Excerpt: Runes of Blood and Flame II: Chaos Bound

I finally had a clear shot of the deer. Well, I called it a deer because that was my best guess as to what it had been before the raising of the chaos-god Athan had twisted the world out of shape. Now it bore a single, spiraling horn in the center of its forehead, a long, tufted tail last around its hind legs and its coat was as black as the shadow cast by a full moon.

A small breeze kicked up, carrying my scent away from the almost-deer, and I moved a little closer to be sure of my shot. My muscles were still subject to occasional fits of trembling, thanks to my recent confrontation with Athan. I felt Trini moving through the woods off to my right, her fox senses a river of scent and instinct beneath mine. I was within twenty paces of the deer now, and it still grazed placidly on the new green shoots that grew unseasonably between the fallen autumn leaves. I drew my bow, string coming to rest against my right cheek.

A scream tore through the forest. I felt a surge of panic from Trini and the deer bolted away from me. Without thinking, I ran after it. That scream – I’d never heard anything like it, and I’d lived most of my life in forests. The deer was faster than me, of course, but I could still the crash of its flight ahead of me. I dodged branches and felt underbrush lash at my legs.

The deer quieted, and I slowed as well so as not to spook it again. I controlled my panting breath so that the noise of it wouldn’t give me away and crept forward. Within minutes I saw the deer, its black coat no disguise against the trees. It stood on the edge of a large clearing, muscles twitching with fear, obviously torn between the danger of whatever had made that scream and the risk of crossing a large open area. A large pine stood in the center of the clearing, but its shelter was long strides away from the edge of the woods.

I shifted forward and something I did must have caught the deer’s attention. It threw its head back and stared at me with one rolling, blue eye, then plunged forward into the clearing. I cursed and started after it, again, hoping to get a clear shot before it reached the pine. I’d gone only a step when Trini appeared in front of me, yipping alarm.

Stop! she said, her voice in my mind clear and sharp with fear. I did.

The deer was in full flight. It had made it perhaps two-thirds of the way to the shelter of the pine when the tree suddenly shuddered violently, as if riding an earthquake that didn’t reach beyond its roots. Needles shot outward from its branches, some of them piercing the deer that still ran towards it. The deer reared up and gave a long, high-pitched cry, then collapsed. Momentum rolled it another two paces forward, and it convulsed against the ground for a long moment. Bloody foam sprayed from its muzzle and it cried out again, the sound now choked and broken. Finally it stilled, spine frozen into a pain-tight curve.

The earth around the deer’s corpse boiled up and something serpentine crept out of it, wrapping itself around the deer’s neck. More followed, these burrowing into flesh. From where I stood they looked like black worms. When the body looked like a potato left too long in the dark, tangled roots anchoring it firmly to the ground, the tree gave another shudder and became motionless again. Somewhere, hesitantly, a bird twittered once.

I reached out for Trini and she leaned shuddering against my leg. Her horror twined with mine. After a moment I swallowed down bile and turned back toward camp. I had no game to take back with me, but right now food was the last thing I wanted.