Sudden and overwhelming darkness took over my body and soul. It felt as if I were sinking into the depths of a black ocean, and the harder I tried to swim to the surface, the more useless it became. I was drowning, and I could barely breathe. I could practically taste the saltwater as it flooded into my lungs, and I knew it was just an illusion and that I needed to open my eyes, but no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible. My mind was pure black, and all I could hear was the mysterious woman’s voice as she repeated my name over and over again.
Cole, she whispered. Wake up, Cole.
I wanted to tell her I was trying, but it was no use. My mouth was clamped shut, and my body felt heavy as lead. Panic built up inside me as the darkness continued to swallow me whole. Her voice became more distant, and I wanted to reach out and find her, but she was nothing but an echo.
Finally, when I thought I would never wake up, someone clutched onto my shoulder and gently squeezed.
“Cole,” a familiar voice said. “Can you hear me?”
To my surprise, I managed to force my eyes open, and when I did, I saw my coven. They were staring at me with concerned expressions and trembling lips. I looked down and saw I was tightly swaddled in one of the infirmary cots. My head was throbbing, and the last thing I could remember was being outside and in the middle of a brewing storm.
“Oh, thank Satan, he’s awake!” Morgana breathed. “You had us worried there for a moment.”
Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and her skin was flushed. All the women had their hair pulled back and were wearing the same cloaks we’d worn during the first game. That’s when I shot up with a terrible realization. Today was the day of the second game of the tournament, and I would never be able to forgive myself if we missed the second game.
“Did I wake up too late?” I breathed. “Did we miss the second game?”
“No,” a voice by the doorway said. “Not yet, anyway.”
We all turned our heads to see Vanessa standing at the threshold of the infirmary, and she was wearing a dark plum-colored gown with full, multi-layered skirts and thick black gloves. The professor looked irritated, which wasn’t unusual, but there was something dark and furious in her ice-blue eyes. Her red lips were set into a tight line, and when she looked at me, it was if she were glaring at a filthy gnome.
I’d angered her, and I had a feeling it had something to do with the fact I was lying in this bed.
“Hello, Professor,” I muttered.
“What the hell happened?” she demanded. “All I told you to do was practice! Not put yourself into a coma.”
“I was actually hoping someone else could tell me what happened,” I said, and I was mildly annoyed with her overly bitchy attitude. “The last thing I remember was trying to control the sunset, but then something… or rather someone took over my mind, and then it’s nothing but a blur from there on.”
“Who was it, Cole?" Morgana whispered with excitement in her blue eyes. “Was it that woman? The one from your dreams?”
Morgana was quick as a whip, so I nodded slowly, and she put a hand to her mouth. The rest of the coven, though, still appeared unsure about this mysterious woman who haunted my dreams and invaded my mind without warning.
“What woman?” Vanessa snapped. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Cole believes there is a woman from a painting who has been visiting him in his sleep--” Morgana started to explain, but I had to cut her off. There was no time to discuss this right now, and I knew Vanessa was running thin on patience.
“It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head. “We need to get to the game.”
“Are you positive you’re up for it?” Vanessa asked with furrowed eyebrows. “You were knocked out cold.”
“I can do it,” I replied in a firm voice.
True, I felt like a storm of heavy stones had rained down onto me, but there was no way I could forgo the game. It was going to be difficult, though. My head was heavy, and there was a stinging sensation behind my eyes as I raised my body upright. My arms trembled from the effort, and I nearly collapsed back into the bed as I sat up, but I didn’t give a damn. I couldn’t let my coven down, and even if it killed me, I’d win this game.
“Very well,” Vanessa said, even though she didn’t look happy, “it’s your choice.”
“You’d better get dressed.” Morgana smiled faintly. “We need to be down in the banquet hall--”
“In ten minutes,” Akira finished for her. “So, haul that ass.”
I nodded as Vanessa and my coven left the infirmary, and then I sighed and forced myself to get out of bed. I was wearing some kind of white nightgown, and my uniform and cloak were neatly folded in a chair by the bed. I smiled as I picked up the clothes, and I suspected Cordelia had something to do with the convenient change of clothing.
As I bent down to pull off the gown, though, a sharp pain shot through my body.
“Shit!” I muttered.
I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut. Every bone ached as I stood upright and got dressed, and I hoped by the time we entered the tournament, I would be feeling better, but that was a slim possibility.
As soon as I stepped out into the corridor, Morgana slipped me something into my hand. It was cold and small, and when I looked down, it was a vial, filled with a dark blue liquid.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“It’s a remedy,” she whispered. “Technically, we’re not supposed to take anything before a game, but I figured we could make an exception for you.”
“You were the last person I’d expect to break a rule.” I smiled as I tilted my head back and drank the sour brew. “Thanks, though… I appreciate it.”
“Right?” Akira smirked. “I almost didn’t believe her when she first suggested it.”
“Alright, I get it,” Morgana huffed before she took the empty vial from my hands. “I’m the tedious rule follower. Anyway, you guys go on. I need to hide this.”
We did as she asked and made our way down to the banquet hall, and some of the portraits cheered as we passed them.
“Even the paintings want us to win,” Faye giggled.
“Don’t even say the word painting,” I grumbled under my breath,
“Oh, right.” The redhead blushed. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“It’s fine,” I sighed. “It’s my own problem… one I’ll have to deal with later.”
“Your problem is our problem, Cole,” Vesta sighed, and the other three witches nodded.
“Yes,” Morgana agreed. “You are our master, and you give us power. We need you.”
“Alright,” I said as I smiled at them. “Thanks.”
When we reached the banquet hall doors, Morgana had returned to us. Clearly, she’d run the entire way because she was breathing heavily, and her cheeks were flushed.
“Damn, woman,” Akira said, “breathe… we still have five minutes before Theodora announces the trial.”
“I-I-I’m trying,” Morgana panted.
“In and out.” Faye smiled.
Morgana wasn’t the only one who needed to breathe, so I took in a long, deep breath and instantly relaxed. Whatever Morgana had slipped me was already beginning to work. I could feel the ache leaving my head, and the pains in my body were slowly fading away.
At this moment, I was ready to take on whatever the game had to offer.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Morgana, I order you to relax. Be confident, alright?”
She nodded in my direction, and her breathing became steady and quiet.
I looked at each witch and grinned. “We’ve got this.”
Then I pushed the heavy doors open and took in the sight before me.
Students were lined up against the walls, and the moment we stepped inside, everyone’s eyes turned to us. I lifted my chin proudly, and we made our way to the front of the room and joined the other three groups. I turned to glance at the Vipera academy, and I noticed Nyx and Esther were smiling in my direction. Ash and Lena, however, had their focus elsewhere. No matter where they looked or how they grinned, I could see their competitive nature shining through them. They were here to win or die, and they weren’t the only ones.
The other Scholomance group had their heads held up high, and they grinned maliciously when they saw us approaching them. The Mors team, though, now with one less teammate, didn’t even bother to acknowledge us. They simply stood there with their chins raised and shoulders pushed back. Their headmaster, however, glared right at me as we stood in our assigned spots. I tried to ignore his glare, but it felt as if it were penetrating my soul.
I did my best to shove the notion aside and focus on what was ahead of me.
Headmistress Theodora nodded in our direction and flashed me a small smile. She was wearing a long gold and black gown, and her long dark hair was spilling over her shoulders. Vanessa stood by her mother, and as usual, she didn’t look pleased. Her pale blue eyes darted over to my direction, and her expression remained as cold as ice.
I looked away and fixated on the sea of Scholomance students staring at us with wide, eager eyes and broad smiles. Some were even carrying little flags with the Scholomance crest on it and wearing small golden pins.
“Welcome, all!” Theodora grinned. “To the second Ludi Mortiferum game!”
Thunderous applause followed, and the headmistress had to settle everyone down.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said with the same smile, “I know it’s all incredibly exciting, but we must get to it. The objective of this game requires quick-wit, patience, and willpower. The teams will be sent to a mysterious realm where they must locate an extraordinary cave. Inside that cave lies an even more extraordinary artifact that will shadow port them back to the academy. Obviously, the first team to retrieve the key wins. Now, let us commence!"
She raised up her wand and twirled it three times above her head, and a massive cloud appeared in the middle of the banquet hall. I could see an island in the distance, and before I knew what was happening, a deep purple smoke had engulfed all the teams, and we were spinning through the air. We tumbled and turned, and my stomach did flips as we sped quickly through different realms and portals. I thought it would go on forever, but then the next thing I knew, I landed face-first into the hot sand. I spat out a mouthful, shook my head, and looked around for my coven. They were sprawled out on a strange-looking beach, and they groaned as they gently pulled themselves up from the sand.
“No matter how many times we’re shadow ported to another realm, I’ll never get used to the landing,” Faye groaned as she dusted herself off.
“Me, either,” Akira grunted.
I pushed myself up from the sand and looked around. We were on a beach, but everything felt as if it were backward. There was an ocean in front of us, but the water was a light, whitish brown, and the sand was teal blue. The sky was white, and the palm trees were an assortment of colors. Some leaves were bright red, and others were indigo, yellow, and orange. It almost gave me a headache to take everything in at once. I wasn’t used to all these colors, and it felt strange to be here.
“Where the hell are we?” Akira asked with her small nose scrunched up. “It looks horrible.”
“It must be the contrarium realm,” Morgana breathed. “I’ve read about these places before.”
“Great,” Akira snapped. “So, what do we have to know?”
“Well,” Morgana chewed on her lower lip. “One of the most important things to remember is we can’t touch anything that looks normal.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” Akira demanded.
“Yes, could you be a little more specific, Morgana?” Faye added.
“Well, for example,” the brunette started, “a sunflower is normally black and yellow, right?"
“Yes, Professor,” Akira replied as she rolled her dark eyes. “So what?”
“Well, here, the petals are black, and the middle is yellow,” Morgana explained. “So, if you saw a normal-looking plant, then you need to stay far away from it.”
“What happens if we don’t?” Vesta asked, and she bit harshly at her lower lilac lip.
“It could transform into a flesh-eating parasitus and will devour you little by little from the inside out,” the bookish witch said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Or it could turn into a mutated, carnivorous rabbit with a snake’s head. The possibilities are endless.”
“Fantastic.” I nodded. “That’s good to know.”
“Before we worry about that, I think we might actually have another problem,” Faye muttered as she looked up at the sky.
I followed her gaze, and I noticed the sky was turning a dark shade of purple, and deep red clouds began to hover over the sand-colored ocean. Thunder roared, and red lightning split open the sky. Then thick crimson droplets fell down from the clouds, and when I licked my lips, I knew it was raining blood. Horrid flashes of my first night at Scholomance came rushing back to me, but I had to shove them in a deep dark corner of my mind.
There was no time to think about the past.
“Fuck!” Akira screamed over the sound of the growing storm. “Cole, do you think you can stop it?”
“I can try!” I called back.
I stood by the water, and the ocean was now a light red, while the waves were growing more violent as they crashed against the shoreline and swept across my ankles. My feet were soaked, but I didn’t care. I simply closed my eyes and tried to drown out the sound of thunder and the violent wind. Then I raised my hands up into the air and muttered the incantation Vanessa taught us. Part of me feared the mysterious woman would return to me, but I couldn’t let dread prevent me from performing the spell.
As I muttered the blood curse, I winced when my skin split open, and blood dripped down my palm and coated my wand. In my head, I pictured an open sky and a calm ocean. The image was so clear in my mind, but nothing happened. Nothing seemed to change as the wind continued to howl and screech and blood poured from the sky. I feared I’d somehow messed up the spell, but then, the wind began to settle, and the rain came to a slow stop.
“You did it!” Faye shouted.
“Big fucking deal,” a deep voice growled.
We all swung our heads and spotted Bram, Malcolm, and their third teammate with the light green skin and thick, brown hair. Their white suits were drenched in blood, and they were smiling like a group of madmen with their wands aimed at us.
I raised my wand and just in time. The nameless teammate had tried to cast a spell in our direction, but not before I deflected it.
“Novis!” I shouted.
His bright green spell backfired and sent him flying back into the jungle. He crashed into the thicket, and his counterparts turned to look at us with venom in their eyes.
I had an idea, but because of the reversal spell I’d just used, I needed a minute before I could proceed with my plan.
“I order you to cover me,” I said as I spun around to face my coven.
The witches nodded, raised their wands, and aimed at the warlocks. Then both teams started to spew spells back and forth.
“Secare!” Faye screamed.
Malcolm and Bram managed to dodge her spell, and it blasted a tree behind them. The bark turned into a rain of splinters, and the warlocks spun to retaliate with scowling, red faces.
“Cicatrix!” Bram growled.
His spell was aimed at Faye, but Akira shoved her out of the way before the red light could hit the redhead. Unfortunately, Akira ended up getting hit in the face, and she was knocked off her feet before she landed on the ground with a thud. Morgana helped the black-eyed witch to her feet first, and when Akira stood up, she had a deep blue and purple bruise forming around one of her eyes.
“Fucker,” she hissed, and I cursed every second that ticked by until I could use another spell.
The hot-tempered witch whipped around, and without hesitation, she aimed her wand back at the warlocks. Morgana raised her wand at the same time, and together they fired their spells.
“Colingo!” Akira screamed.
“Glacio!” Morgana yelled.
The two men managed to swerve out of the way, and both spells missed them by an inch. They grinned, and I could tell they thought they were unbeatable, but the minute timer had passed, and I was ready.
I started to lift my arm, but Akira wasn’t finished. Before I could even say a word, she pointed her want right at Malcolm and smiled.
“Volant!” the short-haired witch cried out, and a bolt of light struck Malcom straight in the chest.
Akira managed to send Malcolm flying back into the jungle, and she laughed when he hit his head on a tall, jagged stone. Bram turned to the coven with hatred in his eyes and pointed his wand right at Akira, but before he could do anything, I began to picture a small twister in their path.
Then I raised my hands, muttered the spell, and fresh blood dripped down my hands as a small whirlpool of wind began to form and headed for the trio.
“Fuck!” Bram yelled as he stumbled back across the sand.
“Run!” Malcolm shouted.
The three tried to make a run for it, but my little tornado was too fast for them. It swept the warlocks up and carried them into the depths of the jungle. I had no idea how long the spell would last, but hearing their screams as they were carried off by my own personal storm made me smile.
“Good one, Cole,” Vesta snickered.
“Yeah, did you see their fucking faces?” Akira cackled. “That was priceless.”
“It only temporarily took care of them,” I reminded them. “We might bump into them later… so I suggest we move it.”
“Well, where the hell do we start?” Akira groaned as she wiped the remnants of the bloody rain off her face. “We don’t even know how big this place is. Where should we begin looking for the cave?”
“We need to find a map,” Morgana said, “that must be the first step.”
“No shit,” Akira grunted.
“Maybe that has something to do with finding the map,” Faye said as she pointed up the shoreline.
We all turned to look at what she was pointing at, and I grinned as a wooden chest washed up in the surf. We quickly ran over, and we dragged it onto the sand. The box had a golden lock on it, and some kind of inscription was engraved into the metal.
“Non possumus aperire secreti quicquid sanguinis,” I muttered.
“Only blood can open my secrets,” Morgana whispered. “Cole--”
“I’m on it,” I said.
I wiped my bloody hand on the chest lock, and it immediately popped open. Smoke emerged from the chest, but I still reached down to pull out a rolled-up scroll of parchment. When I opened it, I realized it was a map of the island. The entire island was shaped like a giant skull, and we were on the edge of its jaw.
“That’s where we are,” I said as I pointed to the map. “We need to get here.”
I pointed to a small x on the map in the middle of the jungle and inside a cave.
“How do you know that’s where we are?” Vesta asked and cocked her head to the side.
“You see that jagged rock over there?” I said as I pointed to a tall, jagged stone by the shore. “It’s here on the map.”
“Good eye.” Akira nodded.
“We’d better get a move on,” Morgana suggested. “The others will probably be getting their own maps soon.”
“How do you know there isn’t just one map?” Akira asked.
Morgana pointed to a small number two on the lock. “Something tells me there are four chests on the islands, and each team landed on a different spot on the island to find it.”
“Well, let’s hurry up then, and figure out where we have to go,” Faye ordered.
We were all staring down at the map until something incredibly strange happened. The parchment began to dissolve, and the witches all gasped in shock.
“No, no, no!” Akira wailed. “What’s happening? We didn’t get a chance to even memorize it!”
“I don’t know,” I said in a rushed voice.
As the map disappeared, I suddenly felt a sharp sting in my back, and I gritted my teeth in pain and hunched over. The pain continued to split my skin, and I could feel warm blood trickling down my back as I squeezed my eyes closed.
“Cole, what’s wrong?” Faye asked in a panicked voice.
“I don’t know,” I grunted as I unbuttoned my shirt and turned around.
All the witches gasped in horror, and my heart started to beat faster.
“Well?” I breathed. “What’s happening?”
“The map is being carved into your flesh… ” Akira muttered. “Morgana, what is this?”
“He was the one who opened the chest,” Morgana whispered. “I guess that’s the price he has to pay.”
My skin was still burning as I felt the outline of the map cultivating on my back. It burned, and I could feel the blood as it continued to trickle down my back. When it was finally over, I breathed in and tried to stand straight.
“You’re going to have to lead the way,” I said to my coven. “Which way should we head?”
One of them took a step forward and lightly touched my back, and I flinched from the burning sensation of their fingertip but didn’t say anything.
“We should head north, toward the pink sun,” Morgana murmured. “That will lead us to the cave.”
“Let’s go, then,” I said.
I left my shirt on the sand, and we dipped into the rainbow-colored jungle. We passed by large, yellow trees with vibrant purple leaves, and birds as large as cats flew over our heads and cawed furiously above us. The soil was a bright orange, and all kinds of strange plants were growing from the earth. Some of the flora even had eyes that watched our every move. When I glanced up to look at the trees, I saw a faint light from the white sky above us peeked through the leaves and beat down on us, but it wasn’t too humid or hot, which was a small blessing.
When we came across a blue river about half an hour later, Morgana gasped.
“Oh, no,” she hissed.
“What?” Vesta asked.
“Remember what I said about things that appear to be abnormally normal?” she said with a raised eyebrow. “There has to be something wrong with this river.”
“Yeah, and I think I know what that is,” Akira muttered.
We all followed her gaze and took a small step back. A giant, squid-like creature was slowly emerging from the water, and its black eyes were focused on us. The beast was a sickly pink color, and as its massive tentacles began to pull itself out of the water, I saw the monster was as large as a bear. Then it opened its beak-like mouth and hissed so loud that birds flew up from their perched positions on the trees and cawed loudly in the air, just before the creature started to speed up and crawl toward us.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Akira growled.
The squid monster shot out one of its tentacles faster than the blink of an eye, and Faye suddenly cried out as she went flying into the river.
“Go and get her!” I shouted to the others. “I’ll take care of this bastard.”
The monster’s black eyes glared at me, and it growled low and furiously.
I planted my feet on the ground and raised my wand at the creature. Then I remembered back to Vanessa’s lesson in the dungeon with the prisoner, and I grinned.
“Allucinatio!” I shouted.
The squid’s head began to vibrate, and it stopped dead in its tracks. Then its dark eyes bulged, and it started to screech a loud and terrible cry.
When my coven successfully pulled Faye out from the water, they placed their hands over their ears and crouched down in pain, but I maintained my stance and stared hard at the creature. I willed it nothing but pain and agony, and when its head burst open, I smiled.
The air settled again, and bits and pieces of squid and green blood were splattered across the riverbed.
“We need to go,” I said as the others all stared at me. “Someone from another team might have heard that.”
The women nodded, and we made a run for it. We sprinted past the river, and soon, we came across a vast, empty patch of brown dirt. It was eerily quiet, and there were no birds, monkeys, or other jungle critters around us.
“Something’s not right,” I said in a faint voice.
“And what makes you say that?” a familiar voice purred from behind me.
I whipped around with my wand out and saw a half-naked Nyx standing in front of me. She was only wearing a black bra, and her voluptuous, blue breasts heaved up and down as she fought to catch her breath. Her teammates were behind her, and they were all smiling at us.
“Back off, bitches,” Akira snapped. “Find another way around.”
“Why would we do that?” Ash asked as she flipped back her long, silver hair. “This is the shortest route to the cave. It says so on Nyx’s back.”
“You want to walk across this dirt?” Morgana sneered. “Be our guests.”
“No way.” Esther grinned. “We know all about the little tricks of the jungle… why don’t you walk across it first?”
“Fat fucking chance,” Akira growled as she raised her wand.
The other witches raised their wands, too, but before anyone could utter a word, something started to growl. The sound was unnerving, and it made all the hairs on my skin stand on end.
“Did you hear that?” Faye whispered.
“Yes,” I muttered.
Everyone turned to look at the dirt, and something was slowly digging itself out. Small, snake-headed creatures began to lift their heads out of the soil, and the women all gasped in horror as a sea of snake-headed, giant red ants snapped their fangs at us and ran forward on their hunched legs.
“Run!” Nyx shouted.
Her team dove back into the jungle, but I knew we had to move across the dirt, so I turned to my coven and snapped my fingers to get their attention.
“We’re going to have to get across this patch,” I said. “If it’s on the map, it must be the only way to the cave. Raise your wands, and when I tell you to, I want you to imagine quicksand. But make sure that it’s blue. Together, we can make it more powerful and quicker.”
My coven nodded their heads and aimed their wands at the dirt. Then we all began to mutter under our breaths.
My hand bled onto my wand as the dirt began to turn into blue quicksand. The small monsters started to squeal out in protest as they sank down into the earth, but then others leaped up and landed near our feet. I kicked one before it could crawl up my leg, but another managed to latch its claws onto Morgana before it bit into her skin. The snake-ant monster tore off a good chunk of her calf, and she screamed out in pain.
Akira turned to look at her companion with wide, fearful dark eyes, and she aimed her wand at the monster and scrunched up her face in determination.
“Volant!” she screamed.
The little beast went flying off Morgana and landed in the quicksand, and it screeched as it began to sink into the hungry sand.
We thought that was the last of it until we heard another sound behind the leaves. When I turned to look at what was approaching, I half-expected to see Nyx and her group, but instead, it was Malcolm, Bram, and their other teammate. The third nameless teammate wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I guessed the map was also engraved into his back.
“Look who it is.” Malcolm grinned.
“Shut your fucking face.” Akira rolled her eyes.
“I always knew you were a bitch with claws,” Bram chuckled. “It’s cute, but you’re going to have to step out of the way.”
The three of them raised their wands at us, and I began to laugh wildly.
“What the hell is so funny?” Malcolm growled.
“You are more idiotic than I presumed,” I sneered. “Do you really think you stand a chance against us? It’s five against three, and I kicked your asses by myself not too long ago. What do you think the odds are?”
“Here’s a hint.” Faye smiled sweetly. “They aren’t good.”
“Nor are they in your favor.” Akira smirked. “You dumb fucks.”
The three warlocks exchanged annoyed looks with one another, and even though they were clearly outnumbered, Bram narrowed his eyes at me and chuckled.
“What’s the matter? Are you too afraid to cross the sand? You know it’s the quickest way to the cave, don’t you?”
I looked over at the patch of sand and grinned. It appeared like normal blue sand, but there was no way to tell it was actually quicksand.
And there was no way to know there were little monsters inside it as well.
“We know that.” I nodded. “We were just about to cross until you came out of nowhere and distracted us.”
“Well, if you’re not going to fucking do anything,” Bram snarled. “We’re going to cross over.”
“Not unless we cross over first,” I taunted.
“Fuck you,” Bram growled before he turned to the others and turned up his nose. “Let’s go.”
The trio walked over the baby blue sand, and they smirked as they treaded over it, but by the time they reached the middle, they slowly started to sink.
Bram glanced in my direction, and his face darkened.
“You fucking bastard,” he called out. “You did this!”
He raised his wand and aimed it at me, but I was too quick.
“Conligo!” I shouted.
He froze in place, and the others raised their wands to attack, but then something yanked them down, and they dropped their wands as they screamed. Then the snake-headed ants started to crawl up their legs and bite them. The little creatures ripped at their clothes, and the warlocks cried out in terror as more of them climbed up their bodies.
I watched with giddy fascination as the creatures bit into their flesh and took out chunks of their skin. Blood dripped down their faces and spread like red ink splotches through their clothes, and their visible skin turned even paler as the little monsters nipped and clawed at them.
“Let’s go!” I shouted.
My coven and I ran back into the jungle and sprinted through the trees. We had no idea where we were going, but we weren’t going to stick around and wait for the spell to wear off and have a colony of murderous snake-ants following us. We’d have to find another way to the cave, so we ran hard and fast until we eventually came to a halt to catch our breaths.
“Unholy fucking shit,” Akira panted as she doubled over her knees. “Do you think they’re dead?”
“I have no idea.” I shrugged.
“I think that’s the least of our worries,” Faye breathed.
“Why?” Morgana asked.
“Don’t you see that?” Faye raised a trembling finger and pointed to something behind me.
I slowly turned around, and my heart sank.
There, right in front of me was a giant, sixteen-foot-tall, one-footed man, and when I met his yellow, beady eyes, his mouth curled up into a hungry and malicious smile.
We’d walked right into his territory, and I wasn’t sure how we’d escape him, but whatever we needed to do, we had to be quick.
I could tell this bastard was starving for raw flesh, and we were the next item on the menu.