Aiden pulled up the hem of his shirt, checking on the tiny trickle of blood still occasionally running from his wound, grimacing as he pressed the soaked bunch of fabric back onto the gash.
He might not make it after all, even when he’d gotten this far. A wild animal might still hunt him down and makedinner of him. Not that there was much he could do to defend himself should it come to it. He’d left behind his sword when he’d crept off the battlefield, pathetic worm that he was.
At least he’d managed to speak his apologies to Lory, the one person he regretted not having in the know when he’d set out to achieve what only a handful of Ashthorn students ever achieved.
When Falcrest had first told him about the Ebon Division, Aiden had believed it a trap, a creative way to kill him faster. But then the captain had explained, and Aiden’s already small world had narrowed to that one goal. Falcrest was the one person who hadn’t treated him like a criminal from the beginning, but like an asset. He’d protected him and helped him catch up with the areas Aiden lacked, like Knowledge and Gilded. Not unlike Lory, who had plenty to learn when it came to those fields, even when she excelled in Veiled and Medica.
Elory Vednis was his one regret—the sister he could save yet had to leave behind in order to become Ebon Fang, Ashthorn’s secret rank. One awarded only to those who manage to convince the rest of the world they were dead.
For weeks, Aiden had thought about how to best fake his death so it would be credible. The Amrin Mountains had been his chance, and Lory’s tears sealed his death certificate. The wild animals were the alibi for his missing body, and if everything had gone right, even Falcrest wouldn’t know if he’d succeeded.
Damn, if only his magic would work, he could have used his palm as an ice pack to ease the swelling in his leg, butthe battle had drained him thoroughly, and the exhaustion combined with the injury made it nearly impossible for his powers to recover until he found a safe place to rest and sleep it off.
He was about fifty percent certain only one bone in his calf was broken, but that was enough. It was excruciating, and so was every breath as he pushed himself up and staggered a few feet before he leaned against the next tree.
“I will survive this,” he told himself the same way he’d told his sister she would survive all those times they’d gone for days without food. But this time was different. No one was there to requite his words with a smile; no one had a kind word for him. To the world, Aiden Bellmont was dead, and the next time he saw the few friends he had left behind, it might be on a mission to end them.
“Keep walking.” One foot in front of the other, Aiden made his way up the mountain, biting back curses and pleas for a safe place to rest.
His hands slipped on rocks as he grabbed on to stabilize himself, and his energy faded with the progress of the sun rising and setting on the horizon.
It was only when his vision started to blur, and his tongue stuck to his palate from thirst, that he spotted the gaping cave mouth a few hundred feet ahead, hidden behind a cluster of trees. If he made it there, he might not fall prey to those wild animals after all.
“Come on, Aiden. You can do it.” He spurred himself on. “You survived Ashthorn. You’ll survive these ridiculous mountains.”
His knee buckled at the sharp pain running up his calf as he increased his pace, and he landed on his hands and knees, palms slithering across the dead grass and gravel of the steep incline he was facing.
“Keep going.”
In all his life, Aiden Bellmont had not given up. Not when he’d found himself responsible for his younger sister at the age of ten. Not when he’d stolen his way through Dunai to provide for her. Not when he’d made the choice to join the most notorious street gang in the desert city and sworn loyalty to the Gargoyles in exchange for their protection after he’d avenged his sister’s death—they’d gladly taken him in, his track record of killing qualifying him as one of their bullies. And not when he’d been pushed into Ashthorn. Not during his missions in the mountains or his trials. He’d prevailed, and so had his spirit. But this…
Faking his own death to become a no-name for the Ebon Division? This might just do the trick.
Because staying stagnant was certain death, Aiden started crawling, his eyes set on the dark hole behind the trees. From the background, the trickle of water guided him—perhaps an illusion—while gravity did its best to prevent him from making progress as he fought his way up the hill.
Only when he was ready to faint did he reach the trees, and the low ceiling of the cave morphed into a toothy maw ready to devour him.
Saber-sharp canines appeared before him, the stench of rotted meat blowing over his face, and two lilac orbs appeared in the darkness.
“Over there,” someone called, the voice multiplying as it bounced off the cave walls.
Aiden was eighty percent certain the antlers appearing above the lilac eyes were only in his head. The claws pinning his shoulder as he tried to roll over, however, were entirely real, their sharp tips drawing blood.
“He’s alive,” another voice, a female one, declared.
“Not for much longer,” the first voice concluded from up close.
A groan of pain built in Aiden’s throat as he fought the pressure of the claws, half-convinced the closer voice belonged to the creature holding him down.
“Stop fighting, fool,” the voice scolded as a pair of hands gripped his injured shoulder tight, the claws sliding away, leaving scratches in their wake. “You’ll kill yourself.”
“The whole point of this operation,” Aiden coughed, no longer able to discern what was real and what an infection-induced dream.
A part of him wondered if the message of his death had already reached Ashthorn. If they’d held a simple ceremony for the deceased, the way they usually did after larger trials where many lives were lost. If Anees would mourn him. If she’d waste one thought in her beautiful head on his disappearance and question the authenticity of his death when his body hadn’t yet been found.
Her white teeth flashed in a brilliant grin as he summoned a memory of her face, and her emerald eyes sparkled like two gems.
“Don’t fall asleep, boy,” the voice commanded, and in his mind, Anees’s grin turned into a smirk, a nod followingthe comment as she seemed to challenge him to keep his consciousness.
