Cascading constellations of clear silver adorned endless black. Moonlight illuminated immaculate rows of fragrant plants.

  I bit out an oath and dropped to my knees. Not again, not again! This can’t be happening! My eyes cut across the foliage. I curled my fingers into the cool dirt. Is he here again? I don’t think I want to find out.

  I didn’t see any movement, just vibrant blossoms and lush green leaves. And there… I inhaled sharply. Not so far away there was a treeline composed of willows. Their leaves were silver-tipped in the moonlight. They swayed carelessly in the cool breeze.

  Surely the woods will be safer. Better to hide in, at least.

  It took some time to amass the courage needed to actually move. I didn’t dare stand up; if the horrible Fae was lurking nearby, he’d surely spot me if I rose.

  So. Crawling, then. I’m going to crawl through a dream garden towards trees that are probably figments of my imagination so that a monster who’s definitely not real doesn’t see me. I… I can do that. I took several steadying breaths and moved, very slowly, towards the treeline.

  This is madness. I mean, this can’t be real. Perhaps it was a… a coincidence, last time. The cuts weren’t really so bad, and had healed over by morning, and I just so happened to dream that a Fae healed them with magic.

  Things like that don’t really happen!

  The piteous attempt at logic did little to assuage my fears. Every rustling leaf made my heart skip a beat.

  Finally I reached the treeline. My relief died upon seeing a clear path meandering through the willows. Normally such a thing would mean civilization, and therefore safety, but… I wasn’t sure following a path here would be wise.

  After some thought I opted to stay within the trees, ducking behind drooping branches as I crept along, while keeping the path in sight. Perhaps I could see where it went without anything, or anyone, seeing me.

  It didn’t take long. The willows were more of a copse than an actual forest. I could see a break up ahead. The path stretched on through dark grass, towards… a building? It was massive, shimmering pearly white beneath the canopy of starlight.

  And then all breath was torn from me as the world turned sideways. I screamed and flung a hand out, desperately grabbing a willow branch to steady myself. For an instant it helped… then the leaves slipped like quicksilver through my fingers. Rough bark melted into shadow. The sky spun and I was being whipped away, dizzy and breathless, hurtling through the very world as if something had thrown me, and-

  I bolted upright, sucking in cold air. The world spun. Swirling black shadows, cold grey stone… and a lanky figure curled beside me.

  White light drew my gaze towards the cave’s entrance. Renner crouched near the mouth, face turned away, boots and leathers and weapons all reaffixed. There was a faint, pale glow from beyond the cave.

  It should be darker. Why isn’t it darker?

  I stood, squinting at the terrain beyond our shelter. A few fir trees loomed down the slope, but beyond them- and creeping closer, I thought with vague dread- the ground had been blanketed in fog. Pearly, swirling, and impossibly thick; it seemed to catch the moonlight and give its own sheer glow. The shape of any distant plants or creatures was entirely obscured within it.

  Then the music started.

  It was faint at first; an almost-imperceptible thrum of distant drumbeats. There was a sharp inhalation behind me. Blankets rustled and Teela rose from her bedroll.

  Renner turned. He raised a finger to his lips.

  Teela wrapped herself in the cloak. Her wide red eyes glittered in the distant opal glow.

  The drumbeats grew louder. They became chaotic, at times setting a merry rhythm and then frantically bursting into lawless percussion. Eventually a woodwind joined in, rich and sonorous, followed by haunting pipes. I felt as though my heart was pounding along to the wild beat, too fast and too hard, making me gasp for breath. Sometimes the drums and pipes would stop, and it would just be the low, distant woodwind… and with it the hairs along my arms would stand up. My lips would tremble, and I’d feel with dark certainty that something was just there, crouching almost out of sight in the shadows of our little cave, watching me with a wide grin… My pulse raced wildly. Just as the feeling of dread became too much to bear, the drums and pipes resumed and the grinning shadow vanished.

  I curled into shadow and cold rock, held captive by the music. Teela remained still except for her tail, which snaked this way and that. Sometimes the tip would tap rapidly against the stones, in tune with the drumbeats, and she’d give a little hiss and snatch it up in one white-knuckled fist. Her narrow face was pinched with fear and something like shame. Renner never moved from his crouch near the cave entrance. I could just make out the profile of his jaw. It was clenched tightly, lips pressed into a thin line.

  The music grew fainter. Then there was a great swell as the drumbeats grew louder and faster. Renner clenched one fist, shoulders hunched. A distant male scream made me lunge upright. Teela covered her mouth in horror.

  Renner shot up, too, whirling towards us. “Don’t. Do. Anything.” His voice was low and rough.

  The scream died, along with the music. “Someone’s out there,” I whispered. My blood ran cold.

  “Someone’s dead,” he hissed back. “And if the two of you start making noise, we’ll be next.”

  “You… you don’t know they’re dead.”

  He just shook his head.

  I stared at the opaque curtain. “They might need help!”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  As if to confirm this, another cry echoed. This one was masculine but higher pitched, like a teenager. Teela whimpered and buried her face in her hands. Renner winced.

  I stared at him, waiting for… what? What do I expect him to do? He didn’t care about Teela last night, why would he care about some poor soul out there in that madness?

  Sure enough, he remained still. Teela curled nearly into a ball, face hidden in her hands. She was terrified. I certainly couldn’t expect her to run off into the fog to try and…

  And do what? I thought bitterly. He’s probably right; whoever’s out there is probably already dead. Even if they’re not… what could I possibly do to help? Perhaps my fire could frighten away a monster, if I was lucky. But, ashes, it sounds like there are a lot of them. What could I possibly do to help?

  I pressed back into the cave wall. Renner seemed to take this as a sign of me relenting and turned away. His shoulders were stiff. After a long, horrible silence the uncanny orchestra resumed. I covered my ears, close to weeping.

  I helped Teela last night. The thought crept in unbidden. I didn’t think I could, but I tried. She’s alive because of it.

  And even if I hadn’t succeeded, even if she’d been hurt or killed… then she’d have done so watching someone defend her, fight for her. Wouldn’t that have been enough of a reason to try?

  I crept forwards, placing a hand on Teela’s shoulder. She looked at me with impossibly round, frightened eyes. I could feel the narrow bones of her shoulder quivering beneath her tunic.

  “If I don’t make it back,” I whispered, heart racing, “Make sure the Order gets what’s in my pack. It’s important.”

  She gave her head a tiny shake, as if denying what I was about to do. Renner must have heard at least a little bit of what I’d said over the music; he turned, expression dark, mouth open to presumably snap at me again.

  He jumped backwards, clearly caught off guard, when I darted forwards. One gloved hand snapped out to grab my wrist. I twisted away. His other hand dropped to the hilt of a dagger.

  “Don’t you dare-!” Renner snarled. He lunged, trying to seize my arm again. There was a metallic hiss and something gleamed in his hand.

  “No!” Teela cried, sounding mortified.

  I threw myself past him and ran into the fog.

  ~~~

  I shouldn’t call out. Not yet. I should get far enough away from the cave so that if something terrible comes to find me- salt, please don’t let anything come and find me!- it won’t be close to Teela. And Renner, I suppose. I should try to be quiet until I’m far enough away.

  “Brin! Come back!”

  Well, so much for that idea.

  The young woman’s distant wail was followed by a string of oaths in a furious male voice.

  I didn’t answer, just hurtled blindly through the mist. It was bitterly cold, like a stark winter fog had swept across the landscape. Icy drops of water clung to my skin. It was a thick fog, too; I could barely see the uneven mesh of grass and rocks beneath my feet. More than once a needle-lined bough whipped up in front of my face almost before I could duck.

  It wasn’t hard to tell which way to go, though. The drums crescendoed into a frenzied rhythm up ahead. My feet pounded in time to the beats.

  I’m going to die. This is how I die. Running headlong into an army of monsters who are out here killing people, and I’m not going to save anyone and they’re going to kill me-

  Another wail, this one distinctly feminine. The drums stopped. The only sound now was the wet thuds of my feet on the grass.

  Teela will take the shard north. At least, I hope she will. But she’s smart enough not to run out here after me. She should be safe. Please, let her be safe.

  The woodwind started again. It was low and deep, coming from just beside me. I skidded to a stop, chest heaving, straining to make out any kind of shape through the ghostly mist.

  Nothing. Just the somber melody, soft and yet entirely too loud, making my skin vibrate and my heart thrum. And then there, from the corner of one eye; that wide, grinning face. I whirled, but there was only swirling fog. A twig snapped from just behind me. I clapped one hand over my mouth, stifling a scream.

  I need to stay calm. People need help. I won’t be of any use panicking like this!

  This was much easier said than done. No sooner had the thought finished then there was the sound of slick slithering and hissing, as if a large serpent was sliding right beside me. I stepped back, trembling, and there in the mist before me was the glint of distant moonlight on what looked like shimmering white scales. But… they were much too big for a snake, and I was having to look up…

  “Hello.”

  The voice was sweet and high. I whirled around. Salt, there’s a child out here?!

  But, no, the little figure before me couldn’t possibly be a child… at least, not a human one. The mist shifted around it in shades of stark, sallow gray, as if light was being drained from the very air. Something in the far reaches of my mind screamed a warning to turn and run from the small figure, with its puckered black eyebrows and rosebud mouth and bone-hued eyes that were so very, very large.

  The figure sniffed the chilly air, flashing a devilish grin. Its teeth were thin and curved. Snakelike.

  “You smell frightened.” It clapped its hands gleefully. “Oh, you smell good. Like the little gasp humans give right at the end-”

  I ran. Hurtled blindly through the fog. High-pitched laughter echoed and the little voice sang out, “It’s running!”

  It’s talking to someone, there’s more than one, it wasn’t human, they’re going to catch me and kill me and I’m never going to see Durst again and-

  A cry came from just ahead. I slammed to a stop. It was so piteous that I felt sure it was human.

  The mist swirled again and there, not ten feet away, was something out of a nightmare. A haggard man, so thin he almost seemed emaciated, knelt in the grass. His face was set with deep lines and framed by long, matted white hair. His hands were twisted into rigid claws. His mouth was open. He tipped forwards, very slowly at first, then slumped face-down into the dirt.

  But it was what loomed above him that made my legs buckle and a scream die in my throat.

  It was shaped somewhat like a man. It had legs, a torso, shoulders, a neck, and a human-shaped face. And arms. Not two but eight, all with swollen hands and bulbous, glistening black fingertips that scrabbled in the air. It turned towards me, mouth open in a lipless grin. Its face was set with dozens of round black eyes that gleamed in the ghostly light.

  My knees collapsed. I huddled on the ground, staring up at the living nightmare.

  “This one,” it rasped, tapping its hundreds of fingers together, “Was afraid of spiders.” A dozen glistening eyes blinked. The gaping mouth stretched wide. “You…”

  It changed. Swollen fingertips melted together and became sharp claws. Arms cracked and popped and snapped into place as shadow-twisted legs. The face warped into something vaguely canine. Teeth as sharp as shards of broken glass, dripping with red.

  Royce lay at its feet. Bloody. Unmoving.

  No no no no no, not again, please not again, I have to save him-!

  I surged upwards, flung both hands out, and screamed. “Veth!” Orange fire blazed. The fog flared, hot and blinding. The shadow hound gave a startled shriek and retreated. I staggered towards Royce but he was gone, just a pool of cold silver beside the old man.

  “That wasn’t funny.”

  I put my hands out again, shaking. Sweat pooled along my temple. I saw spots. It was the child’s voice, though all traces of mirth had been abandoned for wary displeasure. From somewhere in the mist, the hound growled. I heard leaves crackle as it prowled just out of sight.

  “S-stay back!” I whirled towards the sound.

  The child laughed; it was a low, oozing sound, sliding like oil through the air. “This one looks like starlight. And something most wretched. What a funny trick the human has, Forthys.”

  Another snarl from the hound.

  “Wicked human.” White eyes simmered angrily from beyond the frigid, shimmering curtain. “Explain-”

  The high-pitched voice was cut off by a howl. From behind me.

  The pair grew very still. Guttural snarls echoed through the mist. Behind me, from every side… I swallowed a scream.

  “Run,” the child hissed, sounding almost frightened. I quailed at the thought of what could possibly frighten such a terrifying creature. With a roil of silver and one last growl, the pair fled.

  The awful sounds continued, growing steadily closer. I sank to my knees over the fallen man. Whatever these new monsters were- they sound just like the shadow hounds, salt, I don’t know what to do- I didn’t think I could escape by running blindly into the fog. And I certainly couldn’t abandon the poor man. But perhaps if I was very still, and very quiet, they would chase the fleeing pair and pass us by.

  My eyes fell to the silent figure beneath me, and with numb fingers I reached down to help him turn over. He felt cold. Glassy blue eyes stared up, wide and rimmed with pale red. An open mouth trickled smears of watery dirt. I begged him silently to draw breath, but he just stared out into the endless fog. I clenched a fist into my mouth, biting down a scream or a sob, and curled childlike into a ball beside him.