Talon’s voice tore through the storm. “Run.”
We did not hesitate. We sprinted along the snowy ridgeline, our boots slipping across unstable ground as the world behind us erupted in a frenzy of silver eyes and jerking limbs. The sleepers climbed out of the pit in broken, unnatural motions, snapping through the ice like it was nothing but thin parchment. Their bodies twitched and bent in ways that made my stomach lurch.
And then they screamed.
The sound hit us like a physical blow.
It was metal dragging across stone. It was a blade grinding against bone. It was a thousand starving voices crying out in perfect, terrible unison. The scream echoed across the entire valley, bouncing between cliffs, carrying through the falling snow like a storm of needles.
The girl clapped her hands over he
