The Hungry Dark by Michael Coolwood

Author:Michael Coolwood [Michael Coolwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Coolwood Books
Published: 2023-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter thirteen

The hand resting on Jaeson’s shoulder seethed in my light. It seemed to be made from living shadow, more of a claw than a hand. I reached for my gun. The hand yanked Jaeson out of our light and into the Hungry Dark.

“Teya!” I yelled, leaping after Jaeson and flaring my light. My power was still fresh, but it was a hollow sort of power. My most recent tooth must have had a flaw, a fracture, something that reduced its ability to hold magic. I sprinted forward, knowing that if Teya couldn’t keep up, she had glow globes and Jaeson did not. I reached down to my wrist and popped another tooth into my mouth. The light that flowered in its wake was pure orange; vibrant and warm.

Jaeson screamed, his cries high and desperate. I surged forwards, but it took precious seconds for the edge of my light to reach him. Blood streamed from deep bite marks on his face and arms. A night-clad figure had its arms wrapped around him. Undefined and blurry – a dark hood shrouded where its head should have been. The only parts of it that seemed to have real substance were its arms, which were wrapped tightly around Jaeson’s waist, and its claw-like hands, which were gripping Jaeson’s flesh so tightly they were drawing blood.

The wraith’s night-flesh hissed as my light reached it, but it wasn’t immediately forced back as the Hungry Dark usually was. I felt the weight of the pistol in my hand as I ran. I couldn’t shoot at the wraith – Jaeson was flailing about too much. On top of that, I’d have to stop running to line up a shot, and the wraith was unlikely to stop dragging Jaeson into the darkness in order to make my life more convenient.

I finally caught up to within an arms reach of him as the wraith dragged him out of the alley and back into the shop-lined street. The wraith hesitated, seemingly unsure as to which way it should drag Jaeson. I stuffed my pistol into my belt and leapt forward.

I knew I had to do something, but I had no idea what. The wraith wasn’t fleeing my light – it didn’t even seem to be harmed by it. If I couldn’t use my gun for fear of hitting Jaeson and I couldn’t use my light I was utterly useless. I’d just have to try and wrestle Jaeson free from the wraith’s grip.

Jaeson’s eyes widened still further at the sight of me hurtling towards him. I grabbed the wraith’s arm - stone cold under my grip. I was unable to stop my shoulder from slamming into Jaeson’s chest, but this seemed to only confuse the wraith more.

I yanked at the wraith’s claws, but they were biting into Jaeson’s flesh and I couldn’t pull them loose. Jaeson keened in pain as the claws bit deeper. The wraith dragged him back, hissing at me. I could keep up with it but the further we moved, the higher the chance that we’d lose Teya.

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