Page 57 of The Half King
“Monsters,” she repeated.Plural. “How many do you think—”
“I heard four,” Daerick said. “Four distinct howls.”
“Stand back-to-back,” Nero told them, then formed part of a circle. “I can shield us longer if we stay close.”
Cerise moved into position, numbly tucking Blue inside the sling. Her hands were sweaty and trembling. It took two tries to unsheathe her knife. “Mother Shiera, mistress of worlds,” she murmured under her breath. “Guide my hand and…and…” She wanted to finish the prayer for courage in the face of battle, but she couldn’t remember the words.
Then the curtain was torn completely away, and the camp spiraled into chaos.
Her mouth filled with the tang of magic as a static wall went up around them. Sweaty backs pressed against hers. Horses neighed in panic. Blue barked. And on the other side of the rippling shield stood a beast she couldn’t have conceived in her darkest nightmares.
Tall as a mule and covered in patches of mottled brown fur, the creature looked like it might have been a hyena once, before the mountain’s blight had taken root and curved its spine into a gnarled hunch. Its ears were pointed, its chest absurdly broad. Drool hung from the edges of its jaws, and as it bared its teeth, Cerise could see chunks of animal flesh in between them. But scariest of all were its eyes. Black and calculating, they spoke of an intelligence that set her hair on end. When those eyes narrowed on Blue, she understood why it had come.
“I think I know what sired Stella’s litter,” she said.
“Titan hyenas,” Daerick muttered behind her.
She glanced around and noticed three smaller beasts, one other male and two females. Blue shook his mouth free and barked at the pack, sending them into a frenzy. They scratched and snapped at the shield, howling in turn at Blue, who howled back and pawed at the sling.
“No, Blue,” she commanded, putting as much authority in her shaky voice as she could. “Stay.”
“Let him go,” Nero said. “It’s him they want, not us.”
Daerick huffed a nervous laugh. “That’s not celery between their teeth. I’m pretty sure they want us, too.”
“Not as badly as the pup. If he’s part of the pack, they won’t leave him.” Nero panted with the strain of maintaining the shield. “Let him go!” he shouted over the riot of growls and barking. “I can’t hold on forever. If you give them what they want, they might lose interest in us and run away!”
Cerise shook her head wildly. She had read about titan hyenas. “The alpha female will kill him as soon as she delivers the next litter. He’s not her pup.”
“I don’t care!” bellowed Nero. “His life isn’t more important than ours or the horses’. They are going to die if I can’t hold this—” He cut off in exhaustion, and for a sliver of a second, the static barrier faltered. In that instant, the smell of hot, rancid breath filled the circle. “Do it now!”
She clutched onto Blue in his sling, despite his wriggling, despite the advancing beasts, because she had made a promise to him.We’re a family now, Lord Blue Solon. And that’s forever. She’d just opened her mouth to tell Nero there had to be another way when the shield dropped again. She felt a tug at her neck, followed by a sudden lightness, as if a weight had been lifted.
Too late, she realized that Nero had cut the sling.
By the time she saw Blue on the ground, he had already bounded away to sniff the pack leader, who bent low and sniffed Blue in return. Then the great beast lifted Blue by the wrinkly scruff of his neck and turned to run.
Cerise didn’t remember leaving the circle, and she didn’t remember charging toward the hyena or dropping her knife along the way. But the next thing she knew, she was on top of his hunched back with both arms wrapped around his neck. As the beast roared and tried to buck her off, Blue dropped out of his mouth to the ground.
“Blue,run!” she yelled.
In the next moment, the hyena shook her off. She felt herself fly and then hit the ground with a sickening thump. When she opened her eyes, she was flat on her back, staring up at a set of open jaws.
The animal didn’t hesitate. He went for the kill.
The hyena tore at her throat. She screamed as something hot and wet dribbled down the sides of her neck. Uselessly, she shoved against the beast. Then she heard a yapping sound, and the hyena pulled back slightly—just enough for Cerise to turn her head and see Blue frantically attacking his sire’s leg.
“Blue, no!” she shrieked.
The beast shook him off and in the process gave her a glimpse of Daerick and Nero standing back-to-back, swinging their blades to fend off the rest of the pack. The alpha lunged at her again. Teeth clicked and slid against her flesh. It was then that she realized she felt no pain. The beast should have shredded her windpipe by now, but it kept gnawing at her as though she were covered in alloy.
The pendant between her breasts grew warm.
It was protecting her, just like Nina said it would.
Hope swelled within her. She glanced around for her knife and spotted it just beyond reach. She stretched her arm as far as she could and yelled, “Blue! Fetch!” He understood and finally listened this time, using his nose to push the handle within her grasp. As soon as her fingers curled around the grip, she drove the blade upward with all her strength.
The hyena yelped in pain. It was a horrible sensation, feeling the creature’s muscles and tendons grip the knife, but she jerked the blade free and drove it in again. Enraged, the hyena attacked her with twice the ferocity, biting her face, her scalp, her arms—anywhere he could reach. Her fingers were slick with blood, causing the knife to slip. When she picked it up again, she barely had enough strength and grip to pierce the animal’s hide. Her pendant was burning hot now. Its protection couldn’t possibly last much longer. Blue snapped his tiny jaws at the hyena, which, wild with fury, turned on his pup, growling and tensing his haunches.
