Saga of a New World - (Audiobook Available)

12. Fire Fight

They ride a large berth around the warehouse, avoiding line of sight to it as best they can.

When they reach the edge of the cloud, the Sheriff says, "All right. We leave the horses here."

Fynn hops out of his saddle. "We should leave someone here to guard them. The horses are way more important than the tractor.

"Right. Noah. Stay with the horses. Astrid, Fynn. Let's do this."

As they step into the cloud, the Sheriff whispers, "From here on out, we don't make a sound. Keep your eyes on each other, and whatever happens, we don't split up. Let's go."

Astrid feels the same incredible fear flow through her as the dark fog envelops them. Her heart, pounding from the excitement of the upcoming fight, drops into her stomach. Next to her, she can see the Sheriff turn pale as well.

Just like last time, the fog seems to turn thicker as they enter and the world darkens. Astrid feels as though the sky itself is dropping down on her. Even though she's only taken a few steps inside the fog, it's like she's walking through an invisible wall. Every fiber of her being tells her to leave. To turn and run. It's a feeling of fear she has only ever felt during her last contact with the fog. Only this time, she has to force herself to enter.

'It's just for a few minutes. It's just a few minutes. Just a few minutes...'

Even though the dark mist feels cold, she's already drenched in sweat. Her entire body shivers, as though her muscles want to make it as difficult as possible for her to move forward. Still, seeing the others walk ahead gives her the willpower to soldier on.

They move past the buildings. Last time, Astrid was only inside the dark mass for a few seconds before Ranger turned and walked back out of it. This time is longer. As they move deeper into the dark mass, the fear is joined by a crushing feeling of dread. The air is cold, and every breath feels like it takes a bit of her and rips it out as she exhales.

Astrid keeps her eyes peeled, even though fog makes it difficult to see down the street. There is no movement, aside from the Sheriff and the wafts of mist swirling around them.

Behind her, she can hear the dull thuds of Fynn's heavy boots and the quiet clicking of Oskar's claws on the hard asphalt. Aside from her own heavy breathing, their footsteps are the only contrast to the silence of the town. Her ears feel deprived of noise as they search for any sound.

The buildings are black towers that look frozen in time. The bookstore to their left still has an open sign hanging on the door. Almost like a patron could step out of it at any moment.

A disturbance in the fog. Astrid almost misses the minuscule movement, before her eyes snap onto the barely visible humanoid figure moving through the door. She can barely see it against the dark-gray fog, but it seems to be made of darkness that has thickened slightly to give it a ghostly black form. As quickly as it appeared, the figure fades back into the cloud.

"What was that?" she whispers. It takes all of her willpower to suppress the urge to turn and run. Staying focused is incredibly difficult, as her mind does its best to drown her in that unnatural fear and dread.

The Sheriff whispers, "Keep going."

With wide eyes, Astrid tears her gaze away from where the figure just disappeared.

They continue until the Sheriff's hand suddenly snaps up. Astrid almost walks straight into the other elf but freezes in place when she sees what's ahead. There's something standing in the middle of the street, a little over a hundred paces away. While the other figure was no more than a barely visible phantom, this vaguely humanoid shape almost looks like a solid mass of black mist. Unlike the slow, random, yet elegant movements of the cloud around them, the dark mass that makes up the entity's body jerks and twitches randomly as parts of it dissolve into the fog, only to suddenly snap back onto its core. The core of the creature is made up of shards of dark gray material that quiver, animated by some unseen force. The weird, almost alien movements have an odd and dangerous beauty to them. Astrid can't take her eyes off the quivering form, as it stands between two cars that hide its lower body.