Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,87

and form. They’re said to have faces like hawks, bodies of men, and their fingernails are the talons of the hawk. They prey on the unwary, and feed off warm-blooded creatures. Their favorite prey tends to be human, though Fae, Ante-Fae, and shifters will do in a pinch. They’re powerful and ruthless. If you encounter them, don’t let down your guard. To fight back, flood the area with light.” Trinity glanced around, pointing out a patch of boulders nearby. “They hide in the shadows until dusk falls, and then they come out. A grouping of stones like that would be the ideal place for them to hide, so I suggest we move along.”

Great. Black widows, spirits, and astral creatures hunting on the physical plane. Just what we needed. I turned back to the trail, focusing on the ever-steepening grade. The walking stick steadied my footing as I stretched my legs over a particularly wide break in the trail. The overhang I was scrambling onto was a good four feet off the ground. Trinity hopped right up as though it was nothing more than a street curb. He turned around and silently held out his hand.

I placed my fingers in his and instantly felt the pull of his magic. It was like a snake wrapping around my arm. He eyed me coolly as he began to pull me up. Behind me, Herne gave my butt a quick shove and I lunged forward, almost falling into Trinity’s arms. He caught me, then let go as I steadied myself. Without a word, he turned and began striding up the trail. I quickly followed, trying not to let myself get unnerved as I glanced over my shoulder.

Behind me, Herne adeptly leapt up on the overhang, and Morgana seemed to just float up in the air and land on it. Merlin seemed to have no problem, either. I knew that neither Viktor nor Kipa would have difficulties and turned around to follow Trinity up the rocky path.

We were nearing the summit of Mount Bracken now, and I thought that maybe we’d luck out and avoid any unwanted interference, but the next moment Trinity paused, holding out his hand to stop us. He was listening to something, I could tell by the tilt of his head. After a moment, he quickly turned around, inching back down the steep slope. I leaned on my staff.

“What’s up ahead?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not sure, but I can sense something up there. Wait here while I—”

The next moment, a loud shriek came from behind one of the rocks to our left. A shadow flew out, hovering in the sky overhead. The sun was rapidly disappearing over the edge of the mountain, and the last rays of it caught the shadow, illuminating a fiercesome creature.

A night hawk. Bipedal, it had a head, but that’s where the resemblance to a person ended. The head was pointed at the chin, and its skull was rounded, the dome covered by the same leathery skin that seemed to cover the rest of its body. With arms as long as its feet, it hunched forward, the hump on its back rounded and knobby. Each of its hands had four fingers—two sets of two separated by a thick webbing of skin, with long, curved talons.

“Night hawk,” Trinity whispered, backing up, raising his hands as his eyes began to glow with a golden light. “It can only be attacked when it’s latched itself onto a person.”

“Oh fuck, what are we supposed to do? Walk past it and give it a chance to attack us?” I cautiously edged my way back toward the edge of the trail. The rocks to the side, across the cliff face, were slick and even steeper than the trail, and there were a number of loose patches that could send an avalanche tumbling down the slope.

Herne pushed his way in front of me. “Let him attach to me. I’m a god, he can’t harm me…much.” He lunged at the night hawk, and the creature reared up, waving its arms, and then met his attack. They grappled, and then Herne let out a gasp.

“He’s fastened onto me. Fuck, he hurts—I didn’t realize…”

I had a sudden premonition that whatever this creature was, it was having more of an effect on Herne than he had thought it would. “Somebody help him!”

Kipa sprang forward, his wolves at his heels as we fell back. He landed on the night hawk’s back and