“I’m sorry, Thay. This is too much. We got whisked through not one, but two starshoots by a Beginning God with no say-so. One of us is going to end up dead if we don’t separate ourselves from this.”
His words spear through my heart, and I stumble back. The thought of losing any of them has grief pushing on my shoulders so hard, I swear my bare feet sink into the ground.
Gods, I did this. I put them in the middle of the shit show that is my life.
I started collecting friends like trinkets.
Given the severity of our situation, I never should’ve let them get close to me.
I should’ve pushed Lambrit away. Kept Yemi at arm’s length.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe.
My gaze moves to Yemi’s sniffle, and her small nod hits me in the gut like a sucker punch.
“Don’t be. Just go.”
I turn from them and blink away the tears as fast as I can before they fall. Heat rushes through my body as I force my feet to work.
Move. Go. Don’t stop.
I don’t even know where I’m running, but I run.
The farther I go, it becomes impossible to hold in the sob that wrenches its way through my chest.
What the fuck is happening?
My hands grip my knees as I bend over and scream into nothing. I let it bellow out for as long as my lungs will allow it.
A weight with the force of the stars behind it crashes into the side of me and my head ricochets off the ground. My eyes cross and a low groan leaks from my lips as the light-headedness overwhelms me.
I swear my mind weighs no more than a feather while my body resembles a boulder spinning through nothingness.
Everything throbs.
My arms struggle to hold me up as I roll over to my knees and try to get my bearings.
My physical strength isn’t the only kind waning.
I want to give up. I want to go home.
Where is home?
A foot collides against my ribs with unforgiving intensity. What little air I had in my lungs turns to stone and my body crashes back into the ground in the shape of a star. I squint my eyes against the bright, rising sun.
Every deep inhale hurts.
Every exhale feels like I’m one step closer to suffocating.
The dirt on the back of my neck clings to my sweat and the gritty, itchy texture rubs relentlessly against my skin.
“Fucking pathetic. Get up and do it again.”
I’m snatched up and a wooden sword is shoved into my chest so hard, I stumble back. My double vision crawls into one and my gaze roams across the people surrounding me.
“Yeah. Eight against one and I’m the pathetic one.”
“Weapons ready,” a breath passes as the command echoes against the four clay walls. “Attack!”
