THE BANISHED LUNA
She didn’t look back, but she could hear them—Kieran’s sharp, controlled breaths, the hiss of the thing’s movements, the scrape of claws on stone.
Then the sound changed.
Kieran shouted her name—an order, not a plea. She risked a glance back and saw him driving the blade deep into the creature’s shoulder. It didn’t bleed—not in any way she understood. A black, smoke-like vapor hissed from the wound, curling away into the cold air.
It shrieked, the sound piercing and alien, before hurling itself sideways into the shadows of the cliff.
Kieran staggered back, chest heaving.