Bloodwalk - James P. Davis [58]
She wondered where Quin had gone and wished he'd bring his dark-seeing eyes back with him.
* * * * *
Quinsareth was deep in the maze of black-stoned walls and old tombs. He stopped in a small, overgrown courtyard, staring at the only complete building in a mess of what must have been a terrible, unholy site at one time. Multi-winged gargoyles perched at the corners of the squat building, looking down on him with blind eyes. A bent steeple stood atop the structure, bearing a symbol-a circle of wings on feathers, the sign of some unknown or lesser god of ages past. The yawning temple entrance was anything but inviting, but Quin knew his options were limited, especially within the place's aura of festering evil. It repelled his senses, as if focusing its ire on the aasimar standing at its doorstep.
He tensed, sensing movement on either side. Looking down, he casually scanned the peripherals of his vision. Against the walls closest to him on either side were the skulking forms of two great dogs, barely outlines in the shadows but as visible to him as the walls themselves.
Their bodies were short and wide, powerfully built and crouched to attack. He slid his hand to Bedlam beneath the shoulder of his cloak. A tiny stitch of pain lanced across his left side where the bruised ribs were still not completely healed, and he cursed his previous exhaustion. Unable to maintain the shadowalk, he'd made camp and had uncharacteristically hoped for the best.
I should have known better, he thought.
As if sensing the mental cue, the hounds lunged, growling hideously as they abandoned the obscuring shadows.
Quinsareth moved to his right and drew Bedlam's scream into the morning air, slashing as he faced the charge of the lead dog. The beast yelped as the blade sliced its thick jowls, but fell silent as its head was sheared off above the jaw. Spinning, he brought the blade back around to meet the attack of the remaining hound.
The shadowy beast sidestepped the shrieking blade and snapped at Quin's extended leg, just missing his ankle. Quin judged the hound's eagerness to gain a hold with its massive jaws and watched for the second bite at his leg as he drew it back, meanwhile raising Bedlam over his shoulder.
When the growling beast snapped again, Bedlam howled through its bared back, severing its spine neatly. He finished off the mortally wounded creature before its low cries attracted others.
Considering their affinity for the shadows, Quinsareth imagined they were already quite near and just as invisible. Gently favoring his left side and the aching ribs, he made his way back to find Elisandrya, making sure to remember his path from the temple as he ran.
* * * * *
Eli abandoned the thought of drawing her sword in such tight quarters and wielded her bow. She trusted its supple wood and her ability more than the curved blade, which she considered more useful for hacking paths in the forest. Each time a shadow seemed to move, she aimed and waited, listening and watching for more of the hidden beasts, but no more came.
"Elisandrya."
Quin whispered the word from the edge of the wall, and Eli reacted swiftly, pointing her bow at his silhouette. Recognizing him, she relaxed the weapon and breathed deeply, relieved to know she was not alone. His eyes were visible in the dark, she noticed, not glowing, but bright in some indescribable way.
"We must move. I've found a building."
Eli nodded and followed him closely, trusting his sight but prepared to fire on any errant shadow foolish enough to come alive. As they made slow, stealthy progress, she saw that Quin favored his left side, as if injured. When he paused at a corner to survey the next length of ground, she questioned him.
"Are you hurt?"
"An old injury, nothing more. I'll survive."
"We are likely surrounded, you know. I killed a shadow mastiff back there."
"I found two of them myself."
Quietly he crossed an open space to reach the next wall.
She could see the outline of the temple now and scanned the courtyard