A shape rises from beneath the bridge, jointed and pale, with too many legs gripping the underside of stone. Its body is narrow as a spear shaft, its head triangular and eyeless, mouth opening into concentric rings of teeth. Another climbs after it. Then another.
Aeryn turns, gold still burning in her eyes, blood already sliding from one nostril. “Do exactly what I say.”
There is no time for pride.
“Gladly.”
“Blade left.”
I draw and cut as the first creature lunges. Its filament parts under steel, spraying clear fluid that burns holes in the stone near my boot.
“Do not kill the next one.”
A ridiculous instruction. I follow it. The second creature launches, and I pivot aside, striking with the flat of my blade to drive it against the edge without severing it. It shrieks, a high glassy sound that awakens movement inside the cocoons below.
Aeryn flinches. “Too loud.”
“You requested mercy.”
“I requested control.”
A fair distinction. She grabs my sleeve and pulls me forward through a gap opening between two swaying flower clusters. Her hand remains on my arm, and every point of contact registers despite the danger. Her grip tightens when the visions shift. I am so happy I have her at my side right now. I would never admit that to her.
“Run when I say,” she whispers.
The clicking beneath us multiplies.
Mist begins rising again, thicker now, carrying a sour, damp smell of old webbing and dissolved meat. The flowers exhalepollen in faint golden clouds that drift toward the path we had planned to take.
Aeryn’s pupils glow like small suns inside pale blue.
“Now.”
We run. She leads with no hesitation, cutting diagonally across the stone spine toward what appears to be a dead end where flowers crowd the edge. I follow without demanding explanation. Behind us, the creatures pour onto the bridge in a pale rush, legs clattering, filaments whipping, teeth churning.
“Jump the dark seam,” she calls.
I see the seam only as I reach it and clear it by inches. Behind me, one pack beast leaps, the other stumbles. I catch its lead rope and drag hard without breaking stride.
“Duck.”
I duck. A filament slices through the air above us and wraps around a flowering stem. The stem folds inward like a trap closing, dragging the creature that cast it into the pollen cloud. Its body convulses instantly, legs curling as the flowers turn toward it with slow hunger.
Aeryn saw that. She is using the forest against itself. Admiration arrives sharp and undeniable.
“Left,” she says. “Then stop.”
We veer left.
“Stop.”
I stop so abruptly the beast nearly collides with me. A heartbeat later the stone ahead liquefies into black mud, swallowing a cluster of pursuing creatures that had committed too much speed to change course. Their shrieks echo down both ravines.
Aeryn sways. I catch her waist from behind, holding her upright as the vision drains from her eyes. Blood streaks her upper lip. Her skin is cold beneath my hand even through fabric.
“Still with me?” I ask.
“For now.”