Thomas spun on his heels and started back in the opposite direction again. He couldn’t help but feel the horrible sensation that something was stalking him. The hair on the back of his neck rose and he winced, anticipating a crushing attack from behind. He stopped, again wincing. He closed his eyes for a second and when nothing happened, he turned around to face the darkened street.
His eyes bulged when saw the black human-looking creature standing outside the house. Now he couldn’t bring himself to go past. The thing appeared to be naked. It looked down at him from twice the height of any human he’d ever seen. Its skin was darker than the night surrounding it. Thomas saw its blood-red eyes locking onto him and gulped when it spread its black wings to the width of the entire cobblestone street. He screamed in terror and ran.
Thomas sprinted as fast has he’d ever run in his entire life. Facing down an army of men had scared him, but that creature was the face of death. He needed to get as far away as possible. A dark shadow appeared over him, darkening out the inky sky above. Thomas turned down a street, trying to escape the winged creature’s capture. He saw the shadow continue straight as he turned right. Glancing over his shoulder, Thomas didn’t see the winged giant behind him, so he looked down the road again and noticed someone emerging from the alley. He shrieked in fear that it might be the thing chasing him, but to his surprise, it wasn’t.
He ran to reach the person standing out in the open, but before he could see him or her clearly, the black, winged beast landed between them. Thomas stopped in his tracks, his teeth clenched as he braced for an attack. Accepting that this was his end, Thomas closed his eyes.
His head nearly exploded in pain as the creature let out a shriek so loud, he thought his ears would rupture. He opened his eyes. Bo was standing next to him and clutching at his chest. He saw a flash of light streak through the street and explode into hundreds of fragments blinding him with its sudden white flash. The ear-piercing shriek sounded again, crippling Thomas and causing him to hold his hands over his ears.
He screamed and felt a firm hand grip him around the arm and hoist him up from his crouching position. Shaking with adrenaline, Thomas shook off the hand and saw Bo trying to get his attention.
“Calm down, Thomas. You’re okay. It’s gone,” he said.
Thomas looked over his shoulder to see the back of Anders and another man sprinting after the winged beast. “Kirsten,” he said, worried for his cousin.
“She’s not at the house, Thomas. She’s been helping Max and Britt at the docks,” he told Thomas.
Thomas stammered.
“I just saw her a few minutes ago; she’s alright. I was on my way back when I heard the commotion. Are you okay?” Bo asked.
Thomas felt himself, not sure if he’d been attacked or not. “I, I think so.”
“What was that thing?” Bo asked.
“I don’t know,” Thomas said, his voice still quivering.
“Come on, let’s go to the docks where there are more people. I think Rune should have a look at you, too, to make sure you didn’t get hit with anything,” Bo said, helping Thomas walk toward the docks again.
“Okay,” Thomas said. He glanced over his shoulder to see flashes of light moving out into the distance, away from town.
***
Moments earlier a few blocks away Anders skidded to a stop, Rune continued to run right past him. When Rune noticed that Anders had stopped running, he asked, “What is it?”
“Did you hear that?” Anders responded.
Rune shook his head.
Anders sent his mind’s eye out toward the distant sound of breaking glass that he thought he’d heard. It came from the direction of the home where Thomas, Kirsten and Bo were staying. His heart skipped a beat when he sensed something he’d never felt with his magic before. His gut reaction felt that it, whatever it proved to be, was pure evil.
“This way,” Anders said as he started off down the street to their left. As they ran, Anders reached out to Zahara in thought.
I might need you as a backup, Anders called to her.
On my way, she responded. Anders could feel her looking through his eyes to see where he was headed.
Screams rang out from the street just ahead of them. We’re getting close, he thought. Anders could sense death nearby. The screams he heard sounded like someone else would be next. Selfishly, he just hoped it wasn’t Kirsten or Thomas.
Anders and Rune rounded a street corner to see a 12-foot-tall black creature with wings standing with its back turned to, was that Bo? he wondered. Anders saw Bo rush at the creature’s back. Summoning his own magic, Anders was surprised to see a pink light emitting from Bo’s chest. It grew lighter as he ran at the creature. Suddenly the creature screeched so loudly that Anders’ concentration on his spell wobbled. Finding the winged monster again in the dark, he unleashed a sphere of energy from his palm.
The thing saw the energy coming and spread its massive black hands out to intercept the magic thrown by Anders. The light fractured, sending splinters in all directions. Though his magic had been blocked, Anders could sense that the evil creature was in pain.
As the black figure spread its wings to take flight, Anders doubled his efforts to chase after the creature. He rounded the corner just past where he’d seen Bo and called to Zahara, I need you, this thing can fly.
Zahara showed him a mental glimpse of where she was. She was still at least a minute away, which offered the winged creature enough time to get away. Cursing, Anders sent a pulse of energy into his legs and jumped. The magic propelled him into the air and onto the roof of a home along the street. Without missing a stride, he sprinted across the clay tiles and leapt to the next building. Locking his sights on the midnight-black creature, Anders fired a well-placed bolt of energy. He saw it swerve as it tried to dodge his shot, but he had some success as the bolt passed through its left wing. The creature shrieked again, faltering and dropping down to the ground.
Anders continued to sprint, sending pulses of energy into his legs as he ran along the rooftops. He wanted to keep to higher ground; it would be easier for him to connect with Zahara when she caught up. Though the black-winged beast was wounded and unable to take flight, each stride it took was far longer than any Anders or Rune could manage.
Come on, he thought, checking whether Zahara was closing in on them. Anders wouldn’t let this beast get away as Merglan had. He wasn’t going to fail this time.
Zahara nudged him with her mind and Anders felt her urge him to jump off the building he was running across. Trusting her advice, he did. Just as the ground under him disappeared, Zahara’s head and neck swooped up beneath him. Anders landed on her neck, quickly shuffling himself down toward her back and into his saddle.
There, he trained their linked minds onto a dark shadow running away from the town toward the forest. Zahara sped toward it. As they drew closer, Anders launched a sphere of energy down at it. Again, the creature deflected his magic. How is it doing that? he wondered.
Each time Anders tried to stop it with magic, the creature managed to shield itself. Finally, Zahara sourced her dragon fire and sent a stream down onto it, incinerating the forest canopy and striking the black-winged creature directly in the back. Anders watched the jet of flame push it onto its face and pin it to the ground while they hovered overhead for several seconds.
To Anders’ surprise, the black creature pressed up off the ashen ground and started sprinting off into the forest again. How is that possible? he again asked Zahara.
She replied with silence, choosing to continue their pursuit.
Catching up again, they followed the thing until it emerged into a clearing. With coordinated execution, Zahara turned onto her side as she dropped out in front of the creature. Anders jumped off, landing on the thing’s winged back. Zahara slammed into the ground, her claws digging into the dirt to stop her momentum and block the creature’s path. With Lazuran drawn, Anders cut into the creature’s back. It howled in pain.
Anders rolled off and tumbled onto Zahara’s front feet. When he stood up, the creature tried to crawl away, but this time its wound was too severe. Anders had delivered a fatal blow. It would surely be dead soon.
We have to get answers from it, he told Zahara and ran to its side. Using a pulse of energy, he kicked the creature over onto its winged back. The black figure’s red eyes flared with hatred and it gnashed out with spiked teeth. Anders stepped back, avoiding the attempted attack.
“Where are the others?” Anders shouted at it.
