Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series Read Free Page B

crawled toward them through the dark. Eloryn mentally flicked through pages of her reference books. What lives like this? Animal or fairy-kind? What other clues did she have? She looked down and saw the sticks under her feet were in fact old, fragile bones. A slithering chatter of dark words ricocheted down the cavern walls. Eloryn realized what the creatures were before they came into view. She gasped.
    “What is...?” Memory’s question cut off as the monstrous shapes shambled into the light.
    Flesh eaters, cave dwellers, unseelie fae. The illustrations didn’t do them justice. Human in shape but larger and malformed, the creatures were long armed, with grey hanging skin that rippled underneath, as though they were made from dripping mud. Eyes like deep holes were set in their angled skulls, black and without shine. Their yellowed teeth, too big for their mouths, smelt of death. Eloryn’s first sight of trolls shook her to the core.
    “I’m guessing they aren’t your friends either?” Memory whispered.
    “They shouldn’t hurt us. We should be protected by the Pact.”
    “ Shouldn’t doesn’t really do it for me right now. Like monsters shouldn’t be real.”
    Eloryn took a deep breath, also finding no comfort in her words. They were in the trolls’ territory. The Pact would give them no protection here. Eloryn could hear the twisted voices of the creatures, speaking of their desire to crunch small bones. Her stomach lurched. The trolls moved closer, but circled, keeping their distance, testing an invisible boundary. They hissed in frustration. One repeated word reached Eloryn from the mess of whispers; Forbidden.
    “This way.” Eloryn stepped between the piles of bones, edging around the side of the cavern to another tunnel.
    Memory followed close behind, barely taking her wide eyes off the trolls. She picked up a large bone, holding its broken end outwards like a weapon. The trolls laughed in response; a harsh noise, like the bones crackling under their feet. They gathered at the edge of the light, coming to them from all the dark crevices of the cave, forming a wall of sharp toothed monsters.
    Eloryn whispered, “When we reach that tunnel, just run. It’s small. They might fit but we’ll move faster.”
    “What if we get stuck in there? What if we can’t get out?”
    “Please, trust me,” Eloryn said.
    One ambitious troll surged forward and Memory swung the bone blade. It crumbled against the troll like chalk across a stone. She dropped the useless bone, but the troll backed away, choking laughter again. Just a few more tricky steps from the tunnel entrance and more trolls tensed to lunge.
    “Run, now!” Eloryn cried, then spoke her words to the earth.
    A trunk sized stalactite fell, crashing down between them and the trolls, shards and dust flying. Eloryn bolted into the tunnel. Memory tripped, stumbling into her. The tunnel floor dropped in front of them. Eloryn’s knees gave way and they both fell forward, rolling down the uneven rocks and steep slope faster than they would have dared to run. Hips and elbows cracked into rocks, and hands cut as she reached out to slow her fall. The tunnel’s descent smoothed and they washed up on top of a pile of broken pebbles and bones.
    A blow to Eloryn’s chest left her sucking breath back into flattened lungs. Fortunately she’d chosen not to wear a corset today. She directed the glowing wisp back up the tunnel. Through the smallest gap between bends a few determined trolls could be seen making a less clumsy descent.
    “Have to keep going.” She got to her feet too quickly and scraped her head, the tunnel roof too low to stand fully. Wincing from the sharp sting, she was too slow to warn Memory from doing the same. The girl spat a word Eloryn didn’t know. She guessed it was a curse.
    They dashed over uneven ground, deeper into the mountain through the winding tunnel. Openings branched out on either side but Eloryn led on without hesitation, a