“Shh. It’s not our place to question our master. Besides, he’ll probably use her once and discard her like he’s done to the others.”
My heart stills in my chest.
Use her once and discard her?
They’re talking about my Miss Moe?
No, no. That cannot happen! I won’t let it.
As soon as they’re gone, I hurry after them toward the house. There is no one guarding the entrance to the house, so I grab onto the door handle to pull it open. But I barely touch it when a strong gust of energy blasts me away.
What?Magical runes? Since when do mortals have access to such runes?
I fall to the ground, pain erupting all over my body. Slow to get up, I barely realize that an alarm had been sounded by my mere touch of the door and rushing steps thud toward me.
Looking wildly around, I see at least ten armed guards running toward me.
“Catch the intruder!” A voice echoes.
I scramble to my feet with difficulty. My back hurts, as does my hand where I touched the rune-affected door.
I run as fast as I can from the incoming mob, but to my luck, I end up face to face with other guards coming from the opposite direction.
Damn!
Glancing around, I don’t see a way out of this. Just as I change my direction toward the fence, one of the guards grabs my coat, pulling me back.
I elbow him in the stomach, but my blow barely does anything. One punch from him and I already see stars. I wobble on my feet, disoriented, until I see the other guard reach for his sword.
He swings it at me and I narrowly dodge to avoid lethal damage. But it still cuts my arm from my shoulder to my elbow. I hiss in pain.
He doesn’t give me any time to regroup, swinging his sword again. I dodge, but once more, the tip of the blade pricks my leg.
The other guard draws his weapon too, and in a matter of seconds, the ten other guards will be here, too.
If I don’t do something soon, I’m dead. Then I won’t be able to help Miss Moe, and that is just unacceptable.
She cannot be hurt! Not while I’m still breathing!
Just as one of the swords lunges toward me, I reach for it, grabbing it with my already hurt hand. The blade slashes through my skin, blood pouring onto the ground. The other sword strikes too, and I use my other hand to block it.
The pain is so intense, my mind becomes foggy with it. But instead of surrendering to it, I decide to use it as a push—the one I need to get out of here. With all the strength I have left, I pull onto the swords toward me, and with them the guards follow. Right when they’re a little wobbly on their feet, I kick at their knees and release the swords, making one last dash out of here.
My hands are a bleeding mess. My entire body aches and hurts. With nothing more but my determination, I scale the fence to jump on the other side, the guards still hot on my trail.
And when my feet land on the ground again, I run at full speed.
Only when I’m sure I’ve lost them do I take a break to catch my breath.
I cannot leave Miss Moe there for that Mr. Denos to do unspeakable things to her. No, over my dead body!
With no time to spare, I do the only thing left for me to do. I return home, douse my wounds in disinfectant and grab the blue vial.
With a nervous gulp, I don’t even think of the potential consequences as I unscrew the cap and drink it all in one go.
18
The liquid burns my throat, going down my esophagus and leaving a trail of fire in its wake. As it reaches my stomach, a blinding pain erupts within. I double over in pain.
