"How the hell did things get like this?"
The thought raced through Kiera's mind, her breath ragged, her legs burning, her arms trembling from exhaustion as she carried her younger sister in her arms. Blood dripped down her left arm, warm and slick, but she couldn't tell if it was hers or her sister's anymore.
The darkness of the night pressed in around them, the great miasma mist thick with the scent of blood and death. Shadows moved within it...horrible, chittering figures, their insectoid limbs scraping against the ground, the gnashing of mandibles growing louder.
They were getting closer.
She felt her sister twitch in her arms, her breathing shallow, faint whimpers escaping her lips. Nyla was unconscious, her body limp, both her legs missing below the knees, her arms reduced to bleeding stumps, as if something had bitten them clean off.
