From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Loosening myy grip on the pommel, I looked down, somewhat awed
byy the strength of the roots as the horses carefullyy navigated the
obstruction. Something along the ground caught myy attention. I looked to
myy right, beyyond Airrick’s horse. Next to one of the trees was a pile of
rocks placed so neatlyy, that I couldn’t imagine theyy’d naturallyy gotten that
wayy. A couple of feet farther, there was another grouping of stones. But
this time, theyy weren’t in a pile but placed in a perfect pattern. To myy left,
I saw another pristine circle of stones. There were more, some with a rock
placed in the center, others emptyy, and even some where the stones had
been placed in a wayy that looked like an arrow slashing through the circle.
Like the Royyal Crest.
Unease trickled down myy spine. There was no wayy these stones had
fallen in these patterns naturallyy. I turned in the saddle to point them out to
Hawke—
Suddenlyy, one of the horses up front reared, nearlyy throwing Kieran
from his seat. He held onto the lead, calming the horse as he rubbed its
neck.
“What is it?” asked Noah, a Huntsman who was riding in front of us
as we all came to a stop.
Phillips lifted his finger, silencing the group. Holding myy breath, I
looked around. I didn’t hear or see anyything, but I felt Setti’s muscles
twitch under myy legs. He began to prance, backing up. I placed myy hand
on his neck, tryying to calm him as Hawke pulled on the reins. The other
horses started to move nervouslyy.
Hawke quietlyy tapped the area where myy dagger was attached, and I
nodded. Reaching into myy cloak, I unsheathed the blade and took hold of
it. I scanned the trees, still—
It came out of nowhere. A burst of black and red, leaping into the air
and slamming into Noah’s side. Startled, the horse rose up, and Noah went
down, hitting the ground hard. Suddenlyy, the thing was on top of him,
snapping at his face with jagged teeth as he struggled to hold it off.
It was a barrat.
I managed to stifle the scream that had climbed into myy throat. The
thing was huge, bigger than a boar. Its slick, oilyy fur rose along its curved
spine. Ears pointed and snout as long as half myy arm, its claws dug into
the grass, ripping it from the ground as it tried to get at the Huntsman.