AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Neither of us like to talk about him. Any time his name gets brought up, Onyx grows quiet. Dusk trains harder. And I hate myself a little more.
“Are you guys ever going to explain anything to me?” Ann asks, her brows drawing together in frustration.
“What my little brother means--”
“Little brother?” She perks up. “I thought you were twins.”
Ah, this.“Technically, we are. But in our world, the child who enters the world first is the oldest, and that is a very important difference.”
For me it meant the responsibility of our world fell on my shoulders. It meant never having the luxury to be softer like my brother, to enjoy poetry or reading the same way he could. To explore his friendships and his life in a way I never could. For him, apparently, it meant always living in my shadow.
Both of us envied the other in ways that were hard to explain.
“And is Onyx your brother too?”
“Yes,” I say, “not by blood, but by our bond.”
Onyx signs. “You need to stop saying that. Your blood matters more than any bond.”
I mouth back.Not to me.
Since Onyx spent most of his life able to hear, he’s very good with reading lips. He can often speak without hearing himself, but has chosen not to. Partially, I believe, because he knows his voice box was also injured in the attack, so he fears what he sounds like now. He’s only spoken since his injury when it was a life-or-death situation. But luckily for all of us, signing is something most shadow beasts know how to do, because there are many creatures in our world that only communicate with their hands.
“So, things are going to get harder,” Dusk says, and the exhaustion in his voice is evident.
I was worried about my brother and my best friend before Ann came along. And when we were taken and imprisoned, each day was horrible. Not just the torture. Not just the terrible things that we did. Things I’ll never forgive myself for. But because we knew we were leaving the other shadow beasts to fight a war they couldn’t possibly win.
With our help, they were surviving.
While we were gone, we lost three men. Technically, Adrik isn’t dead yet, but he might as well be. And all the death of our kind, every day, it was all my fault. My blindness that led us to this life of misery.
My mistake.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to have to tell the others that the Shadow King knows of her existence so close to the Void.” The increase in troll activity alone will be a tip off to the others that something is going on, and therewillbe an increase. There’s no getting around it. As soon as the king finds out about Ann, he’s going to throw everything he has in his arsenal into finding her. We’re going to be overrun with rot monkeys, trolls, maybe even smoke dragons, if he can muster the strength to send one to this world.
The shit show was about to begin.
“They won’t be happy,” Onyx signs.
Dusk signs back, looking grim. “Or will they? If we found a mate in this world, maybe they can too.”
The implication of his words is more than I can handle. Ann’s existence would bring hope to our kind in any other world. But in this one, her presence brought trouble, and we have enough of that already. And yet, will her existence finally be the thing that makes them give up this fight and go out into this bright world looking for something else, even knowing what that decision would bring?
No… they can’t be that short-sighted. Can they?
“I’ll keep first watch.” Dusk says, even though he knows no one needs to keep watch during the day.
He stands and walks outside the cave, and I don’t know what to tell him. He’s angry. Angry that Onyx was hurt. Angry that the woman is the cause. Angry that because she’s our mate, we’re going to be hunted by every troll and rot monkey the king can send our way. Probably angry that we have to tell the others the coming assault is our doing.
I can’t blame him for not wanting to be inside the cave with us.
Onyx is lying on his fluff of blankets and pillows. He had recovered enough to walk back here, but he’d been left with a blinding head, and an exhaustion that’s weakened him. I can’t even imagine the state he’d be in if Ann hadn’t used her strange ability on him.
That was another thing we hadn’t discussed. Ann could kill the rot monkeys. She could heal us. And the moon shards glow when she’s close to them, like the Moon Goddess herself.What else can she do?
I rub my face. I can’t keep worrying about her strange abilities or what it all means. The second morning arrived, it was time for us to rest and recover. If I waste my time thinking about things I can’t control, I won’t be at my best when the night comes once more.
Sighing, I grab my blankets and pillows from where we keep them tucked away during the day and lay them out near the fire. Then, I check on Onyx.
