“At least she didn’t piss her pants,” Daemon said, nodding his material-covered nose to the line of foot soldiers. “I’m betting half of them are aiding us with the stench of fear and piss right now.”
“This would be a good time to start,” Emerie chimed in, wanting to steer the conversation back to why they were here. “Wren said this one doesn’t travel alone. We may only have a small window to catch this one before its friend shows up.”
“She’s right.” Connor roamed his grey eyes over the trees behind her.
Lily’s hard, dagger-like stare softened at Emerie, likely in appreciation of the reminder and the confirmation she wasn’t planning on backing out.
“It has a tail,” Lily noted, and they all turned their attention to the Duskwalker eating a new person. “We can use that against it.”
“If one of us can get an enchanted rope around its beak, we might be able to rule its face out as a danger,” Daemon added in.
“That won’t work,” Emerie said. “It’ll be able to slide the rope off its beak, since it’s tapered. It will also still be able to peck at us.”
“We still have to shut it,” Lily argued.
“Yeah, but” – Emerie pointed to its skull – “if we can thread the rope around its beak and horns together, that will at least keep it closed. Then we just have to avoid any quick strikes from its skull, horns, and beak.”
“Obviously, we have to go for its legs too,” Lily added.
All five of them nodded.
“Okay. We’ve noted the areas we need to attack. From now on, it’s just whoever can get to that limb first.” Sahira pulled a dagger from her hip and uncoiled her whip. “Let’s get this over with. Give the signal.”
Connor lowered his mask just long enough to place his thumb and middle finger to his mouth. He let out a whistle.
For a few breaths, nothing happened as they watched and waited. They aren’t attacking, she thought with her lips flattening in worry.
After too long, Elders shoved foot soldiers forward, forcing them to attack. They skewered the cowards who wouldn’t with their swords. Some continued to refuse, and the Elders killed just enough people to frighten the mass of soldiers into charging.
The moment the first brave soldier came upon the creature, Emerie and her team were moving. She didn’t have time to think, only react – and she was thankful for the quiet of her thoughts amongst the chaos.
She sidestepped around soldiers and spears, occasionally ducking when a person was thrown through the air by either a strong arm or the long, thick lizard tail. She noted the vertebrae going down the flexible limb were white and protruding from its flesh.
The closer she got, the more she was able to take in its features.
Wren was right; it had a raven skull for a head, with a long, almost straight bone-coloured beak. Two short, upward-jutting goat horns were small and a dark, sandy brown. Now that she was close enough, she took note that it would be difficult to get a rope around its horns and beak, since all were tapered. And it no doubt wouldn’t hold for long.
There was a small amount of short fur situated around its shoulders and back of its neck, as well as its groin and upper thighs, but it appeared to be… slowly disappearing the more it ate. The rest of it was covered in smooth black lizard scales that matched the dangerous and obviously strong length of its tail. There were small spikes going down its spine, forearms, calves, and tail.
Most of its scales had a blue, oil-slick glint to them.
Almost its entire body had been covered in protruding bones, but as the fight progressed, she swore she saw some of them sinking beneath its dark-grey flesh. She put that up as a trick of the eye and lack of light. There was no possible way it was… changing, right?
The foot soldiers were a perfect cover for her to dart closer, closing in on her target. There were no trees here to shield her. As much as she was against the idea of using a person to escape the sight of the Duskwalker, that’s why they were there.
That’s why Wren had sent these people to their death. They were to aid the five whip bearers, her team, into capturing this mindless, rabid beast.
However, they were also a detriment, as many were obviously afraid and had no idea what they were supposed to do.
One of her teammates used his whip to hold the Duskwalker’s tail still as he threaded the end of a rope around the thick centre of it, lodging it between a set of spikes and its vertebrae. His scream cut through the racket of the battle as he was flicked to the side by said limb and flew through the air with flailing arms.
She winced when he landed belly-first on a jutting spear. The woman holding it shrieked. She fell back with him dying on top of her and weighing her down, and her continuous scream caused the Duskwalker to silence her with a quick death.
Emerie didn’t let her focus slip.
A few of the soldiers grabbed the rope around the tail to keep it in place.
Just as it raised its claws with a snarl, Emerie flung the end of her whip forward, expertly fastening the length around its wrist. A tooth-gritting groan exploded from her as she tried everything in her might not to be dragged across the ground.
It turned its crimson-coloured orbs on her.
Horrified terror struck through her.
It yanked forward, almost throwing her off her feet, but she flicked her whip to let it go. It bolted for her. Her heart threatened to explode in fright when it leapt, but another person shoved her to the side just in time.
A soldier was above her, weighing her down.
While her chest huffed wildly, their eyes remained on the Duskwalker. It had lost interest in her when someone else shoved a spear through its midsection.
The soldier above her turned their gaze down, and she almost sighed in relief. The yells, snarls, and clangs of weapons accidentally hitting each other were drowned out as she looked up into rich-brown eyes staring back at her.
She would know them anywhere. It helped he had a scar slitting his right eyebrow.
“You okay, Em?”
She nodded, thankful Bryce had come to her rescue. He got off and offered his hand out to help her to her feet.
The rain was pelting them in full force now, turning the blood-soaked ground even more slippery. Her clothing clung to her, making it difficult to twist and turn how she needed.
“How’d you know it was me?”
He shook his head, his bulging eyes frantic as they darted around the chaotic battlefield. “I didn’t. I could just tell what your team is trying to do.” His spear was lost somewhere, so he picked up a stray one. “I’m guessing your orders are to capture it?”
“Yeah. I need to get a rope around its face.”
He nodded. “Follow me then. Let’s get you in the air.”
Together, they moved through the storm of people to get closer to the Duskwalker. Just as they came upon it, the monster closed its beak around the head of a soldier. They screamed inside its mouth before it closed shut and then twisted and pulled to remove their head.
“Now, Em!” Bryce yelled, holding both ends of his spear while crouching right next to its side.
She only had a few short metres to get a run up. Then she jumped onto the length of his spear and jumped again as he pulled upwards.
Emerie flipped in the air and landed on the Duskwalker’s back. She ignored the shooting pain that assaulted the bottoms of her feet, her boot soles thin, as she broke multiple arrow shafts.