Page 78 of Ruby
They see her immediately. A lone human female standing in the open.
Their pace slows. Weapons lowered slightly. Not mercy, but curiosity.
The largest pushes forward. Its head dips, teeth bared inches from her face. My claws bite into the bark beneath me. I hold position. If I move too soon, we lose the trap.
Ani waits.
She doesn’t flinch.
When it leans closer, breath washing over her, she bares her teeth right back.
“Go to hell.”
Venom sprays straight into its eyes.
The hunter bellows, rearing back blindly and steps exactly where we need it to.
The lattice collapses.
It drops with a roar into the pit, the sound ending in a wet, heavy impact as the spikes take it.
Ani is already moving, twisting away in a clean pivot as the ground gives way behind her.
I launch.
The first volley rains down before the others understand what happened. Stones crack against their bodies. Sharpened branches punch into exposed skin. One staggers. Another turns, searching for me.
Too slow.
I drop lower, hook an arm around Ani’s waist, and propel us upward into the canopy. She braces against me without panic, already aiming. She spits again mid-swing.
It’s a perfect shot. Another hunter screams, clawing at its eyes.
Azoeul blurs through them, small and lethal, blade flashing in quick, efficient arcs. He doesn’t linger. He disables and moves, leaving confusion in his wake.
I release Ani onto a branch and dive, claws first. I slam into the nearest hunter before it can recover, driving it sideways. We hit the ground hard. I tear through softer tissue beneath its jaw before it can bring its weapon around. It collapses.
Movement to my left. I pivot, rake, retreat. I am not as fast as Azoeul, but I do not need to be. Surprise is still ours.
Within moments, the clearing is chaos. Two down, one blinded, one fleeing, one gutted, one impaled below us.
Ani drops from the tree long enough to finish the blinded one with another precise venom strike before rolling way as I join her. Silence settles in pulses.
This group is broken, but I doubt they were alone.
I move beside her. “We go.”
She doesn’t argue.
I scoop her up and sprint, clearing the pit in a single leap. She whoops as the wind hits her face, wild laughter ripping out ofher. As we run, she sprays venom behind us into tree trunks and undergrowth. Not at enemies, but in exhilaration.
I do not share her celebration. Others will find the bodies. They will not walk blindly into traps twice.
Azoeul zips ahead, then circles back, incredulous. “I cannot believe that worked!”
Ani laughs harder at that. Even I feel the edge of disbelief.
We put distance between ourselves and the clearing before finally slowing beneath dense cover. I set her down. She immediately drops flat on her back in the leaves, staring up through the canopy, chest heaving.
