CHAPTER 15

“Ghouls?” Lola asked, her heart rate spiking. Her body still felt like it was recovering from the weird sensation that momentarily overtook her. “What are ghouls doing here? Weren’t they all killed off or driven underground years ago?” Russel walked around their camp, preparing. He went over to Serk, whispered something in the horse’s ears, and then the creature suddenly took off, leaving them behind. “Why did you do that?” Lola asked, confused. “He might have been useful for a quick escape if we get overrun.” “They’ll go after Serk first. He’s bigger. More meat and an easier target. If he stayed, they would have killed him and there wouldn’t be anything we could do to help,” Russel explained. “This way, he’ll be safe.” “What about us?” she asked. His eyes flashed with amber fire. “We kill them before they can kill us,” he told her. “Ghouls are nasty, vicious things that are essentially all hunger and zero control. They’ll most likely attack without thinking. That makes them tough to put down but easy to counter. They have no ability to strategize effectively and will only utilize rudimentary levels of battle tactics if they utilize any at all that is.” “Are they strong?” she asked, concerned. She went to her pack and pulled out the knife Russel bought her back in Wrexon. Its bright steel gleamed in the filtered daylight coming through the treetops. “A bit stronger than a normal human but weaker than a werewolf. The problem is they hunt in packs of anywhere between six to a dozen at a time. We might be stronger, but they usually have the numbers.” His eyes were searching the trees, looking for shadows or anything moving. “Not usually a problem for my kind though because we don’t usually go out hunting alone.” “You’re alone now,” Lola remarked, unnecessarily. He looked over at her and smiled. “I’ve got you don’t I?” Rustling, rushing sounds drifted over toward them now and Lola tensed up. She let her body fall into a crouch and she brought her blade up. She held it out in front of her while Russel let his claws out. He sniffed the air. “They’re getting closer,” he said. “Why are they here?” she asked. “You were right,” Russel said, trying to keep her calm by talking to her. “They were driven underground and most of their populace was eradicated. The humans are exceptional killers of supernatural monsters they deem too dangerous to be allowed to live. King Harrison seemed to have a personal hatred of ghouls. He made it his mission to kill any of them on sight.” The rustling sounds were getting louder. “It doesn’t appear he was very thorough!” Lola shouted. That feeling inside her, chilling her spine, was getting more pronounced. It was like someone was pouring glacially-cold water directly over it. She tried to shake it off but it was getting harder and harder to ignore. “They’re like cockroaches,” Russel said, still keeping his voice calm. “Resilient and hard to kill off all the way. Also, they breed like crazy.” “Great,” Lola replied. “That’s all this world needs, a sex-crazed race of monsters that kill and eat anything living they come across.” “The worst part is, they’re the ones you have to worry about the least,” Russel told her. “In terms of the supernatural food chain, they’re at the bottom.” “And humans?” she asked, whirling around when she heard sounds almost directly behind her. “Well,” he answered. “Reasoning and logic do go a long way to propel your species more toward the top of that list. But in a one-on-one fight against a creature from the supernatural side of this world, things usually only end one way. Death for the human.” He paused as if considering things. “Then again, it does depend heavily on the strength and fighting skill of the human.” “What are my odds against ghouls?” she asked. She wanted his opinion on her skills but a part of her, way in the back of her mind, also wasn’t sure she was ready for his answer to that particular question. If he said anything negative, it might do more harm than good. He moved closer toward her but faced a different direction so they could keep an eye on both spots at once. The rustling sounds were getting worse. They were louder and seemed to be coming from all around them. High-pitched clicking sounds mixed with growling echoed toward them, making it hard to pin down where they were actually coming from. Lola’s nerves were starting to fray. She jumped at every little noise as flashbacks of the massacre at Gloucester hit her. Russel’s tactic of keeping her engaged in conversation was failing and the terror was building up. She saw the blade she held in front of her begin to shake uncontrollably. She tried to keep it steady but couldn’t. Russel saw her shaking and did what he could to comfort her. “You can take these things,” he said, truthfully. “You have the skill and the strength.” The ghouls were almost on them now. He could hear them easily. Judging by the sounds and different locations they were coming from, he guessed there were seven of them. Their scent was thick and heavy in the air too. It wasn’t pleasant either. It smelled like rotting carrion mixed with the smell of shit. It was distracting. “Thank you,” she said, letting his words fill her with some courage. She tightened her grip on her blade and after a few seconds, it stilled. “Let’s hope you’re right.” He took a quick second to catch her attention. She saw him turn toward her out of the corner of her eye and turned her head toward him. Their eyes locked and she felt even better. There was no hint of lying in him. He was telling her the truth. That gave her an even bigger boost of confidence. “I know I am,” he told her, completely serious. She smiled at that and then turned toward the sounds. Faintly, she could see dark things racing around. They moved quickly but she was still able to get some of their details. Their clothing looked like a collection of ragged strips of cloth dyed in shades ranging from beige to green. From what she was able to see of their skin, it was mottled and gray. She wasn’t sure but she thought there might have been open sores on more than one of them. The only other thing was that each one seemed to have a singular talon-like claw jutting out of the tops of their hands. Oh. And fangs. Lots of long, flesh-rending fangs. Russel had been right. There were seven of them. They sent one of their number in first, most likely to test the waters as it were. As dumb and brainless as they were, they still had a little bit of sense. The creature came for Lola, judging her to be the weaker of the two. It opened its overlong, eerie mouth at her and let out a clicking roar as it brandished its talon-claws in her general direction. Lola saw her blade start to shake again but she told herself over and over again she could do it. She could win and kill the thing. Russel looked as if he wanted to step in but she forced him away. “I have to do this,” she explained. “I have to be the one to fight or I’ll just be running for the rest of my life. I can kill it.” Russel looked at her, impressed. “I’ll leave you to it then,” he told her. “Dispatch the thing quickly. The others are waiting. Watching to gauge how weak we are. If you kill this one fast enough, they might decide we aren’t worth the trouble and run off.” Lola glared at the ghoul. It watched her, its head tilted to one side as it paced back and forth, looking for an opening. All the while, Lola’s heart beat against her chest like a war drum. Her legs felt watery and didn’t seem to obey her commands at first. But she shoved all that fear down, as far down her mind as she could. The world dropped away, leaving only her and the ghoul. Her eyes narrowed. Her hands tightened around the hilt of the blade. Her leg muscles flexed. With a shout and a wordless battle cry, she attacked first.