struggle and the effort of calling forth her power, Kallista sank back against the grass. It felt better than any feather bed. Within moments she was unconscious.