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Chapter 15: Uninvited Horror

Chapter 15: Uninvited Horror

Mara reached across the coffin and seized Rook’s shoulder.

"Rook."

His body stiffened, but his eyes remained closed.

The creature placed another foot inside the blue light.

Mara shook him harder. "Rook."

His eyes opened.

His right hand moved before awareness entered them.

A dagger flashed from beneath his coat.

Mara barely saw the blade leave its sheath. Rook twisted toward her, caught her by the shoulder and drove the point toward her throat with enough force to punch through flesh and bone.

The chain between their wrists straightened.

Pale light flashed through every link.

Rook’s arm stopped.

The dagger’s tip rested against Mara’s skin.

Neither moved.

Mara stared into his eyes. For one terrible instant, they held no recognition. He looked through her at something else entirely, his face caught between murderous rage and the last remnants of whatever nightmare had followed him into waking.

Then his focus returned.

He looked at Mara.

Then at the dagger against her throat.

The chain trembled between them, holding his wrist back.

Rook slowly released her shoulder.

Mara’s face had gone pale.

"What?" he asked.

She could not answer. Her eyes remained fixed on the dagger until the creature took another step and leaves shifted beneath its claws.

Mara raised one shaking hand and pointed.

Rook followed it.

The last trace of sleep vanished from his expression.

"Fuck."

He pulled the dagger away from her neck and turned. One elbow slammed against the coffin lid. The latch sprang free, and the heavy panel fell open against the soil.

Weapons shifted inside.

Rook reached into the coffin and pulled out the falchion he had secured earlier. His other hand found a long coil of chain gathered near the bottom. He dragged it free, revealing a heavy morning-star head fixed to its end. The spiked iron weight struck the ground with a muted thud.

He rose, placing himself between Mara and the approaching creature.

She touched the place where the dagger had pressed against her throat. The skin remained unbroken, though she could still feel the cold point against it.

"Didn’t you say Abominations couldn’t get here?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Second Tiers can’t."

"And what is this?"

"This is a Second Tier."

Mara looked from him to the creature steadily passing through the repelling powder. "You’re not making any sense."

"No, I’m making perfectly clear sense." Rook unwound part of the chain from around his arm. "This is a Second Tier, and also a Third. Or it’s about to become one."

"What?"

The woman-faced lizard stopped.

Its empty sockets settled upon Mara.

The jaws spread.

"Duck!" Rook shouted.

Something shot out of its mouth.

Mara threw herself down before her thoughts caught up with the command. A long, elastic tongue passed through the space where her head had been. Swollen pustules covered its surface, each one filled with cloudy fluid that shifted beneath a translucent membrane.

Rook swung the falchion upward.

The blade struck the tongue and cut through it. The severed length fell beside Mara, where it writhed across the leaves and sprayed dark fluid from its stump.

The creature recoiled.

Its remaining tongue snapped back into its mouth. The jaws closed around it, and several of the intersecting teeth pierced the flesh as it swallowed.

Mara scrambled away from the twitching piece. "This powder shit isn’t working!"

"It’s made to repel," Rook said. He stepped backward, following the creature’s movement with the falchion. "Once you’ve been spotted, there is no repelling. Stay close!"

The Abomination swallowed the remains of its tongue.

Then it screamed.

The noise resembled a woman shrieking through a throat filled with broken glass. Its long hair lifted from the ground and spread around its head. Every one of its eight legs tensed.

Rook caught Mara by the back of her coat and pulled her upright.

The creature bounded forward.

All eight feet struck the ground in rapid succession, tearing through the powder circle and throwing soil behind it. Its enormous mouth opened wide enough to split the woman’s face nearly in half. Thorn-like teeth unfolded outward, ready to close around both of them.

Rook shoved Mara toward the coffin.

Then he jumped outside the circle.

The creature’s empty sockets followed him.

Its body changed direction with startling speed. Four legs dug into the soil while the others twisted, dragging its torso around until its jaws faced Rook.

"Come on," he muttered.

The Abomination lunged.

Rook held his ground until the woman’s face filled his vision. Its jaws began closing, teeth crossing toward his chest from every direction.

He threw himself sideways.

The mouth snapped shut behind him.

Several fangs tore through the edge of his coat, but the rest closed upon empty air. Rook struck the ground on one shoulder, rolled, then came up beside the creature’s neck.

He swung the morning-star chain over its head.

The weighted end passed beneath the reptilian jaw. Rook caught the returning length and pulled, drawing the chain tight around its throat.

The creature thrashed.

Rook was dragged several feet before finding his footing. He braced one boot against the side of its neck and hauled the chain tighter. The links sank between the scales and exposed flesh.

That did not stop it.

Two of its legs twisted toward him. Curved toes raked across the soil where he had stood a moment earlier.

Rook ran.

He moved behind the creature, maintaining tension on the chain as it turned to follow him. When its tails swept toward his legs, he jumped over the nearest one, planted a boot on the Abomination’s back and vaulted across its body.

The chain followed.

It wrapped around the creature’s neck a second time, then crossed beneath one foreleg. Rook landed on the opposite side and continued running, circling the beast while feeding the chain around it.

The creature snapped at him.

He ducked beneath the jaws and passed the chain beneath another pair of legs. Each attempt to turn tightened the metal around its body. The morning-star head caught between two links, fixing the crude restraint in place.

Rook pulled once more.

The Abomination crashed onto its side.

Its eight legs kicked in different directions, scraping trenches through the soil. Both tails struck the trees around the clearing hard enough to tear away bark.

Branches trembled above them.

Rook released the chain.

"This won’t hold it for long!" He rushed toward Mara and the open coffin. "Let’s dip!"