Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Jasher stood over the carcass, chest heaving, hair plastered to his temples. He lifted his gaze to me, expression half triumph, half accusation, all malice. The look said: You did this.
I withered. I’d forced him to slay one of his own. A being he’d considered a brother. If he’d dared make me kill my mother or my father…
“I’m sorry,” I mouthed. Useless words. Not good enough. Nothing would be. What if there’d been another way, and I’d missed it?
He spit blood into the gurgling crimson spewing from the dead monstra.
The scent of iron filled my nostrils, drawing my attention to the crimson pool. Beneath the metallic stench of death, I detected a sweet pulse of life. The same one I’d encountered with the water in the hut. Despite my ragged state, that bloody water yanked at me, dragging me through the air.
Suddenly, I was standing beside Jasher. Confusion rocked me on my feet. How…why…?
The executioner’s eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. He raised his weapon, as if to strike me down.
Our audience went chillingly quiet again.
“No!” Gerald shouted. “Not our oracle!”
Knowing time was of the essence, my next moves critical, I buried every thought but that of survival. “Work with me to save us both.” I threw the commands at Jasher. “Retrieve the serpens-rosa dangling from the leader’s neck. Meet me in the largest hut as quickly as possible.” Where I’d left the backpack. “And give me the serpens-rosa, intact,” I added, covering all my bases. “Do what you must to survive.”
Orders given, I walked away, gait slow and steady. I’d promised not to run. But I hadn’t said I wouldn’t leave. Had mentioned nothing about not escaping. Just promised not to run. The wording mattered. Here, now, I could leave Gerald, exactly as hoped, as long as I maintained my leisurely pace.
As I neared a side door, an exit, chaos erupted behind me. Archers unleashed their arrows as Jasher flew into the stands. I watched over my shoulder. He ducked and dodged, avoiding injury. Screams of panic and pain ebbed and flowed with heavy thuds. Not the sounds of the easy snatch and grab I’d envisioned.
I winced. Jasher cut through the masses, no one safe from his wrath. He slashed through whoever got in his way, disarmed anyone who struck at him in the most brutal ways possible, and beheaded Gerald to pluck the vial from his neck.
I cringed inside and out, wishing I could change my command. I should’ve been more specific. No unnecessary deaths. But the compulsion didn’t care what I’d meant, only what I’d said.
Sniffling, I made my exit and continued strolling along the path, returning the way I’d come. People raced past, too afraid of being hunted by Jasher to mess with me. There. The hut. With Cluck Cluck still tethered across from it, forced to endure the cold without shelter.
Any survivors were gonna dine on monstra. They didn’t need my chicken, too.
I anchored her to my side and freed her from the tether. She didn’t attempt to escape as I entered Gerald’s shelter—and drew up short.
The blood-splattered Jasher stood near the fire pit, the necklace dangling in one hand, the pack hanging from the other, the axes strapped to his back.
“Your wish, my command.” He grated the words, his voice like smoke, and dropped the pack before tossing the vial my way. “Isn’t that right, princess?”
Guilt, shame, and questions grappled with my resolution. What if, what if, what if… “You may never forgive me, and that’s okay. I understand.” I would hate it, but I’d take my punishment like a big girl. “I was desperate and could think of no other way.”
He flicked his tongue over a too-sharp incisor. “You can’t understand,” he said softly. Soft, yes, yet still a scream. “No one has ever compelled you to murder a loved one.”
The denunciation lashed harder than a whip, and I ducked my head. “You’re right. I’m so sorry.”
“You’re not sorry. You would do it again.”
Yes. “Was he…was the monstra Anders or Reese?” I asked softly. No, wait. The timeline. They were still young, like Jasher himself.
This Jasher merely hissed at me.
“I did what I thought was necessary to save you.” Anything to save him.
“You wanted the monstra dead. That’s why you’re here, yes?”
I couldn’t deny it. I anchored the serpens-rosa around my neck and draped the pack over my shoulder, careful not to bang my cargo.
Noises broke out beyond the tent. Footsteps, mutterings.
“We should go,” he grated.
Clench. “This is Cluck Cluck, and she’s coming with us. She isn’t to be harmed. We’ll exit the camp and take our chances in the forest.” The pitcher of water remained on the ground, exactly where I’d left it, drawing my gaze like a magnet. Only a little liquid remained, and yet, still it called to me.
“Too late, princess,” Jasher snapped.