Page 138 of Of Shadows and Blood

“Hello pretty bird, trying to fly?”

“Fuck you.”

He smiles wider and begins to hoist himself up.

My feet slip as I pull and scrape my body up. The pads of my fingers are red and raw, blood staining every rock I touch. A stone loosens beneath the boots two sizes too big and I push it down, narrowly missing the Carver in his pursuit.

Cedric pulls on the bond, my temple throbbing. We’re coming, Liv. Run for your life. Fight for your life. I will find you. Do you hear me? I. Will. Find. You.

My hand grasps the edge of the well and I scramble my feet up the sides, the Carver only a few feet beneath me.

The sun hits my face even more directly now with no time to enjoy it. He’s right beneath me. I wrap my arms around the sides of the well and kick my feet to push further out. One final scream leaves my body as I throw myself outside of the tube, landing roughly onto the gravel below. My eyes immediately flare white as I adjust to the brightness outside when a little voice says, “Sylvine?”

Blinking into focus, I see a little boy, not past the age of five, tugging on his mother’s dress. They’re dressed in simple fabrics, the mother holding a basket of plants. Her face goes white and she immediately drops her head into a bow. The rest of the citizens in the square follow suit, all standing still in the most reverent bend.

They think I am the goddess, finally emerging to grant their prayers. The goddess whose body is barely covered by the coat of the dead guard.

Is this what they were expecting of their patroness?

It is then that the smell of humans fills the air, intoxicatingly tempting, but I can’t think past the thought of survival. My desire for blood has already claimed two lives today.

“Momma, she’s back!” the little boy screams.

It takes longer than I have, but I stand up on my wobbly legs, breathing slowly and determining my next move.

“Please, where are we?” I beg, sounding completely un-goddesslike. My voice grates, dry from my grating screams. The mother lifts her face and smiles motioning to the simple village behind her, beaming with the same sense of pride I have felt in a home before.

“You are in Adrian, beloved Sylvine.”

Feet hit the gravel behind me. And I wonder why he waited so long. The town center is surrounded by tall mountains capped in snow. The Rhydian Range.

Sylvine.

Sylvine is the goddess of nature and fertility. We’re in the Rhydian Range.

My senses heighten and I dash to the right, running for an arched opening between two buildings. The buildings here are pale colors of green, yellow, pink and blue. Their windows are shuttered and the sills are decorated with the most elaborate blooms.

I see elys and my heart lurches.

The Carver is gaining behind me as I turn a corner into the back alley of homes and shops, jumping over felled rocks and narrowly avoiding an elderly woman emptying a bin of compost onto the side of the mountain we are under.

“This little birdy can run!” the Carver bellows from behind me, his footsteps rough and erratic. Townspeople, though scant, spread out as he barrels through them. My feet trip over themselves in the boots, but I push from my knees to skirt around another corner. I’m scanning to my right to find another opening but there is none.

My power tingles beneath my skin, beckoning to be released. I just don’t know how while running at full speed. Must’ve missed that lesson. The last time I released my power was at the outpost, which feels like years ago.

And that was just flame. The flame that almost burned out my lifeforce.

Quickly, I skid to a stop and throw my hands in front of me. A few sparks fly out, one striking a tree and setting it on fire. The Carver twists, missing the pathetic shot from my left hand. We both pause in disbelief.

That’s right, jackass. I have powers.

Throwing my hands out again, I will any and all of that energy within myself at him. To my surprise, I manage to strike him. The silver burst whips into his shoulder like a lasso so I yank my arms down, throwing him into the side of a building. Bricks crumble onto his body and he doesn’t move.

My raw magic came out to play.

Nothing moves in the pile. Surely it couldn’t have been that easy. A part of me wants to verify, but the will to survive surpasses my curiosity. He’s definitely not dead, no, a creature like that would go down with a fight.

So, I run.