Chapter 45 – The River of Teeth
647 Words
The River Tarn was not water.
It moved like it, sounded like it—but its surface glinted with shards of pale ivory, countless teeth tumbling in the current. Some were small and human-shaped. Others were as long as Aurelia’s forearm, serrated and black with age.
“They say the gods threw their enemies in here,” Lira said grimly as they reached the bank. “The river ground them down, bone and soul. Nothing leaves whole.”
Rael crouched, scanning the opposite shore. “We cross here, or we waste two more days finding another pass. And we don’t have two days.”
Dusk growled low, ears flat. Even the wolf could feel the wrongness in the air.
Aurelia stared at the roiling water. Every tooth that surfaced seemed to watch her, gleaming like the spear’s black steel.
---
Halfway across, the river moved.
The water split—not from current, but from something massive passing beneath. A shape the size of a fortress stirred in the depths, and rows of teeth far larger than any others rose above the surface.
“Move!” Rael shouted.
The thing struck.
The bridge of rope and planks they’d built bucked violently as a head like a hill erupted from the water. It wasn’t just one mouth—it was many, layered like nesting dolls, each jaw bristling with teeth that snapped and ground together.
The bridge snapped.
---
Aurelia plunged into the river.
The cold was blinding. Teeth scraped her arms as the current dragged her down. Something coiled around her ankle and yanked, pulling her toward the layered mouths.
And then she heard it—clear as breath in her ear.
> I can cut it. Just one strike.
The spear.
She saw it in her mind, point gleaming black in the churning pale water, weightless, ready.
She kicked upward, gasping as her head broke the surface, but the current spun her toward another gaping mouth.
> You’ll drown without me.
---
Rael’s voice cut through the chaos. “Aurelia! Grab my hand!”
He was clinging to the remains of the bridge, arm outstretched.
She reached—then froze. If she took his hand, she’d be pulled to safety. But the thing beneath would remain. And they’d never cross.
The spear’s whisper slid into her bones.
> One strike.
Her hand trembled in the water. The shadewrought’s reflection appeared in the teeth-littered current, holding the weapon like it belonged there.
> Take me, and you save them.
She clenched her jaw. “And what do you take in return?”
> Only the part of you that hesitates.
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A roar tore through the river as the creature surged again. Aurelia made her choice.
Not the spear.
Her magic flared—silver light exploding from her palms. The water boiled away in a circle around her, exposing the creature’s closest head. She struck with moonfire, forcing it back just long enough to grab Rael’s hand.
He hauled her onto the splintered remains of the bridge, eyes wild. “You almost—”
“I didn’t,” she said, chest heaving. “Let’s go before it comes again.”
---
They scrambled to the far bank, soaked and shaking. The others followed, helping Dusk leap the last stretch. Behind them, the river churned, furious, but did not cross.
Rael rounded on her. “You were looking for it, weren’t you? The spear. In the water.”
Aurelia met his gaze. “It offered.”
“And?”
“I said no.”
Rael exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for hours. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
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Far away, the Seer slammed her hands on the scrying pool. “She refused it?”
The god’s voice rumbled. “Not forever. She looked. That is enough for now.”
Its chains rattled like laughter.
- Writer
