CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FRID
Ihad no idea how much time I spent hitting my forehead against the wall.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I kept hearing the growls and scraping of nails on the wooden surface on the other side of the room. The child. The child was left inside and barricaded. His parents could not kill it, and they could not leave him either. Instead they remained in the apartment nearby, slowly dying from hunger until that day when they decided to end it once and for all.
I kept asking myself just one question, not finding an answer. My thoughts crashed into one another and only one word remained.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why was this happening? How could anyone deserve this? Why did we keep fighting? Could it be true that the gods were purposefully extinguishing every one of us?
I wrapped my fingers around the handle of my sword, pressing all those feelings deep down. Forcing myself not to feel anything. My eyes landed on the polished surface of the painted wood. No one deserved to be tortured after death.
They couldn’t kill it, but I could.
With that, I plunged the sword into the opening with one precise motion. A chilling, thick silence hung in the hall. The remains of the crawler’s body hit the floor with an explosion of sound, and then everything fell quiet again.
I entered the room, avoiding looking at the body. There was a small bed, a side table, two wooden chairs, drawings of dragons and knights on the walls, and toys scattered everywhere.
I clenched my teeth.
Did they know that just one building down stood the temple with sacred water that could heal the boy? I was sure that if I looked out the window I could see the outlines of its facade.
I dragged the sleeve of my flying suit across my face, holding back a dark storm of emotions.
After searching more rooms on a couple more floors, I decided to return to the attic. Victor was right, people or dragonbornscleared this place many years ago. There was nothing here we could use and time was not on our side. Every hour I spent on some activity that did not produce any food or water wasted my energy. I had to be more strategic about my actions or we both could be in serious trouble. I walked up the stairs, listening for any sounds in the building. Victor was probably still sleeping, he needed more rest after all the damage his body experienced. How fast could he get back on his feet? Maybe I should carry him to the temple for a second time to speed up his recovery?
I looked through the room and then moved toward the closet. To my surprise, the door was open but Victor was not there. I swore under my breath looking around, and despite the heat, my blood turned ice cold.
Did the crawlers find him here and he had to get out? But where could he go if he could barely stay on his feet.
“Victor!” I called.
“I wouldn’t be so loud if I were you. The lower floors are packed with crawlers. Find anything?” The unexpected sound of his voice came from the other side of the room.
Only then I saw Victor slumped against the banister on the balcony, looking out. His hair had grown a little longer, nearly touching his eyebrows. In the bright sunshine, it looked almost platinum colored. He stood wrapped in a piece of fabric that covered his left shoulder and left his right arm bare. I could clearly see the marks of his wounds. He was not completely healed yet.
“You scared me.”
I exhaled, sheathing my sword, then shut the door behind me. Carefully, I secured the only entrance to the attic by dragging the table and several chairs in front of the door.
“I was wondering . . .” Victor started.
“Yeah?” I pulled out a chair and dropped in it.
“Did you kidnap me?”
“What?” I wrinkled my forehead.
“How the fuck did Ty let you do this?”
