Shadows of the Night | BOOK 2 DRAFT

23

23.

Eric and Cassia are already waiting for us in the treeline, their eyes glowing through the thick fog. We're a significant distance from the underground. The closer trees are still only stumps, damaged from the last timer Elias lit this place on fire.

Emotions war within me as I join them and perch beside a bush. On one hand, I'm anxious to get out of here. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back to Elias' village to rest. But deep down, I know there won't be much relaxing for a long time, at least until the hollowers are stopped and Cynthia is dead. If anything, our lives will only become more complicated; we'll have an entire village to protect.

"How long?" I whisper. Eric's beside me, on his knees.

He narrows his eyes at the fog. "I can hear them. Any second now..."

I smell it before I see it—the acrid stench of smoke. It thickens the air, lingers towards us, camouflaging with the fog. Then, the fog starts to glow, only a little at first, until orange burns through, emanating from the entrance of the tunnel.

"They're here," Eric murmurs.

I take a deep breath, straining my ears, but I can't hear anything, and my eyes are no good. In the back of my mind, panic sets in. Elias was supposed to light the fire and then hide behind the entrance, jamming it on them after they go in. But what if Elias didn't get out? What if he's still down there by the time the hollowers go in? I shake my head and push away the panic. Elias knows what he's doing.

"Get out of there, Elias," Cassia whispers. "Come on."

Voices filter towards us only seconds later, closer and closer, Garret's low tone reminding me of what he did to that boy. I squeeze my fists and bounce on the balls of my feet in anticipation. It feels like hours before they finally appear in front of the entrance, barely even hesitating before stepping inside, their weapons raised. We sit and wait. They would've smelled the smoke by now, would've realised it's a fire. Elias should've jammed the doors shut behind them. Why hasn't Elias come out?

I look to Cassia, rolling on the balls of her feet. To Malik, over my shoulder, Elias' backpack with the shadow safely in his grasp. To Eric. His red eyes are trained on the entrance, narrowed as if he can pierce through the thick fog. There's a twist to his lips, tension in his jaw. 

"Eric." He turns to look at me, slow and calculated. Raising a finger to his lips, he shakes his head. But the quiet is disrupted by a low-pitched shout piercing through the air.

Shadows materialize in the entrance. One, two, three. More hollowers stream in as if they'd been waiting around the edges, hiding. My blood runs cold. There were only two when Elias and I saw them. Where did the others come from?

"We have to get out of here." Malik looks over his shoulder as if there are more of them, watching us from the fog. "We have to go now."

Eric drops his backpack to the ground and spins around to face me, red eyes urgent. "Go. Get out of here. Elias and I will meet you at the cliff face. But if you come across any of them, run, run and don't stop till you get back."

I grab his wrist. "Eric—"

It's too late, he tears from my grip and leaps into the air, landing once again on all fours as he darts to the entrance. It swallows him whole. I turn to face the others. They've both dropped their bags and are frantically fiddling with their clothes.

"What're you doing?"

"Shifting," Malik says without looking at me. He tosses Cassia a weapon. "We'll be faster that way. Here, take the bags, I'll carry you."