Shale took a step back. Unreality radiated through her. Her mouth fell open, but no intelligible words were forthcoming. Things like this weren't supposed to happen in real life. Things like this belonged in stories.

Well, you're in the story now, a voice in her head told her, so do something, idiot. Don't just stand there, gaping.

All possible questions and implications fell to the wayside, and survival instinct took over. She pulled her feet from the mud and veered around, then ran back toward town.

She'd barely made it ten strides before two more hedges collapsed onto the road. These ones snapped and reshaped themselves, taking their forms quicker than a junior putting on her SanMother robe.

Then they rose up, standing tall, as two more skeletal giants blocked her way.

Shale backed up several steps, until she heard the whispers of the other monster against her neck.

They had her penned in, like an unruly animal. She considered diving into the thick of the forest, but it was so dense and the hedges in there were shaking too.

Any one of them could be another one of these things. Tarshara, all of them could be these things. Her going in there was like a fat juicy goat jumping straight into the jaws of the dragon. At least, out here, she had a clear view. At least out here, she had a fighting chance.

Eleven, those whispers were so loud. They assaulted her eardrums, like crashing pots and pans.

Whirling, she faced the lone monster on the eastern side, figuring that fighting one giant was surely better than fighting two. She unslung her bow with one hand and retrieved an arrow with the other. In one fluid motion, she nocked and loosed.

The arrow flew right at the creature, but it was swallowed by the shadow between its ribs.

The monster unhinged its huge maw and made a gushing, rumbling sound. It continued its press, with the others, closing up all routes of possible escape. They moved in slowly, as if making sure they left no gaps.

Desperately, Shale nocked a second arrow and let fly. Years of practice meant she could do it speedily, without having to think much. There was a wet sound as the arrow struck the lone monster's neck, causing an explosion of mud and leaves.

It caused no wrinkle to its momentum though. It just kept coming.

A good warrior must fight with their brain as much as their heart, Shale thought, remembering the quote from The Arch of Light. She gave herself several heartbeats of time to analyse the structure of the giant.

It was similar to a human skeleton, bigger, but the same in shape, with interlocking bones dependant upon each other to keep in place. If she could hit one key joint, it would damage the integrity of the entire thing. It would kill it or at least make it too crippled to still be a threat.

The giant reached its long limb toward her.

Swift as a Wind Warrior, Shale nocked and loosed another arrow. This time, it struck the knee, in a spray of mud and splinters, causing the monster to collapse to its left, creating space to its right.

That was it. That was her chance. Pushing off her heel, she dashed forward.

The monster's leg continued to crunch then began mending into a new shape. Before Shale could jump through the gap, the monster rose up, blocking off the way once again.

Its face twisted, wrought with an unholy anger. A hundred small twigs slithered, like maggots crawling through dirt. Up close, Shale could see tendrils of smoke rising from its neck and knee, the places where she'd wounded it, like floating blood.

Tendrils of smoke... That reminded her of something she'd seen once, long ago, but she was unable to think it through right now.

Seeing that they'd boxed her in, she lowered her bow, unsure what else to do. She held up a warding hand. "Please, what do you want with me? I'll give you anything." There was a wreak of copper and sulphur clinging to the air.

A howl echoed through the forest once again. Eleven, it was so loud this time, drowning out even the hissing of the monsters. Surely the creature could not be f-

Something thrashed through the forest, leaping over the undergrowth with blurring legs. The shape burst from the flank of the hedges and tackled the two monsters on the western side. They all went rolling in a chaotic mess.

As they tumbled, the monsters snapped, broke, bled, and mended, re-orientating themselves against their new foe. It was difficult to see within the black mist that surrounded them, but it appeared to be a wolf. That made sense, due to the howling, but there was another thing that made less sense.

As mad as it seemed on this insane night when nothing else made sense, the wolf appeared to be wielding a sword.

Sharp steel flashed out, spinning and sweeping from side to side, breaking the monsters faster than they could mend.

Shale was so consumed by what was happening on that side, that she forgot about the other monster until wet leaves brushed her cheek. When she turned, it caught her and coiled its bony hand around her throat. She choked as it pushed her down and pinned her to the ground with impossible strength.

Gasping, she flailed and kicked, but it was useless. It was like being trapped under a boulder, a force of nature. When she tried to call the wolf for help, only a thin wheeze escaped her lips.

Bringing her hands up to her neck, she tried to pry the claw free, but it was just as powerful as the weight behind it. Instead, she focused on cracking the individual twigs that made up the hand, to weaken the grip. This gave her space enough to suck down a breath, frantically, in case the thing applied more pressure. But oddly the monster was no longer even looking at her. It arced its arm around her, reaching for something.

Her quiver? No... It was reaching for her satchel.

Love of Bragan, what did it want with-

A sword speared through the monster's chest. The shining steel was only inches above Shale's face, so close that she could see her terrified reflection in it.

Craning its head down, the monster regarded the sword, curiously. The weapon twisted and snapped through individual ribs until the chest caved in. After that went the neck and skull. It was like watching a collapsing building, one thing crumbling into hundreds of smaller things.

When the sword was wrenched free, the monster fell into a pile of kindling, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke which strangled the air with its rotten sulphuric stench.

Shale pressed her sleeve to her nose and glanced over her shoulder. The wolf was still entangled with the other two monsters. But if the wolf was over there, then who had...

Turning back, she waited for the smoke to clear in front of her. When it did, she was confronted by an impossibility. The sword was floating.

No, as she peered closer she saw it wasn't floating. Wavering lines outlined a watery spectre, which held the sword in its ghostly hand. From what she could tell, the spirit appeared to be smiling.

She shuffled back from it.

"Shale!" called a voice from behind.

Eleven, who was calling her name?

To the east, the two monsters were now broken and standing within the rising smoke was no wolf, but a hooded girl. Silvery lines popped and danced in the air around her like tiny bursts of lightning. Her yellow eyes cut through the dark of the night, illuminated, and her black, silver, and white hair was alive with moonlight.

"Ezil?" Shale asked.

"There are more coming," she shouted, "No time for questions. Follow me."

And she knew from the soft whispers coming from the woods, that the Orian girl was right. They were quiet, like the first gusts, belonging to a fierce approaching storm.

Whatever Ezil was, she was better than those things. So without another moment's delay, Shale sprinted to the Orian girl as fast as she could, and they both made their way back toward Silverwood.