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Chapter 16: Twisted Treeline

Chapter 16: Twisted Treeline

He seized the lid and slammed it shut. The latches caught before the weapons inside could shift loose. Rook caught the coffin by its chains, turned it onto one edge and pulled it against his back at a slant.

Mara stared at the struggling creature. "Where?"

"Away!"

That was enough.

They ran.

The pale chain between their wrists snapped taut before Mara matched his pace. Rook dragged her around the first trunk, and together they fled deeper into the forest.

Behind them, the Abomination screamed.

The restraint tightened as it fought. Each leg that kicked free caught another length of chain. Its tails became tangled together, and the heavy morning-star head battered its ribs whenever it rolled.

For several seconds, the chain held.

Then the creature planted four feet against the ground and pulled in opposite directions.

Metal groaned.

One link stretched.

Another split.

The chain burst apart.

Broken lengths whipped through the clearing and struck the surrounding trees. The Abomination rose at once, several sections still wrapped around its neck, torso and legs.

Its empty sockets turned toward the path Rook and Mara had taken.

Then it ran after them.

The forest erupted behind Mara.

Eight feet hammered the ground in a broken rhythm. Branches snapped. Smaller trees bent beneath the creature’s weight, and its tails swept through the undergrowth, scattering leaves and pieces of dead wood.

"You are the most unreliable Reaper ever!" Mara shouted.

"Seems like you missed the memo where I can’t kill them!"

"You could at least be better at everything else!"

"I’m carrying a coffin while saving your ungrateful ass!"

"You almost stabbed me!"

"You woke me badly!"

"There was a monster coming!"

"And now there’s a monster chasing us! You see how waking me didn’t improve anything?"

Mara released a furious sound and forced herself to run faster.

The creature gained on them, though the broken chain still hindered it. Loose links remained tangled around several of its feet. Every few strides, one claw stepped on a dragging length and pulled another leg sideways. The Abomination stumbled, recovered and continued, its shrieks following them between the trees.

"I thought Third Ranks were smarter," Mara said.

"They are."

The creature caught one of its tails in the chain and crashed shoulder-first through a narrow trunk. Wood exploded around it. The tree fell across its back, forcing it to tear its way through the branches before continuing the chase.

Mara looked over her shoulder. "This one seems particularly stupid."

"It isn’t fully Third Rank yet. It’s close."

"How would you know?"

"If it were a Third Rank, we’d already be dead."

"That’s your method of identification?"

"It’s been reliable so far."

Rook changed direction.

He veered away from the clearest path and ran toward a dense concentration of trees. Their trunks stood unnaturally close together, forming a rough circle around a hollow patch of earth. Heavy branches intertwined overhead, sealing most of the space beneath a roof of leaves.

Mara saw only one way in.

The same narrow opening Rook was running toward.

"That’s a dead end!"

"Trust me."

She looked back.

The Abomination tore through another cluster of saplings. Its intersecting fangs opened around a fresh tongue already growing from the stump of the first.

"Shit. What other choice do I have?"

"None!"

Mara followed him into the enclosure.

The trees surrounded them on every side. Some possessed pale, smooth trunks while others were covered in black bark split by deep vertical grooves. Roots knotted together beneath their feet. Dozens of fruits hung overhead, filling the enclosed space with a sweet, almost rotten smell.

Rook lowered the coffin from his back.

The Abomination appeared at the entrance behind them.

It slowed.

For the first time since the chase began, something resembling caution entered its movement. Its woman’s face turned toward the trees. Empty sockets passed over the branches, the fruit and the roots crossing the ground.

Mara saw the hesitation.

Then the creature looked at her.

Hunger overcame whatever instinct had warned it.

It stepped into the enclosure.

Rook tore open the coffin.

Before Mara could ask what he intended, he caught her around the waist and lifted her from the ground.

"What are you..."

He threw her inside.

Mara struck the leather-bound weapons packed within. A spear shaft pressed into her back, and the discarded straps dug beneath one shoulder.

"Stay put," Rook said. "Don’t make a sound."

He slammed the lid.

Darkness swallowed her.

Mara shoved against the coffin immediately, but the lid did not move. "Rook?"

No answer came.

His warning returned to her.

Don’t make a sound.

Mara pressed both hands over her mouth.

Outside, the Abomination charged.

The first impact shook the coffin. Weapons rattled around her, their straps keeping them secured while the entire box shifted across the soil. Mara braced her feet against one side and her shoulder against the other.

Something screamed.

She could not tell whether it was Rook or the creature.

The ground trembled again.

A heavy body struck one of the surrounding trees. Wood cracked, followed by a rapid series of impacts high above the coffin. Branches moved through the air with enough force to produce sharp, cutting whistles.

The Abomination shrieked.

The sound changed halfway through.

Its rage became pain.

Something enormous dragged across the coffin lid. Mara squeezed her eyes shut, although the darkness gave her nothing to see. The wood above her creaked beneath pressure before whatever touched it was pulled away.

The creature wailed again.

Its eight feet hammered the ground in every direction. One struck the coffin’s side, throwing Mara against the weapons. Another blow followed, then a third, each weaker than the last.

The earth shook.

Roots scraped across wood.

Mara could hear flesh tearing.

The sounds came from above, beside and beneath her. Branches snapped together like jaws. Something wet splattered across the coffin lid and ran through the narrow seams, carrying a smell so foul that Mara gagged.

She wanted to call for Rook.

She wanted to know whether he was alive, whether the creature had torn him apart or whether the trees had dragged him away along with it.

She remained silent.

Whatever happened outside, Rook was her only path to Yama. If he died here, she would be trapped inside a coffin filled with weapons until something decided to open it.

The Abomination released one final scream.

It rose above the enclosure, longer and louder than the others. A woman’s voice twisted through it, pleading beneath the animal fury.

Then it stopped.

And silence prevailed.