“Next time,” the Commander growled near my ear, his voice a blade against the dark, “I’ll keep you fucking chained to this saddle.”
“You should have let it eat me,” I muttered. “Would’ve saved you the trouble.”
His arm tightened around my waist. “Don’t tempt me, Drownling.” His hand hadn’t strayed from my body since he killed the beast. As if he thought I would throw myself into the darkness. The only sound was the pounding of hooves and the chilling clicking sounds bleeding from the darkness. I gripped the pommel of the saddle with white knuckles, looking up at the stars blurring above us through the treetops, begging for this night to end.
Twenty-Two
Waterfall
Morning brought no comfort, only the memory of shadows, monsters, and the weight of survival. The sun shone bright in the sky, almost mockingly. Golden light filtered through the towering trees, warming my skin in a way that felt almost sinful after the night of terror I had endured. I didn’t think I’d ever grow used to that warmth. It almost made the dangers of Lumireth worth enduring.
The night had felt endless and terrifying. The Commander had driven us through the forest, galloping hard while those creatures hunted our trail. Only when the first blush of dawn spread across the horizon did we slow to a canter and he had stopped holding onto me. Apparently, the monsters only came out at night. My hips ached more than my arm, and I both longed for and dreaded getting off this damn horse. I had never heard of a creature like the one from last night. It felt like something the Iron Guard would have included in their lessons, but maybe I hadn’t been in training long enough to learn about such monsters.
Winston came to an abrupt stop, and I tipped forwardsin the saddle before slamming backwards against the Commander. He growled in reaction to the contact, but his large hand gripped my waist to steady me.
We were in a small clearing of pink and purple wildflowers; the shade of the surrounding trees allowed the soft breeze to cool the sweat from my skin. I felt disgusting. I had never gone this long without bathing. I was covered in blackish-blue blood and smelled as horrid as the monster who had bled over me. The saddle shifted as the Commander leapt from the horse. Solas stood next to his, stretching his arms above his head as Cerilla sat down amongst the flowers.
I slung my numb legs over the saddle, sliding off the horse in the most ungraceful way possible. Instead of my legs catching me, they crumbled beneath me and I fell to the ground. The Commander chuckled at me before walking towards his sister.
Asshole. I glared at the darkness crawling up his body from the forest, as if bringing him secrets. I could almost still feel their icy tendrils clawing at my skin. Solas sat in the grass next to me, handing me a piece of bread and a canteen of water.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
Solas rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing at the smear of dried blood. He was covered in the same dark blue blood as me, mixed with his own. I picked at the bread, chewing it and chasing it down with a gulp of water.
“What does a Skathari call a Fae?”
I didn’t answer, raising an eyebrow at him and taking another bite of the bread.
“A Fae-vourite snack.” His grin didn’t falter when I didn’t laugh, his own chuckle filling the silence.
“Is that what that thing was? A Skathari?” I stumbledover the word. The Fae accent had a way of making words sound beautiful. I had completely butchered it.
He nodded, stealing a glance over his shoulder at the Commander and Cerilla before lowering his voice. “Come on, I know you are curious.”
“I didn’t know such beasts existed.”
“There are many monsters plaguing our lands.” He leant forwards, leveling his eyes on me. “But you are going to help fix that.”
“Me?” My voice turned high-pitched. What wasIgoing to do to help? If anything, last night should have showed them I would be useless at fighting their monsters. I couldn’t even fight my own.
“The weapons?—”
“Solas!” The Commander was suddenly there, cutting off Solas’s words. Solas gave him an easy smile, unflinching against his glare.
“Cerilla will fix your wound now.” Solas chuckled softly before standing and walking towards Cerilla.
“Get up,” the Commander growled, crossing his tattooed arms over his broad chest and glaring down at me. He had saved my life last night, yet somehow that made me hate him more.
“Do I need to use the bargain?” One corner of his mouth twitched into a lopsided smirk, but the threat in his voice was clear.
Venom pooled in my gaze as I stood, imagining what it would feel like to make him bleed. He turned, walking through the field of flowers, clearly expecting me to follow. I imagined my axe sinking into the shifting muscles of his back. If I ever saw my axe again, that’s the first thing I would be doing.
We left the clearing, the trees above us whispering in awarm breeze that scattered sunlight across the forest floor. I tilted my head back, marvelling at the serenity of the lush greenery. Through the branches, I caught glimpses of the endless blue above. Lumireth’s sky stretched far and wide. Though, it wasn’t entirely clear today; grey clouds gathered in the direction we were heading, bruising the horizon.
I lowered my gaze just in time to avoid colliding into the Commander. I stopped short, my hands shooting out as I nearly faceplanted into the wall of muscle that was his back. He exhaled sharply, the sound halfway between a sigh and a growl. My hands had only touched him for a moment, but it was a moment too long.
“If you got your head out of the clouds, you might not be so clumsy.”
