Shadow of Dawn

Chapter 14

A woman is shouting. A giant bellows with a voice like an avalanche while a wolf howls. A girl screams... Everything is grey, an unshakable mist envelops them like a second skin. A metal fist bursts out of the veil, tearing through the fog and crashing down on them. They duck and roll, regardless of the pain shooting in their ankle. Hooves trample the earth around their head and they are looking up at the black underbelly of a four-legged beast.

Ferocious, they reach upward and drive their hand—they are not surprised to see smoking black tendrils slither out of their fingers—into the beast's stomach. The flesh opens, soft and hot, spilling guts and gore over them. A shriek splits the muffled air and the creature's legs buckle. It falls to the side, throwing the rider heavily onto the ground. In a flash of shadow they are back on their feet, striding calmly toward the fallen figure. With a smooth gesture they rip the metallic face off, revealing a scarred and bearded man with terror in his eyes. The man's scream is cut short by the swift slash that slits his throat. Blood gargles forth, spraying the grey-green grass around them.

An instinct whispers to spin and so they do, catching another warrior's arm in midair. Their shadowed fingers grip the man's wrist, twisting it violently until it snaps and the man howls. A gleaming weapon falls free from his hand and they take it. It feels good in their hands, as if it were an extension of their arm. The blade swishes through the air, cutting mist as easily as stalks of grass. Warm blood trickles down their face and they cackle like the madness that they are.

Two warriors charge at them atop the strange mounts, spears held low and pointed at their heart. Muscles bunch, legs push and suddenly they soar, twisting in the air. One spear tip rushes past their ears, wind in their hair. The other cuts through fur and skin, drawing a burning line from shoulder to hip. Biting their lips against the pain, they swing left and right and two heads thud to the ground. A deep ache sears their body, a metallic agony that plunges to their black heart.

They hiss and writhe, but the pain burns all the more.

More and more warriors appear on the edge of their vision, giving them a wide berth. A strange tongue is spoken, men yelling at each other. The little girl and her wolf are nowhere to be seen. The giant is pinned to the earth by a dozen men, struggling and roaring as they wrap ropes around his arms. The woman with the hair of fire is beaten back, circled. She seems terrified as they stare at him.

The familiar man with the mane of wild hair stands tall in the chaos, staring at them. He does not move, does not scream, does not fight. The warriors do not seem to see him. He simply watches with sorrow in his eyes, his silhouette growing more and more transparent...

'I have failed you,' the man says, his words swallowed by the screams and the clashing of iron.

A howl comes from their own chest. The metal wound burns fiercely, blurring their vision and dulling their senses. More spears are being pointed at them, more blades drawn. If they do not move now, a circle will close around them, a circle of bad metal and men who want their death.

In a surge of shadows they pounce, leaping up to a warrior and driving their blade into his heart. Other men shout, spears hiss through the air, missing them by inches. They are on the hoofed beast now, it shakes its long head and snorts as if trying to throw them loose. Then, panicked, it breaks into a run. Hooves pounding against the earth, it takes them wildly into a wall of fog. Behind them, the surviving men spur their mounts and begin to chase them but soon there is nothing but grey. Shadows shout, the noise strangled by the mist. Men peer into the gloom, fear holding them back from a true hunt.

Then they are gone, a flitting darkness carried through the mist by the wind.

There is nothing but grey mist.