Page 65 of Whispers of Ruin
“And I’ll succeed.”
They glowered at each other before she broke into a beautiful smile that melted his heart while irritating him.
“We should go,” she said.
Brokk didn’t like the idea of this at all, but with the three of them working together, they should be able to destroy whatever was out there or return safely. And he’d make sure that no matter what happened, Kaylia survived this.
CHAPTERSIXTY-ONE
Kaylia stayed closeto Brokk as they slipped away from the suckers moving over the barrier and back toward their camp. They ducked into one of the shelters, and once there, Brokk wrapped the shadows around her and Ryker.
When he nodded to let her know they were all set, they emerged from the shelter and crept toward the barrier. Kaylia rested her hand against it as the rest of the camp continued behind them as if nothing had changed.
They had to maintain the appearance of normalcy while the monsters watched from the shadows. Whatever those things were out there, they couldn’t see her pulling back the barrier for them to step through together.
Kaylia turned as the colorful bubble settled behind them before they moved deeper into the jungle and away from the river. They’d exited the barrier on a side where they hadn’t seen any creatures.
As they emerged, she still didn’t see anything lurking in the night, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Kaylia kept her hand on the small of Brokk’s back as they moved through the jungle.
Outside the protective barrier, she felt exposed, even if those things couldn’t see them. However, she’d been the one to point out they had no idea what these creatures could do, and there was a chance theycouldsee them.
She debated casting a spell to shield them but decided against it. The trees, dense foliage, and other obstacles around them would either destroy or hinder her magic, and the last thing they needed was anything slowing them.
After so many nights of endless noise and screams from the many animals residing in Doomed Valley, the jungle was oddly quiet except for the whispers. And the unintelligible words wove beneath her skin where they festered like a splinter that wouldn’t come free.
They hadn’t irritated her as much before, but they’d never been this close to whatever created them.
The three of them stayed near the barrier and the light created by torches within. Sometimes they had to move away to navigate obstacles, but they never got so far that they risked losing the shadows.
Ryker stayed close to Brokk’s shoulder, but sometimes he fell back to walk beside her when a tree or branch forced him to do so. They only made it fifty feet before Brokk stopped and raised his hand.
In front of them, about thirty feet away, one of those tentacle-like things limbs was latched to the protective barrier. It swayed up and down a little seemed to try to suck out whatever power kept the protective shell in place.
So far, they hadn’t been successful, but they were determined to keep trying. With an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, Kaylia rested her fingers against the barrier. It had remained strong when she pulled it back to let them out, but something could have changed.
Thankfully, a strong wave of power continued to vibrate against her fingers. The barrier didn’t feel any weaker than before, but why did these abominations keep trying to penetrate it like this when it wasn’t working? Were they too dumb to realize they weren’t succeeding, or did they know something she didn’t?
Her hand fell limply back to her side. From where they stood, she still couldn’t see what the appendage was attached to, and since that’s why they were here, it was a bit of a problem.
She’d prefer not to go anywhere near that thing, but they had to get closer. When Brokk started forward again, she was extra careful about where to put her feet. Making a noise now could prove deadly.
Her fingers twisted into Brokk’s shirt as he moved to the left and deeper into the darkness. Kaylia glanced anxiously back at the torches and their much-needed light as they faded further away.
After about fifteen feet, Brokk stopped. Kaylia pressed against Brokk’s right side while Ryker remained close to his left.
They couldn’t move any further away from the light; she was certain of it, but that didn’t matter as the creature had finally been revealed. Kaylia gulped as she stared at the monstrosity that she could somehow tell was a woman.
The creature stood between two trees. Its greenish-gray skin looked like it had hung in the blazing sun for years. Sucked tight against the woman’s body, that leathery, cracked skin revealed the sharp bones sticking out from her hips, rib cage, and shoulders.
No fat filled out the creature; it was all skin and bones. Flattened and deflated, the woman’s breasts were the only signs of excess tissue, and it was very little.
Her red eyes burned like lava from the dark, and when her elongated jaw opened, one of the suckers erupted from within the cavernous depths of her mouth. Tufts of straggly hair stuck up from the woman’s head.
Some hairs were a foot long and waved around her hollowed-out cheekbones. The woman’s coloring and skin reminded Kaylia of dead things that would fall apart beneath her fingers.
Brokk glanced over at her, and she shook her head at his questioning look. She had no idea what this being was or what it could do. When they both looked at Ryker, he shrugged and looked as confused as Kaylia felt.
Brokk waved his fingers around them before pointing to her and placing his index finger against his lips. Kaylia knew he was asking for a silencing spell, and she quickly worked to create one.
