“The dark lands,” Sorin whispers. “If that is where we are, then that means that behind this door…” He pushes it open, but hovers at the entrance. There is a huge stone at the center of the room. I can tell there is writing on the stone, but I cannot quite make it out. The sight of it is oddly familiar, but I cannot place where I have seen it before.Was this in one of Helomasi’s texts? No. It could not have been.Then where have I seen it?Glancing at Sorin, he seems to be almost entranced. A look of determination flits across his face. Abruptly, Sorin pulls us into the room to the stone and starts wiping off the dust with his shirt, finally revealing the engraving written on it.
Before her twenty-fifth birthday is upon her, this shall come to pass. Catastrophe will strike those who wish to mar her skin. Demoni shall roam the land in which she once called home. Every creature shall know her name. Fear will strike those with the most might. Giants will pass away. Hark, you who do not wish to hear this warning! Ignorance will not save you from her bloody fists! Justice will soon rule this land again. Kindle her fire, make it worth her while and maybe her flames will not scorch those she loved so fiercely (though her flames are strong and grow hotter with her age, do not worry about their effect on you, they will not last too long—do not be afraid of her or yourself in this journey—we are counting on you to show her the true way to salvation, a way not lined with bodies, loss, and despair, but instead alight with the truth of the meaning behind her sparks—you are the only one who can achieve this, S, you are our only hope, please bring her back to us).
“Look, Sorin,” I manage to whisper, pointing at the mark of blood at the bottom of the stone that is all too familiar to me.A dagger.Not only is it a dagger but it is my family crest’s dagger.My hands are shaking, and my body has gone cold.Oh fuck, who in my family could this be referring to?Despite my father’s best intentions, I am his only heir. There is no one else under the age of twenty-five in our lineage.It cannot be.My hands go clammy, and my heart starts to race.
“Quiet!” the guard on the other side of the corridor shouts at the other guards—they are on to us.
“Rely on me to get us out of here?” Sorin holds my hands together.
I take a deep breath, and close my eyes, nodding at Sorin. Utilizing a sharp rock lying next to the huge stone, he runs at the guards rounding the corner and swiftly incapacitates them, before pouring something over their bodies. Victorious in this quest, he runs back over to me and grabs my hand pulling me towards the entrance of what I now can see was a cave.
“What if they find us?”
“Xanthosoma potion, it’ll at least stave them off so we can find another place to hide.” Yellow potion bottles appear from his pockets, and he smirks at me. Zipping them up into the safety of his bag he grabs my hand once again and off we run back to the safety of the spindly woods.
Chapter twenty
Fire
Alaceandra
Enraged screams echo behind us as we escape into the dark forest surrounding the cave. My stupid dress snags viciously on the brambles reaching out for us as we run. I hold it close to my body but find the loss of arm movement is only making my running slower than the dress was. Sorin stops us with a hand and looks around.
Finding another little cave we can hide in; he grabs my arm and pulls me inside it. The cave is much longer than it looks on the outside, curving slightly to the left. A little divot sits in the center where we can both just barely fit laying down. The curve hides us from the casual passerby, but would not protect against any sounds we made, as it is relatively shallow.It will need to work for now. If only Sam was here.He could use his noise cancellation skills to ensure we remained completely undetected.I slant my eyes over to Sorin. I cannot help but find myself impressed by his display of skills over the past couple hours. We both are sitting next to each other in the cave. Me, totally out of breath, my body thrumming with adrenaline, chest heaving from the effort of keeping up with him. Him, not only looking stupidly handsome with sweat glistening softly across his forehead, but also not even slightly phased by all that just took place.
“I am learning about a lot of... interesting talents of yours lately... should I be concerned?” I blurt out.
He laughs but sobers when he realizes I am not joking. “Of course not, Lace. Is that even a question?”
“Maybe...” I wrinkle my nose at him. A quiet moment spans between us before I ask in a small voice. “Why did it take you so long to save me back there?”
He frowns at me. “I was trying to save you from the moment the guard walked in, Lace. I thought you saw my vine closing in when you glanced at me.”
I look away. “I did not. I just saw you staring at me and that guard. I was not sure how far you were going to let him go.” My voice catches.
He grasps my face in his palms. “I’m sorry. I was working as fast as I possibly could without alerting him or any of the other guards who might have been nearby. It killed me to watch him touch you and I wish I could have made his death much moreslow and painful.” He grits his teeth. “I never meant to make you think I was just going to watch that monster touch you.”
“Maybe we should have a little signal for next time. I can still feel the asshole’s fingers against my breast.” I cross my arms.
“Agreed,” Sorin grunts.
I start to readjust my sitting position when my foot catches in a small hole in my dress causing pain to shoot through my leg. I cry out in frustration and then hold out a hand to Sorin. “May I see that rock?”
Sorin narrows his eyes at me. “Um... yeah.”
Grasping the rock tightly in my hand I finger the edge to test its sharpness.Sharp enough. I start violently hacking away at the length of the dress aiming for it to fall just above my knee.
“What are you doing?!” Sorin reaches for the rock.
“This fucking dress got me caught in the first place.” I laugh out loud, my voice a touch hysterical. I was having maybe too much fun. I admire my work, before looking up at Sorin. “It is far too long for exploring and running from madmen in the woods.” I hack away more of the restrictive fabric. “I do not want it to cause more trouble in the future.” I pause. “Now, can you please help me with the back?”
He eyes me, before snorting out a laugh of defeat. “Sure.” I spin around in my seated position pulling the dress from underneath me.
Taking the rock, Sorin continues cutting my dress. Once he sets the rock aside, I spin back around, throwing the extra fabric away from me. A wild smile curves my lips. I catch as Sorin’s eyes latch onto the scrapes and bruises along my legs and arms before his eyes finally land on my face, troubled. “Are you okay, Lace?”
I stare at him.Might as well tell the truth. “No, definitely not,” I say, fingering the frayed edge of my dress. “Honestly? I feel like I am one more disaster away from a mental breakdown.” Itake a breath, trying not to laugh hysterically once again. “And on top of that? I feel like everyone knows a lot more about what is happening around me than I do myself.” I watch his face for a reaction. “Including you who seems to be entirely unsurprised by the huge foreboding rock back there.” I hitch a thumb back to where we came. I know I am about to break down and cry, so I quickly turn away from him, trying to keep my composure.
Blowing out a breath of frustration he gently grabs my face to look in my eyes, his thumb tracing over my cheek. “Lace, look I—” He looks pained. “It’s eating me up inside that I can’t tell you all I know, and I promise I will make things clearer to you when I can but for the time being I just really need you to trust I am doing my best to not only protect you but to keep us both alive. If I were to reveal everything too soon, I couldn’t—” He chokes on his next sentence.
