10.

We set out as soon as the sun begins to set, this time on two feet instead of four. Eric came around and finally agreed to let Anastasia stay conscious based on the fact that she wouldn't help us if we kept knocking her out. He didn't admit that I was right, though, just acted as if it were his idea all along. Not that I expected anything different.

Once again, Eric walks at the front and Malik brings up the rear while Cassia and I hang in the middle. I pretend not to notice the way Anastasia hovers close to me, but I don't blame her. I'm the only one in the group who'd actually oppose to disposing of her once she's no use to us. But unfortunately for her, that means putting up with my pestering, to which she exclusively answers in one or two words.

"What village did you come from?" I ask as we trod through the forest. It's my second time asking. The first time all I got was a huff as a response.

"The south."

I'm not familiar with any of the other hollower villages; I didn't even know they existed until Elias told me about them, but the idea is intriguing. "Did you guys hide in tunnels, too?"

"No."

"How did you hide from the shifters?"

"Creatures," she corrects sharply, looking at me. "They're creatures."

Eric scoffs from ahead. "You hollow people out for sport and somehow we're the creatures."

Nobody says anything in response. Eric holds up a low hanging branch for us to pass through but releases it just before Anastasia can duck under. I catch it before it can whack her face, given her hands are tied so she can't push it away from herself. Eric huffs in annoyance.

"So how did you hide from the shifters?" I ask again.

She looks away. I shoot an annoyed look at Eric, even though he can't see me. If he feels it, he doesn't bother to acknowledge it. We continue walking in silence, our only company howls coming from the distance. But then something in the air shifts. An icy fog trickles through the trees, and the birds scatter from their slumbers in the branches above.

I freeze, hoping I'm imagining it. But for once, I'm simply hearing what the others do. The thudding of feet on the ground, the distant murmur of voices. Someone's coming.

Cassia reacts first, grabbing Anastasia and pressing her fingers into the dip of her neck. She drops limp. I stare wide-eyed and Cassia off-hands the hollower to Malik, who slings her over his shoulder without a word.

"In the trees, now," Eric commands. "If we're outnumbered, we don't want to fight."

He doesn't have to ask twice. The noises in the forest beat like a drum as I grapple the nearest tree, hoisting myself into the dip where the branch meets the trunk. The bark grazes the bare skin on my arms, but I keep my mouth shut. Adrenaline pumps in my blood; my breath is short and sharp.

From my spot wedged in the tree, the ground is just visible through the branches below. Cassia disappears and Eric clambers up the same trunk I did, the clearing empty as the once distant calls waft closer. Moss climbs the trees, moist against my shaky fingers. The voices grow louder.

My heart pounds to the beat of the earth as people burst through the space below. Ragged breaths. Glinting machetes. Dirt crusted skin. There are four of them. I lean forward to get a better view. One woman, three young men cowered behind her with their machetes gripped tightly in their hands. Eric smacks the back of my neck, his eyes warning me to sit back.

The last time I hid in a tree, Elias was with us, on our trip to the mountains. He'd ripped the hollowers heads from their bodies like they were weeds in the ground and it was that moment when I saw a glimpse of what Charles did—maybe they were monsters. I'd been so afraid. I didn't know how it tortured him, how the blood painted across his hands never washed away.

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath. That moment feels so far away now.

"Where are they?" one of the men asks. When he turns, his machete catches the glint of the moon.

"The tracks stop here," the woman murmurs.

My stomach clenches. If Eric's one thing, it's thorough. There shouldn't be any tracks. I shoot an alarmed look at Eric and he mouths something that looks like "we should've knocked the hollower unconscious". I look back at the scene below.

"She said to follow the tracks, they must be close," the woman murmurs.

She slashes her machete across the trunk of our tree. My body jolts, the branches shuddering at the force. I dig my nails into the moss to keep myself steady. Eric grabs my upper arm, just in case.

"Why should we believe anything she told us?" the boy scowls. "After all—"

His voice is cut off by a scream that pierces the air. Dread knots in my stomach as they spin towards the sound—the tree opposite them shaking and rustling. "Over there!" the woman screams.

Eric curses. The tree across from us shudders before Anastasia falls through the branches, her body thudding against the ground before she scrambles backwards, eyes wide and feral and twigs twisted in her hair.

"Help!" she calls. "Help me they've—"

Before she can finish her sentence, Eric drops from the tree, slashing his weapon into the back of the woman. An agonizing scream escapes her as her back arches and she staggers backwards, mouth wide open. She reaches back to yank the weapon from the wound. Blood pours from the gash, her bone protruding through the skin. Bile rises in my throat, but I don't look away. I can't look away. Seconds feel like hours as my eyes remain glued to the wound, heart pounding as we wait for the skin to heal over, for the blood Flo to slow, for her to twist and plant the weapon in Eric's chest. But she falls to the ground, body twitching and convulsing before falling still.

She isn't immortal.

Emotions war within me—relief, disgust, guilt. We have a chance. The three hollowers spin to face Eric and lower their stances, machete raised in defense. Behind them, a frazzled Anastasia wobbles to her feet and scatters off into the night, stumbling as the darkness envelopes her.

No.

"Damn it!" Eric shouts. Cassia drops to her feet behind him. One of the hollowers charge but Cassia knocks them back and sends them flying into a tree. I watch from above, reaching for my crossbow and aiming it towards the hollowers. They're all moving too fast, I can't pull apart who is on my side and who isn't.

"Go!" Cassia screams at Eric. "I'll handle this, go after the hollower!"

Eric's shout transforms into a growl as his skin turns to fur. With the blink of an eye, he leaps over the hollowers and bounds off into the darkness, howl ricocheting throughout the forest. The rest of the hollowers circle Cassia.

"Looks like you're outnumbered," one snickers.

Cassia lowers her body to the ground, silver eyes flashing violently as she calmly places her weapon on the ground. I recognize the tension in her shoulders, the way her elbows shift backwards. In the blink of an eye, she's a wolf charging at the hollowers, teeth ripping into skin and eliciting an agonising scream. I take the moment of distraction to clamber down the tree, both mine and Eric's backpacks on my shoulders and my crossbow tight in my hands.

My heart hammers, thudding to the beat of snapping jaws and weapons slicing through the air. Cassia rolls with one of the hollowers into a bush a few feet away and the other two follow. Nobody notices me. I could run and nobody would know. And that small voice inside of my head urges me to, but Eric's voice echoes in my mind, his lack of faith in my abilities. No, I won't run. Not this time. I make a move to follow the sounds of fighting but Malik drops down from the tree in front of me.

He grabs my shoulders urgently. "Get out of here, follow Eric."

"Cassia needs—"

"I've got it." The intensity in his gaze throws me off. "It isn't safe. Go after Eric, now, you need to find—"

A loud whimper travels towards us. Dread knots in my stomach, and before he can finish his sentence, I dart under his arm. The forest passes by in a blur, low hanging branches scratching at my arms and roots curling around my ankles. Adrenaline fuels me, my heart beat matching the beat of my feet against the earth. Bursting through a cluster of blackberry, I come to a clearing that meets a large rock face. My eyes scan the area, heart dropping. Cassia lies amongst the dirt in human form, naked body splattered with blood. A limp hollower lies across from her. Two hollowers stand over her, one with a huge chunk taken out of his shoulder, the other with a knife in his hand—smaller than the machete.

He raises his weapon towards her. I launch an arrow into his back. It hits his thigh, but it does the job. The knife drops to the ground as he screams and grips his leg. His companion scowls and starts toward me. I duck the first swing of the machete, but it knocks the crossbow from my hands and sends me stumbling over a raised root and falling to the ground next to Cassia. He swings again. The blade brushes my arm as I roll to the side, scrambling for my weapon, but the two backpacks on my shoulders make it hard to get to my feet. I can't reach the crossbow, opting for the dead hollowers' machete that lies at my side and holding it to the hollower.

Our eyes meet; our weapons clank. He's young, face unmarked by the sun, eyes wide and youthful. But it isn't his age that makes me falter, it isn't the soft face, nor the weak arms, it's his eyes. It's the way his fingers shake and eyebrows pull together. He's just as scared as I am.

"What are you waiting for, Damon?" The other hollower, the one I hit, scowls from the ground. "Kill her!"

But before either of them can move, Damon is flung across the clearing and Malik lands in front of us, blocking me from their view. "Go!" he orders. "Take Cassia and go!"

This time, I listen. Clambering to my feet, I sling Cassia's arm over my shoulder and stagger backwards. The crossbow is long gone. I run, Cassia's steps fumbled beside me as I drag her, the trees blurry. Her groans fill my ears, fuelling me to speed up as she holds the oozing gash in her stomach.

"Left," she murmurs, "Eric went left."

I twist left sharply, breath ragged as we bash through the trees. The foliage becomes less dense and the dirt shifts to pebbles, making the earth less steady.

"I hear them," Cassia says, "they-they're close."

Her body falls limp in my arms, the sudden weight sending me to my knees in attempt to hold her up. Panic flares in my stomach. "Cassia?" Her skin seems grey, eyes fluttered shut. "Cassia!"

Her blood stains my skin as I pull her close and press my fingers beneath her jawline, holding my breath. Her pulse beats against the end of my finger and relief floods my body. I'm not strong enough to carry her, so I have to hold her, half dragging her across the ground as I stumble through the trees and straight into another commotion.

Anastasia is wrapped in rope against the tree, her arms curled around her knees and eyes cast down. My muscles burn as I gasp for air. Eric spins to face us, his top half bare and littered with scratches. He looks angry, but when he notices Cassia, his eyes burn a new kind of red.

"What happened?" He's next to us in seconds, snatching Cassia from my hold and laying her on his knees. He doesn't seem to notice her nakedness, just the wound in her stomach. "Who did this to her?"

"The hollowers. Malik stayed behind but they got her before I could do anything and I-I tried to help but I—"

"Give me my bag," he orders. I hand it to him and he tears through it, pulling out a clear vial and some bandages, his fingers shift to claws to tear it into a smaller strip. He dresses the wound, but it doesn't stop bleeding. I'm entranced by the way his fingers brush her hair back, by the tenderness in his gaze. I've only seen him once this way before, when he lay bloodied and broken on the forest floor and begged me to go back for Elias.

"Eric?" I whisper.

He looks up at me, the vulnerable look in his eyes shifting to something darker. "Did they use the machete?"

"I don't think so. He had some sort of knife."

He curses. "Dress her. She's lost a lot of blood, and it isn't healing as fast as it should. Keep her warm."

I nod, searching for clothes in the bag and wrapping her in a sweater. I'm pulling socks over her feet when I hear a thump a few feet away. Swinging my head around, my pulse leaps. Eric has Anastasia pushed against the tree, his hand wrapped around her neck.

"This is your fault," he hisses. Anastasia's legs flail beneath her, face reddening. "Look what you did. Look what you did!"

"Eric!" I grab his arms but he's too strong, barely flinching when I yank at them. "Eric, stop! She can't breathe!"

"I don't care!"

"Eric, please!" I fall to my knees. "Without her, we'll never find him!"

Silence stretches between us, Eric's anger burning in the air like a firework. But finally, he lets her go. She drops to the floor, gasping and grabbing at her neck, choking on mouthfuls of oxygen as her hair tangles in the dirt. Eric spins to face me, grabbing my arm. "If Cassia isn't alright, you won't stop me." His gaze holds me in place. "If she isn't alright, I don't care if that hollower is immortal. I will rip its limbs from its body and throw it a place it can never escape."

I shudder, believing every word. "Eric—"

"How can you protect them after all they've put you through?" he demands. "How can you stand to breathe the same air as those monsters? How can you look at them?"

I put my hand on his arm. The words he uttered to me before we left are nothing now, all my anger is cast aside. Because we need Eric more than ever now, and he's losing it.

"Cassia will be okay." I pretend not to notice the sheen over his red eyes, the fear beneath the anger. "It's going to be okay. We'll find Elias and the weapon. We'll stop Cynthia."

"How can you know that?"

I don't. I don't know if we'll find Elias or the shadow. I don't know if Cassia will be alright, or if Anastasia will even consider helping us after that. I don't know anything and it drives me into a state of despair. But then I think of Malik and his confidence in our plan. I think of the hope that lies beneath each and every word he speaks.

"We have to have hope," I say quietly. "Otherwise we let them win."

He looks at Cassia, lifeless amongst the shrub, then meets my eye, dead serious. "Maybe they already have."

He walks back over to Cassia, gathering her in his arms and lifting her off the ground, gentle, like she's a flower. His words haunt me, lingering in the air where he stood. So many people dedicated their lives to protect Elias from the hollowers, so many people sacrificed themselves for the cause, and where did it get them? I look to Anastasia; she's still gripping her neck, but her eyes are on me, scared and unwavering. But she can't die, she's immortal.

Maybe they already have won.

The trees rustle behind us. I snap into a protective stance as a figure emerges.

"What the hell happened to you?" Eric snaps. Malik stands in the trees, chest rising rapidly. Blood coast his clothes. "Taking a nice walk while Cassia got attacked?"

"Stop it, Eric," I snap. "If it weren't for him, both Cassia and I would probably be dead."

He clenched his jaw. Despite his attitude and accusations, Malik looks unshaken.

"What happened?" I ask at the same time Eric asks, "Where are the hollowers?"

"I took care of it." Malik's eyes meet mine. They remind me of a dreamy sky or an inviting body of water, and yet, something darker lurks beneath. A reminder that he's a shifter. That he kills and doesn't think twice about it. I shudder.

"We need to get out of here," Eric says. "If there are more of them, they'll be onto us soon. If we keep walking, we'll reach the coast before midnight."

He marches off with Cassia in his arms before we can respond. I fumble towards Anastasia, avoiding her eyes as I unload the rope from the tree and wait for her to clamber to her feet.

"Hey," Malik appears beside me. "You okay?" I nod, too shaken to form a proper answer. "I got this for you."

He hands me my backpack, the one I'd dropped. I take it from him, relaxing as my hand settle around it. "Thanks."

And then we walk off, Anastasia sticking close behind me and Cassia limp in Eric's arms.

~

DISCUSSION:

1. Do you think the hollowers have already won?

2. What do you think will happen to Cassia?

3. What do you think might happen next?