one thing. Dread twisted in her stomach. Modai had warned her. Test had warned her. Don’t stray from the path.
She wanted to run but didn’t know which direction to go.
A snuffle and then a soft squealing; a long tail lashed out from the bushes. It tore through the delicate material of her dress and little barbs hooked into her ankle.
She collapsed and the tail began to drag her, the barbs sawing into her ankle bone. She couldn’t fight it, couldn’t think above the depth and height of her pain.
She moaned and writhed in its grasp but the pain only intensified. Spines scraped her face, wrapping around her arms as it dragged her deeper into bushes.
Then, as suddenly as it had attacked, the creature let go of her ankle. The release from pain brought an ecstasy of relief, but the elation vanished as it threw its entire weight upon her legs and began sucking at her bleeding ankle.
She tried to move but it shifted in counterbalance, sniffing and nibbling, working its way up her body until it sat on her chest. It touched her hair, playing with the strands and tugging them.
See you. Follow you. Want you.
Naif forced her eyes open to confront it; a smooth-skinned creature from what she could see, with a small, almost human-shaped torso. But ungainly, clawed limbs sprouted from its lower body, and tentacles curled out of its shoulders. Or were they unformed wings?
And its face … so appalling. So utterly bestial.
Pity eroded some of her fear. Instinctively she reached out and touched its face.
The creature grew still, startled by her action.
She traced the contour of its ridged forehead with a trembling finger. It felt slick, coated in a layer of mucous, and the flesh underneath sprang back like bed foam.
The creature tilted its head forward, making it easier for her to reach.
Naif scratched gently along the ridge and it made little grunts of pleasure.
They stayed together, in that position, until her arm began to ache and the weight on her chest became impossible to bear. ‘I must … sit up,’ she whispered.
The creature cocked its head as if thinking. Then it shifted its body, easing the pressure on her lungs.
She lay, gasping in air, for a few moments. But as she tried to sit up, its body became rigid. In one quick movement it leapt to its claws, gripping her flesh for balance. The sudden weight crushed the breath from her lungs again and her head began to spin.
She tried to roll and catch her breath, but it was too agile, and merely adjusted its stance. She grappled for its ankles to push it away but her hands slipped on her own blood.
‘Naif!’
She heard her name like a roar in her head; a piercing cry of anguish. And then the beast was gone, knocked from her by an attack from another powerful being.
‘No!’ Naif struggled to sit up as the two forces battled close to her. ‘Lenoir! Stop!’
The creature screeched – at first in anger, and then in pain. Their bodies thumped and tumbled and Naif ’s mind filled with the terrible crack of breaking bones.
The path began to glow again. She could see it just a body length away. She’d been close to it all along, only a few steps.
Gritting her teeth she crawled towards it, ignoring the prickle of spine bushes and sharp twigs, until she felt the smooth packed gravel underneath her body. Her fingers clutched the hard pebbles and tears of relief spilled down her face. She crawled along it towards the edge of a rock face. Around the edifice would be Agios. If she called out, if she –
But as she reached the rock, Lenoir appeared before her, his silken hair hanging in strings, wet with blood, and his cloak torn away.
‘Are you hurt?’ He loomed over her.
She tried to sit up. ‘I didn’t think … it would … harm me. It wanted to be … petted.’ Her tongue had trouble forming the words, too dry to moisten them properly.
Lenoir dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms. ‘It would have killed you, Naif.’
Naif swallowed and tried licking her lips. ‘Wh-why do you say that?’
He stared out into the darkness. ‘Leyste has been following you since the moment you left the Register.’
‘Leyste? You’ve said that name before. Who is Leyste?’
‘Leyste is a Night Creature who likes to linger around the new ones. This is the first time, though, he has stalked one.’
Stalked. ‘Yes. He spoke to me outside