Free Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters Book 2) by Kate Danley Page B

between their ankle and their single eye.
    Aein pulled back and released her arrow.  Her aim was off after so long without practice.  The cyclops had been distracted, but not enough to ignore a projectile flying towards his only source of vision.  He ducked, and with a sweep of his hand flung Lars into a rock with a sickening crunch.  But there was no time for Aein to worry about him.  The cyclops leaned forward and let out another mighty roar.  She did not pause.  She placed another arrow on the string and let it loose, praying that this one would fly true.  The creature swatted it aside and kept coming towards her.
    Aein pulled back another arrow and this one grazed his face.  The monster was so close.  She didn't know whether to keep firing her arrows or to cast her bow aside.  She foolishly left her axe in her bedroll.  Her blunt mace would be useless against him.  But then Lars was back.  Relief flooded through her as he flung himself upon the creature's tendon.  The cyclops was off balance as he tried to shake and kick Lars off.  He was distracted enough that he did not notice as Aein let her final arrow fly and it struck him through the white of his eye.  Howling with pain, he stumbled off into the swamp, Lars fast upon his heels, nipping and biting and chasing him far away.
    The silence he left behind was deafening.  She collapsed onto the road.  It felt like she had run a thousand miles.  Though she had seen battle and slaughter, it was as if the swamp amplified her fear, amplified the danger to terrifying levels.  She held out her fingers and they were trembling.  She placed them upon her heart and was almost able to feel its pounding through her heavy breastplate.
    Lars hauled himself out of the water.  Panting, he sat down and pressed against her, as if the only payment he needed for all that he had done was an approving word, which she was happy to give. 
    "Thank you," she said as she ruffled his fur.  "I have never heard of a cyclops so near the edge of the swamp before."  She left unsaid that she worried what else might be waiting for them.  As the adrenaline faded away, bone numbing exhaustion took its place.  "We had better be going or I am going to fall asleep right here."
    The horses had not fled and Aein wearily grabbed their reins.  As they moved forward, each footstep seemed to hide a crackling twig, every shadow seemed to have fangs.  Finally, they reached the entrance to the clearing which hid the sacred bush.  As she stepped into the glen, it was as if all the horrors of the day were gone.  There was a peace here, some sort of barrier from the rest of the swamp.  She placed the lantern with its flickering light upon the ground and removed the saddles and supplies from the horses.
    She took out her bedroll and placed it upon the ground.  The night was cold.  The air was damp.  She knew she should dig a fire pit and get a flame going, but the thought was too much.  She climbed in and hoped she would not freeze to death.
    As if he could read her mind, Lars came over and climbed beneath the blanket with her.  He was filthy and smelled of wet dog, but he radiated heat.  She wrapped her body around his and burrowed her face into the soft warmth of his fur.
    Before she drifted off, she almost began to laugh hysterically.  This had only been the first day.

Chapter Ten
    A ein's eyes opened and she realized Lars had shifted.  She was not spooned around the body of a werewolf, but instead, around the body of her best friend.  She started to pull back, but his hands took her wrists and he gently pulled her back into place.
    "Stay," he whispered.
    It was cold outside and he was warm, so she did.
    Lars stroked her arm.  "So what shall we do today?" he asked.
    Aein pressed her cheek against his back.  "Besides finding out what else is waiting in the fog to kill us?" replied Aein.  She felt Lars sigh, knowing that their safe cocoon would have to be abandoned. 
    "Let's not