No, Ashyn had barely touched the poison and had wiped it right off. She'd be fine.
"You'll be fine," Ronan said as he and Wenda caught up. "We'll fix it. You'll be fine."
She stifled a laugh as his words echoed her thoughts. Yes, it's probably shock, but it's keeping me calm, so I'll take it. Just keep moving. Don't let it dull my senses and--
A curse rang through the night, so sudden and loud that it seemed to be right beside them. Ronan spun, blade raised with one hand as he tugged Wenda back. He swung between them and the noise, with Tova at his side.
Ashyn pulled Wenda against her. The girl seemed to be in shock, too, uttering not a word, shaking under Ashyn's hand. Ashyn rubbed her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
Ashyn gripped her blade and looked around. She thought she detected a scuffling sound, so distant it was only a whisper.
Then another wordless shout, and this time, there was no question of where it came from. That's when Wenda spoke, so loudly that her whole body jerked under Ashyn's hand, as if she'd just woken from sleep.
"Gregor!" Wenda cried. "At the camp!"
They ran. Ronan scooped up Wenda and swung her onto his back. It wasn't easy--the girl wasn't a toddling child--but it was faster than dragging her along with them.
Gregor shouted a challenge at some unseen attacker. Then they could see him on his feet, waving his sword at the air.
"I heard you!" he shouted. "Show yourselves, cowards! Do not slink in shadows!"
He whirled as if he'd heard something.
"Where have you taken them, cowards? If you've harmed the Seeker, you will be cursed. Do you understand that? Cursed."
"We're here!" Ashyn called. "We're--"
Something reared up a few paces from Gregor--like a snake lifting its head, but too big by far. It must be a man, crawling on the ground, starting to rise.
Gregor saw it and let out a shout. He staggered back, his sword held awkwardly, as if it were a shield. Then he screamed. A terrible scream, like Levi's in the forest, that high-pitched shriek of agony that seemed as if it should not come from a human throat.
Ronan dropped Wenda from his back and ran. Tova stayed with Ashyn as she raced toward the camp, clutching the girl against her.
Gregor dropped to his knees, his sword clanking against the rock as it fell from his grip. His hands shielded his face, and he kept screaming that terrible scream. Then he began to gurgle, his body shaking. That thing--whatever it was--stayed in front of him, reared up.
Ronan skidded to a halt about ten paces away. He let out a curse, a blasphemous commentary on the goddess's anatomy that, at any other time, would have had Ashyn slamming her hands over Wenda's ears. But she just kept running as fast as she could, while holding the girl against her.
Then she saw the creature, and she stopped, too. She may also have cursed.
It was not a snake. It was a worm. A long, reddish, segmented cylinder of a creature, at least as long as a man and just as wide. She could see no features--no eyes, no earholes, nothing. It was reared up, pointing one end at Gregor. Then that end sprang open in a giant circle of teeth, and it spat a stream of liquid.
Acid. It spat acid.
"That--that's a death worm," Wenda whispered, her thin body quaking. "From the story Moria told after the earth moved."
Moria said that each time they felt the spirits of the earth shift, blaming "death worms" for the amusement and horror of the children. Now Ashyn stood there, watching a worm the size of a man spitting acid at Gregor. Killing Gregor. Right before their eyes.
I'm asleep, she thought. Or I've gone mad. Moria's tales have come to life, and that is not possible, which means I've gone mad.
Or the world has gone mad, and we're simply trapped within it.
She looked at Ronan. He stood there frozen, blade raised. Gregor was on the ground now, writhing in agony, his screams garbled as the acid ate away his throat.
Ashyn turned Wenda away. Then she ran forward, dagger raised. Behind her, Ronan shouted. He lunged at her. Yelled for her to stop. She kept going, covering the distance between her and the worm--
It turned with lightning speed, twisting its body. She saw that terrible mouth open, the teeth flicking out like blades. A stream of acid shot straight for her face. Then the ground disappeared under her feet as Ronan whipped her back. She heard the patter of the acid hitting her shoulder. Heard the sizzle as it burned through her cloak. Heard Wenda scream, and twisted to see the worm seeming to fly at them across the rocks, so fast it was a red blur--
Ronan threw her aside. She hit the rock and scrambled up just in time to see his blade flash. The worm reared, spitting. Wenda screamed. The blade sliced through the worm, and its head fell, cleaved clean off.