Page 21 of Whispers of Ruin
Some of the tinier gremlins scampered forward, but when they went for the fresh meat, the leader lowered his leg to shriek at them. Bowing their heads, the smaller ones curled into themselves as some bigger gremlins hopped toward them.
The smaller creatures retreated. As they did so, they claimed some meat from the remains of their own kind and went to sit a few hundred feet away from the leader. Once there, they started cannibalizing their own.
Yep, they’re the most revolting things I’ve ever seen.
Kaylia placed both hands over her mouth as she muffled a gagging noise. He almost went to comfort her before recalling she would most likely rebuke him.
He dug his fingers into his palms as the little green freaks settled in with their meals. They were lucky these things had been preoccupied with their stairclimbing contest when they first came upon them.
He and Kaylia wouldn’t have known what they were, but the gremlins would have seen them coming and attacked. They wouldn’t have been given much time to defend themselves before the gremlins swarmed over them.
But their competition was over, leaving the stairs unblocked. They’d have to make their way around the blood to avoid leaving footprints, but they could get to the steps, the door, and freedom from this place.
If they got to the door and opened it, these things would know they were there, but they could slip through before the gremlins ever got to the top. From there, he could pull more shadows around them and disappear easily into the jungle.
“We have to try for it,” he whispered in her ear.
She glanced uneasily at the feasting gremlins before nodding. If they were careful, they could do this.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
They crepttoward the sea of blood. They edged around it to the staircase, carefully avoiding scattered bones and a small, sleeping gremlin under the steps.
Beside him, Kaylia winced as she stepped over dried remains, planted her hands on the stairs, and pulled herself onto them. Brokk followed swiftly after her; they couldn’t get too far apart, or the shadows would fall away from her.
Brokk held his breath when he climbed onto the step. They looked made of glass, but he half expected them to creak beneath his weight.
Instead, their footsteps remained noiseless as Kaylia climbed to the top with Brokk beside her. When she reached the top, her hand rested on the knob, and she glanced back at the gremlins before looking at him.
Those things would come for them as soon as she opened that door, but they’d have a good head start. He had no idea what might await them in the jungle, but they could evade these beasts; he was sure of it.
He nodded at her to continue, and she twisted the knob. She frowned when it didn’t move beneath her hand. She tried again, but it remained unmoving. Her face becoming more frantic, she seized it with both hands and tried again.
Brokk watched the gremlins feasting below, but they’d soon tire of their meal and start moving around again. Would they return to the stairs?
For all he knew, the stair game was an hourly occurrence for these monsters and how they passed their time between kills. With a growing sense of urgency, he forgot about not touching Kaylia as he moved her hand away and grasped the knob.
He tried twisting it as he leaned his shoulder against the thick, wooden door and pushed all his weight into it. If he succeeded, the door would splinter apart when it came open, but he didn’t give a shit as long as it opened.
He couldn’t let these things know they were there if they couldn’t escape. Below, some of the gremlins stirred, but it was only to retrieve more food before retreating again.
He now understood why they weren’t running free through Doomed Valley. They hadn’t been able to get through the door, but instead of moving on to another exit, they’d established a camp here, and judging by the number of bones, it was a successful one.
When the door refused to give way to him, he focused on Kaylia. “Can you cast a spell over it?”
“I’m not sure it would break it open, and if it doesn’t….”
She didn’t have to finish; they knew what would happen then. It would only draw the gremlins’ attention to them.
“We can both control air,” he murmured, keeping an eye out to ensure the gremlins’ big ears didn’t catch his words. “What if we gather enough to batter the door with it?”
“If it doesn’t work, those creatures will know we’re here.”
And they’d both be trapped. He eyed the door as he considered their options. He hated the idea of being this close to getting away from this place and being unable to do so. Freedom wasright there, at his fingertips, and still so far away.
He resisted kicking the door and attempting to batter it down, but it would only make things worse. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm the ire festering inside him as he came to the only conclusion he could.
“We can go back down and see if there’s another way out.”
