𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 2 Chapter 28 JAYLAH
Terror was pumping so heavily through me I thought I might keel over. My body was not fully recovered from the effects of the adder's bite; I hoped this was not more than I could take.
I threw a glance over my shoulder as we hurried along the path. Nothing was visible, but the air was tinged with the sounds of paws hitting the ground at breakneck speed and plants being trampled in their way. It was unmistakable we were being pursued now. At first, I hoped we could leave the area—which was presumably too close to their den—upon first catching a flash of one in the distance before it darted behind a fallen tree.
It was too late. It wanted to tear us to shreds for interrupting its territory. I could practically hear the way its claws dug into the earth, helping it slowly gain on us.
Of course, in this still-healing state, I was slower than Alexander. Just days ago my body was racked with cracking pain. It still lingered even now, as I pushed myself past the limit. Alexander was smart; he knew this, and assured that he would just have to be the faster of the two of us. If anyone was going to find those bone-crushing claws raking across their spine, it was me.
With every step of my tired legs, I anticipated the blow, being knocked to the ground, immediately losing the fight. I had my swords, but was that a match for a wild animal twice my size with claws like blades to rival mine?
The terror was the only thing keeping me steady along the path. Without that nervous energy teeming beneath my skin, I would have fallen to prey minutes ago. My chest rose and fell with erratic breath that was loud in my ears. I dared another glance behind. Nothing.
For a moment, I relaxed nothing but my lungs. Listening. Surprisingly enough, when I searched for it, the sounds of prowling had subsided. I made no mistake: we were not safe. But this was perhaps the beginning to laying low in a tranquil part of the forest once more.
"Alexander," I said in a compulsory hushed tone. "Do not stop. But can you hear the beast?"
There was a long silence and I could nearly see him straining to sense any hidden pursuers. "No. But that doesn't mean it's not here."
After hopping over a minute creek to the other side of the path, I replied, "I was not suggesting that it was not here. I was suggesting—"
It was virtually soundless. All I felt was the movement of air beside me and instinctively dropped to my knees, bowing my head to protect it. From the side, the beast soared with talons outstretched for the place I stood just seconds before. The mass of its body was black and muscled above me before it landed from its leap just off the path to our right, revealing itself fully in the unguarded daylight.
"—that is is merely hiding," I finished, surprised I could even get the words out.
Its body was mostly covered in vaguely striped green fur to help it blend in with its surroundings, but near its neck, face and trailing down its chest was a dusting of longer, darker hair. Its build was somewhere between a wolf, a tiger, and something unnatural. Long, velvety ears pointed back, listening to every sound in a kilometer-wide radius. In lesser light, they may have appeared to be horns. The sleek head lifted. Its tooth-lined jaw opened to utter a screaming wail before lunging for us again.
