Luna Queen's Fury

1 Too Late...

First time reader Check in

Awesome RE-READER Check in

A spine-chilling chorus breaks out in the forest around us, sounds that no human could make. The hair stands up on the back of my neck, warning of the impending danger, urging me to run.

"It's too late for that," I whisper, my eyes going wide as I feel us surrounded.

There's no way I could make it back to the palace with all of these things lurking in the shadows...

Mira's startled blue eyes snap to mine as the gravity of our situation fully registers.

We're alone and cut off.

This was a trap. And we walked right into it.

"Jess, go!" she yells, panic lacing her tone as she scans the forest surrounding us. Eerie clicks and inhuman sounds echo from the shadows in all directions.

"I'm not leaving you!" I growl, shaking my head. "We're safer together."

Our conversation is cut short as the first creature walks out of the forest. It's as tall as a man, maybe more, but very lean, with rudimentary features, and pale tannish grey skin. The closer it gets, the less like a man it looks. Its limbs are too long, features too moulded, and inky pools for eyes. The closer I look, the more it looks like a clay man left in the sun.

"Golems?" Mira gasps. "What happened to you?!"

The fuck are golems?!

As if in response, the creature's jaw opens impossibly wide and it lets out a screech, summoning more from the forest around us. The distorted clay men surround us but wait with their soulless black eyes locked on us.

"This doesn't make sense," Mira mutters, shaking her head. "Golems are helpers..."

"These are anything but helpful," I whisper, backing towards her. Instinctively, my hands go to my lower back and palm the Guardian blades I keep there. The feel of the smooth leather in my palms aids slightly in slowing my racing heart and letting me focus.

'Chris? CHRIS!' I feel like I hit a wall trying to reach for him.

'Mack? Derek?! ANYONE!' Fear wells in me as I realize we are completely cut off.

"I can't get through," I mumble as I scan the ring of golems, searching for an out.

"No one's coming," Mira replies, despair lacing her voice like her heart is breaking on the spot. Her eyes fog over like she mentally slips away and she whispers, "I'm on my own again."

"You are not alone," I counter, looking over my shoulder at her. The fierce confident woman I know is nowhere to be seen, leaving a scared girl in her place. "Mira!"

Her eyes snap to mine as the fog of memories fall away and she rejoins me in the present, though still a little shaken. The air once again begins to hum around her.

"Go," she orders the lead creature, her voice dripping with authority. It hesitates and she flexes her aura, crackling the space around her as she radiates power.

The golem flinches back but a moment later lurches forwards, its fingers contorted into claws as it lunges for Mira. My heart races as I throw my first dagger, hitting him square in the chest.

He stops mid-lunge, slowly turns to me, locking his soulless black eyes on me, and making my stomach drop. My gaze shifts down to the dagger in his chest that would have killed anyone else as it pushes out from his body and falls to the ground.