24
A Test in Blood
Shadows bounced off the uneven dirt of the tunnel. Emilia gasped and stumbled into Jacob as a face emerged from the wall, a long, hooked nose pressing out through the dirt.
Claire shrieked as the head turned to watch them all back away.
“Who are you?” Jacob asked, taking a step in front of Emilia. But the face remained frozen, its mouth stretched in grotesque silent laughter.
Jacob pulled the torch from Claire’s hand, waving it back and forth in front of him, as though trying to scare away an animal, as he approached the face.
“Leave us alone,” Jacob shouted, but the figure didn't move. “We have been granted safe passage by the Hag.” He was only a foot from the shadowy face, but still it did not speak.
His torch was close enough to the face now that any person wou
