I held Maddie tighter, thought about flying away. It would take but a moment to soar above this beast, though carrying her would surely slow me down.
Then the werebeast dropped its head below the treetops, catching me in its silver gaze. It lunged closer, swiped at my head. I dodged to the left, almost dropped the woman.
It growled again, sniffed the woman, tested the air with its tongue.
It was after the woman.
“Nay, beast, you cannot have her,” I growled.
As soon as I spoke, the hairy beast roared and shook the ground with a stamp of its rear paw. I almost fell, but forced myself to cling to her. I crouched low, ready to fly.
At that very moment, the dog’s front paws morphed into nightmarish ape hands, giant and misshapen. It swung and caught me, wrapped massive fingers about my torso, pressed the air from my lungs, wrinkled and tore my wings. I would have cried out, but it had squeezed the air from my lungs. With its other ape hand, the beast grabbed my arm, twisting until my bone broke and my flesh shredded, forcing me to drop the woman.
I finally pulled in a full lung of air and I screamed, a wail that echoed from valley deep to mountain peak.
Then—while River lay dazed and bleeding on the ground, while Cousin Sage hid behind a thick oak—the werebeast lifted me high above its head. It pitched me into the sky, sent me tumbling, end over end, back toward the valley, until I was so far away from them that I was surrounded by heavy fog.
Still flying, out of control, I was just barely clearing the treetops.
Rage filled my veins, turned my blood hot. At last, I managed to right myself; I spun around and headed back.
I would not lose this battle. Not today.
Chapter 34
Fog and Shadow
Maddie:
The forest rushed past, a wildwood trail of briar and bramble. All the birds and woodland creatures scampered away as soon we approached. It was a dream, it had to be, a dream larger than the world. Some creature taller than the trees held me against its furry chest; it was a misshapen beast, all fur and claws and teeth, like a cross between a wolf and a dragon, and it galloped on two legs through stands of towering pine. Green branches danced beside us, the creek glistened between the trees.
Finally, the beast that carried me slowed down. It carefully lowered me to the ground; it licked me on the face, as if trying to wake me.
Then the cocoon of sleep that had surrounded me faded away. I felt gritty earth and twigs beneath me, saw a flicker of blue sky above, saw the movement of gray fog drifting between me and heaven. And I heard a dog barking, frantic, as it circled around me; it stopped to lick me on the face, then barked and ran around me again.
It was Samwise, but then again, it wasn’t.
“Stop barking,” I mumbled.
A heavy dream was shattering, all around me the forest began to poke through, and then, a faint, familiar voice called in the distance. Mom, someone was calling me, Mom.
Tucker.
I sat up, blinked my eyes open, tried to make sense of where I was and how I had gotten here, but couldn’t. Beside me, Samwise yipped and stopped running, he poked a wet nose against my cheek, licked me over and over, nudged his nose against my shoulder and tried to get me to move, to get up.
“Mom!” Tucker called. I heard him running, closer now, feet pounding dirt. Then he fell to his knees beside me. “Mom, what happened? Are you hurt? Did you fall?”
I stood up awkwardly, wincing. The wind had been driven out of my chest, and my legs hurt, as if they had been pinned beneath me for a long time. “I’m okay,” I said. But the ground seemed to tilt to the left and my thoughts scattered.
Then, as my lungs filled with clear mountain air, my thoughts cleared.
And suddenly, I remembered what I had seen in the woods, the dead body and the shadowy creatures that had tried to hold me. Something foul and dreadful had been loosed in the wood this afternoon. We had to get out of here, quickly. I grabbed my son by the hand.
“Run, Tucker!” I said. “Back to the cabin.”
He frowned, puzzled.
“Hurry, we have to get out of here!”
Then all three of us were running down the trail back toward the cottage, Samwise leading the way. The dog continually turned around to make sure we were behind him, as we reached the clearing. Then he stood at the edge of the wood, guarding the exit, until we were safe inside the house.
Chapter 35
Bending Reality
Ash: