He peeked around the tree trunk and watched slivers of the wood exposed by moonlight. Tiern sidled close to him, watching from the other side.
He’d heard descriptions of the beast. Pictured it many times in his mind. But as it burst through the brush, nothing could prepare him for the infamous creature. It was unlike any animal he’d ever seen. A mixture of scales and coarse dark fur, beady black eyes and tusks that curled to the side around a mouthful of sharp teeth. Massive paws with oversized claws.
The people hadn’t exaggerated its size. Paxton’s jaw clenched in horror as it barreled toward them on all fours. A barrage of arrows bounced off its thick body. The beast stood and gave a great roar, shaking the ground, and Paxton thought he saw dark fur glistening under the beast’s squatty neck. Blood? Paxton broke from his shocked trance and sent an arrow flying at the beast’s mouth. As if sensing the approaching danger, it lowered its head and the arrow pinged off its skull, falling to the ground like a mere gnat.
Paxton swore.
All at once, a group of Kalorian men broke through the trees behind it, wild and fearless. The next moment was chaos. Paxton didn’t dare shoot while so many men surrounded the beast.
“Stay here!” he told Tiern as he rushed forward.
“I don’t think so, Brother,” Tiern responded from behind him in a shaking voice.
Paxton wanted to argue, but there was no time. The great beast spun and crouched, preparing for the Kalorian attack. When the men got within reach, the beast swung its arm in a flash, throwing three men into nearby trees. It slashed its claws through another man’s belly. Paxton wrenched his dagger from his waist. At once, he, Harrison, and Zandora leaped high onto its back. The beast was nearly wide enough for all three of them, and smelled pungently of wet decay.
Before Paxton could get a grip, he felt himself soaring haphazardly, high into the air, until his body smacked the ground hard, knocking the wind from his lungs. Through his wide eyes he saw the beast running straight at him, staring him down. He raised an arm to shield his face. The creature never stopped. It kicked him in the ribs as it ran past, its claw ripping the skin of his arm, sending him tumbling in pain. He lost his knife somewhere in the brush.
“Pax!” Tiern crouched over him as he fought for breath, his eyes frantic. “You’re alive—thank the seas. Here’s your dagger.” Tiern leaned over him and shoved the knife back in his sheathe with shaking hands just as a bloodcurdling yell sounded from a man behind them. Pax tried to sit up and hollered at the jabs of pain searing through his body.
“Don’t move, Brother. You’re hurt. You need to put pressure on your arm.”
Pax absently grabbed his bleeding arm and lay there in dismay, watching as the great beast tore through hunters with no effort at all. And yet, it didn’t seem as if it wanted to fight. It seemed as if it wanted to get away, as if the people were a nuisance in its path. Tiern sat up on his knees and shot an arrow just as the beast raised its head. It nicked the side of its neck and the great beast roared, stumbling as it swatted at the spot.
“You hit it!” Pax said. The effort to speak sent agony through his ribs.
One of the wealthy men somehow ended up in the beast’s fleeing path.
“Get out of its way!” Paxton yelled hoarsely, grimacing.
The man stared up at the monster in sheer, stunned terror and let loose a horrible high-pitched scream. Paxton wanted to cover his ears against it. The youngest Zandalee woman jumped in front of the man with a wild shout, brandishing a hooked dagger. To Paxton’s confusion, the beast paused, sniffed the air, and then whacked her aside with the back of its paw. She cartwheeled, airborne. Paxton could see how she was about to land and the angle of her knife, but there was nothing he could do. Her dagger pierced straight through her gut as she fell. The Zandalee girl seized for a moment before going still.
The monster grabbed the screaming man with both massive paws and shoved his waist into its gaping mouth. It held the screaming man between its teeth as it bounded away on all fours, into the dark woods. The bloodcurdling cries lessened and became fainter, but never stopped, echoing through the forest.
Paxton numbed himself to the revulsion of it, forcing himself to think straight. He ignored Tiern’s objections and stood, his torso banded by bruises already. “We have to follow it.”
“You’re not well enough,” Tiern said. “Stay here.”
“Wait!” Panic flooded Paxton’s body as he watched his brother sprint into the trees with Harrison, Samuel, Zandora, and a Kalorian. He followed at a pathetic pace, and made it a quarter of a mile before he fell panting against a tree, holding his ribs. When he caught his breath he moved again, this time only at a jogging pace. He’d never felt so worthless, but he couldn’t stop. Not while Tiern was out there with the beast.