***
Onyx, Tixo, Ren, Wei, Nathaira, and the others moved through the dimly lit maze of tents and garish carnival attractions, their nerves on edge. The air around them was thick with an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of circus music playing from an unseen source, distorted and warbling as if it had been played one too many times.
“Keep your guard up,” Tixo whispered, his ears twitching at every small noise, his muscles tensed and ready to strike.
Ren kept close to Onyx’s side, his grip tight on his sword. “We need to find Ambrose before any more tricks from this place—”
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air, cutting Ren off mid-sentence. The group froze, their breath catching in their throats as the sound pierced through the quiet. It was unmistakable—voices calling out in panic, desperate and raw with fear.
“That sounded like...” Onyx’s voice trailed off, his expression stricken as he recognized the tone of one of the screams.
“It’s Anais!” Wei signed urgently, his hands moving with swift precision. His eyes darted toward the direction of the sound, filled with worry.
“It’s not just her.” Nathaira’s eyes narrowed as she strained to listen, her senses sharpened. “There’s more—Althir and... someone else. They’re in trouble.”
Without another word, the group sprinted in the direction of the voices, their feet pounding against the dusty ground beneath them. Onyx’s heart hammered in his chest, his mind racing with worst-case scenarios as the screams grew louder, each one clawing at his insides.
They turned a corner, passing under a banner that fluttered eerily in the stale air, and found themselves facing a chaotic scene. In front of them was a twisted playground of rusted metal slides and swings, all warped and wrong. The air was filled with the shrill, cackling laughter of the nightmarish toddlers, now resembling monstrous insectoid forms with elongated limbs and gnashing jaws.
In the midst of the swarm, Anais, Thorne, and Althir fought desperately, their movements wild and frantic. Thorne’s staff swung in wide arcs, but the toddlers were relentless, clinging to him like leeches. Althir’s light flickered in bursts, attempting to ward off the horde, but even his magic seemed strained against the sheer number of their attackers.
Anais was struggling, her face contorted in a mixture of fury and fear as she tried to fend off the monstrous children, their clawed hands tugging at her clothes, their tiny, malicious faces gleaming with a twisted joy.
“Anais!” Onyx shouted, his voice hoarse as he rushed forward, throwing himself into the fray without hesitation.
Tixo and Ren followed suit, slashing through the toddlers with weapons drawn, while Nathaira’s claws flashed as she leaped into action. The fire eaters they had previously encountered seemed like a warm-up compared to the chaos they now faced.
Anais’s head snapped up at the sound of Onyx’s voice, her expression a mix of shock and relief, though her words were choked by another cry as a toddler latched onto her leg, sinking its teeth into her skin.
“Get off her!” Onyx yelled, driving a blade through the creature with a savage force. It crumpled to the ground, but more took its place, swarming from all directions.
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Darkwood: Circus Inferno
ParanormalA young teen who helps his family run a mortuary in the small town of Darkwood finds out that every town has secrets. A year after Gerald's death, Onyx and the group all adjust to the new atmosphere and the newly rebuilt town. As a new circus attrac...
