Part 8 (1/2)

With another terrible screech, the roc s.h.i.+fted its flight. It dove straight toward us.

10.

OUTSIDE.

”RUN!” SAM DRAGGED me toward the forest. We crashed through the underbrush as the roc keened and spread its wings wide.

Branches cracked. Ice clinked and clattered from above. Talons thumped on the ground behind us. Stef screamed, and I spun to look for hera”catching a glimpse of broad brown wings and dark raptor eyesa”but Sam jerked me back.

”Come on.” His voice was rough, the order leaving no room for argument.

I stumbled after him, struggling to avoid getting caught in the brush. Rocks and branches and ice snagged at me, but I pushed on with renewed energy when the roc cried and thrashed through the woods. Tree trunks groaned, and huge talons reached after us.

On the ground, chasing prey through the woods, the roc had terrible coordination. Its talons knocked a small tree aside, and they left gouges in the earth as the roc withdrew. Sam and I pushed onward, climbing a small hill, darting around trees. Patches of snow made me slide, but I hauled myself up every time. The forest was quiet, aside from our pa.s.sage. No birds or small animals made a sound as the roc struggled to reach us.

But its size hindered it now. It couldn't move through the forest, though surely it could hear our escape. Maybe even our gasping and my whimper as twigs sc.r.a.ped my face and hands.

Finally, Sam allowed us to stop. I bent over to catch my breath. My cheek stung, and a trail of blood leaked into the corner of my mouth, cold and coppery. I wiped it away and scanned the area for our friends. ”Where are Stef and Whit?”

”They went to the other side of the path.” Panting, Sam collapsed onto a large rock. He leaned over, head between his knees. His shoulders heaved. ”The roc will follow us.”

I collapsed next to him, hyperaware of the thras.h.i.+ng toward the path. The roc cawed and squeaked, and trees groaned under its wrath. More branches snapped, but it didn't seem like the roc was making progress. I saw only a shadow of movement in the snow-reflected moonlight, but it still seemed much too close for comfort.

”How long will it follow us?” Adrenaline made my head buzz, and I couldn't stop checking on the roc.

”Until it finds better prey.” Sam searched his pockets until he found his SED. No alerts of messages from friends. ”Will you find out if Stef and Whit are okay?”

I nodded and sent a message from my own SED. ”How's your hand?”

”Better.” He flexed it a little, wincing.

”As long as it's better.” I stuffed my SED in my pocket. ”What next? Do we keep walking? Try to sleep? They have the tent.”

And the roc was right there. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I could hear it, though exhaustion nipped at the back of my thoughts.

”Keep walking. We'll head away from the roc; that way it doesn't draw anything else's attention. As long as we stay in the woods, it won't be able to reach us. Then we'll meet up with the others when the way is clear.”

My SED chirped, and reading the message, I let out a soft chuckle. ”Stef just sent those exact thoughts. They're not hurt.”

”I'm glad.”

I readjusted my belongings and made sure there were no holes or scratches in my clothes. ”I'm ready.” The sooner we left the roc behind, the better. Everyone had said leaving Range was dangerous, but I hadn't realized danger appeared as soon as one left. Menehem's lab was just beyond the edges of Range, close enough that there were still traps and the occasional drone patrol, so wiser creatures would stay away.

But already we'd walked down a troll path and been attacked by a roc. No wonder everyone stayed in Heart.

No wonder they'd all been so afraid of death when Janan offered them reincarnation.

We began walking, this time mindful of the brush and snow and ice. We were far enough away from the roc now that we didn't need to rush, and it would be foolish to risk getting injured out here. Rin's medical training hadn't been that thorough, and we'd only brought a few supplies.

Sounds of the roc's thras.h.i.+ng faded behind us, and mice and shrews began moving about the forest again. Probably heading back to their dens. Light touched the horizon, a dull red glow that was barely visible through the trees.

”They have the tent,” I said again, when Sam yawned.

He kept his voice level as we hiked up a small hill. ”We'll simply have to huddle in the same sleeping bag. For warmth. And so I don't accidentally lose you to the wilderness.”

”You come up with the best plans.”

He smiled, and we kept walking. The roc was either far behind us now, or had given up trying to force its way through the woods. The trees were still thick, so it wouldn't descend on us again, but I kept a wary eye on the sky as light bled between the trees and birds began singing to the dawn.

We walked parallel to the path, east and into the wilds outside Range. Small animals scurried through the forest, hiding as we pa.s.sed, and everywhere there was evidence of larger mammals: tufts of fur on branches, fallen twigs, and piles of dung, which we managed to avoid, thanks to Sam's caution.

Ice shone on every surface, h.o.a.rfrost and glittering icicles, the forest's jewelry. I brushed my mittened fingers across ice crystals, listening to a few clink as they broke off. Winter, and talking about music with Sam, distracted me from my exhaustion for a while, but by midmorning, I couldn't ignore it anymore. We sent a message to Stef and told her we were taking a break. Hopefully we'd meet up again soon.

Sam and I settled near a fast-moving stream. I rinsed blood and dirt off my face and arms, then scrubbed my skin dry before crawling into Sam's sleeping bag with him.

The bag was warm relief after the frigid night and day. Sam had positioned the bag inside a shallow hollow among tree rootsa”an abandoned animal den, perhapsa”so we were concealed on three sides. And Sam, being Sam, made sure he was between the exit and me, which meant that when he curled his body around mine, our burrow was deep and dark. His breathing was warmth on the back of my neck, and his hand rested on my hip.

”Are you comfortable?” he whispered.

”Yeah.” My feet were squished against our backpacks, and we were using the other sleeping bag as an awkward pillow. And though the cloth was thick and soft, a root dug at my shoulder. I s.h.i.+fted toward Sam, and his breath hitched. ”Very. Aren't you?”

His hand trailed up my side. ”I wish we were at home.”

”Me too.” My hand slipped to my SED. ”And I wish we had music, but I want to be able to hear in case anything happens.” Who knew what else might appear on us, now that we were beyond the safety of Range?

”You can listen if you want.” Sam kissed the back of my neck, making me s.h.i.+ver. It was amazing how he could make me want this huge and unnameable thing no matter where we were, and no matter the circ.u.mstances. ”Listen if you want,” he said again. ”I'll let you know if anything happens outside. Just relax.”

Relaxing seemed unlikely, but when I pulled out my SED and earpieces and closed my eyes, there was only music.

Warm sounds of the piano pulsed through me. Heavy. Familiar. And with Sam's presence behind me, soothing me, I drifted into dreamless sleep.

I jerked awake, darkness all around as the earth trembled.

Sam wasn't behind me. I flailed inside the sleeping bag, discovering that one of the backpacks was gone and night had fallen.

”Sam!” I scrambled outside as the earth shuddered again and dirt rained into the hollow. My SED continued playing an old sonata, even as I ripped the earpieces away from me and shoved the whole thing into my pocket.

The forest was dark, quiet except for the thumping in the ground. It wasn't like an earthquakea”not this timea”so it must have been something large moving nearby.

And I'd shouted.

I hunched, making myself smaller as I squinted in the darkness. Faint moonlight found its way through the forest canopy, but everything was still in shadows, and I couldn't detect any movement.

The ground shuddered under my knees, under my palms when I touched the dirt. The movement was long and sustained, not like a troll plodding down the path. This was something else, maybe vehicles rumbling nearby. Our friends should have been far away, so if the shudder in the earth was vehicles, was it drones or people?

Either way, they wouldn't be friendly.