Enflamed (Book 2) by R.M. Prioleau

like you were having fun back there. I hope one day you will be
able to learn about yourself.”
    “If Aidan is meant to know,
then, in due time, Aidan will know.”
    The changed scenery around
them drew Kaijin’s attention from Aidan. No more did the colorful wildflowers
carpet the landscape. The air grew humid and the skies darkened to shades of
grey. His foot sank deeper into the spongy earth with each step he took. He
wasn’t certain how long they had been walking, but they had clearly traveled a
great distance. The road appeared less beaten than earlier. In following
Nester’s lead, Kaijin hadn’t noticed when they strayed from the main road.
    Tall oak trees stretched
toward the grey skies. Signs of life were scarce, save for the occasional bird
and the light buzzing of insects. He felt Miele stir, and he looked to his
shoulder. Miele untucked her head from her wing and surveyed the landscape.
    Nester halted and retrieved
his map. He easily unfolded the oversized parchment and made certain it didn’t
touch the ground. He studied the map carefully. “We’ll be at those ruins in no
time. It’s about an ’ our’s walk, I think—” He paused
and held the map high above his head and pulled his feet out of mud with a gasp
just before they were completely submerged. “Yuck! We’re in
th’ marsh, all right.”
    Aidan grimaced and looked
down. The soft mud squished beneath his bare feet and between his toes. “Aidan
hopes we are not lost....” He lifted his head slightly and sniffed the air. His
nose wrinkled in disgust.
    Sensing the creature’s
tension, Kaijin glanced sidelong at him. “Something wrong, Aidan?”
    “Blood,” Aidan said absently.
His head turned, and his silver eyes narrowed, as if he had seen something off
in the distance.
    Nester’s pointed ears twitched. “Did you ’ear that?” He
quickly refolded his map.
    Kaijin noticed Aidan’s muscles
tense and bulge, prompting his own senses to rise. He followed Aidan’s gaze and
spotted a cluster of shadows off the muddy path. The slight shift in movement
only lasted a split second before the area became calm again. Furrowing his
brow in confusion, Kaijin regarded the giant again. “What is it, Aidan?”
    Slowly, Aidan slid his foot to
the side until he had discreetly set himself into a defensive posture. “We are
not alone,” he said quietly.
    Kaijin opened his mouth to
speak and felt a sharp pain in his mind. Shrieking frantically, Miele leapt
from his shoulder and soared into the air, above the treetops. Kaijin clenched
his fist and concentrated on a spell, ready to unleash it at the first signs of
trouble.
    Nester backtracked until he
bumped into Aidan’s thigh, like a fly colliding with a tree trunk. He flicked
his wrists, and two twin daggers appeared in his hands from unseen sheaths. He
nervously spun the weapons around.
    The wind whistled lightly.
    Several guttural voices cut
through the evening.
    Kaijin listened closely to the
crude unfamiliar language. What? He made a face. “What in the hells is
that?”
    Aidan furrowed his brow.
“Sounds like heated conversation. Though, Aidan could be wrong.”
    A creature leapt from the
underbrush and faced the group, yelling a string of sharp phrases in its native
tongue. The creature was rubbery, lanky, gruesome, and human-like, standing
almost the same height as Aidan. Its moldy, green face was distinctly angular.
Two ears, pointed and looking as though something had chewed on them—with tufts
of scraggly obsidian-colored hair sticking out—complemented the creature’s
oblong, drooping nose and wide, blood-spattered mouth, from which sickly green,
acidic-looking drool oozed. Warts and fungus covered its skin, making the
creature seem nearly one with the dank marshlands. It assessed the group
briefly before resting its yellow eyes on Aidan.
    Aidan tensed and muttered,
“What manner of creature is—”
    “ Troll !” Nester
blurted.
    The brownie’s outburst
startled Kaijin enough to