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CHAPTER NINE

Bared teeth, hungry mouths, and sightless eyes were all I
saw as my blood complemented the already considerable
red of the falling sun. They came from the tall grass, quiet
and vicious. My sisters barely managed to fend them off,
eliciting only a handful of shrieks for their troubles. They
suddenly vanished, withdrawing behind the sinking day,
spilled blood the only proof of their passage. I was sorely
wounded again, but the renewed silence from the monsters’
absence felt soothing against my ruined skin. My assailants
might have been dogs, or even wolves, but I doubted it.
They were too large, too fierce, too calculating. Preparing
for another clash, I took to the deep grass and waited for
chance or circumstance to deliver me a killing opportunity.
The very tops of the grass seemed aflame with the last
touches of twilight, a calming breeze playing against the
savagery of the previous moments. The creatures, whatever
they were, seemed to be waiting for something. It wasn’t
long before that something approached through the field
with a calm, two-legged gait. The steps paused to inspect—
or admire—the joining of twilight and blood, creating an
exquisitely deep crimson. The creature’s movement was
light and graceful—a woman, most likely.
I gathered the silence of the field, inhaling it while I
listened. The night began trickling in as the sun grew colder.
My sisters began to giggle softly, two impatient children
eager for their turn at play. Clouds tumbled grey and

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