Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
He…doesn’t care. It’s the apathy, and in a way, it makes him the ideal traveling companion, because he doesn’t care enough to gripe. He doesn’t ask why I’ve got a goat with me. He doesn’t ask where we’re going. He just trails along beside me, just fast enough that I don’t have to snipe at him.
Even though my stomach has been growling all day, I don’t stop for a break until dusk, when I’m dizzy with hunger and fatigue, and the sunlight has disappeared so completely that I can’t see a thing. We find a muddy little island with a massive tree looming over it, and the low-hanging, drooping branches are a decent umbrella to hide underneath. I crawl under the canopy, close to the trunk, and settle in at the roots. I want to flop down, face first, but there’s too much mud.
Dingle chews on some of the leaves, and I figure that’ll do for his meal. I tie his lead to my ankle so he doesn’t wander away, and rub my face. Kalos just stands there, looking around, his robes plastered to his legs.
“What is it?”
The god frowns down at me. “Why are we stopping?”
“Because I’m tired and I need to eat.” My hands shake as I struggle to open the damp pack. I’m so fatigued I can’t see straight, and the hunger driving me mad is now making me weak. I fumble with the packet of food and grab a hard, round cornmeal-and-lard cake and shove it into my mouth.
“If we’re in danger, as you claim, we should keep going.”
“We should, but I’m mortal and fragile and need a break.” And I need to not lose my shit on him. He’s just being…apathetic. He didn’t sign up for this, whereas I did. I smile and offer him a bite of the food. “Why don’t you sit and relax for a moment? I think we’re safe right now.”
His lip curls and he leans away from the food, repulsed. “I don’t care if we are or not.”
“I care.” I take the food he dismissed and shove it into my mouth. So good. I don’t care that it coats my mouth with grease or that it tastes a little stale. I’m so hungry it’s delicious.
A frowning Kalos watches me eat and eventually sits down. He settles his robes around his legs, peeling wet linen from his limbs. “So, since this is your strategy for survival, what is the plan? Wander the swamps until we perish?”
I shake my head, and wonder if it’s wise to eat a second corn cake. I do so anyhow, because if I don’t have the strength to move tomorrow, that’s a problem. “We’re going to find a city and hide out.”
He looks openly skeptical. “And how will we do that, pray tell?”
“I have a map.”
“Mm. And will the city be friendly? I am the Vulture God, after all. The bringer of disease. No one embraces me with enthusiasm.”
Is he bitter about that? Or just making pissy commentary? “You can’t blame them. I touched your hand and you gave me the flu. Maybe if you want to be embraced, be a kinder, gentler god.”
He snorts. “You assume I wish for the embrace of mortals. All I want is to be left alone.”
“That’s the goal,” I say, since it’s as good a goal as any. “We look for somewhere to hide out where you can be left alone, and I can manage to live a normal life while being tied to you.”
“A normal life,” he muses. “What does that look like for you?”
I genuinely have no idea. I don’t know much about this world or its people, or what I’d do for a living. I have no skills. I’m a barista, a dog walker, and an Uber driver. “I’ll figure something out. Right now, a normal life just means staying alive. We’ll conquer this one step at a time.”
Kalos sighs heavily. “If we must.”
“We must.” In the dimming light, he looks…distant. Vaguely miserable. It must be rough to be Apathy. I wonder what his thoughts are, or if I even want to know. “You want quiet, I’ll get you quiet.”
He simply grunts. “I wonder if we’d be better off if we just wandered in this swamp until we died. That’s easier for everyone, isn’t it?”
“It’s not easier for me, and I’m not giving up. Your other Aspect that’s coming after you is just going to have to wait. I don’t plan on dying any time soon, so too bad for you.”
“Too bad, indeed.” He sounds a little depressed at my resolve, the turd. Is this what I gave up everything for? To run endlessly and hear his bitching? I know he can’t help it, but my temper is rather short today. It’s all the mud. And the exhaustion. And… everything.