Spilling out onto the grass, he helped Memphis up, and they were consumed.
The cool night breeze brushed against their skin, and Brokk took in the forest surrounding them. During the day, the forest was ordinary, bustling with life. But in these moments with dappling moonlight painting definition and obscure shadow, he believed that anything was possible. That maybe Stratton had found something about their world that had been long forgotten, hidden in darkness.
By the art of deduction, Brokk knew Stratton had placed the book there. On Gortach’s chapter, the old paper was blood stained and weathered, old notes scribbled in the side from years ago, initialed A.S.
Looking to the east, Brokk inhaled deeply, raising his eyebrow at Memphis. “Ready?”
“Lead the way.”
They started walking, heading for the heart of the woods. Whatever lay ahead, they had until dawn to find their answers.
***
The hours slipped by into the still night, and the moon climbed higher into the sky, illuminating their way. Sweat trickled down Brokk’s temple, and he whispered, “Okay, so according to this, to access the seer’s gateway, we present it with the blood of the questioner.”
Memphis paled, looking to him.
Steeling himself, Brokk flipped open a small knife from his jacket pocket. “Right,” he mumbled more to himself than Memphis.
Sucking in a breath, he stared at the blade’s edge. The sharpness of the weapon winked back at him, almost mockingly.
One. Two. Three...
It bit in hard, splitting his flesh. Blood welled and pooled as he hissed through his teeth as it dripped to the ground. The ground shuddered beneath them, and his blood absorbed into the earth.
Jumping back in surprise, they watched the trees bow before them, forming an intricate gateway, a blood red ruby adorned on top.
“It actually worked!” Memphis’s voice sounded distant and in shock.
The archway ground to a stop, and Brokk blinked hard, making sure he was seeing things correctly. Where a doorway should have been, the space remained empty, and singed edges revealed a cavernous room. The floor was jet black, and an odd ember floated a few yards in front of them, flaring with fiery hues before winking out.
“It seems Adair didn’t disappoint me.” The voice was deep and ancient, a dead calm making each word ripple with malice. Squinting into the darkness, Brokk saw nothing until two luminous silver eyes appeared, glaring back at them.
In his panic, everything seemingly slowed. Memphis lunged to his right, scrambling for his sword. The ground shook with the sheer force of the predator’s weight as it charged them. Ice gripped Brokk’s senses, and he was frozen, watching this creature emerge from the shadows.
“BROKK!”
Cursing, he dropped his pack, shifting in one motion. Only to see exactly what Gortach was. In this form, his heightened senses picked up what his human ones couldn’t. Everything was sharper to him in the night, maybe that’s part of the reason he preferred it to the daytime.
He took in Gortach’s sickly body, its strong and multiple limbs propelling it forward. Brokk noticed its rotting skin flying off in chunks as it ran. Snapping its razor-sharp teeth, Brokk recoiled from the smell that collided into him—the stench of death.
Howling, Brokk charged toward Memphis, and his friend ran, swinging himself onto his back as they took off into the night, maneuvering through the trees faster than Brokk thought possible. A roar sounded behind them, followed by the thunderous crack of splitting trees as the ancient creature tore after them.
“What did we do?!” Memphis yelled. Brokk could taste both of their fear as the same question coursed through him. Leaping over a fallen tree, the earth quaked, throwing his weight forward. Growling, he didn’t stop, fear flickering so many thoughts all at once but one seared through him.
Adair.
Snapping his teeth, he swiveled hard to the left, and Gortach suddenly appeared by their side. It lunged, missing them only by a hair width.
“It stopped!” Memphis shouted and twisted, looking behind him.
Flattening his ears flush against his skull, Brokk heard a ripple vibrate through the air. And the forest went completely and utterly still.
One howl sliced through the night. Then another. And another.
His paws pounded against the forest floor, his nails digging into the earth and ripping away from it. A cold whipping wind suddenly battered against them, thick snowflakes sweeping through the trees.
Ducking, he couldn’t stop.
They had sought the truth and had unlocked another war just waiting for them. Snowflakes, dense and unyielding, continued to drop from the sky in masses, like diamonds.
“Snow? It’s the end of summer.” Memphis blinked against the magnitude of melting flakes hitting his skin. His hackles stood on end as Brokk heard the sound of footfalls from behind them. In his wolf form, he could feel the shudder of the earth, as whatever came for them drew closer.
Tree trunks started to crystalize and freeze around them as the temperature started to drop. The once earthy bark became smooth and encased, the glimmering surface blending in with the storm that transformed the night in a harsh winter landscape before their eyes. Everything around them became white. Brokk sniffed as deeply as he could, trying to pick up their scents to make sure they weren’t heading in a circle, going in the wrong direction.
He was met with nothing but the frozen tang of winter.
Slamming to a stop, he threw Memphis off, shifting back in a single motion.
“I’ve lost our scents. Also, that monster has unleashed an army behind us.”
Shit.
Memphis was immediately at his side. “We have to keep going, Brokk. Come. On.”
He took a step back, readying to shift again, but a solid sheet of ice formed in front of them, thick and impermeable. Brokk slammed to a stop, and the boys watched as the wall of ice flowed all around them,
