Meridan followed my gaze to the girl, her hand poised on her knife again.
“Meridan, don’t.”
She stepped away, giving the girl space. Her eyes were sunken like she hadn’t eaten in days. She was staring at the horse, her hands clutching the soiled edges of her skirts.
“This your horse?” I asked.
She nodded, but no words came out.
I walked the horse toward the girl, watching her eyes glimpse my weapons for a moment before she settled her gaze on me.
“What is your name?”
She didn’t look intent on answering me. Doing my best not to frighten her off, I held the rope out to her. She extended her hand,opening her fingers so her palm was facing up and I dropped the lead into her grip.
“Where is your family?”
Nothing. She just watched me, her eyes big and analyzing.
“Do you think she cannot speak?” Meridan asked.
The girl’s eyes shifted toward her, growing larger. She had likely never seen anything like Meridan. Any normal person would gawk at her ghostly form, but she seemed less surprised and more… suspicious.
“What happened here?” I asked. I wanted an answer. Something. Anything.
Then, as if I’d pulled my blade and lunged at her, she dropped her mouth open, and a shrill scream ripped its way up her throat. It was loud and long-winded, hitting my ears with force. Meridan stepped back, pulling her blade out of its sheath. The girl didn’t run. She didn’t take a breath. Her scream continued. Her hand loosened and the rope dropped from her grip onto the ground. The horse reared up, galloping away from the deafening noise.
I looked around, expecting things to come out of the shadows to greet us. Our subtlety had been ruined. I rushed forward, grabbing the girl and shoving her frail body against the wall, my palm clamped over her lips.
“Stop, girl,” I hissed.
Meridan ran up beside me, her eyes scanning for threats.
“What is she doing?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.”
The girl stopped her screams and stilled, her eyes staring up at me, unblinking. Her pupils were large and her skin was ashen. Slowly, I pulled my hand from her mouth. The expression I saw on her was not the living sort. She had a pulse, but her soul seemed to have left her already. The scent of blood and urine was woven into the fibers of her dress.
“You will not speak to me, will you.”
It wasn’t a question. I knew. Her will hadn’t been her own for some time.
“Someone used the voice on her,” Meridan deduced. “For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“To alert us to intruders,” a voice spoke, feminine and unfazed. The two of us spun to find a tall woman standing on the road behind us wearing a long, cotton shift with a muddied hem. Her dark eyes slowly swayed from me to Meridan and then back to me with a cock of herhead. “Like yourselves.”
A broken link is a broken chain
No part must be undone
~Harlow Yung
I straightened, staring at the Kroan standing before us donning clothing that was not her own. She looked strange in it, her long, black hair hanging in greasy, tangled locks over her shoulders. She didn’t blink as she continued to cast her stare at us. Looking over her, I could not even see any weapons save for the sharp nails tipping her long, bony fingers.
She studied me for a long while, but her expression gave nothing away. Finally, her gaze shifted, settling on Meridan.
