Chapter 8 — The Edge of Death
Lyra's POV.
Our progress was limited.
The night shifted abruptly, the howl still reverberating through me. The woods fell silent, a stillness that felt off, as if the earth itself were pausing.
She halted.
"Down," she breathed.
I barely had a moment to process what was happening before she pushed me behind a downed tree. My side erupted with agony when I slammed onto the ground. I bit my lip, trying to stifle the sound.
The scent hit me.
Crimson. Decay. Fury.
Rogues.
Not a single one.
A multitude.
Emerging from the gloom, they were shadows with a bite. Their eyes were alight, their frames marked and wiry. They weren't starving drifters. They were murderers.
The woman muttered a curse, barely audible. "They were following us."
My pulse raced. Can
