Raven bones's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

The little mushroom people hurried ahead, their bright caps bobbing through the moss. Raven kept Asher close. The sweet rot poured off his arm, thick and warm. Then she caught another smell under it. Older. Sharper. She stopped and turned her head, the way she always did now. The strongest scent came from behind. "Something's tracking us," she said. "A hunter." Asher's face went tight. "Can you cover it?" "No. It's already on us." She grabbed his good arm. "Run." The mushroom people broke into a scramble, their stubby legs pumping. Raven ran after them, dragging Asher through the fungus. Behind her she heard it coming. Branches snapped. Something heavy moved fast and low. The little guides led them toward a faint glow ahead, soft and gold through the growth. They almost reached it. Then the hunter leaped in front of them. It had been a wolf once. Now its ribs showed white through rotting fur. Mushrooms sprouted along its spine, red and purple and swollen. One eye glowed red in a half-skinned skull. It dripped and swayed and stared at them. Raven froze. Her bone hand curled into a fist. She knew her strength, but this thing was fast, and it stood between them and the light. She thought this was the end. Asher moved first. He yanked a can from his jacket pocket and flicked a lighter. "Back up," he said, calm, like he'd done this before. He pressed the lighter in front of the spray nozzle and squeezed. Fire roared out in a long yellow jet. It caught the husk full in the face. The dry fur went up fast. The mushrooms hissed and popped. The creature screamed, a wet choking sound, and thrashed in the flames. Asher held the trigger until the can sputtered. The thing collapsed in a burning heap and stopped moving. Raven stared at him. "Where did you learn that?" "I didn't." His hand shook. "Guessed." They didn't wait to see if it stayed dead. Raven pulled him past the smoking body. The mushroom people were already running toward the glow. She followed, lungs burning, until the fungus thinned and opened. Then she stopped. A tree stood in the clearing. It was huge, wider than any house. Golden spores clustered in its branches like clumps of light. Soft glows wrapped the trunk and limbs. The whole thing hummed, warm and bright, pushing back the dark woods around it. The little guides sat down in the moss, done. They had brought her here. "That's it," Asher said. His voice was small. "The tree Bob talked about." Raven looked at the golden light. The thing that had taken her town. The only cure for the thing taking him. Both. She felt the cold bone fingers of her left hand. She'd been hunting this. Now she stood in front of it. "We made it," she said. "Now we end it."