Shield of Sparrows

The clicks came in rapid succession, so fast they blended with one another as they ricocheted off buildings, doubling and tripling with every echo.

It was ten times louder than it had been that night on the plains. Ten times more terrifying.

“Get inside the inn,” Cathlin shouted over the noise. “It’s the safest building in Ashmore.”

I didn’t need her to tell me twice. As she tore off running, I was right behind her, letting panic push me faster than I’d ever run in my damn life.

A scream tore through the air. A woman’s.

Then came another, this one a man’s. It was cut short so abruptly, I nearly tripped over my own feet.

Roars mixed with snarls and more screams.

“Gods.” I signed the Eight, praying the lost souls found a shade of light.

Cathlin ran faster, harder, and I stayed right on her heels.

We were close. Almost there. Five buildings away. Four. The door was shut, the windows dark, but I prayed the clerk would let us inside.

There were only three buildings left to pass when a woman ran into the street. It was the woman with short, spiky gray hair who’d sold me breakfast this morning.

She tripped as she ran, stumbling forward. When she stood, she hurried toward the inn as quickly as she could, but she gripped her leg and moved with a limp I hadn’t noticed this morning.

Terror contorted her features as she glanced back.

Just as a bariwolf emerged onto the street.

I nearly crashed into Cathlin’s body as we both came skidding to a stop, our boots kicking up dirt on the road.

She gripped my arm as I clung to hers.

My body began to tremble, fear stealing the air in my chest.

Like the other monsters in Calandra, bariwolves were depicted in drawings and paintings. But in person, it wasn’t just frightening. That beast was a monster made for death.

Its face resembled that of a wolf. Its snout was sleek, its ears pointed and alert. Its fur was so black, so glossy, it shone blue when it caught the sunlight. But where the front half of the monster was hauntingly beautiful, its back half sent a shiver down my spine.

It was as large as the spotted pony Father gave Arthalayus for his third birthday. Smaller than a full-size horse but not by much. Its fur stopped halfway down the bariwolf’s backbone, revealing scales that tapered to needlelike points. The white claws on all four feet were massive, each bigger than my whole hand. One swipe of its paw, and it could shred a person to ribbons.

The bariwolf growled, its lips curling to reveal a row of long, vicious teeth.

Teeth ready to kill.

It tipped its head to the sky, its throat working as it sent out a series of clicks. Then it swung its attention to the woman still hobbling toward the inn.

“She won’t make it,” I said.

“She’s on her own. Go.” Cathlin unfroze, nudging me toward the closest building. The tavern. Its front door was shut, the windows dark like all the other buildings.

We could escape inside. The bariwolf was too focused on easy prey.

Cathlin tore for the building, likely assuming I was at her side. But I couldn’t just leave that other woman to die. I waited as Cathlin ran ahead. I waited until she was close to the tavern. To safety. Then I swallowed hard and lifted my fingers to my lips to blow a single, piercing whistle. The whistle I’d practiced and practiced from the safety of my treehouse walls.

It had never been so crisp and clear.

The bariwolf’s attention snapped to me, and the growl that vibrated from its maw was so loud I whimpered.

The gray-haired woman had almost made it to the inn. The moment she was within reaching distance of the door, it flew open and the innkeeper yanked her inside.

Cathlin whirled, eyes panicked. “Run, Odessa!”

I was frozen, snared by the bariwolf as it snarled and crept closer, its feet sending up small puffs of dust with every step. A few pounces with those long, powerful legs, and we’d be dead. But it prowled forward as if it was waiting.

Hunting.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I turned to look over my shoulder.

Behind me, close enough that I could see the blood coating its tongue and teeth, was another bariwolf, inching my way with perfect stealth.

It only had one eye. And it seemed to smile when I met its cold, endless gaze.

This monster had decided I was to be its next meal.

Well, it would have to catch me first.

Moving faster than I’d ever moved in my life, I bolted for the tavern.

Both monsters roared and lunged. The one-eyed beast was so close I felt the heat from its rancid breath as it came at us, jaws open wide. But before it could catch me in its teeth, something plowed into its side.

The Guardian.

It happened so quickly, all I saw was a blur of black as the monster rolled and tumbled.

The other bariwolf changed course, leaping for the Guardian instead. I opened my mouth to scream, to warn him, but then I saw the flash of metal, the glint of a sword as it sliced through the air, cutting the bariwolf’s snout off at the bridge.

Half the monster’s face, gone. Its muzzle landed with a sickening plop before the monster staggered away, blinking twice before it collapsed.

“Run, Cross,” he bellowed. “Go.”

“Odessa.” Cathlin ran to my side, pulling my arm so hard it jolted in the socket.

The one-eyed monster had backed away, out of reach of the Guardian’s sword. It tipped its head to the sky as more clicks came from its throat.

Oh, gods. Was it calling for help?

They faced each other, prowling in a semicircle, searching for a weak spot to strike.

The Guardian moved like the wind, launching himself toward the monster. His sword flashed and sliced at the bariwolf’s throat.

But the monster was fast, moving before the weapon could slice through its neck. It answered the Guardian’s strike with a snap of its teeth that he twisted to avoid, but only just.

Cathlin and I stumbled up the tavern’s porch stairs, clinging to each other, as we watched the battle on the street unfold. She pounded on the door, testing the locked handle. “Open the door.”

While she kept pounding, yelling for help, I watched the Guardian, unblinking, as he danced with that monster.

He countered every lunge with a swipe of his sword. He spun and whirled, his blade skimming off those scales and spikes. But no matter how fast he moved, he couldn’t seem to find a weakness, a moment to strike.

The monster swiped at him with those claws, cutting a gash in the Guardian’s arm.

“No!” I gasped, taking a step away.

And that’s when I saw the others.

Dark shadows emerged from behind buildings. Seven bariwolves prowled into the street.

Monsters answering a call.

“Shit.” Cathlin pulled me against her side, dragging us both against the tavern’s wall as the pack stepped into view.

A bariwolf emerged from beside the corner of the tavern.

All it had to do was turn, and it would see us pressed against the locked door.

It was five feet away, the fur on the back of its neck raised. It was either the largest in the pack or it was just the closest, because the godsdamn creature was enormous.

My breath lodged in my throat. I refused to blink. I stared at it while its focus was solely locked on the Guardian, still fighting. Only now he had more monsters to slay.

How? He couldn’t fight nine monsters alone.

The door at our back swung open, swallowing Cathlin and me whole as we both fell backward, her keeping her balance as I landed hard on my ass.

The curvy blonde I’d seen yesterday dragged me away enough to slam the door, then barricade it with a board.

I crawled on my hands and knees to the nearest window, pressing my face to the glass in time to see the bariwolf that had been standing beside us leap onto the tavern’s porch. My elbows knocked hard as I threw myself on the floor.

The woman slid down the door, tears coating her cheeks as she curled herself into a ball.

Cathlin crouched beside her, meeting my gaze as she pressed one finger to her lips.

On the street, the monsters roared. There were more screams from beyond the tavern’s walls. And the thud of enormous feet vibrated from the bariwolf just outside.

Was it waiting us out? Were these monsters smart enough to know we couldn’t hide in here forever? How long until it broke through the window’s glass?

We were all hiding.

And one man was out there fighting.

He was going to die, wasn’t he? He couldn’t fight that many monsters, not alone.

My heart lurched. He was too stubborn, too much of a monster himself, to die. He hadn’t pestered me enough to die. Not today.

I shifted my satchel, opening the flap. Then I took out my knives, clutching them in my shaking hands.

I couldn’t hide. Not while he was out there.noveldrama

A snap of fingers drew my attention to Cathlin. The blonde was curled at her side, head in her lap. She shook her head, gaze flickering to my knives. Then she pointed to the far wall.

To the crossbow mounted above a shelf of bottles.

I set my knives and satchel aside and began crawling, creeping past table legs until I was behind the bar. Then I stood and lifted the weapon off the wall. The bolts were loose beside a jar of pickled eggs.

With them in my fist, I risked a look at the glass.

The bariwolf stared back.

Its hot breath fogged a circle on the window.

There was murder and hunger in its soulless eyes as I loaded a bolt, gritting my teeth as I locked it into the taut string. Then I lifted the weapon, which was heavier than the one I’d been practicing with in Treow. But I summoned all my strength and aimed for the monster’s face.

How many times had my weapons master in Roslo bemoaned my poor aim? I was going to miss. Without a doubt, I was going to miss.

But what if I didn’t? What if all that shooting at trees meant I wasn’t going to be bariwolf food?

I adjusted my grip, drawing in a breath as the monster backed away from the glass. Any moment now, it would come forward. Any second, it would dive inside.

Except it never came. I waited and waited and waited, until my arms began to tremble from the weight of the crossbow.

Cathlin shifted, standing tall. She gave me a wary look as she shuffled toward the window, standing at its edge to peer outside.

And that’s when the crash sounded.

Not from the window beside Cathlin. From the one on the other side, closest to the blonde.

The giant bariwolf flew inside, shards of glass spraying across the tavern.

The blonde’s scream was drowned out by the bariwolf’s roar as it pivoted, sinking its teeth into her back, picking her up with its jaws and flinging her body across the room.

I pulled the trigger and sent the bolt flying, the force of the recoil sending me crashing backward into the bottles of liquor. They broke around me as the bariwolf snarled.

The bolt jutted from the monster’s chest. Wounded but certainly not dead.

Shit.

“Run!” Cathlin screamed, racing for the hallway that extended past the bar.

I flew through the narrow space, following her down the length of the building.

The bariwolf thrashed as it knocked into tables and walls and chairs. As it slipped on the shards of broken glass before it could leap into the hall.

Cathlin shouldered a door at the back of the building, sending us outside and into the blinding sunlight.

“Upstairs.” She shoved me to a staircase that led up the building’s backside.

As we climbed, I loaded another bolt into the crossbow, heart racing.

There was a vibration in the building, like the bariwolf was ramming its head against the door that had been flung closed.

We reached the landing and Cathlin yanked open the door, then slammed it behind us and slid the locking bar into place.

An apartment. Probably the blond woman’s home.

There was a moment of stillness, my pulse a thunder in my ears as I stared at the door. Waiting for the horror to follow. Beyond the apartment, roars and screams came from every direction. Muffled. Petrifying.

“The woman. Downstairs.” My voice cracked. “Is she dead?” She was probably dead.

Cathlin swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”

We’d left her. We’d left her down there with that monster.

We’d left the Guardian alone on the street.

I spun and raced through the apartment, heart drumming as I darted through a simple room with a vase of freshly picked wildflowers beside the bed.

Had he brought her those flowers this morning?

My insides twisted, my stomach churning so hard my breakfast threatened to come up as I went to her bedroom’s window and peered onto the street.

There were five black monsters lying on the ground. Dead.

And the Guardian was battling three.

Blood ran down his face and arm. He fought with his sword in one hand while the other stayed clutched to his side, pressed to a wound that gushed around his fingers.

How much longer could he fight? How much more could he withstand?

Despite what he wanted everyone in Turah to believe, he wasn’t immortal. His movements were slower, sluggish. And the bariwolves attacked in unison, moving more like one monster than three.

He was going to die.

While I stood and watched.

I set the crossbow on the bed and forced the window open. Then, with the weapon in one arm, I climbed out to the narrow balcony that ran the face of the tavern. It groaned and creaked beneath my weight as I shuffled toward the wobbling rail.

“No.” Cathlin reached for my arm, but I was too far gone.

“I can do this.”

I can do this.

Her eyes flooded with worry as she looked past me to the Guardian.

And as she watched him continue to fight alone, I saw her do the same calculation I’d done a moment ago.

He was losing this fight.

I took another step, and the balcony shifted, dropping an inch as it groaned beneath my weight. “Shit.”

“Odessa,” Cathlin gasped, her eyes wide as I froze.

I held my breath, staring at the boards beneath my feet. Just a few more moments. It only had to hold for a few more moments.

Mack, guide this bolt.

It was the first time I’d prayed to the God of War.

“Careful,” she hissed, the vibration from the bariwolf inside still shaking the walls.

I positioned the crossbow, taking a fortifying breath as I aimed for the fray.

Don’t miss, don’t miss, don’t miss.

I squeezed the trigger, hearing a yelp as it struck a monster, causing its hind leg to buckle.

The Guardian took advantage, his sword slicing through the bariwolf’s neck until its head dropped to the dirt with a thud. Then his eyes found mine, just long enough for him to send up a warning glare.

I was supposed to be hiding.

I loaded another bolt instead.

The bariwolves were relentless, their jaws snapping at him in rapid succession. But he managed to dodge their teeth, deflecting them with that sword as he gripped the hilt with both hands.

Blood poured from his side.

I aimed the crossbow, taking another steadying inhale. Then I pulled the trigger, missing entirely as it flew into the dirt. “Damn it.”

The Guardian let out a roar of his own as he jumped, his back rolling over a bariwolf’s as he came down on its opposite side, putting both wolves on his right. Forcing them to reposition if they wanted him to be surrounded.

The one-eyed monster let out a snarl that filled the street. It took a step back, letting the other bariwolf face off with the Guardian while it stayed out of reach.

I loaded another bolt and took aim at that one-eyed terror. It was in my sights, its heart my target. I exhaled. I blinked.

And it was gone.

It fucking ran away.

I shifted my aim for the last remaining monster, but before I could shoot, the Guardian pivoted, stepping into my line of fire. Blocking my shot.

The bariwolf bared its teeth, sinking onto its haunches like it was about to leap.

The Guardian didn’t give it a chance to attack. With that unnatural speed and grace, he dropped to a knee and rolled, bringing his sword across the monster’s knees, cutting off its front legs. Then he plunged the sword through the bariwolf’s chest.

Through its vicious heart.

“By the mother.” I sagged, letting the crossbow drop. My knees began to shake, my arms trembling. Tears filled my eyes as I stared at the carnage below.

The Guardian jerked his sword free from the monster’s body and turned, chest heaving.

I shifted my weight, ready to get off this rickety balcony, but as I took a backward step, the entire thing collapsed, disappearing from beneath my feet.

“Ah!” My scream was cut short as I managed to grab the balcony’s railing. Half of the platform stayed attached to the building while the other fell past me, dropping onto the porch below.

My feet dangled in the air, the crossbow still tight in my hand.

“Odessa!” Cathlin yelled.

I eyed the drop, my grip already beginning to falter. There’d be no water to break this fall. No, this was going to hurt. But I couldn’t hold on. Not for much longer.

So I held tight to the crossbow and counted to three.

One. Two.

Three was a quick drop and a jolt through my legs that was so hard I careened sideways, my temple smacking against the porch’s post. White spots exploded behind my eyes as I fell to my side, and wood splinters rained down from above.

“Ouch.” I pushed up on an arm, pain radiating from my head to my toes. But I climbed to my feet, not wanting to stay if the rest of the balcony decided to crumble.

“Cross!”

I blinked, clearing the haze from my vision as I looked out across the street, finding the Guardian’s silver eyes.

They were wide. Panicked.

And he was running.

Why was he running?

Then I felt the porch shift, the planks shudder beneath my boots. I whirled, knowing what I’d find.

The bariwolf that had hunted us inside, that had killed that beautiful blond woman, was barreling toward me through the tavern, toward the window it had shattered.

I lifted the crossbow, my fingers fumbling for the trigger as silver streaked past my face.

The Guardian’s sword lodged itself into the bariwolf’s skull.

The monster crashed into me, sending me flying off the porch and into the dirt as its head was split in two.

It dropped with a sickening thump in the exact spot where I’d been standing.

My face was sticky and hot. I raised a hand, touching my cheek, and my fingertips came away coated in putrid green.

Blood.

The same green blood of the marroweel that had tried to kill me in the Krisenth. The same green I’d seen from a grizzur weeks ago.

My fingers began to tremble as I stared at the blood, realizing just how close I’d been to death. Again.

He’d saved my life. Again.

He’s sworn to protect you.

The Guardian.

The slayer of legends.

His hand clamped around my arm, hauling me to my feet.

I found my balance, about to thank him for saving my life—again—but his expression blanked my mind. So did the blood and gore and dust and sweat that covered his face and caked his beard.

There were cuts on his face. A gash on his arm. Every injury of his was coated in that horrid green.

Fury quaked through his body, his grip on my arm punishingly tight. The silver in his eyes swirled so fast, so dark, they were like storm clouds streaked with lightning.

I was still holding the crossbow. As he leaned in closer, the weapon became trapped between us. The tip of the bolt dug into his vest.

My finger was still on the trigger.

All I had to do was squeeze.

“Do it.” His voice was a terrible whisper. A challenge. A dare.

His fingers dug into my flesh. His eyes bored into mine.

Do it.

This was the chance I’d never have again. This was how I proved to my family I was more than they believed.

I closed my eyes. I blocked out those silver eyes.

Pull the trigger. Kill him.

My finger wouldn’t move.

His hold on my arm tightened. “Look at me,” he growled.

My eyes flew open.

And what I saw made my knees buckle.

This wasn’t the same man I’d been verbally sparring with for weeks. This wasn’t the same man who’d taunted me relentlessly.

This man was a monster.

“Odessa!” Cathlin burst through the tavern’s door, nearly tripping over the dead bariwolf. She jumped over its body and leaped off the porch.

By the time she reached my side, the Guardian was already gone.