Page 33 of Dream Reaper

This seemed to stump the human girl. She said nothing, a muscle in her jaw ticking as she contemplated Ava with a deadly stare. Ava desperately hoped this argument would win her over because she was running out of ideas. She was too tired and too weak to be clever. She needed broth and poultices herself…

“Please,” she dared to add. “Take me to the dragon.”

Brynja’s expression grew fiercer, but when she spoke, it was in that detached tone again. “Very well. But trust my word when I say I won’t hesitate to hurt you if you try to run or do anything suspicious.”

She patted the handle of her sheathed blade.

“I would expect nothing less,” Ava murmured, eyeing the dangerous human with more than a little concern. “Before we go, I’m going to need some supplies. A cloth flask or water skin and something long and hollow but not too thick. Like a reed? Or a hollowed out stick about so long?”

She held out her hands to show a distance of three feet.

“We should be able to arrange that. Anything else?”

“Something thick and gummy to act as a seal. Clay might work. Or tree sap would be better. And rags. Lots of rags.”

After they gathered the supplies, Brynja slung the bag over Ava’s shoulder, then led her outside the camp blindfolded. All was quiet around her. Robbed of her sight, she became more alert to sound, straining for any little noise that might reveal where she was or what was happening around her.

A fire crackled somewhere nearby—the scent of smoke teased her nostrils. But other than a barely audible murmur of voices, nothing broke the silence to tell her anything about her surroundings.

The air felt cold against her skin, so it might be evening?

Leaves crunched beneath her boots as the murmur of voices faded into the darkness as if they had never existed to begin with. Ava’s pulse thundered beneath her skin, and her stomach clenched as she waited for something to go wrong.

Had Brynja brought her out into the woods as an excuse so she could kill her?

The threat of that blade against her spine grew more sinister by the moment. What if it hadn’t been a threat but a promise of what was to come?

She forced herself to inhale through her nose and exhale through her mouth to help calm her nerves.

Her shins banged into something hard. She hissed between her teeth as Brynja gave her elbow a merciless jerk from behind. Ava felt frantically with her free hand, her fingers brushing over something hard and bumpy. Rough edges caught beneath her fingernails as she explored. Tree bark?

Perhaps it was a fallen log. She lifted a leg and tried to climb over the obstacle as Brynja tugged to the left.

“Can’t I take the blindfold off now?” Ava whispered. “We’ll travel faster if I can see.”

Brynja’s only response was to push her harder and force her to move more quickly down whatever trail she had chosen. Ava ground her teeth together and stumbled forward on aching legs.

The lightheadedness from her hunger combined with the darkness all around her made her dizzy and disoriented.

If only Brynja had given her a little water before beginning this ridiculous journey…

The path beneath her feet slanted abruptly. She gasped and leaned backward to maintain her balance as she slid and stumbled downward. She half fell, half walked down, down, down, frantically trying to step over stones and ledges without twisting an ankle or pitching headlong into darkness.

At last, the ground leveled before her. But her relief was short-lived because the ascent began on the other side of the ravine. Ava tripped and went down on one knee.

“Keep moving,” Brynja barked.

“I can’t! I’m going to fall if you don’t take off the blindfold! I know we’re in the ravine, headed back to the clearing where we left the dragon. What is the point⁠—”

Brynja shoved her in the opposite direction, startling her so badly she nearly tumbled sideways. Rough fingers tore at her face, and then the blindfold ripped away. Torchlight flooded over her. Ava blinked wildly as her eyes accustomed to their newfound freedom.

Brynja’s angry face swam into focus behind the torch.

“Thank you,” Ava managed.

But the human girl said nothing. She merely spun on her heel and continued to yank Ava down the path. They scrambled up the ravine, Brynja forcing her to go first while she followed behind with the torch.

Thankfully, her dagger was still in its sheath.