Chapter 62: Falling
Danny tried to run, but foot slipped on cold ground, frost and ash made slick film over stone, like ice under dust, like mountain oiled its rocks. He crashed onto back just as grey-haired man lunged at him, air went out of lungs, winded, chest empty, mouth open trying to get air that was too cold to breathe.
Blade came down, straight for chest, for heart, no hesitation, no old man’s mercy, no lesson, just kill line.
Danny desperately caught it with injured hand, trying to stop sword from reaching body, both hands on blade, fingers closing around steel that was colder than snow, steel biting into palm, blood making it slick, hot, mixing with cold, smoking almost. But already exhausted, strength fading quickly, blood loss from shoulder, cold eating fingers, strength not coming from Echo because Echo still sleeping. Arm shaking violently, teeth clacking.
He couldn’t hold on. Fingers slipping, blood grease.
Blade slipped past defence and plunged into side, not deep, not killing deep, but deep enough, scraping rib, cold steel worse than cut, like ice inside body where it should be warm, like winter put inside.
"ARGH!"
Pain exploded through Danny’s body, bright and sharp, white like eyes that held sword, white like parasites. He had been cut before, shoulder earlier tonight, shoulder earlier today on ridge, but never there, side where liver, where breath lives, where shout comes from. He could taste metal, copper, blood from biting tongue when he hit back.
Using last of strength, he shoved grey-haired man away, legs kicking hard, scrambled to feet, blood trickling down side, hot then cold, injured shoulder throbbing with every movement, two wounds now, both bleeding, both same side, like man aimed to make side fail, like he knew where to cut to make man fall.
He could barely stand, hand to side, came away dark, almost black in night, black like ash mud, sticky.
His Echo remained dormant, reached for it again without thinking, please, anything, heat, spark, blue, anything old man taught, nothing, numb limb still numb, still pins and needles but no hand to move it.
His opponent being controlled by something, and parasites made situation worse, threads moving faster now, crawling up man’s neck toward jaw, toward white eyes, feeding white, one broke skin at cheek and wriggled free and fell to rock, still moving, white thread on black rock, seeking new home, blind worm.
Danny looked at sword in man’s hand, broken sword but still sword, still enough to kill boy, then at own trembling fingers, had nothing, knife inside cave by fire, pack inside cave, Last Rest inside cave, rock in pocket not enough. He had nothing out here but blood and cold and night and ash.
He couldn’t win this fight. Not like this. Not bleeding from two places. Not with power gone, with Echo asleep. Not against man who taught him to step outside arm, to watch feet, now feet were controlled by something else that knew steps better than man.
Grey-haired man staggered toward him again, white eyes fixed on target, unblinking, not needing to blink, parasites doing blinking for him under lids. Raised sword higher this time, both hands now, for cleave, no hesitation, no pause to breathe, spell did not get tired, parasites didn’t get tired, only boy got tired.
Danny’s breathing grew ragged, back hitting low slab that hid cave mouth, cold stone against spine, trapped, no behind, cave mouth blocked by his own back and slab, cliff to left that was crumbling, drop to right that was darkness where Mirebeast had gone before, man with white eyes in front, sword up, parasites crawling, blood coming out side faster now because heart beating faster with fear.
Fear gripped heart as he realized nowhere to run, cave entrance behind him, cold ground beneath feet offered no escape, no flat land, no Fort Haven, just stone and air and ash, cliff to left, drop to right, man with white eyes in front, sword up.
"Damn it! Stop! It’s me!"
Man raised sword higher, white eyes reflecting nothing, not fire from inside cave, not boy, not ash, just white, milky, empty, hungry in different way than Mirebeast hungry, not stomach, something else hungry for body.
Danny opened mouth and screamed as loudly as he could, not word, just noise, raw and desperate, kid’s scream, not fighter’s, not Guilty’s, scream from belly, from being traded, from being told free to go, from being cut by savior who had said he wouldn’t be the boy, from being alone on mountain with rot in man’s skin.
Desperate cry echoed across frozen landscape, up ridge, down into valley, bounced off rock that had not heard voice in years, thin air carrying far, far further than his legs could ever run, scream going where he couldn’t.
For moment, everything seemed to stop, wind held, ash hung still in air mid fall, even grey-haired man paused mid-step, head twitching as if listening to something beyond Danny, beyond cave, beyond hypnosis, hearing scream not with ears but with parasite ears, with rot ears.
Then shadow swept across sky, huge, fast, blotting out what little light there was from hidden moon, from stars, from fire inside cave behind slab, eclipse moving down.
Mirebeast came flying down from above. It had not left, not really left, had been waiting on high rock, on cliff above cave, watching with three red eyes that see heat, patient as mountain, heard blood dripping from new cut, heard scream, heard second offering making noise, heard fight.
Before grey-haired man could react, before sword could fall, enormous creature slammed into him with terrifying force, six limbs landing at once around him like cage, ground shaking, ash cloud exploding, stones jumping. Its jaws opened, vertical slit wider than man tall, thousands of needle teeth rotating, thousands, spiral of mouth, and in next instant, it devoured him, one bite, no chewing, no sound from man, white eyes gone in red darkness, parasites gone with him, sword clattering on rock, then gone too, pulled in after.
Danny stared in horror, legs giving out completely, sitting down hard on rock, both hands clutching side, blood between fingers, eyes wide, watching white eyes disappear into teeth, watching man who saved him be saved from spell by worse.
He barely had time to process what had happened, old man gone, saved him then tried to kill him then eaten in one second, before ground beneath him began to shake, worse than before, worse than six limbs landing.
Cracks spread through rocks, through slab that hid cave, through cave mouth itself, through stone he sat on. Mirebeast was heavy, too heavy for cliff, landing had cracked lip of cliff, ancient rock already weakened by fire and blood and wind and centuries, now broken.
Cave situated behind cliff, and impact had destabilized surrounding stone, whole face loose. With deafening roar, cliff began to collapse, dust and small stones fell first, warning, then bigger slabs, then whole face giving up.
"Wait—what?!"
Ground gave way beneath Danny’s feet, stone he was sitting on tilted and slid, toward dark below, toward valley where trees should have been but weren’t, where Mirebeast had gone before with first man.
He fell, rocks tumbling around him as cave entrance disappeared beneath cascade of debris, fire inside snuffed out instantly, light gone, borrowed hole returned to mountain, with roar and ash and snow mixing.
World spun violently, and Danny could do nothing but brace himself, arms over head, blood making hands slick, as he plunged into darkness, into falling mountain, with Mirebeast roar above and blood in mouth and white eyes still in head even though gone.
Then everything collapsed around him.