Chapter 6: The Hunger of Ashroot

Fog coiled around David's ankles, cold as the grave.

Every step was agony. His cracked ribs made it hard to draw a full breath, and every heartbeat pumped fresh pain through his chest. But he didn't dare slow down—not with Priya's screams still echoing ahead.

Lucien stalked a few paces ahead, pale as bone, his crimson eyes slitted in concentration. His long black coat brushed dead leaves that shriveled at the touch.

The vampire glanced over his shoulder. "Quiet your mind," he murmured. "This place preys on your fear."

David clenched his jaw. "Easy for you to say."

Lucien's mouth twisted into a humorless smile. "Do you think vampires feel no fear?"

David didn't answer. He focused on the trail of broken branches and black blood that marked the abomination's path. Every so often, he glimpsed a scrap of cloth—a shred of Priya's shirt tangled on a thorn, a smear of bright red blood that was hers, not the creature's.

Each trace made his vision darken at the edges.

I'm coming, he thought. Hold on.

A low moan rippled through the trees.

David's pulse spiked. He spun, knife raised.

The fog thickened into shapes—faceless figures looming between trunks, their outlines flickering like dying candles.

Lucien hissed under his breath. "Ignore them."

"What are they?" David whispered.

"The memories this place has devoured," Lucien said. "Spectres. Echoes."

One of the shapes turned toward David, featureless head cocked. A wet, gurgling voice slithered out of nothing.

"David…"

His stomach lurched. The voice was his sister's.

"Don't look," Lucien warned.

"You let me die," the phantom hissed. "You left me alone in the dark."

David's breath came ragged. His hand shook.

It isn't real.

The spectre drifted closer, a hole gaping where its face should be.

"She'll die too. You'll fail her like you failed me."

David's throat closed.

Lucien struck without warning. His clawed hand scythed through the fog shape, dispersing it in a burst of ash.

He seized David by the collar. "Listen to me, mortal. You want to save your little witch? Then keep moving."

David swallowed hard. He forced his feet to take another step. Then another.

The shadows wailed behind them.

They moved deeper. The forest pressed tighter around them—branches weaving together overhead, blocking out even the wan moonlight. Only the faint phosphorescent glow of fungus lit their way, casting everything in sickly green.

The path curved around a massive tree that looked almost human—a twisted trunk with a hollow that could have been a screaming mouth.

And there, at the base, lay a body.

David's heart stuttered.

Priya.

He fell to his knees beside her, hands already reaching.

"Don't," Lucien snapped.

David froze.

It looked like her—same torn dress, same dark hair. But the skin was too pale, the mouth frozen in a rictus grin.

Slowly, Lucien crouched. He pressed two fingers to the body's cheek.

The illusion collapsed.

Rotting roots and fungus spilled out, reforming into a shape that crawled away on too many legs.

David choked on bile.

Lucien's gaze was cold. "This place will peel you apart if you let it."

David closed his eyes, just for a heartbeat. He tried to remember Priya's real voice, her real touch. Not these twisted echoes.

When he opened them again, he felt steadier.

I'm coming.

Ahead, the fog thinned.

A clearing opened under a massive, dead oak. The abomination was there, crouched beside something wrapped in roots.

Priya.

Her arms were bound above her head. Her face was streaked with tears and blood. She lifted her head weakly when David stumbled into view.

"David—"

The abomination turned. All its mouths smiled.

"Ah… finally."

David charged.

Lucien blurred past him in a flicker of motion, faster than thought. He slashed at the creature's flank, claws sparking against unnatural hide.

The abomination screamed—a sound that made the trees shudder.

Dozens of eyes opened across its chest, all fixed on David.

"You cannot stop me," it hissed. "I have tasted her blood. I have seen your memories."

David felt something cold invade his mind—a vision of Priya dying in his arms, her throat torn out.

Liar.

He raised his silver-edged blade. "Let her go!"

It laughed.

Roots erupted from the earth, whipping toward him.

Lucien leaped, carving a path through the tangle. He was a blur of claws and snarled curses. Black ichor sprayed as he tore chunks from the abomination's body.

David darted behind the creature. He slashed at the roots binding Priya's wrists.

They shrieked like living things, pulling tighter.

Priya gasped. "David—behind you!"

He spun just as a barbed tendril lunged for his chest.

Lucien grabbed the tendril in one pale hand. His claws sank deep, black blood hissing as it hit the ground.

"I said move!" Lucien roared.

David plunged his knife into the last root. It severed with a wet snap.

Priya collapsed into his arms, sobbing.

The abomination reared back, dozens of mouths gaping.

"I will devour you both."

Lucien crouched, blood dripping from his claws. His eyes glowed red.

David felt Priya's hand tighten around his.

He looked down—and saw her drawing a sigil in her own blood.

"What are you doing?" he gasped.

Her voice was ragged. "Binding."

The abomination lunged.

Priya slammed her bloody hand to the earth.

Symbols ignited around them in a ring of red light.

The creature hit the barrier and screamed.

Flames erupted along its skin, blackening the mouths.

It shrieked in fury.

"I will find you again!"

Then it vanished—pulled backward into the trees by unseen forces, howling in a dozen stolen voices.

Silence crashed down.

The light faded.

Priya collapsed against David, her breath hitching.

He pulled her close.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Lucien broke the quiet.

"Impressive," he murmured.

David glared up at him. "Help me get her up."

Lucien hesitated. Then he offered a pale hand.

Together, they lifted Priya to her feet. She swayed, barely conscious.

David held her tighter, feeling her heart hammer against his chest.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, they were clear, unclouded by fear.

"You didn't," she murmured.

Then she sagged against him, unconscious.

Lucien stepped back, crimson eyes unreadable.

"This is only the beginning," he said softly. "That creature is not the only one of its kind."

David looked up, jaw clenched.

"Then we kill them all."

Lucien tilted his head, as if considering.

"You really believe you can?"

David met his gaze, voice flat.

"I have to."

They carried Priya out of the clearing.

The trees seemed to watch them, shifting in the corner of David's vision.

He didn't care.

For the first time since this nightmare began, he felt something like hope.

But far behind them, in the darkest part of Ashroot, the abomination crept back to its lair.

It pressed clawed hands to the wound where the warding had burned it.

Flesh parted, and a dozen new mouths opened in the wound.

They whispered together, in perfect chorus:

"Next time, there will be no escape."