Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
A muscle jumped beneath his eye. “Finding trapper camps requires months of searching. They move often, and we’re both eager to reach Lux.” He adjusted the strap of his pack and strode off in the direction we’d come. “Speaking of, let’s go.”
Defenses now pricked, I stayed silent and alert as we abandoned the curtain and trekked deeper into the forest. Scanning for metal in trees and sparkly veils in the air. Listening for footsteps and voices. It wasn’t long before that thick, cloying darkness inched over the terrain.
When Jasher stopped, I stopped with him, even as my heart picked up speed, carrying me miles.
“Another sarra?” I whispered, unable to locate a bolt in the shadows. But I did detect a soft hum.
“Yes.” He stalked off the crumbling road and dropped the pack. “We’ll camp here for the night.”
Well. He must consider this a safe spot, sirenes or not. Puttering forward, I inspected the area with fresh eyes, trying to see what he saw. Thicker bush cover along the perimeter, with briars and thorns interspersed throughout. The sirenes patch. A cluster of mushrooms—my gaze zoomed back to the sirenes.
Such a lovely melody. I wanted only to listen forever and ever and ever and ever. And maybe touch a bloom. Just once. I stepped toward them.
The ring-shaped bruise blazed at the base of my finger, snapping me to attention. Whoa! Almost got snared again. I forced myself to focus on the only sight with a surer hold. Jasher, a tower of brute strength as he prepared the site.
The melody faded from my awareness, and my racing heart slowed. My brain flipped back on. So. The shadow ring did help me. But how? I frowned. And how did a new sphere cocoon us in a hazy circle of illumination, pushing the darkness away?
“Where is the light coming from?” I inquired, marveling.
“My armor is coated in ether ash. Before you ask, the effects last forever.” Gathering sticks, he said, “The water maiden who gave you the compass. Is her name Iris?”
“It is.” I helped him with the collection efforts, tossing handfuls of wood pieces into his pile. “How did you know?” And where could I get some of that ether ash? I’d like to slather my entire body in it.
“She’s an enemy to the Guardian.” He knelt and ignited the first embers with two rocks. For him to risk creating a literal beacon in the night, I assumed no one could see inside our sphere.
I sat across from him, enjoying a waft of heat. “There’s more to the story.”
He worked his jaw before settling in and tossing me a piece of jerky, then the canteen. “She murdered his wife.”
Oh wow. Okay. So not what I’d expected to hear. “That isn’t good.” I nibbled on the meat and sipped the water, then admitted, “I, um, kind of owe her an unnamed favor.” Just another instance of ignorance getting me into trouble.
He threw a log into the fire with more force than necessary. “I suggest you lure her into this forest and kill her before she can collect. Or pay someone to do it for you.”
“Someone like you, perhaps?”
“I’m already on a job. I’m not currently for hire.” His shoulders hiked in a shrug. “My guess is, she’ll demand you kill the Guardian. She despises him.”
I shook my head, emphatic. “I won’t do it.” No way, no how.
“Outside of this forest, such a refusal will make you a liar and subject to death.”
Ugh. Being held responsible for morally corrupt behavior really sucked sometimes. “Won’t killing him outside this forest also make me subject to death? Murder is a crime no matter how you slice it.”
“Yes. But the Guardian’s death isn’t considered murder,” Jasher muttered.
Uh… “I don’t understand.”
“That isn’t my problem.”
I bit my tongue. Well. We’d go a different route with this Q and A. “Why does Iris despise him so much?”
A moment passed. Then another. I figured the conversation had ended. No matter. I’d try again tomorrow.
Then he spoke, his gaze locked on a dagger he sharpened. “There was a time, long ago, when her people rebelled over the Guardian’s leadership. He’d just taken power after a much despised king and queen were killed. The maidens broke many laws attempting to remove him from power. Storms and monstra came. Innocents died and destruction reigned. To stop further tragedy, the Guardian sent his army to their villages. Few survived.”
Before I had time to process and react, Jasher’s attention shot beyond me. “We’re being stalked by a pack of rabdogs, which means we’re being stalked by trappers.” He stood slowly, unsheathing a dagger with each hand.
Apprehension engulfed me in an instant. I’d deal with Iris and the unnamed boon later, when I wasn’t in immediate danger from cannibals. “Can a day in Hakeldama not pass without some kind of trouble?” I chewed on my bottom lip, not sure I wanted to know the answer to my next question. “What are rabdogs?”