The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

The Hunt

"A trap?" I said as Alia slipped an arm under mine, her head nudging in Tarkan's direction as she silently gestured for him to support my other side. "When did you have the time and resources to set a trap?"

Tarkan grunted but grabbed my slackened wrist and slid my arm across his shoulders without another spiffy comment.

They exchanged another glance before pulling me to my feet. I clenched my teeth so hard the weak knock of a hammer against the ivory surface might actually shatter them.

Whatever Tarkan had done might have healed my wounds to a certain extent, but my arms still hurt, and my entire body trembled from exhaustion, laying my sensitive nerves bare.

Sweat instantly dappled my brow, and each step across grass-covered ground felt like stepping into an endless stack of disorganized needles.

"These monsters do not seem to get along that well with my powers. Their icy touch will absorb light and life if the source isn't rich enough to withstand the dark power—hence your frozen skin and flesh," she explained, straining to keep me upright. "I dropped a few weak light disks within the vicinity of my powers' reach. They're barely detectable, but I feel them. If one of those monsters steps on one, it'll be absorbed, and that hum will disappear. Five have already been triggered, so we're—"

A screech cut through Alia's sentence from above, spoiling the rest of her words.

We stopped and looked behind us.

An agonizing thump of my heart seemed to tear a hole in my body, stretching from my chest to the pit of my gut. Numbness spread throughout my skin as my breath caught in my tightened throat.

The sky was nearly dark from the wave of ebony feathers washing closer toward us, obscuring the setting sun. The screech from before had turned into a never-ending echo of warnings, the spies letting their master know we'd been located.

A loud creak disturbed the horrible screeching, followed by the cashing and cracking of wood and leaves.

I lowered my gaze, searching in between the towering trunks to catch the trees in the background shriveling and falling. Shadows with razor-sharp smiles that made my toes curl, and my teeth chatter shoved through the close-knit branches. It wasn't just two or three of them. At least twenty deformed silhouettes were squeezing through the forest, all toppling over each other to gain lead.

They'd found us.

"Cursed blood," Alia muttered, raising my arm above her head and dropping it to step in front of us. "Take her, Calix. I'll be right behind you."

"Roger that," Tarkan said, bending his knees and scooping me into his arms.

I gasped, but I couldn't afford to let the shock stifle me now.

"Alia!" I shouted, nearly crawling over Tarkan's tense shoulders. "Don't do this! You won't survive! There are too many of them."

"Spirits, Wildcard," Tarkan grumbled, wrapping his arm around my torso to keep me in his arms.

Alia glanced at us over her shoulder, her lips curled into a smile of absolute confidence. "What did I tell you about these dark monsters and my powers, Will?" she asked, raising her hand and folding her fingers into a fist. Steam rose from her skin as the creases started glowing orange, soon shifting into a whiteish yellow as if her veins were on fire. "They don't get along that well."

Her fist erupted into a blazing sphere, the golden flames dancing in the breeze. The center glowed scalding blue as she stretched it toward the approaching herd of black.

"Damn it all," Tarkan muttered as the waves of heat curling around Alia intensified. "Get down, Willow!"

Tarkan stamped a foot into the ground, propelling a thick wall of dirt and minerals to rise above us like a descending wave. He crouched to the ground, pressing my head down as if to shield me. Then the blast sounded.